389 replies to this topic

[Birdie]

A few weeks ago my course stopped loading at 30% in game. That was after adding a few more different Speedtrees. A few had a larger polycount from about 15-20.000. I think this wasn't the only reason it stopped loading, maybe the sum of different things at once. So i deactivated things, checked... repeat repeat... until everything worked again. This was the time when i also had do delete my large 500 particle haze. I also found it very helpful to start the course with lowered general quality settings like "good" or "fast" inside Unity and afterwards bring only some important settings up again. I also can recommend a tiny old script called "Resource Checker" (you only have to delete three entries or so). It displays which textures are used on how many materials and at which size and so on. Also materials and meshes information. So you can filter and easily find what might block some performance as it's so easy to loose overview what's going on.   

[Drrobmiller]

the 30 percent crash sucks.  Ive had that on each of my courses when it got very graphically intense.

 

I would delete objects to get iot back up and running

 

never could figure it out

 

Dr Rob

[Birdie]

Some work in progress on the clubhouse. Rounded some corners with the bevel tool in Blender. Really easy. Select an edge, Ctrl+b, move the mouse and use the scroll wheel for desired roundness. Kills the blocky sharp edges as you can see. Performance? Depends on your addiction and overkillability.... The wall's normal is a Merion's bunker normal btw. Just tried it and it works well as a wall. I think Slewin provided it with his overlay tutorial iirc. Hope it's okay to use it here? If not i will of course remove it and use something else.

Also added some window reflections back in. Maybe just temporarely.

 

These pedestals on the clubhouse are from the www.

 

And finally some mossy rocks. Best or only viewed after a misshit into the water. At least with this grass type i used here.

If you want to make your own mossy/grassy stone, just duplicate a stone/rock, on one stone eventually duplicate the material in the material slot so you can keep the underlying rock texture, then add a 3d grass/shader to the just duplicated material slot and just move the mossy rock into the default one to your liking.

I got that idea because i again accidentally placed an 3d grass on a speedtree. It's really crazy what you can do with such actions. If you like, place a 3d grass on the leaves mesh of an speedtree bush or plant or whatever has a lot of tiny meshes. After this just scale and move it a little on the ground and you suddenly have a shrubby or clustered grass field for example. It's always surprising what can happen depending on the mesh you put it. 

   

[jt83]

God I'd love to get some 3D buildings of this quality before the game goes belly up.

[Birdie]

It's mainly just copy and paste, move and rotate and the absolutely most basic functions. I have really no deep knowledge in Blender. But this bevel action really can add to the scene.

[NoPutt]

Hacker Harry looks as if rigor mortis has set in,

he should be gathering moss. 

Great work Birdie

[jt83]

So with positive assurances and DPRoberts's tutorials I can make this?  

 

[Birdie]

Yes. 👉

[Birdie]

Seriously, DP's tutorials were eye openers for me. And for other basic functions I just Google for solutions. And then it's trial and error and hit and hope.

[shanker01]

when is this beauty going to be available to the public?

[Birdie]

when is this beauty going to be available to the public?

Hard to figure. Too often I want to continue working on the remaining holes and loose myself in details or trying out this or that.
Anyway I think I now have a scheme and also planting set which I'm really happy with so I hope the rest will go a little quicker and also more streamlined.
And no matter what I will release something this year so others can stresstest the course and their machines...

[Stingreye]

The planting is amazing! You really have an eye for this. Very immersive looking course!

[Birdie]

New custom stairs to match the real world counterpart a little better and new nurbs curbs...

[Stingreye]

Jeez! Are you sure you are using the same course forge the rest of us are!!!! Looks amazing!

[jt83]

I've always wondered Birdie, was there anything about Manila that caught your eye over the other height maps available?  Have I asked this before?  Asia is underrepresented in JNPG so it's a welcome addition.  I think the word on the street about Nicklaus' courses is that they're tough, which suits computer golf.  Can't wait for a beta.

[Birdie]

Jeez! Are you sure you are using the same course forge the rest of us are!!!! Looks amazing!

Definitely I'm also just cooking with water and some Blender spices. This nurbs curves feature is really nice. For those interested in how I did the curbs for example, it's basically exporting a cartpath spline mesh, selecting an edge loop, make it an object, convert as nurbs curve, add a slightly rounded square as profile, tune tune, convert back as a mesh, tune tune, export, bingo. You probably have to adjust or lower your cartpath blends prior or after this action to make the curbs sit nicely.

[Birdie]

I've always wondered Birdie, was there anything about Manila that caught your eye over the other height maps available? Have I asked this before? Asia is underrepresented in JNPG so it's a welcome addition. I think the word on the street about Nicklaus' courses is that they're tough, which suits computer golf. Can't wait for a beta.

I don't really know but I always liked to play tropical courses in golf games. And maybe I also thought nobody else will take this Phillipine one so let's give it a try. Last but not least my wife's from Asia too so...

[Dropzone73]

Incredible work Birdie!

That club house has required some attention. Just amazing   .

 

Keep on tuning, tuning .

[Birdie]

Incredible work Birdie!
That club house has required some attention. Just amazing .

Keep on tuning, tuning .

Clubhouse-tuning is an addiction in itself... But I can say yesterday I finally left the clubhouse and surroundings and started planting the rest of the course. Very refreshing to see other parts of the course again I have to say. I copy and past plus center and pivot rotate bigger parts of forest already done so that goes really quickly for an already nice look. Found a tiny script which snaps multiple objects to the surface at once. That seems ideal for this approach.

[jurgie]

Looks great. Almost has a softer vibe, like a watercolor effect.

You hit the nail right on the head DP with this comment. The muted colorization throughout all these screen shots creates a very realistic atmosphere. Too many tropical courses that are rendered feature colors especially in plants and shrubs that are far to intense or robust . So rather than complimenting a design, they become more of a distraction. Birdie has put forth a major effort to make this a top notch design. I know there is still work to be done but when completed it will be special, It is already stunning.