21 replies to this topic

[Big A HG]

Is there a one-stop-shop for how to get started in creating courses for Perfect Golf?  I'd like to start getting into it and am having trouble finding where to start and what I'll need.  I have Unity installed and ready to go but want to know if there is a basic guide to making sure things are done correctly and if there's any additional software needed to do a project.  I've seen a lot of users already creating some outstanding courses and I have the bug, especially considering how much work I've done getting course ideas ready for CF a couple years ago already.

Thank you!

[NoPutt]

All I know is that CF will come with all the necessary

videos to guide you through the process. Once you learn

to bake a Unity cake the CF icing on top is the easy part.

[M Rose]

If I can find the time I might make a really simple video for those who don't have CF yet but want to learn some Unity in a golf sense.

[Griz891]

CF isn't even released yet is it? 

[pingzing]

Mate Here you go

 

https://www.dropbox....tricks.rtf?dl=0

 

Here is a cf/unity help file i have put together, its a bt rough around the edges and WIP adding to it every day

 

This will be a big help for anyone starting out 

 

Stephen

[DPRoberts]

I was curious as to how Perfect Parallel handles the Unity file for the terrain. I am looking to develop a pixel density in Unity of less than 1m/px. I am trying my hand at something real (Muirfield Village GC) using 2 lidar tiles, each 1500mx1500m. I thought if I developed these on separate terrains of 1500x1500 at a resolution of 2048, I might have a chance to achieve this. My final terrain would then be 2 adjacent tiles 3000mx1500m. I have seen K11 referencing a necessity of a squared terrain and didn't know how PP handles all this. If I build at 3000x3000, I don't think I can achieve the density I want without going up to 4096 resolution which I do not want to do.

[Kablammo11]

Mpags, you need to have 1 terrain, and only 1, for the CF meshes to be attached to it.

Forget the two tiles, they won't work, CF will only apply to one. The terrain better be a perfect square, though you can ignore it. If you did that, all your terrain and planting brushes would be squeezed out of shape, and the terrain elevation would also get distorted..

 

You can have multiple terrains nevertheless. I usually use one that is as small as possible, to host all the course meshes from CF. That is usually 1200 or 1300 meters at a resolution of 2049 (not 2048, terrains are in powers of two +1), which gives me 

1300 meters : 2049 grid points = 1 grid point every 63 centimeter

 

And then I create a second terrain, 2000m or so, at very low res 257 or 513 to add the outer landscape, just for the scenery.

 

You could up the terrain resolution to 4097 to get enough details on a 3000 m course, but that will increase the number of terrain grid points from 4+ mio to 16+ mio, and that would place rather huge demands on CPUs.

But wait, there's more... the terrain resolution is one thing, you can also tinker with the mesh resolution in CF, and set it higher or lower, if you want. That is not so useful as it may sound, since the CF meshes will always espouse the shape of the terrain. Currently, greens and bunkers are set to 1m per square by default, fairways to 1.5, rough to 2 or 3. So, even if you go lo res on the terrain and very high res on the meshes, it's always the terrain res that determines the shapes on the ground.

 

This entire issue could do with some more deep thought by brains more attuned to this environment than me...

 

And finally, I think that somebody else, some time ago, already either called dibs on Muirfield and/or offered geo data for it somewhere in these forums. 

[DPRoberts]

Thanks for the detailed answer. Does this second terrain you create sit just below your CF terrain and then become visible around the edges? Picturing your CF terrain nestled inside this larger, less res 2000x2000m. Is there a seam somewhere? Since there is currently dibs on MVGC, maybe I will try Kiawah Island (if no dibs), it will be an extreme challenge for me with sand, heather and add-ins such as rail tile. I might also find it annoyingly time consuming to fold the course into a 1500x1500 square as it appears to stretch linearly about 4km. Then, for ocean/sand bar details, try your low res second terrain and ultimately quit after proving to myself that I could do it but lack the motivation to finish. Without CF, it seems I should limit to terrain sculpting, experimenting with textures, flora/fauna and building some course unique objects.

[Kablammo11]

Correct, the scenery terrain is hidden below the main terrain and becomes visible around the edges. The white terrain in the image is such a surrounding terrain. 

 

 

Yes, there is a seam, or rather a crass crease where the two surface intersect. If both terrains both display the exact same texture, though, this transitions is practically invisible from above. At ground level, it can be hidden by walls, grass, bushes, trees or raised mounds. A second terrain is not compulsory at all - I just do it to maximize the resolution of the golf surface, other designers don't - so the process and its workflow are up to the designer.

 

I've found the old Muirfield thread again, here it is.  < That's a link, click on it and get familiar with forum search, please. Looks like nobody called outright dibs, I realise now, and even if they did: You snooze, you loose...

 

You are right about CF - you absolutely need to have it in order to progress beyond a certain point. However, having a good grasp of Unity is absolutely essential and a basic skill you must acquire - best get that out of the way now, it will come in extremely useful once designing start in earnest.

[DPRoberts]

Fabulous. Well, I am going to work on both Muirfield and Kiawah. I am free handing Kiawah terrain so it will be more of a "loosely based on" and will work on Muirfield using that heightmap and overlay if Shimonko does not care. (ArcGIS and I are not best of friends.) And if he does, I'll just keep it to myself. I have played Muirfield and venture out there every year so first hand knowledge will aid me in the build. Kiawah is much more exciting because of the variety of textures and tricks I'll have to master. I will try and disappear for a few weeks and return with something to show.

[Big A HG]

I appreciate all the great help that's been discussed here, but I'm more interested in backing up a bit.  Like, how to import LIDAR data to Unity...how to install the course forge add-on to Unity...etc.  I apologize if I'm being a bit of a noob on this.

[M Rose]

According to Mike or Andrew, there's an official version of Muirfield Village coming out, possibly in time for the Memorial next month. One of them said they had just finished a photo survey.

[DPRoberts]

Big A HG, I apologize for hijacking your thread. I will back up a bit for you. Course Forge - Unity add on is not currently available but is approaching beta availability stage for the public. This has been in the works for years if you read back on the threads but they are seemingly very close with the official release of PG as Jack Nicklaus Perfect Golf as of yesterday (5/3/16). A few select currently have access and those are the designs you see on these boards. Of note, the first paragraph in the opening splash screen of JNPG mentions a "nearing public beta release of Course Forge". Do not overread nearing or very close. You will not get a direct answer on that until it is released but there was no reason for them to put that in the opening splash of the game if they did not have a plan in place to do so.

As for LiDAR data import into Unity...I think you will find this to be much like your adventure into learning Unity and course building. Like you, I am a noob but have come to recognize there are many advanced users around here that will help guide you on your way. No two paths to enlightenment will be the same. Often, you will be given a "wax on" "wax off" answer and may not fully understand the knowledge you are given. Page 4 of one thread may intertwine with Page 97 of another in helping to resolve an issue. Rarely, will you be spoon fed too much information because you then bypass the actual learning process. For me, it is much like relying on the Waze app to get me somewhere in the car. Often, I may get to a destination and never realize how it occurred because I was simply following a voice telling me where to go. You will learn some tasks in 2 minutes and be amazed. Other tasks will take weeks to resolve and you will be annoyed. Enjoy the journey if your ultimate goal is course building. If it is speedy answers and a cookbook to follow, you will quickly quit and move on to something else.

Now, here is my process in attempting to import a LiDAR tile into Unity...

Your ultimate goal is to convert a .LAS file or LAS Dataset into a Raster, export it to a .TIF and convert to a .RAW for which you import into Unity as your terrain heightmap

1. Download a .LAS version of LiDAR data (I registered on http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) and downloaded tiles for free. Getting a tile is a learning process in itself. It took me a day to figure out exactly how to register and get the tiles I needed and open in ArcGIS. You must discover this on your own.

2. Download ArcGIS (using 60 day trial) or some other mapping program that can convert a .LAS dataset into a raster.

3. Go watch this video Creating LiDAR-Based Heightmaps in Unity 3D (Using Arc GIS) https://www.youtube....h?v=a5lafgEVNWI

I could never correctly export my Raster to a .TIFF because it was greyed out in the export options. Has something to do with working in a geodatabase. So, I ended up Exporting my Map and cropping in Adobe. This works but I believe may not be delivering the best quality map. Compare my heightmap of MVGC to Shimonko's below. Different croppings but not my point. My trying to learn ArcGIS in one day through youtube only helps so much. Shimonko has probably applied smoothing/blur in Adobe but his image resolution is much better than mine as well. So when you import his map, the course elevations are as smooth as butter. Mine looks rocky and could be smoothed but take hours to accomplish and may not be as accurate. I believe his excludes some vegetations as well. This journey thing...

4. Import LiDAR tiles into ArcGIS, create an LAS Dataset, modify the Dataset properties, convert to a Raster and export as a .TIF

5. Import .TIF into Adobe Photoshop and export as a .RAW. (Must be greyscale and I suggest a 2048x2048 image)

6. Create a terrain in Unity and import your .RAW as your terrain heightmap. Settings and suggestions for how to do this reside within the forum. (wax on/wax off)

Go off and experiment, cuss, learn and evolve. Hopefully, you will come back with something to show us.

[Big A HG]

To spare some scrolling space, I'm not going to quote you, Mpags, but wow, great post.  That's the kind of info I was looking for.  I'll try to be patient in waiting for JNCF.  For now, I'll practice cussing.

[DPRoberts]

Cool. I never know anyone's interest level or ability so more power to you if you can figure it all out. Some things are more of a chore than others. I am enjoying building my own textures library in unity as I wait as well. Any hurdle you can climb playing around with unity will help with your designing as course forge is essentially like a photoshop plug-in. If you don't understand unity, you won't be able to make much happen with forge. It will be nice if public terrain maps could be more easily imported.

[dpeters95]

Developers, can you recommend another program I can use besides ArcGIS that can convert .LAS data to raster that won't cost me $1,500?

I realize there is a 60 day trial for ArcGIS, but...

[chrismess13]

Try 3dem, used it for creating courses in the TW CA. http://freegeography...vailable-here  

hopefully its ok to post the link. I also dont know if it will work in win10

[dpeters95]

Try 3dem, used it for creating courses in the TW CA. http://freegeography...vailable-here  
hopefully its ok to post the link. I also dont know if it will work in win10

Thanks, I'm still using Win 7 64 bit so I'll give it a look...

[shimonko]

This works but I believe may not be delivering the best quality map. Compare my heightmap of MVGC to Shimonko's below. Different croppings but not my point. My trying to learn ArcGIS in one day through youtube only helps so much. Shimonko has probably applied smoothing/blur in Adobe but his image resolution is much better than mine as well. So when you import his map, the course elevations are as smooth as butter. Mine looks rocky and could be smoothed but take hours to accomplish and may not be as accurate. I believe his excludes some vegetations as well. This journey thing...

Hi Mpags, 

A few comments:

1. I can't quite recall if I used LiDAR or not for Muirfield - I could have well used 10m or 30 data, which when upscaled to a 2048 heightmap will naturally smooth. I would have kept the original height samples untouched, just added extra samples interpolated in between (bicubic). I wouldn't have done any other smoothing. LiDAR data I've used for other courses is definitely bumpier, especially if vegetation has been subtracted.You may just be seeing increased accuracy.
    
2. There is 45m of height between pure white and pure black in my heightmap - enough to cover the range found on the course plus 5-10m breathing space. Assuming your heightmap covers a similar range, your houses do look a touch tall to me - just check that if you're converting from a less than 16 bit data to 16 bit, it's being done linearly, not via some gamma function. Also beware that Photoshop doesn't do true 16 bit grayscale, but 15 bit.

[johnmeyer]

Was having a read up about unity terrains and such like, and came across people singing the virtues of Terrain Composer and sunsequently world composer?

 

Not remotely dipped my feet into any of this as of yet as time taken up with lots of other things, but wondered if any of you guys who are experimenting in unity pre CF release, or even those who have it think there is any merits in the terrain importer shown here