Graphics [HDRP-UPR ✅] Sky Master ULTIMATE-Physical skybox-Volume clouds-Weather FX-Ocean-Realtime GI-Mobile

UPDATE:

The new Unity 5 native version of Sky Master ULTIMATE has been released. (v1.6.5)

Also the future releases will be Unity 5 oriented, so the upcoming systems (shader based clouds to complement the volume clouds, scatter fog image effect and weather ULTIMATE module) will tie better together and the full power of Unity 5 will be realized.

 

UPDATE:

The integration of Sky Master ULTIMATE and InfiniTREE is now in the works. This will allow all owners of both packs to emulate true seasons with actual real growth of trees, leaf fall emulation in autumn and much more. A custom real Unity terrain foliage growth and splat brush assignment script is also done and beeing polished as well, to complement the effect.

SpeedTree integration with all the above is also considered.

Also i have decided to create many terrains for use with the system and new demos for the seasons, plus some 2D demos with unique art, both of which will be a free gift to all 5 star written reviews of either pack, as a big thanks to everyone that liked and helped the packs move forward.

 

UPDATE:

A few Unity 5 related fixes and parameter additions for the moon halo are coming soon in v1.7.

Also the skybox mode has been decoupled from the main script gameobject, for easier setup and system placement and multiple new additions/tweaks have been made to presets and speed of sky parameter transition application.

Version 1.7 will be submitted this week.

 

The power of true volumetric clouds, scatter fog with special effects and physcially based sky rendering, with just a single draw call, without need of DX11 and working on Shader Model 2.0 !!!! Only in Sky Master !!!!


Some of the WIP for the presets for version 1.7. This is just the first preset during some of the day cycle.

Next preset will have a more toned down realistic look and the third will be an alien sky with halo.

Note that the scatter fog seen in the pics will come in version 1.8, since i want to provide some cool special controls to it.

Enjoy the power of true & fully controllable volumetric clouds, scatter fog with unique special effects and physically based sky rendering with ultimate control, with just a single draw call for volume clouds & sky, without the need of DX11 and working on Shader Model 2.0 for Ultimate compatibility !!!!

Only in Sky Master ULTIMATE !!!!

 

UPDATE:

Time lapse using the real volumetric cloud bed and new scatter fog.

 

Some of the WIP for Sky Master v1.7. One draw call true volumetric particle clouds.

 

Some of the new Artistic Effects possibilities with the new scatter fog art and precision controls. Coming soon in version 1.7 of Sky Master ULTIMATE.

 

Cloud top


Small video of the WIP with scatter fog, HorizON integration, new presets and volumetric clouds.

 

WIP on Sky Master v1.7

 

Integration with SpeedTree for seasonal changes, WIP for v1.7

Gradual color change in leaves. It is also possible to affect any of the other tree materials.

The system is fully compatible with Unity Terrain placed SpeedTree trees as well, for easy en mass change in seasonal control.

 

UPDATE:

Moon lighting and volumetric fog have now been integrated in the day cycle and a few tweaks and presets are made for the various seasonal change samples.

Volumetric clouds coloration is also now much more versatile and can handle night lighting as an option.

Sun shaft control is almost done as well and version 1.7 will be ready for release, after a comprehensive new demo is completed (also nearly done).

 

UPDATE:

The tweaking for a perfect day/night cycle with volumetric clouds and image effects is now complete. This will be a major release for Sky Master, with a new prefab that will cover the full range of new effects and a new demo to showcase the new systems.

Sky Master v1.7 now perfects the sky rendering, haze and day cycle for Unity 5 and taps on the full power of image effects.

Version 1.8 will be bringing shader based higher cloud dome, weather ULTIMATE module for weather scheduling, final version of artistic effects shader for sky rendering and a configurator to easilly access all the huge versatility and power of Sky Master.

 

Spectacular true volumetric particle clouds with just one draw call and using Shader Model 2.0 for Ultimate compatibility.

WIP for the Sky Master v1.7 demo and volumetric cloud presets

Note that the gif is made from screen copy and is not taken from an actual video.

A video of the full new day/night cycle will follow soon.

 

Without cloud shadows

Cloud shadows enabled


Shadows have been added to the volumetric clouds. They can be readilly customizable and effects can be added on top, like rain, lightning etc.

Shadows are affected by sun light direction.

Coming soon in version 1.7 of Sky Master ULTIMATE (Unity 5). The lightning and rain automation for volume clouds will come in version 1.8.

 

New controls for cloud recreation and experiementation in version 1.7.
A wide range of preset clouds will be included.

Airplane demo WIP

 

Old icon

New icon (version 1.7)




UPDATE:

Added some extra tweaks for handling the cloud renewal and duplication in play mode and only a very few things remain for version 1.7 features. The demo is also made in parallel and is almost ready, with a big number of options to showcase the multiple aspects for the pack.

Also i have made a new icon, any suggestions and opinions on this would be welcome

The final icon may also include the word "fast" above the true volumetrics, since this is one of the major perks, the extreme draw call and CPU optimization that makes the volume clouds possible even on my ancient laptop.

Or maybe i do away with all letters, i am not sure yet.

 

Some new pics from the new Presets WIP. All presets will be previewed in the upcoming demo as well.

Sky Master 1.7 volumetric scatter fog will also support full gradient control of color districution, for all kind of cool special effects.

 

Gradient controls for the new volumetric fog and a cool over the top view of the sun.

 

UPDATE:

The True Storm module is finished and will also come in Version 1.7 of Sky Master.

This new complete system allows for very realistic storm clouds, with lighting and lightning. A video will follow soon and the demo is almost done as well.

 

Refractive rain and water drops shader is nearly done and will be included as option in the upcoming v1.7.

Also a screen filter for rainy look is possible and sample will be included.

 

Adding a collider proxy to the ocean and using it with the new Refractive rain system and water drops.

Sky Master version 2.0 is getting close to release, i am putting the final touches and controls to the demo and should be up soon, probably today. It is just that possibilities are endless and i always find something cool to implement

 

UPDATE:

Testing and controls for the gradient based precision control of volumetric fog (something like Firewatch technique) has been finilized and all presets for the new fog are now in place.

Also it has been extensively tested and tied to the sun shafts effect. All effects are handled through the basic control scripts and tie to the day/night cycle and can be easilly altered with the presets system.

 

New ice decal sticking effect setup and shaders.

 

Not sure why noone comments, but all these new effects are pure awesomeness! Please keep up the great work!

 

Thanks a lot , this new version will have a huge update in both sky rendering and volume clouds, plus all the new advanced effects and all will be testable in a demo which i am close to finilize.

I will post this very soon and would love to see opinions and suggestions .

 

Long clouds preset for the volumetric cloud system (WIP)

 

Dual dynamic tornados, that also affect the sample clouds

 

Sky Master v2.0 Demo is up !!! Enjoy

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/Sky Master/UNITY 5/SkyMasterV20DEMO.html

Would be great to hear opionions and further suggestions on the new work . Also this is the first version of the demo, more versions will follow next week after the release, with even more features, polishing and samples.

The pack will be submitted tomorrow for review. I also post two pics showing the new refractive rain under a point light with halo for local lighting.

 

The demo looks great. Can't wait for version 2.0!
I noticed that the rain collides with the volumetric clouds, creating splashes in the sky. A check for tags or layer might fix that. I also could not recreate the splashes in the water portrayed in the pictures.
Code on young Nasos!

 

Thanks , version 2.0 is almost done, so will soon be out

The rain collides with the road plane, which i make transparent when the ocean is active to showcase that the rain can blend nicely with the water, so it is not an actual setup, just for show in the demo. That is why it seems to collide with the clouds too

The system is Shuriken, so it can have controlled collision with layer etc and can be used instead of the standard rain that follows the hero.

In water it would need an approximated plane to collide, so the main reason i have the sample like that is to show that the shader can nicely blend with the water, even without having an exact collider (which can be done, but would be rather expensive)

 

Some more pics from version 2.0 demo

 

Finilized lightning with line renderer. The complete lightning system (particles + line rendering + ligthning) will be included in the upcoming Sky Master 2 ULTIMATE.

 

Sample prefab made with the new Custom Prefab Creation scene. The scene contains all elements and instructions on how to put together a custom sky prefab. The above prefab was put together in a few minutes.

BTW, i get some crazy draw calls from SpeedTree trees on Unity terrain, is there a way to control this number, they seem to be extremely unoptimized.

I use them for the samples, so if you get lots of draw calls in the Sample Custom Prefab, just replace the terrain and trees with the actual ones used in the game or lower shadow distance a lot (i used a big shadow distance, so this could be a reason that trees create so many draw calls).

Version 2.0 is uploaded and the pack will be submitted tomorrow (need to make a video and upload the new demo before submission).

The new price will be $90, so make sure to grab the pack while still at $70.

Features planned for v2.1:
- More lit particle shaders, plus volume lit particles for smoke etc
- More cloud presets and textures
- Shader based cloud dome for higher clouds
- Dual sky setup and handling in the same scene
- Optimization of trees and integration with InfiniTREE for cheap and controllable mass tree placement
- More lightning controls
- Prefab creator Editor and sky library, to automate the custom sky creation further

 

Sky Master v2.0 GUIDE - front page


New demo is up !!!

Contains fixes in the refractive rain (a slight problem with transparency, now fixed) and the new lightning effect (in the 2ond cloud storm preset).

Sky Master v2.0 Demo
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/Sky Master/UNITY 5/SkyMasterV20DEMO2.html

Also showcases the behavior of the refractive rain with various light sources (point and spot lights), in the heavy rain Special Effect sample.

 

A note on the last two demos, there was a memory leak from the gradient texture, in the new volumetric fog image effect, so memory would appear to increase constantly.

Now this is fixed and the final demo will be uploaded soon.

 

UPDATE:

The final demo has been released and the pack has been submitted to the store !!

 

Playing with the one draw call real volumetric particle cloud system. More presets will come and are currenty WIP for v.2.1


Sky Master ULTIMATE 2.0 demo - final
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/Sky Master/UNITY 5/SkyMasterV20DEMO2.html

The pack will be at the current lower price for a few more days, until it passes the store review. The new price is $90.

 

Previous cloud video

Sky Master v2.0 Demo video

 

Ah dude. You are absolutely KILLING me with these teaser videos! Bring on 2.0!!! Lightning looks fantastic and the clouds and moon are totally rocking.

 

Thanks a lot

I have submitted 2.0 already, hopefully will be up by friday, otherwise early next week.

 

Sky Master 2 pack pics


Sky Master ULTIMATE v2.0 was submitted to the store this Tuesday and pending review.

Enjoy true volumetric clouds for spectacular effects and fly throughs, using particles for ultimate customization and true physically based sky rendering in Unity 5 skybox with support for all Unity 5 features (PBR, GI, IBL etc).

A huge number of special and advanced weather effects is also provided (Turbulence, Forces, Batching system, Ice/fire propagation, spread, stick and melt system and much more, individual cost of similar packs would be multiple times the cost of Sky Master ULTIMATE).

Full integration with Speed Tree and Unity 5. Sky and clouds use SM2.0 for Ultimate compatibility. Orthographic camera supported for use in 2D-2.5D games.

Extreme optimization with just one draw call for the True Volumetric clouds and sky !!!!

The cutting edge, extremely optimized & one of the most feature full sky rendering - weather effects - volumetric cloud & fog packs in the gaming industry will be available shortly with complete Unity 5 integration !!!!

Sky Master 2.0 demo
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/Sky Master/UNITY 5/SkyMasterV20DEMO2.html

WIP Features for v2.x:
- More lit particle shaders, plus volume lit particles for smoke etc
- More cloud presets and textures, with even higher detailed & more spectacular cloud scapes
- Shader based cloud dome for higher clouds, with dynamic motion and noise
- Dual sky setup and handling in the same scene
- Optimization of trees and integration with InfiniTREE for cheap and controllable mass tree placement
- More lightning controls, for extra detailed bolts and dynamics

 

More WIP Features for v2.x:

- Sky Editor/Configurator, based on the many new samples and preset systems and the Prefab Creator scene, this editor will make it even easier to put a customized sky together, by refining the various details and offer direct info on them, plus a huge library of sample skies/clouds to choose from with visual feedback (icons and maybe more)
- Weather ULTIMATE module, this will be a higher level weather controller, with a detailed weather control system that will override the sample weather per season currently implemented as an example and will use the new smoother transitions (on demand) to handle the effect transitioning. The goal is to also offer a scehduler with visual feedback in the weather design.
- Snow coverage and snow decals, plus other Unity terrain features, like growing flowers directly on the terrain system

More features will be added as i discover other cool possibilties.

 

Just got 2.0, Going to play with it this weekend. woohoo! But now you tease me with The ConFigUrator!! I be wanting that, man. Stop erading your forum posts and get cracking that code! Kidding, good on ya Nasos. Very nice package. I'm going to have to start a new scene, though, and go through my notes. Seems after popping in 2.0, I'm back to black trees with white leaves again. UNITY! Argh... And does everybody wait 8 hours for a minimalistic level to bake/build its occlusion & GI lighting, just to see "Unknown Error 1, Clustering failed" someone farted in the matrix errors? Holy cow...

Mark

 

I know the problems with Unity 5 are numerous, i tried testing as much as possible and re-testing (that is why the slight delay), but anything that comes across i will try to handle it asap as well. The GI part is the most confusing one, i did not dare to actually bake on the demo scenes on my work PC, but i had tested it with the simpler ocean scene and worked with IBL, GI etc

The configuratior is something i planned for this version, but given the complexity of the system i decided to focus on perfecting the back end of what will be behind the configuratior, which is the presets and integrated new systems. Now it is finally time to focus on making this module and the new Weather controller, since all systems are in place (minus the shader based cloud dome for higher clouds that will also come in the next version).

That said, i have a Custom Prefab Creation scene, with detailed instructions to help put together customized prefabs with the sky, clouds and other elements and cover many of the possible options. I suggest making a copy of that scene for every new prefab to be made so the original remains intact for future use.

Enjoy the pack and let me know for any help needed and suggestions on the system

 

Sky Master v2.0 Release notes:

- The sky rendering is now independent of the placement of the Sky Manager gameobject, thus the system may require some tweaking for older projects that have moved the prefab and adjusted the camera follow factors. In v2.0 the prefab is just droped in the scene and may be moved as a whole and used directly, with new height adjustment for the horizon and ground.

- The Speed Tree placed trees on the terrain are rather expensive, this is beyond Sky Master since Speed Tree is a separate system. As a hint, reducing the shadow distance (set high for the demo) will greatly enchance Speed Tree on Unity terrain performance (shadows create the most draw calls).

- The new image effects when copied from the samples/demos or Custom Prefab Creation scene will work right away. When inserted from the menu, the shaders will require changing to the custom shaders i have included for the volumetric fog and other image effects. Make sure to insert the customized SkyMaster version of the GlobalFog shader in the GlobalFogSkyMaster.cs script (attached to camera), if setting it up from Unity menus.
I would recommend copying the effects from the Custom Prefab Creator scene camera.

 

More WIP Features for v2.x:

- Moon phases and even more night sky and star options

 

Target image for possible Sky preset


Would anyone be interested in a preset for the sky that gives this kind of moon coloration ?

I am working on the new presets for Sky Master next version and configurator module and would love to see what should go in as a priority and other suggestions for the v2.1

I will also be posting the code for the new presets i come up with regularly, together with sample pics, for direct use. Or send it in PM to customers, still TBD.

 

The more presets, the better Users will most likely check the presets first and tweak them for their needs. So it's always best to include as much examples as possible.

 

Agreed , i have many targets for sky and clouds already in the works, this will definitly go in as well. I think i will organize the preset progress with a catalog that will hold the settings for each time of day and sky/fog option, the code for the transitions (or just the parameters if the code is similar to another preset) and images for each time of day of the preset.

This will make it easier to preview and organize the presets and also will make making the library in the new editor module much easier for me too. I will probably do the same for the volume clouds, and have a page to keep their major properties, material/texture and in game look (maybe in various TOD too, depending on the case).

I can already picture how lovely such a catalog would be as presets expand

 

Oh yeah. Liking that moon preset. One thing I've noticed in my fiddling about, the moon rises as the sun is setting, but it has no glow until the sun is gone, in fact, it rises fairly high, the sun disappears and the moon is about 10 - 15% up from the horizon then POP! The glow sort of flashes into place. Also, the man in the moon could use a "face". 8)