Etherea2

Community Showcases
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Hello everyone,

I have been out for a few years while I was under a long term contract.

When I left, I had Etherea1 converted to Unity4.x:

There was this video as well, with random planets (ok they are not that much awesome because they were simply random and I did not spend much time adjusting parameters, but look into the universe size:

Lately I’ve been working on Etherea2, with a few improvements over Etherea1, and I’m considering bringing it to Unity3D 5.x as well.

I would like to first check if I get some feedback and interest in a new version, which would include a full space framework with many visitable planets.

Thanks.

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Hey, thanks for your work! It was the greatest inspiration of mine to start learning Unity. Great asset. I’d like to see some progress on your project. I still dreaming of something like Space Engine built in unity with ability to spawn a character. Or even a multiplayer. Also I wanted to couple the idea of procedural planetary heightmaps with marching cubes to provide ability of creating non convex shapes like caves and buildings. Planetary shell could contain all human-made infrastructure with 1m^3 resolution in a few terabytes.

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@imerso , I remember your work.

I can’t give you any feedback regarding the new version because you need to showcase it first.

In regards to the old version, planets were missing… drum roll rivers!!! Yes, rivers and such.
Surface to atmosphere was also too shallow, as well. If memory serves me right, Etherea could’ve benefited from other celestrial bodies types like gas giants.

Show what Etherea2 looks and feels like, and we can go from there.

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The tech looks really good. I love the seamless performance/transition from one bounded area to the next. I would love to see this framework available for unity!
Impressive that you had a functioning frame work almost 5 years ago… so its pretty awesome to see such potential work being given another chance.

btw welcome back!

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Hi guys, thanks for your replies, I really appreciate.

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@imerso .

Really happy to see you here. I’m still using Etherea1 for my project (I ‘modified and optimised’ this version for my need : One planet, Unity 5.6, DX9/DX11, Shadows, Collisions. All fine).

Believe it or not, i regularly think of you, checking your web site… This sort of things…
So, sincerely good luck for the V2. :slight_smile:

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Hello ZJP! Nice to hear from you!

Thanks for the nice words, I really appreciate.

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Amazing, I’m impressed of how the transitions from the planet surface to space looks soo seamless, also there’s a lot of people who didn’t like No Man’s Sky and I see that as an opportunity to make something for that audience, so I would expect a lot of interest in this asset :slight_smile:

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Hey @imerso - I would be interested :slight_smile:

Look forward to it :slight_smile:

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I find it pretty “funny” that you try this … method again. Do you think we forgot how you treated your customers the last time? All people who posted here except ZJP have joined the forum 2012 or later when imerso tried this and this already.

Some quotes from you (-> with remarks) from your Etherea1 threads:

This should give all potential customers an impression of imerso’s marketing strategy and customer support.

So some things you MAY get instead of what you expect (basically what earlier customers got):

  • promises, loooots of them
  • bad support
  • the product gets defunct with the next Unity Update, and noone cares
  • being charged again for updates, better and improved versions, simple compatibility etc.
  • dropped support and a dead end product
  • low priority

So anyone considering buying this be aware of the past behavior and read the old threads before doing so. I cannot support such a bad customer treatment and you should neither.

Other issues were:
A version of the Asset Store and one in a repository when you purchased directly. And they were not in Sync and you didnt know what is the most actual version and why you don’t get it because its only for people who purchased it the other way.
Imerso promised it to work with UnityFree but it didn’t work properly and refused to give refunds.

So you see how frustrating it is to pay a premium price (100 - 150$) and then don’t get the support you expect and the things that were promised. You can read about many crushed dreams in those threads.
The whole thing appears to me like a work in progress beeing sold (called “Early Access” today). And the further development inherently depends on cash he recives AND time he can spent. Two things YOU as a customer have NO influence on and cannot even prove. Usually its the other way round. One provides a good product and good support and then earns the cash.
I had warned him that treating customers that way simply destroys his reputation. But it didn’t bother him. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that thread popping up and he is trying to do the same thing again. Don’t fall for it!

To be clear. My post does NOT criticize the product. It may be good or bad. Who knows. I just want to inform people about the mindset of imerso regarding customer support and update policies. There are plenty of people who have paid a significant amount of money to him and just got a bunch of excuses but not really the working product they where promised. Just wait with purchasing until you know it does what it says or what you need. If you don’t believe me just read his threads. But don’t believe him upfront. Trust must be earned!

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Hi exiguous, and thanks for your reply.

It was a dream for me as well. If you look carefully, Etherea1 was in fact the first ever open-source (please note that open-source is not necessarily free) full GPU Planetary Rendering implementation (not only for Unity3D, but everywhere). In a time when planet rendering was a great novelty (and in fact, still is a rare feature) – there was no where to look for references. It was based on experimentation, error, fixing, trying a way, trying another, that is, it was mostly R&D from a single guy who also had a dream.

I tried really hard, and I tried not to hide source from buyers, so they could have a way to proceed themselves if something went wrong – everyone received the full source-code as promised, and I suppose that includes you. That is not a common behavior, much less in such novelties. You normally find the source included for things that are based on common techniques, easily found on the net, but that is uncommon for novelties.

Yes, I promised a lot of extra features that never came, but so what, they were in the improvements list, that was not a contract, that was intended improvement. Even then, ok, I understand you, that is frustrating, maybe you were counting on something that never came, I’m sorry.

Even if I did not deliver all the features I was willing to add, I am sure that some people had fun using, adapting and improving it for their own use-case. Or even studying the code then rewriting in a better way, who knows, that probably happened. At least they could change it, differently from many assets which if you dislike something, you must live with that because there is no way to change anything.

Also, I did pay $2000 for Unity4 (with the team server), and that did not entitle me to receive Unity5 for free, I needed to buy Unity again, so why should I release a new version of Etherea for Unity5 for free? Would that be fair to re-buy the new version of Unity, port the plugin to that one, then update everyone for free? I could not afford that. sorry. That, together with a few other reasons which I prefer not to bring again, demotivated me and I stopped working on it.

You are entitled to your opinion, even if that sounds a bit too harsh and exposed in a way that sounds like I stole from people, a thing that did not happen at all. There was planetary rendering delivered as promised, and very configurable, even if it had some bugs, or was somewhat hard to understand.

Now, I am more skilled overall, I know most Unity limitations (some of them were a pain to overcome in the first version), and I am more experienced with planetary rendering itself, having developed a new version entirely from scratch. I just asked if some people would be interested in a new, much improved version. From your reply I can infer that at least you are not interested, I am sorry for that, but ok, that is your entire right. But please don’t try to paint me like if I am a criminal, because I am not.

EDIT: and I did not remove the sources myself, Assembla removed access without notice, I don’t know why they did that. I don’t remember receiving any warns from them, I only discovered that long time after I went to other projects. Hey, I need to live after all, right?

EDIT2: I honestly hope you can forgive me for any harsh word I may have written to you, or something.

Regards.

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“some people”, but whats with the rest of your customers who paid a lot of money to you? They have a deprecated Asset in their Account which they cannot use when they import it into a new project. You stated yourself that the topic itself and the implementation is “hard to understand” and complicated. And now you expect people who have no degree in Computer Science to fix the “issues” themselfes. This appears quite wastefull to me when dozens or hundreds of people all over the world have to fix the same issues instead of the one person who knows the code inside out does it for them.

You can see it this way, or even compare it to windows where you also have to buy each new version again. But you sold your software on the AssetStore and thus you don’t compete with UnityTech or Microsoft but with other AssetPublishers. Most of them (at least the successfull ones) provide a certain level of customer support and “lifelong” upgrades for free. Sure there are some packages which have a paid upgrade. But i just know a handfull. And it would be perfectly fine for me if you would have communicated that UPFRONT. When I purchase a Unity Version or Windows I know it upfront that I will pay for the next version again. When I purchased your Asset I was NOT aware of that fact.
So a new Unity Version came out and your package was SUDDENLY not longer usable for me if I wanted to use new Unity Features. So its an either-or situation. And this makes the fact so bitter. I have no influence when Unity releases a new version or changes the API. But when I shall pay you for something I can’t use without sacrificing other things (Unity features) then it feels a little like stealing or “distortion” to expect me to pay again to get a “working” product. Especially because I was not aware of it before I purchased.
So you are compared to other Asset publishers, which determine something like a “standard”, and you “violated” this standard so “harshly” its just understandable that your customers are angry. Your forum thread reflects the anger and desperation. So its not just me who got disappointed.

I “warned” you back then that your behavior destroys your credibility. You did it anyway. Thats your “right”. But now you come back and try the same again. I just wanted to warn the people, your potential customers, about your behavior. If they say “I dont mind” or “I can life with that” fine. I don’t want to prevent people from purchasing your stuff. I just want to prevent them from becoming disappointed like some of your previous customers did. Thats all.

I would not conclude that. I’m definitely interested. Many people are when you read the threads about procedurally planet generation. The question is wether I can use your product if I decide to purchase it. In the past it was a little “hard” to use it due to lacking compatibility (DX11, Unity 5), different update strategies (Asset Store, Repository) and little response to questions in your product thread. And thats what prevents me from buying a high priced Asset. If you sold a product for 15 I would not mind and the time spent for writing would not be worth the "lost" money. But for an Asset in the 150 price range I just expect a certain “quality” and customer support. I can understand when a product is “work in Progress”, “Early Access”, “Prototype” or “Research and Development”. But your threads just show your priorities and your “changing mind”. Etherea 1 was not even in a “stable” state and you wanted to sell Etherea Galaxy. This shows that instead of working and improving a product people have paid for you worked on another which should be paid for again.

I think that can only be decided by a judge or a court. But thats not my point anyway. For example you stated in Etherea thread that you stop developing because your code appears on a pirate site. That is something the average user has no control about. But when you punish your “honest” customers for misbehavior of other people you also make them responsible for things other people do. And thats certainly unfair.
Also I would expect your new product to appear on a pirate site again. Is this the time you will drop support for it?

Noone expects you to add features add infinitum for free. But most people expect that an Asset does not break when they install a new Unity Version. Look at other “successful” Assets like Vectrosity by Eric Haines or Space Graphics Toolkit by Carlos Wilkes (there are plenty more!). I have pruchased both bevore Etherea 1 and have since NOT paid for an update. And when I import them in a project I must not fear they dont work because they are 4 years old. This shows it IS possible. I cannot tell if their authors can life from the money they earn with them. But they support them anyway.

How you “treated” your customers in the past was the worst i have seen during my time with unity (6+ years). and this for one of the most expensive assets of its time.
if you take money your first priority should be that your customers are happy. you can think different but you should tell them upfront about this, not AFTER they paid you!

I have no problem with you personally because I don’t know you personally. I also don’t want to ruin your business. I hope you understand that. But naturally I want to “protect” my investment and I want to “convince” you to provide better customer support. Also see this from the position of your customers. I just think when you take money from people one of your first priorities should be to make them “happy” with your product. Unhappy customers are bad for business, at least where I live. So how much copies you sell should primary depend on how good your product is, and not on how much people you can “fool” or “trick” into buying.

So my point is you can do ANYTHING you want with your own asset. But you ARE judged for what you do by your customers. And this judgement may influence some purchasing decisions. And since you did not tell your previous customers (including me) what we can expect from you I feel obligated to tell your future customers what we “got” from you. In the end everyone decides himself. But its just fair to know WHAT you pay for.

You are completely free to make it better this time. Do you know the saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Fool me … you can’t fool me three times.
If I see your Asset works and you provide good customer support in your thread I WILL buy it, definitely. But I will be a lot more cautious this time and don’t jump on the train too early.

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@exiguous, well summed up.

@imerso. Lot of personal work on Etherea 1 have made this product a tool that meets my expectations. Etherea 1 is now perfect for my use. So I’m not interested in a new version (I will still be curious to see the work done. :smile: )

That said, i wish you a sincere success with version 2. ;):sunglasses: