Minimalist - LowPoly Flat/Gradient Shader

Hello!

I've just install Minimalist full version package but textures are not loading, even in the TestMat.
I created a black texture but doesn't work...
I'm using Unity 2009.3.0f6


Best regards.

 

Please make sure that you are using Universal Render pipeline. Minimalist only supports URP in unity 2019.3 for now

 

I'm sorry, I didn't plan for particle support, so I won't be able to work on it anytime soon.

 

Hey! I've installed free version (totally loving it so far) and looking to buy the full one.
But the free version in unity 2019.3 works absolutely fine with standart (build-in) RP. Is it different for full version? Since I don't have any plans to switch to URP just yet.

Also, some of alternative flat lightning assets has some kind of custom fake lights, that work with flat shading. I would prefer your asset, but do you have any plans for this kind of lights in next half a year or so?
It's not a necessity with this style, but it surely can help highlighting some parts of a scene.

Cheers

 

Hi, The full version only works on URP if you are using Unity 2019.3 for now. I'll be updating it to support the Built-in RP very soon.
I don't have any immediate plans to add more features to the existing package. However, I have collected some user-requested features that I want to implement and upload as a separate package. Support for unity lights is included in the plan. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to release the version upgrade within this year. I'm currently working on another tool. you can check that out here. As soon as It's finished, I'll start working on the Minimalist upgrade.

 

Hi! I´ve have same problem. I´ve tested with the free version and after testing I buyed the full version (because it´s a really great shader! ). But I´m using 2019.3 & buit-in RP (and cannot change to URP)... so the purchase has been bit useless

 

Hi, I am really sorry to hear that. Please wait for the Assetstore Sale to end and I’ll update the package right away.

 

That's actually really nice to know

 

me either. Upgraded after trial. It turned out to be unusable (requires URP, and did not notice when buying). Hope to update, thank you

 

Hi
I've imported Minimalist v.2.4.3 into an empty project (URP, 2019.3) but I'm getting only pink material. How can I solve this, please?
Thanks!

 

Hi, I can think of two reasons for this
1. URP is not setup correctly, in this case please check the graphics settings
2. You have downloaded Minimalist from an older version of Unity than 2019.3, in this please delete the downloaded package and redownload from a 2019.3 editor

 

Minimalist has been updated for Unity 2019.3
URP and BRP both are supported now.

 

Hello mate! I'm afraid I'm facing a terrible issue. The GPU instancing does not seem to be working. I created a blank project with nothing but 8 spheres on screen and have enabled GPU instancing. However, the spheres are not being instanced.

I have attached two screenshots illustrating my issue. Screenshot 1 shows 8 spheres using GPU instancing successfully when I used a basic mobile diffuse material. Screenshot 2 shows 8 spheres not using GPU instancing when I used the minimalist shader. I am using built-in render pipeline and am building for mobile platforms.

Please help me solve this issue as I am already 50% into my work and I really need the GPU instancing to work. Thank you!

 

I am looking in to it and will let you know as soon as possible

 

Ahh alright, awesome! Thank you!

 

I have fixed the GPU instancing problem and I'll be uploading an update tomorrow. You will be able to download the update in 2-3 days.

 

Ahh thank you so very much for working so quickly to solve this issue! Will be looking forward to the update.

 

The new version 2.4.6 is now available for unity 2019.3

 

Just updated to 2.4.6. The GPU instancing works splendidly now. Thank you developer!

 

Hi! Before buying, it would be great to know if this shader can be combined with depth of field on the camera?

Thanks!

 

Depth of field should work fine since it's applied to the camera and Minimalist shaders do write in the depth buffer. I haven't tested this so I suggest you test it with the free version before buying.

 

Thanks for your quick reply. I was not able to get DOF. Does that mean it doesnt work or could I have screwed up something that affects your shader?

One more thing. When I look at the CastleDemo in shaded mode I dont see your lightmap. It is visible in lightmap mode though. Is that a limit in the free version or do you have any idea of why that could be?

 

I just tested the depth of field with Unity's post-processing package in 2019.3 and it works fine. Nothing extra needs to be done to get it working. I followed this tutorial link

In the paid version, the castle demo uses a different mode of lightmap (Use as AO). but the free version only has Additive and Multiplicative mode. That's why it's not visible in the free version.

 

Thanks a million for actually testing the DOF and answering my questions. Great support!

 

Is anyone having trouble using late Unity 2019.3.x or Unity 2019.4.x LTS where shader compilation on standalone macOS is causing crashes? We are seeing crashes in builds while Minimal shaders are compiling. If they're included in the pre-warm list (using Graphics settings) the app insta-crashes at launch.

Update: This is a recent bug in Unity 2019.4.0+ and some other versions. It's related to shader local keywords and Fallback shaders that also use local keywords. The fix should be out soon.
https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...hen-custom-shader-with-local-keywords-is-used

If anyone is hitting this problem, edit the Minimalist shader to use Fallback "VertexLit" instead of the Standard shader.

 

Hey hey! This is not a pressing issue, but the asset is giving out a mildly displeasing warning on Unity versions 2019:



Changing the if statement to "#if UNITY_2019_1_OR_NEWER" fixes this though. I was wondering if you could include this change in your next update. Thank you!

 

Thanks. I will add it in the next update.

 

Hi
probably a daft question, but I am using your full package and the materials work fine in the editor, (they look great btw!)
However when I build and run the project I get pink meshes.(both on my project or your Demos)
I am using 2019.3.13 & URP.

Can you tell me what i am missing here?
Thanks.

 

Pink meshes usually mean that the graphics settings are not properly setup. Check your project's graphics settings and make sure that URP is properly set up and your materials ar using the Minimalist URP shaders.

 

Thanks for the fast response, It all works perfectly in the editor & is all set up as you say. Its when I try to make a standalone build that it some how must lose the materials?
Will keep investigating thanks.

 

Did you find anything? I have the same problem, that when I run build on iphone, everything are pink. On editor it works perfectly. Also using URP (8.2) and Unity 2020.1.0f1

 

I tested Minimalist 2.4.6 in a 2019.4 editor with URP(7.3.1) and the build ran fine on android and mac. You can try creating a new URP project, importing Minimalist, and building there. If it doesn't help, you can send me a sample project via email so I can take a look.

 

No news yet. I did create a fresh project with a simple cube and that worked fine when I built it. (2019.4 / URP 7.3.1 / Shaders 2.4.6.)
In my problem project I added the URP package to the project rather than starting from a fresh URP one.
Maybe that somehow stuffs things up.
I will try recreating the project from fresh and see if that fixes it.

 

Ok - rebuilt from a new clean URP project (rather than adding URP in as a package to replace the built in renderer)
That works.

However I did notice that if I change the project settings/ graphics to a 'low quality' URP - it loses the minimalist shader & goes pink again, but only in the the built version. It is fine in all cases in the editor & will build correctly if I put it back to 'high quality'. Bit of an edge case I guess, but hopefully it will allow you find out whats going on there

 

Thanks for the details. I will test it out in low graphics settings.

 

Hey really liking the shader so far, I am having an issue with it, however. I'm using the shader on a custom procedural mesh, and am changing the vertex colours at run time, the colours change as expected; my problem is that the texture I added to the material won't display at all. The texture shows up fine on the same material when added to one of Unity's basic meshes like the cube, but not on my custom mesh. The mesh is created on Start();

 

If you are setting the texture at runtime, it’s possible that the shader keyword TEXTUREMODULE_ON is not enabled. The editor turns it on when you assign a texture in the material inspector. You can manually turn this keyword on and the texture should appear.

 

I change the vertex colours at runtime, the texture, however, is applied in the Inspector. I added "
Shader.EnableKeyword("TEXTUREMODULE_ON");" to the awake class of the mesh with the shader, but this did not seem to do anything.

 

Hi, I tried to recreate the issue but couldn't. I generated a basic cube with vertex color and uv, it's working fine with a preconfigured minimalist material in both srp. I think your use case has some unknown edge cases that's causing the problem. Let me know if you find out what's causing the problem.

 

Hi @Isfaq !

I saw some posts about GPU instancing and batching... I'm curious if the LocalSpace version supports GPU instancing now?

If not, before I buy could I inquire details about the technical blocker for Local Space GPU instancing?

 

Hey mate! I was just using some LocalSpace shader variants and can say that they do work with GPU instancing for me.

 

Excellent news, thank you. GPU instancing is exactly what I need.

 

@Isfaq

Something I noticed while working with your shader... It's not a problem, but something that might be able to be fixed or recommended to avoid in the docs.

If I have a scene that is fully Minimalist shaders, and then add point light in the scene, it adds additional draw calls and breaks some batching.

You can test this by making a few cubes with just Minimalist shaders, that are set to GPU instancing. Add a directional light that casts shadows. Check the draw calls in the game preview.

Then add a point light to the scene, toggle it on and off. Even though the point light does not effect any objects, it still adds additional draw calls.


Side Note:
I'm really enjoying the look that Minimalist might be able to provide my game. I really like that the shaders can accept the main light shadows, light, and AO maps.

I would love to see a version of the shader that has a setting to accept Frag/Vertex/SH lights. Minimalist Lit? I may tool that up myself if needed though.

 

I have to look into this, will follow your steps to recreate.

Thanks for the suggestions, I do have plans for a lit version of minimalist. Although I haven't planned any schedule for it yet due the messy situation of SRPs. I'll working on it while things settle down a bit and it should be real soon.

 

I forgot to mention that was with the built in shader. I haven't tried Minimalist with URP yet.

 

Hi @Isfaq

After working with Minimalist for a bit, I have another suggestion that may help developers, especially for the use case I am considering it.

Recap:
Global Space is centered around the origin, where the distance the object moves in Y for example, effects how the sides gradient is positioned on the Y axis. Front/Back, Left/Right are always projected on the global y axis, regardless of object rotation.

Local Space is centered on the object, where the center of the gradient is the mid point of the object's bounding box. Front/Back, Left/Right are always projected in local space, so when the object rotates the sides rotate with it.


My Suggestion: Hybrid Space
You can think of this as like a global projection for all six sides... Where "Front" is z-positive and "Back" is z-negative. Top would be y-positive, Bottom y-negative, just like Global Space.

The difference is that the start position of the gradient is always centered on the object, like local space, but the color projection comes from global space.

It's easy to think of Hybrid Space as a dynamic bounding box (recall they don't rotate) with the Global Space colors/gradients mapped on each side of the bounding box. Then, the color setup is projected onto the object's local position and rotation.

I hope that suggestion came off clearly, and am curious what this would take to implement

Thanks!

 

Usability-wise, there's no difference but the shaders are totally different. In any case, If I have to change/add new feature, it has to be compatible with both SRPs.

I am still trying to understand the suggestion by the way. Isn't it similar to global space gradient with an offset that is the position of the object?

 

Currently switched over to URP. New project, new graphics tech stack, and thanks for keeping up with URP

Essentially, yes. The idea here is that the gradient side orientation is locked, but the position (and maybe size?) move with the object. Currently the position of the gradient is locked to a fixed position in world space in Global.

 

Hi, cool shader. We are trying to use it on a big multiplayer mobile game.

Any plans on supporting SRP Batcher? It's kinda important feature in terms of production optimization.

 

I haven't planned for it, however, I will let you know after a quick prototype.