LandscapeGrassOutput and GrassType improvements

Hello!

Recently I’ve made feature request for bugfixes and features to LandscapeGrassOutput. I’ve worked on Landscape Auto Material and got a lot of feedback on beautiful LandscapeGrassOutput system.
https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/345567/feature-request-landscape-grass-output-parameters.html

And thanks for Epic, many of this features was implemented.

There are features\bugs that still actual (there are tons of emails about it) and I would to request:

  1. Collision generation tool for Landscape Grass Output meshes with collisions.
    No need to do it dynamicaly, it could be baked for one time on the map to consume performance.

  2. It would be great to have an opportunity to switch grass output references in material instances.
    Currently if you want to change GrassOutput - you need to duplicate a whole master material.

  3. LandscapeGrassType could slow to display grass on game start with high density grass. There is need to delay level start until grass generates around camera or somehow to fix this issue:
    Landscape Grass Takes Forever To Show Up - Rendering - Unreal Engine Forums
    LandscapeGrassType slow to display grass on game start - Rendering - Unreal Engine Forums

  4. In case of values of Min and Max scale in LandscapeGrassType are simillar - scalling doesn’t work at all. So it’s impossible to make uniform scale using this input fields.

Thank you and best regards,
Dmitry Smirnov
VEA Games

Please Epic staff, could you add this to the feature request ?

Hello,
Any updates on this?

That would really be a big help, if resolved.

These are great points!

I’d like to add to this also:

  1. Grass scale influenced by layer alpha - so as the layer the landscape grass type fades to 0, the scale also is multiplied by a number; i.e. 0.25 = the grass scale is reduced as the layer alpha reached zero. This would allow for smoother transitions between layers and more variation from the same grass type.

  2. This is a big one: The ability to spawn Landscape Grass on any static mesh. This is useful for a number of reasons - firstly to save on memory for lightmapped scenes since landscape grass can use the underlying objects lightmap instead of needing it’s own. Secondly for convenience - I could have meshes that blend better with the landscape as they would spawn the same grass output type, the distribution of which could be defined in the material with a vertex color.

Dear Epic!

We have 30 votes in this answer-hub thread, looks like a good number :slight_smile:
May be you will get us some feedback about this nice things?

Yes please!
Collision is one of the biggest overlooked aspects of any game developer, please apply.

This really helpfull

Would greatly appreciate if this was added.

Please Epic, add implement these functions, this will greatly help many projects!

The LAM (Landscape Auto Material) marketplace asset Developer told me, that this is a UE4 lacking feature which makes LAM lacking that auto generated trees and such things have collision. That is really a big problem and I hope Epic can follow this feature requests to make it possible to spawn trees (of course with collision!) with such auto generating functions! Of course grass normally need no collision, but when this functions are used to auto generate also trees in a good way that LAM is doing it, it should be possible with collision!

Dear Epic guys, any updates on this topic? 45 votes it’s a large amount :slight_smile:

Add another vote. Technically speaking you can create a foliage type and then place that in the spawner which does have collision

Hope to see updates on this in 4.23.
Many people are still waiting to spawn trees and stones with collision with LAM (Landscape Auto Material). And the developer/creator and the user (of one of the most sold asset on the UE4 marketplace!) are still waiting for this feature, which is really needed. Automatic placed trees with LAM without collision makes no sense in games. Wee need collisions also on auto created worlds with LAM.
It’s 2 years after this request now.

I’m surprised that Epic hasn’t responded to this at all. This is definitely needed.

I am also wondering. Is there a better place to place a suggestion? I think it will be a very big advantage when also meshes (trees) with collision could be spawned with these Landscape Auto Tools.

I just wanted to Chime in on this. I can say this is Component Size/Quads Related. If i choose a 255x255 quad and a with 2x2 sections and 1x1 components, the grass loads INSTANTLY every time.

Working your way up from there its when you get too many components into play it gets longer and longer as its calculating each section. Now from what i understand as you increase the resolution of the landscape that way, you also increase its verts and whatnot therefore making more calculations occur.

I could be totally off base with some of that 2nd part, but its what i noticed.