I've decided to start this thread for us who feel we are on thin ice when it comes to Unity ... I already asked some questions in another thread and got a very good answer from Kablammo11 ... wich I think will be a good start to this thread
see bleow :
I'm not a nice person, dummy!
Still, if I can be of help.. I would recommend this:
- Go to Google, type "heightmap", switch to Google Images and select any square heightmap that tickles your fancy
(best would be 1025x1025 and something with not too much steep slopes. Make sure it is in RAW format. If not, swing by Photoshop to make it greyscale, 16bit, photoshop raw)
- Now open Unity and create a new project. At creation, select all the asset packages containing the word "terrain" plus skyboxes.
- Now back to the internet (sorry, has to be - keep Unity open). Go to the Unity asset store:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/6
Grab this very useful little package that contains more trees, bushes and textures. You will need those. Click "Open in Unity" to import it straight into your new Unity project.
- In Unity, create a new terrain (top menu) and make it, say 1500 x 1500 meters (surface for a very large golf course). Doesn't matter, can be smaller or larger. It's just a test run, dummy! You can input the size in the "terrain resolution" feature.
- You have your flat, grey terrain now… well done! Go to terrain top menu: Import height map. Select your height map file and click okay. A couple seconds and then some magic happens: Your flat terrain just got very bumpy.
(If the terrain is too steep for you tastes, or too flat, re-import the heightmap and play with the height value until you get a result that you find interesting)
So now you are set to go ahead and do several things you will need to do with the CourseForge. By all means, go and watch the Mike Jones Tetralogy of Building a Hole and the 3 Course Forge videos again for pointers about how to proceed. Here's your to do list:
• Add a skybox
• Add a directiional light to see something on your terrain.
• Learn how to move about to see your terrain from all angles.
Practice moving about and getting comfy with the key commands.
• Extensively practice the terrain tools to shape your terrain, to dig and excavate, to smooth and
ripple etc…
For this to be of best use, dream up a golf hole on your terrain and try to alter the terrain to make
it real.
• Learn how to select and apply textures to the terrain. Try to "color" your grey terrain in matching textures (You can make soft transitions by reducing the opacity
• Learn how to create and place a simple water plane. It will look totally repulsing, btw
• Learn how to paint grass onto your terrain (Warning: Unity default grass looks eewwww… ugly!)
• Learn how to plant bushes (detail meshes)
• Learn how to plant trees
• Learn how to import a mesh object (like a clubhouse) into Unity and how to place it on your terrain
All these things are completely basic and very easy to do … once you know how. I could tell you, but I'd rather show you some tough love so that you learn something by trying to sort them out. Only a matter of finding which buttosn in which menus to press...
You will need to know how to do these things before the CourseForge is made available in late 2019 (kidding). And even once you will have the Forge, you will still have to know how to do all this anyway.
Any hiccups and snags? Try the old fashioned way of reading up on stuff in the internet, studying manuals and finding them out for yourself, sheesh! Also, click away within Unity, see what happens and indulge in some extensive trial-and-error.
Otherwise, if you want to know something specific, ask me. I'm here all week!