Monday, November 7, 2016

Creating a holographic map of Barovia

TL;DR Download Unity and create a project. Add a terrain game object. Size it to match the map proportions. Add the map as a texture. Use the fixed height terrain tools to paint the appropriate parts of the map to the right elevations. All done.

First Version






With Fog, Sound Effects, et.al.







I have been a big fan of Mike Schley's Dungeons & Dragons maps for a while. Their high resolution and detail make them great for working with on alternate platforms. Recently, I decided to try and convert some of his maps of Barovia from Curse of Strahd to display on HoloLens.

Well... and this is going to be a short post... it turns out to be really easy and not necessarily deserving of too much detail, but I'll pad it a bit to make it look a bit more impressive.

First off, I used Unity, which you can get for free. There are technical preview builds for AR/VR platforms — I used this one for HoloLens. In my case, as I'm building for HoloLens you need that though you could also use the HoloLens emulator. If you wanted you could also build for another platform — this process should work equally well for Occulus, Cardboard, etc., or even just for display within Unity or even output for PC, just wouldn't be a holographic virtual 3D map.

First I trimmed the edges of the Barovia map — not technically necessary but helps to reduce file and image sizes a bit. This left me with a map size of 7050 x 4400 pixels representing ~90K x ~56K feet or 27,538 meters by 17,187 meters.

The map of Barovia has contour lines which will be used for elevation. The contour lines are 1000 feet each or 10K feet from lowest to highest elevation.



The next step was a bit of math to determine the display size. Unity uses arbitrary units and HoloLens works on a scale of 1 Unity unit = 1 meter. I wanted the map to be big, so to fit (barely) my living room, I chose a scale factor of 2000 which ends up with a map size of 3.525 x 2.2 which is both the Unity map size and the size, in meters, of the resulting hologram.

Within Unity I created a 3D terrain. Select the terrain object, and go to settings. Set the length and width to 2.2 and 3.525 (the z and x axis). For the height, if using the same scale as the length and width, it would end up being around 0.05. However, when I tested this it was less dramatic than I would like. After experimenting with various options I settled on a 4x vertical scale on the y axis relative to the x and z, which ended up at 0.2 height. With my vertical scale set, each increase in a contour line — 1000 feet in the map — is an elevation increase of 0.02 in Unity.

The Unity terrain tools are not well loved, and many people use third party tools, but the built in tools are free and you can get what you need done, if a bit slowly. With the terrain selected choose the Paint Texture tool and then Edit Textures. Add the map (the map of Barovia that is) and set it to the same size as the terrain itself (2.2 by 3.525).

Next select the fixed height terrain tool. Using the hard edge brush with a 100 opacity and then a height equal to the elevation (in contour lines) you are painting x 0.02. I tend to vary the size of the brush as I go. Then I painted the map, raising each contour section of the map's elevation. When roughly done there was a fair amount of touch up but as the contour lines themselves stretch between the lower and higher elevations they handle distortion well. Below are examples from a call out map of Yester Hill.


I also looked at smoothing the terrain between elevations, but this quickly started to look like a couple orders of magnitude more work and a lot more artistic judgement than I had time for. Once that was done, I set various HoloLens specific settings, built and deployed to HoloLens. As HoloLens has built in video capture I could create video of the result and save it. And that was version one.

For additional versions I made it darker with moon and moonlight, added spatial sound effects — sound that emanates from a specific location and varies by direction and distance, fog clouds from the Unity standard assets, as well as lightning, and more.

I also added gaze events to open additional maps such as this one of Tsolenka Pass. This map was generated at mini / battle map scale to 5 map feet = 1 physical inch. The map has 1000 feet of elevation which results in a holographic object that is 16.67 feet tall.


23 comments:

  1. This is amazing! Have you continued to work on these? The Tsolenka Pass is particularly great to see because your VR shows just how massive those cliff walls really are when compared to the original map.

    Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I've been working on using machine learning to create relief maps but its been slow going.

      This was my latest project: http://www.autogenerated.com/2017/02/building-star-wars-armada-for-hololens.html

      Next up, I thought I would try and build something similar for D&D mass combat. We'll see though.

      Delete
  2. Audio began playing as soon as I opened this site, so frustrating! BMW parts

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your writing style truly enjoying this web site . zf transmission parts

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beginning with the unnecessary flashback to the tale of Kirk’s father’s heroism, we’re treated to one tired battle scene after another. a course in miracles

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like this weblog it’s a master piece! Glad I discovered this on google. Windshield Replacement

    ReplyDelete
  7. You make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers. hyundai spare parts price

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work… Buick Envision

    ReplyDelete
  9. After research a few of the blog posts in your website now, and I really like your method of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website listing and will probably be checking again soon. Pls check out my web page as nicely and let me know what you think. car paint bubbles

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dealerships will absolutely work with you in either case. In any case, on the off chance that you have a low FICO rating, contingent upon how awful your record of loan repayment is, the dealership might be slanted to offer you a higher rate of intrigue and a lower credit restrain on first time purchaser auto advances rather than somebody that has not committed any credit errors in their budgetary life yet.RV'S for sale in Missouri

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was reading some of your content on this website and I conceive this internet site is really informative ! Keep on putting up. whatcountyamiin

    ReplyDelete
  12. Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! garmin maps update free download

    ReplyDelete
  13. t is not by any means the only one ... even if you are not quite at the level of a professional knitter just yet. Kierrosmittari

    ReplyDelete
  14. a course in miracles Very efficiently written information. It will be beneficial to anybody who utilizes it, including me. Keep up the good work. For sure i will check out more posts. This site seems to get a good amount of visitors.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It is an excellent blog, I have ever seen. I found all the material on this blog utmost unique and well written. And, I have decided to visit it again and again. a course in miracles free

    ReplyDelete
  16. After reading your post, I have created a holographical map of Barovia. I always find your website helpful because you have helped me with comprehensible content. Dissertation Writing Service

    ReplyDelete
  17. This would be the right weblog if you would like to find out about this topic. You recognize a lot its almost challenging to argue along with you (not too I really would want…HaHa). You certainly put a different spin for a topic thats been discussed for several years. Great stuff, just fantastic! Power Harrow

    ReplyDelete
  18. While there are certain techniques and tips one can use for poetry writing, the whole process of creation is rather spontaneous and can take many different forms. It can be said that composing a poem cannot be regulated and you can buy a poem

    ReplyDelete
  19. exotic car rental in Las Vegas. I was kind of excited but really had no idea what to expect. I searched online, found a company, called and asked a few questions and before I knew it, I got a call that the car was waiting for me downstairs. Lamborghini Rental

    ReplyDelete
  20. WOW, you exactly have talent! Don't you want to buy compare and contrast essay to make a comparison of these maps? I can provide you with such a help.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Genuinely, this article is truly one of the absolute best throughout the entire existence of articles. I'm an antique 'Article' gatherer and I at times read a few new articles on the off chance that I think that they are fascinating. What's more, I viewed this as one pretty captivating and it ought to go into my assortment. Generally excellent work!

    ReplyDelete