Forest Pack Lite/Pro 3.4 released

[BBB3]

Sorry I wasn't clear. Yes, I would like to have the flexibility of working with a texture instead of a mat.

[Itoosoft]

Sorry I wasn't clear. Yes, I would like to have the flexibility of working with a texture instead of a map.

Ok, thanks. This will be one of the priority features for the next release.

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

has anyone tried using iGrass with ForestPack yet?

[peterguthrie]

yep, works fine, although you will need to remove any multiscattertexture maps

[flino2004]

the grass by 3dmentor comes forest pack ready to use, Fp was used in their sample scenes
http://www.3dmentor.ru/

Fernando

[Itoosoft]

Thanks Carlos! That would be brilliant if you could implement something like that. As a 2d map, there are lots of possibilities, such as using it to vary reflections as well as diffuse colour, and using it to mix between textures, and as I mentioned before, within a vraycomptex.

If you like test it, we just released Forest Pro 3.5.0 beta. It includes Forest Color, a 2d map with some interesting characteristics as random maps and Tint by element:

http://www.itoosoft.com/forum/index.php?topic=733.0

All suggestions about the new features will be welcome.

[peterguthrie]

looks wonderful! will test it out as soon as I can

[peterguthrie]

not too keen on your new subscription scheme though...

As an existing forest 3.x user, do I get 1 free year from date of purchase, and then is it 50 euros per year thereafter?

[plastic_]

Yes, not keen either.
I wont do that. I'm not going to subscribe anything.
If that means that I'm locked out of betas, I can live with that, but I don't like paying for each recompile.

[Itoosoft]

not too keen on your new subscription scheme though...

As an existing forest 3.x user, do I get 1 free year from date of purchase, and then is it 50 euros per year thereafter?

That's it. But i will try to explain you why we have choosed this pricing policy:

In the past, we have released commercial upgrades of our software every two or three years roughly, for a price of 100 Eur. Now, with the new subscription system, you should pay 50 Eur by year, so the cost is the same.

The main difference is that now we can deliver new features instantly, without waiting for an upgrade for two years or more. I think has not sense to save a full set of new features for Forest 4, if you can enjoy it as soon as they are developed.

Besides introducing the subscription scheme, we have improved the volume discounts both for new licenses and renewals, and we have reduced the base price from 200 Eur to 180 Eur.

Yes, not keen either.
I wont do that. I'm not going to subscribe anything.
If that means that I'm locked out of betas, I can live with that, but I don't like paying for each recompile.

That is not our intention. Checking the latest releases, you can see how we work actively to improve our software, introducing new features on each version (many of them by suggestions of our users), and we will continue doing it in the future.

[beestee]

The three year subscription looks like a bargain to me. What happens when a subscription runs out?

nvm, found it myself

"In all cases, current registered users can download and use versions of the software published before the end date of their last subscription plan, and will continue to receive technical support. The subscription renewal is required only to download new versions and upgrades."

Seems a lot more forgiving than most subscriptions these days!

[Geddart]

I have a request/question of possibility...

Would it be possible to scatter objects on a vray displacement? I use Vray Displacement for my terrain so it actually looks different from what I have in the viewport.
Not one of all the scattering plugins out there can do this yet, right?
Possible?

[Morne]

or in the meantime use a slightly lower res plane with max displacement and use that object to scatter on, and then set that object not to render.

just as a workaround?

[Itoosoft]

Would it be possible to scatter objects on a vray displacement? I use Vray Displacement for my terrain so it actually looks different from what I have in the viewport.
Not one of all the scattering plugins out there can do this yet, right?
Possible?

No, it's not possible because the terrain is generated at render time, but the items are scattered in the pre-render stage.

or in the meantime use a slightly lower res plane with max displacement and use that object to scatter on, and then set that object not to render.

Well, if the scene doesn't require an exact alignment over the terrain, it should work.

[ozztheforester]

I understand your concerns about providing a guaranteed cash flow to your company, but in real world whose cash flow is guaranteed anyway? Subscription packages introduced by large companies to tie down their clients to not to go away. It guarantees that even if a company doesn't do much work to develop a package over a year they will have steady income from it, not through the sales but through subscription packages.. It is just against competitiveness...

This is a wrong direction for any software developer to take and I hope someday it would become forbidden by law...

I don't want to be tied down to any package I want to be free to decide whether I want to upgrade or I want to wait for a while or I want to move on to another package...