Trees vanish!

[Ryder]

Hi all... I tried painting a few trees on my terrain... but before I get close to the trees (as I test the level, OR in editor)... they vanish!

I'm doing something wrong

Is this related to LOD settings?

Thx!

[CreativeOcclusion]

I don't have much experience with the terrain and trees but it sounds like the near clip on the players camera needs to be reduced to a smaller value...There should be a place to adjust this in the player models properties...Hope this helps...

[Ryder]

Hey Tex,

Ahhh.. I'm not recognizing the player models properties panel... where is that?

Also, since this happens in the editor as well as when testing the level... does that point to something else?

Thx.

R

[CreativeOcclusion]

I'm sorry...I know what it is ...I think...At the bottom right of editor click on "Scene Settings"...Go to where it says "Clipping Plane Near" and set it to 0.001 m...This should solve your problem...

[SolarPortal]

yes, i would use a value more of 0.01 as a near clip that is too low and a far clip which is too far will cause more flashing on screen known as z fighting.

If this doesn't work, perhaps try to use create a video.

One other thing that might be happening is the model is not visible but the impostors are. Impostors are the billboards that fade in at a certain distance and where the models fade out, which is why you could be seeing them.
What model are you spraying on the terrain as i do know there is a material creation error on the latest version of skyline that is released to the users.

Thanks for helping @CreativeOcclusion

[Ryder]

Howdy, yeah, it's not related to the clipping plane... as that affects more than vegetation.

I'm spraying "model 0" palm trees on my terrain. They vanish in the distance (makes sense), but then they vanish when I get close.

I was able to measure the distance... the closest I can get to the trees before they disappear... which is 75m

Thanks for your assistance.

R

[SolarPortal]

yes, this sounds like the model materials are not being seen or are invisible. strange.

Q) Does this happen on a new scene with terrain?
Q) Have you edited the settings in the vegetation settings.
Q) Can you send me your scene to check on my pc with
Q) Try recreating your resources which can be done by going to "Skyline/Data/Resources/" and delete both "SkylineMaterialResources.cfg" & "SkylineResources.cfg" but leave the file with base in the name.

I am checking my version now, but my palm trees are showing fine... lol

[CreativeOcclusion]

@Ryder...

the closest I can get to the trees before they disappear

You make a very good beta tester...You find some crazy stuff... LoL

@SolarPortal...

I am checking my version now, but my palm trees are showing fine... lol

I tried out most all the trees and they seem to work fine...It must be a setting in the vegetation...Or a ghost in the machine...

[SolarPortal]

thanks for helping test @CO

@Ryder: can i ask; what is your GFX Card?

[Ryder]

My gfx card: GTX 780

This issue happens on terrain (hills, painted).

The procedure.... go to terrain editor, generate terrain, go to vegetation, models, hit the PLUS key (Model 0 loads), then paint.

The trees seem to fade in and out as you move closer/farther away from them, though the fade effect is very rapid.... but it is certainly not instantaneous.

It's ACTING like LOD probably would...

I've never even visited the Settings in vegetation, let alone changed them

But now that I have... I see LOD settings are there... and under Geometry far... what do you know:
Geometry distance is 75
Imposter Near is 75

Interesting how the thresholds are exactly 75m as I measured. Mere coincidence?

I'll send the scene to the "sales" address... because I have no other.

Regards,

Ryder

[SolarPortal]

gfx card is fine, it was based on older cards might not run the batching as well, but yours is clearly more powerful
yes, your measurements were quite accurate. Nice one!

Anyway, i have tried your scene and they seem to be working fine and are visible up close.
So i wonder if the assets have corrupted, so i will send you the files to try from my computer

Also, part of having a commercial licence means you can contact support through email which is at this address:
"support(at)aurasoft-skyline.co.uk" and i will get back to you asap

Edit: Here you are:

Trees.zip

(1019.77 KiB) Downloaded 673 times

Place in "Asset Library\Models\Nature\Trees" and overwrite the old ones, restart skyline and try the scene again

[Ryder]

OK, I tried with the new tree files... and no change

I've made a screen cast that shows how I produce the problem!

http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cDef1k1l97

the password is "skyline"

BTW, I just started with screencast-o-matic (free), and it's pretty awesome... might be a good way for everyone here to communicate with each other.

Why describe what we do, when we can show it!

Ryder

[Ryder]

"Also, part of having a commercial licence means you can contact support through email which is at this address:
"support(at)aurasoft-skyline.co.uk" and i will get back to you asap "

Ahh... see... if I had a "user page" in Skyline... then I'd paste that link in there

[lordalmighty1]

hi ryder m8, have you changed the scene settings for clipping?



I have done a quick test, and these are the settings I use with no issues so far, hope it helps some. look for settings in red box area

[Ryder]

Hey Mr. lord...

I sure have played with clipping... but that affects the entire terrain, not just the trees.

Because of the behavior of the trees and the range at which they disappear, I'm sure it's related to LOD.

Did you see the video?

Thx,

Ryder

[lordalmighty1]

yeah I watched the vid nice software. oh and goofy accent lol ;p.
not sure what else to suggest myself then if that's the case sorry m8.
how exactly does it effect the terrain for you btw?. never noticed anything my side like but then I'm a bit noob haha

I think the trees though are just billboards is lod stages linked to those I'm not sure ?. I guess they could have lod issues perhaps but I don't get the same issue and have never added anything lod wise to those trees

[SolarPortal]

oh bugger that it still doesn't work!

The issue is most certainly related the Models as what you have shown in the video is the impostors being visible while the models do not show at all. However, the impostors have the image of the tree which is taken when you add the tree to the scene, so not quite sure what is going on in regards to the invisble meshes.

Q) What Ram do you have?
Q) Have you tried to run it in 32 bit or 64 bit depending on which version you run.

Does the same thing happen if you change the mesh to the Spruce_02 in that same folder?

[Ryder]

16G Ram

Not sure what version is running... I'm 64 bit Win8. If it was a DL option... then certainly I grabbed the 64 bit.

LOL... when I tried to load Spruce_02, Skyline instantly crashes. (repeatable... with other mesh files as well)

(clicking on the "Add Mesh" button... right?)

My only super power: several dozen ways I can cause Skyline to crash
http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cDeh1b1Ip7

[Shando]

Hi All,

Just to let you know that I also get a crash when trying to add a mesh via the "Choose Mesh" button. I have tried both 32 & 64 bit versions and various Models.

The Models do, however, work fine when adding via the right-click menu in the Editor (Model->Import Model).

HTH

Shando

[Ryder]

Ahhh! Right clicking and choosing Import Model works!!! But of course you can't "spray" trees down this way.

So that very same palm is loading fine with the method Shando mentions... and it transitions to the impostors at 75m seemlessly.

So it seems to be related to the Spray Vegetation functions...

Ryder

[SolarPortal]

hmm, ok thanks for the input guys

As mentioned before in the past, we will be redoing the vegetation system into a mesh painting system in the new renderer that will hopefully work much better and be easier to use aswell as more features

Can you send me the "Skyline.log" found in the Win32_Release folder even for 64bit bit versions on 2 diff events.
1) Add the palm to the scene and spray. Then send me the Skyline.log.
2) Add the Spruce_02 to the scene and make it crash, then send me the log.

The log is supposed to be in the Win64_Release, but if it is not there, then it will be the one in the Win32_Release folder.
This will help to see if there is another fault.

Thanks for your patience and time

[Shando]

Hi SP,

Just sent you a pm with my logs.

Shando

[SolarPortal]

Can you try these shaders instead as it looks as if the shader is failing to compile which could be the cause of the problem.

Skyline Base Shaders.zip

(24.22 KiB) Downloaded 675 times

Overwrite the file in "Skyline Base Shaders" folder with the files in the archive and try again please

[Ryder]

Hi SP,

Did some digging, and it appears that Skyline installs BOTH the 32 and 64 bit versions (there are directories for each), however, the link in my start menu points to the 32 bit version...

Why did it install that way? Does it try to auto detect what kind of system it's being installed on?

How to get it to use the 64 bit version?

Also, loading a tree through the "Choose Mesh" button, after having changed the base shades files, still crashes for me... 32 and 64 bit.

Regards,

Ryder

[SolarPortal]

I thought the installer set the exe starter for 64bit.. will have to check on this one.

Anyway, both versions are independant and the shortcut created on desktop should have been linked to 64 bit. I just create a shortcut on my taskbar or desktop if not.

I have to say that i am not entirely sure of whats happening as it works on some systems and not others. Perhaps a gfx driver especially nvidia because of CG? I will check the shader out over the next couple of days and see what causes the compile errors. A test exe version may need to be created to test with.

On another note, it would be great to fix this system if possible for current users, but the vegetation system is long overdue and will be recreated in the new renderer to be ever more glorious lol This will be happening in the next month or so.