Stamp Packs Version 2 Update News!!! [[Jump to most recent news post!]( Backwoods Gaming's Addons for Gaia page-6#post-7961433)]
Important Note: All of the below info in this post is for the original Backwoods Gaming Gaia Stamps Packs. Information on the updated packs and which packs are currently being worked up to update to v2 or have been already updated to v2 is in the post later in this thread which is linked above. Click there for the most current news. - Shawn
Hi all. I have been hinting around in the Gaia thread about a project that I have been working on and it is time for the big reveal! Back in January, Adam and I were chatting on Skype and he threw me the idea of creating stamp packs for Gaia. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with my situation, but due to some health issues I have been struggling financially and have been trying to figure out some way I could bring in a few dollars to get by. Adam said the packs were something he had planned on doing, but with all of the coding that is required to keep Gaia going and other asset ideas he had that would need to be coded, he asked me if it was something I would like to run with. So for the past month I have been working out plans, finding neat areas around the US that would make nice stamps, doing the Photoshop work to make them work well with Gaia, writing an extension for Gaia to make it easy to enable and disable stamps from the packs, and trying to navigate through all of the Unity marketing stuff that is required to submit packs to the asset store. Oh yeah, and working on the website where there is documentation on how to use the packs, information and a stamp glossary showing a top-down view and description of each stamp, as well as a place for me to put tutorials (such as my using Sectr with Gaia for large terrains tutorial that has been started in the Gaia thread).
So with that, let me introduce you to Backwoods Gaming and our Terrain Stamp Packs for Gaia.
NOTE: All stamp packs require Gaia to be installed. Get Gaia here.
What are terrain stamp packs?
These are themed packs containing from 10-15 new stamps for Gaia. Packs are priced at $5 per pack and new packs will be released at least once per month, sometimes more. I decided to do smaller, cheaper packs, that way folks will be able to pick and choose which packs they need instead of paying a huge price and getting tons of stamps they will never use. The smaller packs are also easier to manage in a Gaia eXtension.
What is the Gaia eXtension and what does it do?
The GX (Gaia eXtension) plugs the pack into Gaia and lets Gaia know it is there. Within the extension you have options to enable all of the extensions in the pack, disable all extensions within the pack, or enable/disable individual stamps. By default, all of the stamps in the pack are disabled when you import the pack into Unity. Enabling them moves them into the Gaia stamps structure so Gaia can recognize them as stamps. The reason for setting up the enable/disable system was simply to prevent you from overwhelming Gaia with tons of stamps. If you know you are going to be stamping mountains, you can enable packs including mountains. If you know you are going to be stamping islands, you can enable those packs while disabling others. This is also useful for the randomizer, enabling stamps which you are going to want to focus the randomizer on and disabling others. Note: At this point the enable/disable system only works with Backwoods Gaming stamps from the stamp pack you are working within the GX → Installed area of the Gaia Manager. In the future, we may update the packs to include a stamps manager that would also let you enable and disable other stamps as well.
What is included in the stamps packs?
As stated earlier, each stamps pack comes with 10-15 stamps for $5. Currently, the only things included are those stamps, the stamp extension described above, and short readme files pointing to various pages of the website for documentation. You will still need to purchase Gaia, of course. But once you have Gaia and the stamp packs, you are ready to start creating awesome terrains!
What is planned for future stamp packs?
I currently have the rest of the year mapped out for at least one stamp pack a month. I will be submitting two packs to the asset store in the next couple of days. I had a third that was ready, but when I went back through to do a quality control check, I wasn’t happy with all of the stamps. So I will be going back through it and hopefully releasing it as the March pack. I have a total of 14 packs currently planned and at various stages of stamp creation. I may or may not do pack bundles down the road or even annual pack subscriptions, but I need to see how things go the first couple of months first. But there is a long-term plan.
In addition, I have some ideas for additional things to include in the packs. Once I have the code complete for those things to be integrating, they will become part of all future packs. Likewise, any existing packs will be updated at that point to include them as well.
What do the first packs contain?
Stamp pack volume one contains stamps that contain an area in the center that is ideal for village areas. I planned this pack to coincide with the release of Gaia 1.5 and Gaia’s new ability to be able to setup and spawn village POIs (Points of Interest) Each village area contains a flatter area in the center allowing you to either use the stamp to create an entire scene OR use the Gaia masking techniques to stamp into an existing scene or use with the randomizer in the Gaia Session Manager.
Stamp pack volume two contains stamps of mountains and volcanoes. All of the mountains used to create the stamp are listed as volcanic but not all have the caldera. Almost all of them could have a subtractive/inverted stamp applied to the peaks to create a caldera in them though. As with all of our stamp packs, the main mountain features are always in the center of the stamp so it can be used to create a standalone terrain OR used with Gaia masking techniques to stamp into an existing scene or used with the stamp randomizer.
Ok… So I’ll quit rambling on now and show a few images. 
The images below were created using Gaia 1.5 and the assets below.
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Time of Day for the skies on shots as noted
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Tenkoku for the skies on shots as noted
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Distingo for the terrain shaders
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AQUAS for the water on shots as noted
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Suimono for the water on shots as noted
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Trees Manager System to optimize trees a bit so I could move around on the terrains on my slow machine… lol
All other assets are Gaia samples - Trees are the SpeedTree sample trees that come with Unity/Gaia, Grasses are samples provided to Gaia by @turboscalpeur , buildings are the samples provided by Cobus ( @S4G4N ) of 3DForge for Gaia, and rocks are samples provided by @MotuProprio as samples for Gaia. The only exception is that the Desert Stamps Pack screenshot used Big Environment Pack 3 for trees, cactus, grasses, and terrain textures instead of those included with Gaia.
Each of the images I put together for the stamp packs is done with a single stamp from the pack. Images which have been posted by others really showcase what you can do by taking the stamps and artistically combining them with other stamps. I wanted these to showcase that you can get great results both ways. 
NOTE: Gaia samples are installed with Gaia and are not included in the stamp packs.
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 1 - Village Areas
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 2 - Mountain and Volcano
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 3 - Desert Area
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 4 - Islands
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 5 - Coastal Areas
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 6 - Highlands
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 7 - Marshes and Swamps
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
Some different assets other than those mentioned above were used in the Wetlands screens including Beautify, Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion, Volumetric Fog & Mist, and uNature.
__Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 8 - Canyons__
On Backwoods Gaming Store | On Unity Asset Store
__Terrain Stamps Pack for Gaia Vol 9 - (Theme scheduled but subject to change)__
Projected web store release and asset store submission - TBD
*NOTE: I have shortened the list because I am planning to try and release a quicker schedule. You can expect to see at the very least, one new stamps pack per month. Many months may see several depending on my schedule. I have folders for at least another 20 pack types and I have stamps ready to start working on additional volumes for types I have already released.
General Pack Information
Stamp Packs Overview - General information about Backwoods Gaming stamp packs
Documentation - General stamp pack documentation
Stamp Pack Quick Start Guide - Step by step guide on importing and preparing stamp packs for use
Stamp Pack Quick Start Video - Same as above except in video form [coming soon - I hope]
Backwoods Monthly - Stay up to date with product-related news by subscribing to our newsletter.
Main Store Links
Backwoods Gaming - Our Web Store
Backwoods Gaming - Unity Asset Store
Backwoods Gaming’s Stamp Packs for Gaia Summary
Enjoy! If you like what you see, pick up the packs at either asset store or my web store. Web store purchases earn 3 loyalty points per dollar spent. If you purchase on the asset store, open a support ticket on my web store and give me your invoice number for verification and I will credit your web store account with 2 loyalty points per dollar spent. Loyalty points will eventually be used for discounts, bundling options, and maybe even sales where they can be exchanged for a pack! Also, be sure to sign up for my newsletter while on the site to keep up to date.
At any rate, these images were each stamped, spawned, and explored within an hour using default spawners. Keep in mind, when I’m stamping and testing I have anywhere from 15-20 stamps I’ve worked up to test and select from to make a pack of 10. No way I could do the packs if it took me longer. And if you look at the pictures, while they may not be ready for your game, imagine if you put a day or two into each one to really tweak things out… Adding things like the volumetric fog pack that was just on sale, explore different day/night and/or weather systems/settings, really tweaking the light to get it better, adding a wider variety of trees, buildings, villages. Imagine the possibilities!
Before Gaia, I tried to create terrains like this and spent weeks on them just trying to get a heightmap that I was satisfied with. I dreaded working on terrains. Now I have problems getting myself to work on anything else… rofl
Hope you enjoy and look forward to seeing what you guys are creating with Gaia! Oh, and when you buy the stamp packs, don’t forget to share screenshots here and in the Gaia thread!
