Set a New World - Step by Step

Learn how to configure a new world in Voxel Play 3, step by step, in a few minutes.

Step 1:

Go to GameObject - Voxel Play - Create Voxel Play Environment (you can select the default Voxel Play Environment, or with the UI elements). In our case, and to make things more fluid, we will select the second option that will also save you time.

Step 2:

Create or assign a new World Definition asset, by selecting Voxel Play Environment and hitting “Create”.

You will see that the world editor now is enabled, and you can start editing the chunks that are generated in the world.

Step 3:

Go to Terrain Settings and configure the Steps. This option will define the parameters that the Voxel Play Environment will consider generating the world, and it will be produced based on them.

Our goal is to create a Desert environment, and the Step is configured as it follows:

• Sample Heightmap Texture: to make the generation based on a height map texture (which we also designated in the corresponding slot).

• Frequency: The closer to 0, the more stretch the world. We picked 0.5 to have higher number of peaks (dunes).

• Minimum to 0, in order to have flat parts, and maximum to 0.1, which will multiply to the max height of the Voxel Play Environment.

In addition, we can add another step that complements the previous one, for example Threshold. This option checks a value for a minimum. If the value is equal or greater than the minimum, output that value plus an optional number. If the value is less than the minimum, replace it by a constant value.

The “Threshold” step will assure having planes among the different dunes that will be created. Now go to World Editor and reset the world. 

Step 4:

In the project folder, go to Voxel Play - Resources - Worlds (Name of your World) - Biomes, and create a new folder that will contain your Voxel Definition, that will define the visual components of the scene, like textures, trees, vegetation and more.

Inside the folder, Right Click - Create - Voxel Play - Voxel Definition and give it a name, for example DesertTop. Assign the Texture Top, Texture Side and Texture Bottom in their slots. Now duplicate the Voxel Definition, name it DesertDirt for example. And assign the dirt texture.

Step 5:

Go to the Biome asset and assign the Voxel Top and Voxel Dirt that we previously created in their corresponding slots. If you hit “Reset World” you will see the texture correctly applied, and your voxel scene will already start to have the first looks of your amazing upcoming voxel world.

Step 6: 

Now that the world is created and ready to be played on, the next step is to create our First Person Controller. Go to "GameObject - Voxel Play - Create First Person Controller".

Now we have a First Person Controller created with all the dependencies. As a hint, we recommend activating the “Start on Flat” option, which allows the First Person Controller to start on a flat surface in the project, instead of being placed on an irregular surface.

At this point, if you hit play, everything will work well and your voxel world is ready to further be shaped as you desire. 

Step 7:

It's time to add some trees, vegetation, ores and define other additional settings that might correspond to your scene, like underwater plants and more, which is not our case.

I will define a gold element in the “Ores” tab (found in the Biome element):

• Add the element

• Assign de Voxel Definition (texture)

• Define the probability of finding this ore

• Set the veins size end count

Now set the tree density and add the tree elements with the probability of spawning from 0 to 1. In this case we configured 3 cactus types with equal probability of spawning.

The same steps apply for the vegetation:

Additionally, you can assign different biomes with different settings. For example, I want higher points of the environment to avoid spawning trees and vegetation. To do that, I will duplicate my current biome, give it a different name, and disable trees and vegetation, and finally define the altitude from which each biome should be rendered.

For these biomes to work, go to Voxel Play Environment - World Settings - Biomes, and assign all the biomes in their slots. Finally, hit “Reset World” and everything should look based on the previous settings.

This is how our world looks after all the finished configuration:

Watch the step-by-step Tutorial