GAIA 2021 Material CUTOUT Issue in game Build. Appears as SOLID

[SamRock]

I recently converted my 2019 project to 2021.3.5 (LTS).

GAIA 2020 worked fine on Unity 2021, however, I noticed that tree leaves SOLID instead of CUTOUT. See below video

So I deleted my GAIA PRO 2020 and replaced it with GAIA 2021(non PRO). Copied by PRO trees meshes and Prefab into my projects. Issue still remained. I then decided to look into the Leaves Materials and found that switchingthe Material mode from CUTOUT > SOLID then back to CUTOUT seem to fix the issue in Editor.
But when I build the game, the material reverts back to SOLID mode as seen in above video.

TESTED on New Project :

I did the same on a new Unity 2021 project. Used Trees from GAIA Pro 2020 on GAIA 2021. Same SOLID leaves issue. Swapped the material mode CUTOUT>SOLID>CUTOUT. Editor looks fine now. Build the game and everything is fine!

Conclusion
So this issue seems to appear on my 2019 converted project.
Could you please suggest what could be causing this? I did everything, Delete folder, reimport. Recompile . Nothing seems to work for me.

[SamRock]

@Bryan

@Peter

Hi, this is the same issue I reported on Discord. Would really appreciate if you could advise me here.
Else I need to ditch 2021 (Stable editor) and go back to 2019 (Editor Crashes too many times!) 😞

[Bryan]

We are looking into this, I might have a theory of what could be happening but want to check. 

 

[SamRock]

Thank you so much Bryan 🙂

[Bryan]

So after reviewing the issue is very possible that its the non pro version of Gaia Pro 2021. 
We have made significant changes to the materials, shaders and vegetation. 
I would suggest upgrading to Gaia Pro 2021. 

Now you can use Gaia 2021 but there is no way for us to support it. 
There was a massive load of changes made during these versions, along with the updating Unity versions. 
 

[SamRock]

Thanks @Bryan.

But that makes no sense. It works well in a New project and I am using both Unity 2021 and GAIA 2021.

Are you telling me you have different Shaders & Materials for 2021 PRO and 2021 Non Pro?

It almost sounds like I am tagged like a low class citizen because I didnt buy PRO and hence wont get any support!

[Bryan]

17 hours ago, SamRock said:

It almost sounds like I am tagged like a low class citizen because I didnt buy PRO and hence wont get any support!

Not sure how you make this conclusion. 

You are doing something that is not supported and expecting us to support it.

Instead of upgrading Gaia Pro to Gaia Pro 2021, you are using Gaia 2021 with assets intended for use with Gaia Pro and an entirely different version of Unity.

When we upgrade our products to new versions of Unity there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. We upgrade shaders, and we also upgrade materials. We cater to the different nuances and APIs that Unity introduces and changes, and we add new and better features. After this, there is a massive testing process to ensure that it all works nicely across the pipelines. This is why there is an upgrade fee, and that upgrade fee entitles you to support.

We have no problems with you doing this yourself, but by doing this you will also need to update all your materials and deal with any other issues you encounter along the way. 

[SamRock]

I would have been happy if you just said that its not a GAIA issue. Instead you(your boss) tried to shove the upgrade to avail further support.

Just read this https://forum.unity.com/threads/standard-cutout-shader-working-in-editor-not-in-build.1223088/

Apparently UNITY 2021 adds Shader Graph packages to converted project causing this issue.

Removing this package, fixed my issue! And YES I can now use all your old assets.. So all your "explanation" about having "upgraded" material in PRO is just false. I understand this message is probably coming from your bosses.

Anyways, been using GAIA for several years. I hate to depart in this manner.

I am keeping the 1 star review because i feel cheated by my most favorite asset developer!

[Bryan]

I am glad that your issue is resolved and Gaia was not at fault. 
I do know (looking through the development log) that we have made several changes to the materials and shaders as well. 
Which they could have been performance improvements, and color changes etc. I am not quite sure what Vegetation improvement there was. I am glad that the issue is sorted, and am sorry for my support of not being able to solve this issue for you. 

By no means do you have to upgrade to the pro versions if you wanted to use the non pro versions. 
Please note that switching from pro to non pro could have caused some issues (one being the biomes) which I was under the impression thats what the issue was. We dont want to force anyone to upgrade. By non supported I think there was a bit of a miscommunication in here as well. 

Meaning we do not support the use of older Gaia versions in the newer Unity versions. 
Thats why we make the new versions for purchase if you wanted to do that. 
Having Gaia 2021 is not an issue at all, and I have seen your development of your game for some time. 
Looks like you are making great progress since you started years ago. 

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them! 
 

[Adam]

@SamRock 

I am the guy that works hard to ensure that the team that provides you amazing support and products gets paid.

When you buy an asset, that is the start of the journey. Every single update that Unity does, every render pipeline change they make, and every breaking bug / API change they introduce is something that our team has to respond to, fix, and provide support for.

Like all people, our team can't live forever with no additional income, so we charge annual upgrades, at a fraction of their true cost, to help cover the ongoing support and development needed. The fact that we know your name and your game means that you have been a significant benefactor of this.

The thing that disappoints me is that rather than being thankful for the amazing products and support you have received over the years and doing your part to help, you have subverted the upgrade process, and then trashed us in the Unity review system.