Crocotile 3D - a new 3d modeling tool that acts like a 2d map editor!
polycounter lvl 6
Hello Polycount community,
I've recently released Crocotile 3D, a 3d modeling tool inspired by 2d map editors. In this editor tiles are used to create 3d scenes/models.
I have never really been that comfortable with the process and functionality of standard 3d editors, but now with Crocotile 3D, I am enjoying working with 3d more than I had before.
You draw to the scene using tiles, which are quads with the tileset texture applied and UVs set. These quads can be moved, and their geometry edited.
Faces/verts can be selected/deselected, moved/flipped/mirrored/rotated.
Tiles can be copied and pasted. There is undo/redo states for everything.
There is a lot more you can do, and the full list of commands can be found at the website which should give you a good idea as to the scope of the features. A video is also available that shows a bit of the modeling process.
You can download it for windows if you want to try it out (I will be looking into making mac/linux versions).
I'd be interested in getting some feedback from this community since everyone here is familiar with 3d programs and might spot certain things that could improve this program.
Thanks!
+Alex
Here are a couple scenes I made with Crocotile 3D (cross-posted from the lowpoly thread in-case you haven't seen them):
I've recently released Crocotile 3D, a 3d modeling tool inspired by 2d map editors. In this editor tiles are used to create 3d scenes/models.
I have never really been that comfortable with the process and functionality of standard 3d editors, but now with Crocotile 3D, I am enjoying working with 3d more than I had before.
You draw to the scene using tiles, which are quads with the tileset texture applied and UVs set. These quads can be moved, and their geometry edited.
Faces/verts can be selected/deselected, moved/flipped/mirrored/rotated.
Tiles can be copied and pasted. There is undo/redo states for everything.
There is a lot more you can do, and the full list of commands can be found at the website which should give you a good idea as to the scope of the features. A video is also available that shows a bit of the modeling process.
You can download it for windows if you want to try it out (I will be looking into making mac/linux versions).
I'd be interested in getting some feedback from this community since everyone here is familiar with 3d programs and might spot certain things that could improve this program.
Thanks!
+Alex
Here are a couple scenes I made with Crocotile 3D (cross-posted from the lowpoly thread in-case you haven't seen them):
Replies
This looks quite fun to use, I will try it out over the weekend and see what I think.
Does this come with any pre-made tile textures or anything to mess around with?
v1.0.5 is available, which adds ability to resize tilesets without messing up UVs..
At the moment I'm experimenting with a visual ruler type of thing to help measure, and judge distances.
Also, it would be very helpful to be able to resize the little window with the texture in it just for the sake of being able to see what's in it a bit better.
Overall, it's a neat program and hopefully you keep on improving it
also, I will have mac version available soon!
I found I was accidentally moving verts I didn't realise were clicked when moving back to draw mode and changing the location of the 3D cursor.
Having draw and edit be completely separate from each other and not have selections in edit mode carry over to draw mode would be helpful, I think.
Sort of like how you can't move selected vertices in Maya after switching to object mode, if that makes sense.
Oh yeah, one last thing, not sure if it's an error on my part, but I found that sometimes (in edit mode) I would be completely unable to select verts to move them, yet I was still able to select faces and move them. I could drag single vertices around, but never have more than one selected. Usually placing a new tile or something would fix this problem for me.
Thanks for the feedback Uberren,
I noticed the issue with the vertices too, I managed to track down the problem and fixed it. I will explore that idea about keep the selection only movable in edit mode- that should be easy to fix.
version 1.0.6 adds a few things. Mouse buttons can be changed, added a show ruler option, plus other changes/fixes. See the changelog for details.
Great job!
should probably say what image types and sizes it can import though. i found it supports pngs and 256 is the regular tile image size but these were not mentioned in your howto or help(so far as i could see). still i am excited to see where this goes keep it up
@3devo , I would use pngs, but you could try others and see if they work, you can also use images larger than 256. There is a circle on the tileset window that you can drag to pan the image if it extends beyond the window. I'll be working on improving the tileset window.
I just demonstrated the program to like 30 or so people today at an indiecitygames meeting. Went well, and I met a few interesting people. Maybe I'll go again.
Also if anyone has any suggestions on where to promote this, that would be helpful too.
Also added a context menu to access editing commands (right click in edit mode). This will make it a bit less reliant on the keyboard.
Check changelog for other changes, fixes.
I will need to create a new video at some point.
https://youtu.be/5enKH9pz7oY
I overlaid some keys to show which ones I am pressing while recording.
I've added the ability to split tiles, and I've also added UV mapping in the tileset window to make editing UVs easier. I've fixed a lot of stuff and made improvements since I last posted here, so you can check the changelog for all the details.
This version adds new Paint tools. This helps with modeling objects and skinning them without leaving the program.
There is also new documentation included that outlines everything in the program.
I created this bunny all in Crocotile 3D:
This version introduces new features that allow grouping tiles together into objects/prefabs and being able to place instances into the scene. Check the howto documentation for more details.
Here's a video of me building some stairs/objects/editing instances, etc:
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-If you used alt instead of spacebar for navigation it would be the exact same as Maya. Spacebar is sometimes used for panning in 2D apps (in Photoshop for instance), but you cant use it like that to pan in the existing 2D Tileset view...
-Paint brush size doesn't update until after cursor moves instead of while [ or ] are being pressed.
-Painting needs HSV sliders, not that many artists think in RGB.
-Animated tile support?
You can flip between RGB and HSL mode by clicking the rgb icon to the right of the paint tools.
Making the brush size indicator refresh after changing size should be a simple fix.
You can pan with spacebar while in the paint tab when tileset area is zoomed in- I'll have to look into implementing it for the tileset tab as well for consistency.
Alt is used for a few different things, so not sure if it'd be best to change spacebar with alt for camera movement- using spacebar is more in line with 2d paint editors than with 3d editors. That being said, I should still look into allowing more customization to the controls.
Any suggestions for how animated tiles should be implemented? I'm imagining perhaps cycling the UVs for specific tiles, like how a spritesheet would cycle through frames. That data would then need to be exportable.
Animated tiles would also need a few settings such as playback speed, time between loops (a randomizer for this would be great for 'natural' effects like swaying grass or running water), or the option to ping-pong back and forth in the sequence.
It would be a lot of work, but would allow environments to really come alive if done well
Another interesting feature you could add would be 'billboard' support (tiles that always face the camera). It was pretty commonly used for characters/monsters back in the PS1 days (Xenogears, Grandia, Breath of Fire 3/4, etc.). Optionally for more important pieces games that billboards would switch out their sprite based on direction the camera was looking from (up to 8 axis; front, back, left, right, and 4x diagonal).
The billboard thing is something I've been planning to add. Now that there are objects/prefabs, I was thinking this could allow different types of objects with specific qualities, such as the billboard characteristic for example.
Depending on how animation support goes, perhaps that might be a way to help/influence the ability to change the sprite based upon the camera angle.
http://libretro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3998&page=7&p=29756&viewfull=1#post29756
I am currently using the shareware version from Itch.io that said - Really awesome application. Normally I worry about UVs while I model and even after they don't come out the best. That said - This application is allowing me to just focus on making awesome 3D art using sprite sheets. Going to probably make an environment or two with this tool and Import it into Unreal 4.
Need to buy a license for this application so that I can export stuff. Not that big of a deal because it is 10 bucks
there was a request that I show how to make something more organic, so I recorded a video where I attempt to create a tree. It might give some ideas on how to approach something less box shaped.
Biggest change is the new keybinding system that allows more flexibility with key configuration, and should make additional features easier to implement. Also fixed some bugs and added other stuff, see below. There was also a 1.2.0b update that fixed an issue with loading scenes if you missed that.
Added: New keybinding system. Read help file for more information and also be sure to report any bugs or issues if you find any.
Added: Ability to rotate selection clockwise/counter-clockwise when holding Shift key and pressing Q,E.
Added: Hold space in tileset tab now allows panning of the tileset if zoomed in.
Added. Option to move crosshair to an object's origin point found in an object's menu when right-clicking an instance.
Added: Rename object points except for the origin.
Added: Subdivide tiles into columns and rows.
Added: Pixel resolution and window size can be configured in the settings.
Fixed: Sometimes applying a UV to an existing tile or copying the UV from a tile would accidentally draw or erase tiles if the mouse was dragged in the process.
Fixed: Moving the origin point of a prefab object would cause issues when rotating tiles immediately afterwards.
Added: Experimental normal map and height map image generation of prefab objects, accessed by right-clicking objects in the Scene tab.
v.1.2.4
Fixed: Zooming in and out could cause the panning to move too slow or stop completely.
Added: Ctrl+A will now select all faces in the scene if no faces or verts are selected.
Added: Ctrl+shift+A,D to select/deselect all object instances in the scene.
Changed: Pressing delete key will now also delete any object instances that are selected.
Added: If a new version is available, it will notify you when you start the program.
Change: nwjs version has been updated to improve compatibility on newer operating systems. Please report if you experience issues running the program.
Fix: alt-tabbing would cause keys to stop triggering due to window losing focus while keys are down. This has been fixed.
Fix: notifications for new versions of the program weren't working correctly due to caching.
Fix: Toggling double-sided mode wouldn't work for tiles that were deconstructed from an object.
Fix: Clicking Crosshair Arrows without dragging them after dragging once would add the drag again to the undo stack causing undo to be inaccurate.
Fix: Tileset window not being displayed under other windows.
Change: Tileset window shouldn't display in taskbar unless minimized.
Added: Rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise now accessible via context menu (right-clicking 3d view while in Edit mode).
Added: A shortcut key for toggling crosshair arrows (the X key).
Fix: Exporting wasn't working. The updated version of nwjs that crocotile3d uses in v1.2.7 has a bug, but a workaround has been implemented now to solve the problems when exporting.
There has been a lot of work done to the editor. In the latest version .gltf and .glb export options have been added, which will make it easier to import your scenes and models into other programs.
There is also a Mirroring option. So you can model one side and have the other side generated while you work.
Check out the changelog for a list of all the improvements!
And also check out the website to download a demo version if you want to try out the program. You can find a gallery there with a bunch of screenshots from users who have made things with the program!
Thumbs up and all that
🐊Hey everyone, it has been almost two years since I last gave an update on Crocotile 3D! A lot has happened in that timeframe, with many updates to the program that has improved things and added new features. I thought I would come and give an update for those who would be interested.
The latest addition adds Animated Tiles / UVs. This feature helps add a lot of life to the scenes you create. Here is an example of something I created in crocotile:
That gif was rendered in Crocotile- as you can see, there has also been some basic animation features implemented and the ability to generate short movie clips.
I took this scene and also imported it into the Godot engine. You can export the animated UVs and program it to work in other engines like Godot if you want. Here is a video link demonstrating it in Godot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TozJ2k0-xmc There is an example project you can download for Godot too.
Check out more information at http://www.crocotile3d.com 🐊💗