Hi all- I’m building a tool for “modeling” in Unity based on the really nifty Hammer World Editor toolset. If any of the following sound handy to you, let me know in the poll, and please drop your thoughts/suggestions/help (I’ll need it!) in this thread!
Core Features:
-Quickly build complex shapes in Unity, no external 3D modeling program or skills needed!
-Powerful but easily understandable interface- if you know Unity, you’re set!
-Perfect lightmapping
-Complete control over texture tiling, rotation, offset
-Super efficient- occlusion and batching automatically used to their full potential
That’s promising a lot- but if Hammer can do it, Unity can too, dagnamit. I’m not the most experienced coder, so I’ll likely be having plenty of questions as I go- I’ll try to keep all that + progress contained in this thread.
Thanks for looking!
Update 5/7/12:
–2nd preview video, added proper vertex controls, snapping, grid, texture control, and tons of under-the-hood improvements!
Update 5/1/12:
–video of an early version in action!
It’s all about being extremely easy to use! I’ll post more vids soon, that should help.
Honestly, even as a very experienced 3DS Max user (www.studio2a.net, www.ofgabriel.com), this tool would be my ideal choice for creating non-organic geometry. Obviously it’s not really for characters/trees/cars/etc, but for world geometry there is nothing better!
Also, for anyone who doesn’t see a need for this tool, it’d be great to hear why not
Pretty cool. How and when do you plan to share it?
Does this create optimized static level geometry a-la Hammer (and other brush-based geometry editors), or is it just a brush-style mesh editor? The latter could certainly still be useful, of course.
I see that you are knowledged in the ways of Hammer I didn’t want to mention “BSP”, since it tends to dredge up really complex looking google search results and/or memories of clunky, painful, first-gen game building tools. But yes, the goal is essentially BSP a-la Hammer, although a lot of the more complex BSP functions probably won’t be there (or really be needed).
The geometry creation part of Hammer was top-notch, so fast and simple and could do so much (especially with texturing!), that’s the part I’m recreating- with a very easy to learn and use interface (Hammer was not so hot in that regard, haha).
Well, I’ve gotten the initial prototype working fairly well, but when it comes to editor scripting, I’m just starting out. If I end up getting a lot of positive feedback, I’d really like to fast-track it and have a solid, working version (albeit minus the more advanced bits)…in a couple weeks? Again, I don’t intend to build in ALL the Hammer functionality (much as I’d love to), at least not yet. Just the really great stuff at the core of it.
As for “how”, well…I would love to share it out for free, but I’m going crazy at the 9-5 job (lol) and really hope to make just enough that I can shift my time to more Unity work, less “job” work! Most likely I would sell it for something around $10-$25 on the Asset Store, depending how complex it gets. Cheap enough that everyone can use it
There’s nothing wrong with charging for your work, especially when it’s something that improves things for others. Though it’s not in my own best interest to say so ;), you could probably up the price to around $50 and it’d still be good value and accessible to most.
I agree that sticking to the core and most immediately useful functionality is the best way to go about it. You can always add functionality in new versions later on. Alternatively, release the core functionality in a few weeks at a low-ish price point, and then extend on it and release a “pro” or “advanced” version that does extra stuff at a higher price point later on.
I’m really interested to see how you’re improving on existing brush-based editor interfaces. Keep us informed!
Thanks! I’ll be posting more videos soon, and one will definitely be a sped-up example showing from start to end, a scene like this.
We’re thinking along the same track- in fact, the scene above was built using a simplified version of the full toolset, something I’m developing to be a “Basic” or perhaps just plain free.This “Basic” version is a great system itself, but I can’t wait to be able to show off the full version, I think people will really be wowed by it’s ease of use, and speed of creation.
$50 you say? It’ll be something for discussion, perhaps. I do feel that’s a better price- maybe I’ll just give out the “Basic” version for free to make up for the higher price. Thanks for your vote of confidence! (and to the others who have voted in the Poll that they might buy!)
Thanks Marata- the more love it gets, the more I’ll prioritize it! Personally, I really want it for my own work as well, so you can be sure I’m getting it ready for release as fast as possible
I didn’t want to mention “BSP”, since it tends to dredge up really complex looking google search results and/or memories of clunky, painful, first-gen game building tools. But yes, the goal is essentially BSP a-la Hammer, although a lot of the more complex BSP functions probably won’t be there (or really be needed).