Cant add Inherit Material to Terrain Base.

[larry.ellis]

Hello everyone, my first post here.

 

I'm in the early stages of evaluating the Unigine technology and i am importing my terrain via a height-map and following the instructions outlined here:

https://developer.unigine.com/en/docs/1.0/tutorials/terrain/

 

My problem is when i get to Stage 4 Step 3, i am unable to save my inherit material because the library drop down box wont allow me to select anything,

When i click the drop down box, nothing pops up and the Okay button remains inactive.

 

Another issue im having is when i import a terrain mask, the mask works for only one of my materials, yet the tutorial seem to have the mask working for several.

Is there any specific requirements of a mask? Channels?

 

I am using the current Evaluation Kit.

 

Thank you.

[ulf.schroeter]

My problem is when i get to Stage 4 Step 3, i am unable to save my inherit material because the library drop down box wont allow me to select anything,

When i click the drop down box, nothing pops up and the Okay button remains inactive.

 

Assuming you are referencing Step 4 "Assign Terrain Material", sub-step 3, right ? If so, the problem might be caused by the fact that you have to create a new material library for your world first. Click on the books icon and in the following dialog there is a plus icon for creation of new library.

 

 

Is there any specific requirements of a mask? Channels?

Mask channel count should correspond to maximum used count of terrain materials for that terrain (e.g 3 materials -> mask image format RGB, 4 materials -> mask image format RGBA)

[larry.ellis]

Thank you for your help!

 

The creation of a new library is noted in Step 4 sub-step 2, and is apparently covered through steps 1-5, but it isn't and im assuming its referring to a whole other topic.

This should be rectified as it is confusing for newcomers.

 

Im still unsure about the masking issue though. Im currently only using two materials yet my mask wont allow the second material to show.

[ulf.schroeter]

Post your mask texture (depending on size original or smaller sized sub-rectangle) within a zip archive and I will have a look on the format.

[larry.ellis]

Cheers, that would be great!

 

What i have tried is a PSD file and also converting a png to a dds using the imagedds application and instructions in this thread:

https://developer.un...__fromsearch__1

 

I have attached a RAR with a 512 size section of my png, which i have also converted to dds using the above method, and

also a 512 size psd file.

 

samples.rar

 

I'm enjoying working with Unigine, but im not sure if its the right engine for me. As an artist i find it simple enough to use and has great control for

each asset. But not being able to mask more then 4 surfaces is very limiting, and not being able to overcome it by excluding DX9 support must be very frustrating

for many teams.

 

I think it is quite possibly overkill for my project, but it is nice to experiment with different technologies and im happy to keep using it so i can test it out with

a fully detailed scene. Like the Valley demo, but on a much larger scale.

 

Thank you for your help!

[ulf.schroeter]

Hi Larry, you are welcome

 

sample.dds has R8 format, so it's single channel only, so indexed materials will most probably mix evenly with same weight

 

sample.png has RGB8 format but each channel has identical color values, so indexed materials will mix evenly with same weight

 

sample.psd has RGB8 format but once again monochrom color values as sample.png

 

Modify your mask generation. R channel defines weight of material 1, G channel material 2, B channel material 3, A channel material 4. Final mask should be a quite colorful image

[larry.ellis]

Okay, i understand perfectly now. Thank so much for your help!

[ulf.schroeter]

But not being able to mask more then 4 surfaces is very limiting, and not being able to overcome it by excluding DX9 support must be very frustrating

To be precisely there is a 4 individual materials per surface limit so its possible to use more materials for the whole terrain in total. While giving you quite some material diversity in theorie ( number of surface x 4 ) its hard to handle this during terrain creation.

 

But to be fair same limitation applies to terrain systems of other game engines like Bohemia Interactive's ARMA/VBS2. Nevertheless I think Unigine is in the process of rethinking their DX strategy based on numerous customer post here on the forum. Maybe there will be some DX11 enhancement in the future.

[alexei.garbuzenko]

But to be fair same limitation applies to terrain systems of other game engines like Bohemia Interactive's ARMA/VBS2

 

I'm wondering what type of material mixing is used in GameBryo? There were lots of detailed materials mixed in Oblivion and Fallout 3, while these are DX-9 only games..

[manguste]

This should be rectified as it is confusing for newcomers.

Ok, I've added comments on mask and adding a library associated with a world in the terrain tutorial. I hope it'll make it more clear.