Updates | starleaflabs

WHATS NEW

Version 1.3.0

Added the ability to import .vox and .qb files to your selected sub-object. There are two options available in the Options toolbar that allow you do define a max number of voxels per sub-object to prevent breaking the 65000 vertex mesh limit.
Created a Voxel Data Renderer component to render your data real time.
Added the ability to deconstruct a Voxel Data through each voxel.
A monkey snuck back in and purposefully changed words in the previous release notes. He has been dealt with.
Added a button to the top to show the bounding boxes of the meshes.
Cleaned up some of the Undo code for performance.
Only calculate the duplicate vertices and mesh simplification when baking the final mesh.
Massive performance update. This includes changes to the Voxel data structure, which should automatically update.
Rearranged the toolbar to better use a thinner inspector window.
Moved the voxel, vertex, and triangle counts off the Name of an object and put it in a sub menu to help with clutter.
Changed "Save Mesh" to "Bake Mesh to Save Location (.asset)".
Changed "Create Game Object" to "Create Game Object from Baked Mesh (hierarchy included)"
Added the tool "Export Data to JSON", which can be used with real time mesh rendering.
Added the tool "Create Real Time Game Object" to create a real time object with the hierarchy intact and the extra renderer necessary to generate the object in real time. This requires you to export the data to .json and place it within the Resources folder.
Updated the Shaders to write to the depth buffer properly and allow for effects like SSAO and Depth of Field.
Changed the Direction enum to VoxelDirection to not interfere with other Assets like NGUI.
Added a Version text to the Options toolbar.
Added a progress bar for baking meshes. Especially useful for large voxel creations with multiple children.
Removed the ProfileTimer class as that was used originally for debugging when the internal Unity profiler couldn't give the necessary info.

Version 1.2

BUG: Fixed creating a new Voxel Forge object from a New Game Object throws an exception. The first time you selected this, it would cause a console error to show becausethe new color system was not initialized properly for new objects.
Created a mesh simplification algorithm to reduce the number of triangles and vertices used in the final mesh saved in the .asset file. This can be previewed by enabling the Preview Final Mesh mode in the Options toolbar.
Added a tool to select all voxels by the current color for the current object.
Added the ability to name an object directly from the editor GUI.
Added a view of the current coordinate of the voxel cursor onthe main toolbar.
The monkeys have been fired. See bug #1 above.
BUG: Fixed tools affecting multiple objects would include all objects, even ones that have been hidden.
Added a special shader to use a normal map to provide special lighting effects to each "voxel" in the saved meshes.
Added two new tools for the Face Toolbar. You can now enable/disable normal map tiling on final mesh faces so that it will not tile the normal map over that quad. Any voxel within a quad that has this marked will enable/disable it for the whole quad. More work will go into this at a later date, but it is functional for now. Note: These tools can only be used while in the Final Preview Mesh mode.
Added in new Materials to allow for Light Mapping, Normal Mapping, Light Mapping with Normal Mapping, Full Alpha with Normal Mapping.
Added in a Active Tool text to see what tool you are currently using.
Disabled the Move Pivot tool when editing the root object.

Version 1.1.0

Added a new VoxelColor class. This automatically converts the old color scheme in the Voxel class to this new one.
Removed the Green highlight from the selected sub-object. Was too confusing with the Cyan highlight to note which was under the Voxel Cursor.
Reworked some of the Mesh generation to reduce the number of vertices. Duplicates have been eliminated. Futher work to be done in 1.2.
Monkeys. Lots of Monkeys.
Added a total count of Vertices and Voxels on the Parts header.
Tools will now affect all objects the drag tool (volume area) covers.
Added a VertexCounter behaviour that can be attached to a game object and will add up all of the vertices and triangles on itself and all children. Useful for trying to keep track of your vertex counts while in the editor.
Added custom color pallet. Can quickly add colors with a name or rename them later. Use the name button to select it and hold down control (or command key) to overwrite the color.

Version 1.0.0

Initial Release.

VOXEL FORGE 1.3

The Voxel Forge tool allows rapid voxel asset generation from within Unity without having to

use external editors to accomplish the same task. Using a hierarchy with each object allows you to create complex objects with multiple submeshes which can be manipulated individually.

The save feature keeps the hierarchy intact within a native Unity .asset file and can be quickly

created as a game object. Voxels can have color, transparency, illumination, and specular

values. No textures are used and allows for very fast rendering.

QUICKSTART GUIDE

1. Create a new empty game object in your scene.

2. Add the Voxel Forge component to it.

3. Pick the Add Voxel tool.

4. Start building.

IMPORTANT NOTES

A Voxel Forge object cannot have a parent object. It is best to setup to a new scene to group your assets to be worked on rather than trying to child a Voxel Forge object to a parent in the scene. You can always create a prefab of the Voxel Forge object itself, which can then be shared across multiple scenes.

KNOWN ISSUES

Occassionally the selection tool will leave behind stray temporary objects, causing you to lose some of your voxels.
Due to the number of vertices generated, the performance on mobile devices is not very good. We are working to reduce this number.
The new lightmapping with normal mapping shader does not work correctly. This is due to a Unity limition on UV channels in the shaders. We are looking into other methods to enable this.
The Json library is the standard Newtonsoft.Json dll and does not work with iOS and WebPlayer builds. The workaround to enable real time rendering for these two build types is to purchase the JSON.net asset from the asset store which can override the basic library included. Just delete or rename the Newtonsoft.Json.dll (just the .dll) in your Voxel Forge asset folders to exlude them as a reference.