2D Experimental Preview Release 4

Unity Engine
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We are excited to bring you the 2D Experimental Preview 4. This release is primarily focused on Tilemap. Along with Preview 4, we are including a really cool demo project, RoboDash.

The RoboDash demo project was a prototyping experiment to test workflow and also create an example of using Brushes and Tiles in a development scenario. We had one developer work with an external game artist for a few weeks to create the prototype with a primary goal of using brushes and tiles setup to make level building for artists and designers faster and more fun! So check out the demo project for what was achieved.

An important thing to note - This demo project was developed as a fast prototype, so the game-play code itself is not optimized, it contains some not so good practices and was only used as a base game. With the base game, we could start creating a setup, where a developer would create Brushes and Tiles for a level artist or designer to quickly create game levels. That said, the Brushes and Tiles are the actual examples to learn from - the rest of the demo project should be looked at with caution.:wink:

Tilemap Improvements and Breaking Changes
We have made quite a few improvements and changes to the Tilemap features in Preview 4. Unfortunately to provide some of these improvement, there are some breaking changes - Check below for what these are.

Tilemap Changes

  • Store changes for script instances of GridBrushes
  • Added support for Masking with Tilemap
  • Added immediate updating for TilemapCollider2D without use of CompositeCollider2D
  • Moved Grid color to EditorSettings
  • Moved TilemapRenderer focus mode selection to SceneView window

Major changes in Tilemap Palette

  • Moved UI elements for better user experience

  • Added painting target dropdown to Tilemap Palette

  • Add Move tool

  • Select a selection of tiles with the Select tool and move the selection using the Move too

  • Removed multi-layer painting from Tilemap Palette

  • Added Palette Asset to differentiate prefabs from Palette prefabs

  • Use Palette Asset to determine sizing for Palette Grid

  • Load all Palette Assets in project to Tilemap Palette on start

  • Added mouse cursors for different Tilemap Palette tool modes

Tilemap API changes

  • (GridBrush) Changed IGridLayout => GridLayout

  • (GridBrush) Changed painting target from GameObject[ ] to GameObject

  • (GridBrush) Add CustomGridBrushAttribute to control GridBrush behaviour in the Tilemap Palette

  • m_HideAssetInstances: Do not show asset instances of GridBrush in palette

  • m_HideDefaultInstance: Do not show script instance of GridBrush in palette

  • m_DefaultBrush: Set this as the Default GridBrush for the palette. Only one GridBrush should be set as the Default GridBrush

  • m_DefaultName: Set this as the name for the script instance of the GridBrush

  • (Tilemap) Tilemap does not inherit from ITilemap

Tilemap Breaking Changes__:hushed:__

  • (Tile) Change serialised names for Tile members
  • (Tilemap components) Change Component Ids for all Tilemap components (Tilemap, TilemapRenderer, TilemapCollider2D)

While we can’t support backward compatibility for experimental projects - here is something that my be helpful.

2D Experimental Preview Download Assistant
This build is the 2D Experimental Preview 4 build. The version displayed is Unity 2017.1.0x2-2D Build. As we iterate through improvements, changes and fixes, we will release more previews.

Warning!!!
Project backward compatibility between Experimental Preview versions is NOT GUARANTEED. Always backup your project before upgrading. Preview features here are not production ready, please DO NOT use this build for your final production. Experimental features may be discontinued/dropped.

Download the build from here:
Updated May 11th 2017
Windows Download Assistant
Mac Download Assistant

Preview 4 (RoboDash) Demo Project
This Demo WILL ONLY work with the 2D Experimental Preview 4 build.
Demo Project
Some vIdeos on the demo project are in this thread.

11 Likes
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Amazing work guys. :open_mouth:

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Ok but where is Smart Sprite ??? this is the best i want :confused:

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It’s still in development… they’re working on it :slight_smile: https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/update-april-2017.467306/

5

wooow Rly ?? 2011 6 year this cool work :confused: 6 man :frowning:

1 Like
6

Awesome stuff!

7

Hi All. Apologies, the original download links I posted where for an older build. :sweat_smile:
I’ve just updated them to the most recent build. Please download again as it does have some differences.:slight_smile:
Again, sorry for the trouble. I think I was too excited to get this out I didn’t check the links. :smile:

5 Likes
8

Wooo!

9

Where is the tilemap grid color?

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@AssembledVS Edit > Preferences > Colors > Grid Component

1 Like
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Demo project has an amazing look and feel.
Thanks a lot for keeping 2D alive in Unity!

12

Running into some problems:

  1. I cannot rename game objects in the Hierarchy window by double clicking on them. I double click on a game object. The name becomes editable. As soon as I type anything it stops being editable. EDIT: This issue seems to be intermittent. When I start Unity I can rename objects by double clicking. After working for awhile this stops working.

  2. I cannot change the materials of any sprite renderers by clicking on the down arrow next to the material and selecting a different material.

3072815--231047--null ref.png
3072815--231047--null ref.png1187Ă—1002 166 KB

The above two issues are super annoying and make my current workflow a real pain.

Feedback on the tilemaps:

  1. This is an enhancement but can the grid on Tile Palette window take into consideration the tile anchor of the current tilemap (or maybe the sprite pivot - not sure how it works)? All my sprites have a bottom left pivot. All my tilesmaps have a tile anchor of 0,0,0. This aligns everything perfectly in my scene. The bottom left corner of the tiles in my tilemaps and the bottom left corner of my sprites align to integer world coordinates. This makes a whole bunch of things easier for me. However, the grid on Palette Window is jacked. Added screenshot.

3072815--231049--pla grid.png

  1. Finally I feel like the tilemap dropdown in the Palette Window is kinda useless. The tilemap ordering isn’t at all like what I have in my scene. EDIT: It just makes things confusing and it constantly resets to the first layer in that list! I’ve been painting on the wrong layer for the last 10 mins because it switched to a different tilemap instead of sticking to the last one I selected from the scene.

3072815--231050--tilemap dropdown.png

1 Like
13

Another issue.

  1. Tile Palette edit doesn’t not work. I click edit, move some tiles around in the palette. However, when I save the scene all those tiles go back to the original place.
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  1. I cannot delete custom resolutions from the Game windows. I click on them and nothing.

3073387--231108--game-rez.png

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@jehk27 This forum is only for things related to the 2D preview, which currently only contains the tile map. The preview is based on 2017.1 beta 4, so anything not related to the tile map is just a problem with the beta build.

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@Jay-Pavlina These are all for the current 2d experimental build. Is there a better place to submit feedback or issues? I ran into a lot of stuff in this time around and I’d really like to see the tilemap feature mature because its awesome.

17

First of all a big thank you to everybody who had been working hard inorder to bring us this great experimental preview 4!!!

@jehk27 Your first stated issue (at least for me) is only happening while the Tile Palette window is chosen. Choosing anohter window, or closing the Tile Palette, should re-enable you to rename GameObjects in the hirachy.

18

There are multiple things here, including TileMap and SmartSprite.

I’ve been waiting since like 2015 for delivery of 2D TileMap. Since then, Unity Technologies has hired a new Product Manager to get things rolling out the door more smoothly. It seems 2D wasn’t and isn’t high on the list.

I"d like to know why this hasn’t been broken down into a long-running program of smaller projects so we can have status on both. It would seem to me that Smart Sprite and TileMap shouldn’t impede the development and delivery of each other; and basic features of TileMap should be deliverable before more-advanced features. Smart Sprite looked like it was viable years ago, and I’m not sure what the hold-up is.

19

The Ambient Color for Environmental Lighting keeps getting constantly reset to white. I can’t really do any lighting work. I’ve also had my tilemap corrupted a number of times. I don’t really care to look into why at this point. I’m sorry to sound negative but this build is a mess. I understand its experimental. I understand that preview features won’t be complete or work perfectly but this is just unusable. Whelp. Eagerly waiting preview 5 now.

20

I’ve been using the tile editor, and have found it to be quite intuitive. I’ve run into an issue, however, with colliders. My 2d character controller only collides with colliders found in the “Platforms” layer. I’ve set the grid and its child to that layer, but my character still doesn’t collide with the placed tiles. Do I have to do something to enable 2d colliders?

Gif of issue: