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

More looks for clouds and ocean (WIP)

 

Ocean WIP - free bonus system for Sky Master v3.0


Configurator for easy sky creation/customization. New volumetric cloud shading/lightning and new dynamic lightning system with proper branches and better control over the lightning lights, plus a LOD system, a vertical formations system, a fade in/out system and much more, for total cloud control.


A first look at the configurator WIP, it mostly contains the editor side of options, to create the sky, apply volumetric cloud prefabs, define weather events and apply image effects and water with underwater support, sun setup etc

The environment in the pic above is created in a few clicks, which setup everything to work together. Clouds can easily be scaled as well, to match different scale environments.

Now i am finishing on the weather patterns and cloud prefabs to get the best aesthetics, adding some more editor side options (addition of windzones, screen water drops etc) and then i will add some real time controls for the editor to easily control the major aspects of the sky during gameplay.

After that it is mostly optimization, refinement and testing and the release is targeted for the end of August or early September.

 

Moon phases will also be in v3.0, i have finished the shader that takes as input the sun light direction and produces the sharp edge that is required. This system will be later expanded with real phases based on month (planned for v3.1)

 

Clouds and ocean WIP, Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0.

A video with the configurator WIP will follow soon.

 

Sky Master v3.0 ULTIMATE, configurator WIP.

The goal is to have the environment shown in the previous post video (clouds and ocean), created with a few clicks as a start and customize from there.

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 - ocean and use with InfiniGRASS






Some work on the water, the results are stunning when used with InfiniGRASS.

Here is an example demo i am working on, while developing SM3.0 (and adjusting InfiniGRASS to work along perfectly with it)

Note that Bandicam makes the video look much slower on my old PC, the actual gameplay is very smooth. Also i had an error when recorded that video that made draw calls 10x the actual ones (320 actual, 2500 with the erroneous prefab), so this is only to show the look, for performance i will post a webplayer demo soon.

 

Sky Master v3.0 fog and lighting with InfiniGRASS

 

WIP on the cloud brightness/coloration presets

UPDATE:

The moon phase shader now has regulated brightness to get any look. The snow fog presets have been polished and the snow shaders tweaked for best results based on the item type.

Gradients for the underwater and snow fog have been added and lots of tweaks have been made to the new lightning and cloud systems updates.

The pack has also been fully intergated with InfiniGRASS and a demo that will showcase (a few of the) new Sky master v3.0 features (water-snow) will be released soon (probably today).

 

Volume haze using Sky Master v3.0


Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 new Snow - Water - Rain Demo (with InfiniGRASS)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/INFINIDY/INFINIGRASS/INFINIGRASS_SKYMASTER3_DEMO.html

This is the demo i created for InfiniGRASS and was made in parallel with Sky Master v3.0 development, so i have a complete showcase of the new snow system (on terrain, meshes, Spedd Tree and InfiniGRASS items) and the new Water system.

Also the refractive rain in FX category in the demo has been reworked for better results and a more complete effect.

 

Ocean, sky and clouds WIP for Sky Master v3.0

.

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 and InfiniGRASS editors

Less than one minute to get the environement - sky - fog - water and paint the grass in real time.

Added filters

Created using Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 and InfiniGRASS editors in less than one minute.

Some filters added to enchance color the initial environment was painted.

The goal is to create a huge number of presets for both packs, so it is easy to get started with an already spectacular setup which will be available very fast and be configured for ease of use.

And this is also winter ready, with gradual snow growth support for both the terrain and grass.

 

Update Interval is set low for demo (time lapse) purposes, boost volume cloud performance by adjusting this update for the day cycle (0.1-0.2).

1080p resolution and 0.2 update interval

Without Sky Master, for reference

Without Volume Clouds, for reference


Some performance boost tips and benchmarks for Sky Master, the system is almost transparent on my rather old PC (core 2 duo CPU) even with true volumetric clouds enabled.

There is a performance boost option in volumetric clouds (Update Interval) that is set very low for the demo time lapse and the system can be boosted in performance by setting it to 0.1-0.2 or higher, for the actual day cycle.

In the latest version there are also two extra performance boost parameters, to spread the calculations in frames, the "Max_divider" and "Cloud_spread_delay" parameters, set above one (2-3 recommended) for a further performance gain.

 

Sky Master v3.0 water - clouds - fog and InfiniGRASS foliage.

InfiniGRASS is best used with Sky Master v3.0 for gradual snow growth. It has also been tested extensively with the volumetric fog and the new water systems for total integration.

 

Performance tests of in Sky Master 3.0 WIP - volumetic clouds (new shader), new shader based cloud dome for higher clouds, new detailed lightning and new ocean system.

 

More moon controls, bump, coloration (optional), scaling etc

 

New higher cloud dome shading, various options for various looks

 

Demo of the snow and water systems

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 new Snow - Water - Rain Demo (with InfiniGRASS)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/79230236/INFINIDY/INFINIGRASS/INFINIGRASS_SKYMASTER3_DEMO.html

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 is a complete remake of the v2.x systems (always as new options to keep compatibility with previous work)

New Volumetric Cloud shading and LOD/fade feature, new shader based cloud dome for higher altitude clouds, new Snow system for gradual realistic snow coverage on all items (SpeedTree, Unity trees, grass, InfiniGRASS, meshes etc), new Ocean system for spectacular water scenes, volume lit particles (with Abomb sample), new detailed procedural lighting, new Volume Weather system for realistic weather patterns and timed events, new Moon shading for Moon Phases and much more.

The pack will also provide a new configurator module, that will bring all the above together and allow the combination of the various systems and weather event definition in an easy to use interface, for increased ease of use.

 

Looking good! Any ETA for release of 3.0?
Is InfiniGrass included as part of 3.0?

Cheers!
Mark

 

Hi Mark,

I am working around the clock to make it happen as fast as possible, i am in the final integration and polishing stage and the configurator features (like automatic global particle scaling etc)

The goal is to provide a super easy to use workflow for all the systems, including all the new ones in v3.0.

I cant give a hard estimation, but given all systems are in place and working, i think i will have a fully working whole system near the end of September, with a release early October.

I have revisited all aspects of the pack and nearly all systems have new features and details, which also need to go to the configurator, so it is a lot of work to be done still, but is getting there.

InfiniGRASS is a separate asset, but was create alongside v3.0 snow and water system, so i made sure the next gen grass can receive snow and work with water when used with Sky Master v3.0 weather, for full compatibility between the packs.

The Ocean/Water module will be a free bonus and included in Sky Master v3.0. It may receive its own pack later as well (but will remain free and included/updated for all Sky Master ULTIMATE users)

 

Screen rain drops, sun through clouds interacting with rain and lightning clouds.


New dynamic procedural Lightning system and Volumetric cloud shaders with scattering and local lights. 2.5-4 ms, 3ms average in my old PC and 1080p.


Made with 5 mouse clicks in the new configurator. Auto optimized for maximum performance. True volume clouds, ocean (with reflect/refract), higher clouds (two layers) and multiple image effects with just 3.5-4ms in my old PC and in 1080p resolution.

The "Cloudy" weather day time higher and volume clouds are now tweaked and integrated in the configurator and control system. Moving on to defining the final weather patterns and further configurator features.

Clouds are also auto-optimized for maximum performance.

Screen drops may also be activated and setup with one click.

 

Using the volumetric fog in the new weather styles (Light Rain), with InfiniGRASS for foliage.

Refractive rain is used and the final effect will also have small screen space rain drops

 

Krikey, you got me jonsin' for Infingrass now. LOL
Keep on keeping on.

Mark

 

Definitly will , InfiniGRASS is making my own dreams of having some super grass in my game come true as well, so like all my packs this will get updated for eternity

I already work on new fern and ruins brushes, since grass is nothing without some ruins to cast shadows on

I post a few pics with ruins, one before, one during and two after the gradual snow coverage

Now i am hard at work on delivering Sky Master 3.0, so i can then go all out in making amazing scenes using the two packs and making various demos out of them. The InfiniGRASS experience is also moving to InfiniTREE, so hopefully by Christmas i will have an as spectacular looking tree system to go along with everything else.

 

Underwater WIP for Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0, adjusting the blur, volume fog, aberration, adding dynamic caustics, dynamic light shafts and tweaking per time of day.

Rocks and weed are painted with InfiniGRASS (use of the current "rock" brush and the new v1.3 "realistic rock" prefab)

 

Moon light, night ocean and new clouds

 

Beautiful stuff! I am looking forward to be using this for my next project

 

Many thanks .

I am now working on adding a mass placement feature as well, to make the spreading easier over large terrain areas and evaluating how i could have fire spread emulation for more dynamic effects.

I also plan to use it with your extremely cool sprite shader and see what new possibilities this would open.

 

Wow that sounds awesome, can't wait to see it in action!

 

WIP on the shader based clouds, for higher cloud altitudes.

 

First video of the new Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 experience. ​

This area is created with a few clicks in the new configurator and everything works out of the box without any further setup requirement. There is a lot to be done still, adding some filters automatically and changing to an udnderwater sound when going below the surface etc

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 (Grass is created with InfiniGRASS v1.2)

 

Water and Underwater WIP

I finally solved the mystery where the instantiated image filters would play fine when i inserted them from the editor and lost the shader reference when i inserted from script (the water script was adding the underwater blur and aberration to the camera the first time there is a dive).

The solution was to add the filter components from the custom inspector script, which is on the editor side, so the import settings shaders passed correctly to the component

I post this as it may come in handy for everyone that has a similar issue.

 

A storm is coming !!!​

Sky Master ULTIMATE v.3.0 new Volumetric Storm WIP, for the most realistic storm effect, with true volume in clouds and light interaction that truly emits within the cloud mass.

The overall look is still in heavy WIP, and there are no higher shader based cloud bed yet that complete the effect and mood. The ocean will also receive a change based on the specific weather.

Older WIP of the video:

Spoiler

 

WIP from the new Volume Weather module




Update:

The automatic scaling for all components is almost done and the work in the configurator is going very well. Hopefully i will have the first version working near this weekend and present the first videos of the new workflow and tools.

A global World Scale variable will auto assign sizes to all systems that require scaling (volume clouds, particle clouds, cloud dome, stars etc) for easy placement depending on desired world sizes.

An automatic particle scaler tool will also be availble to further refine cloud scaling for individual systems.

 

WIP video on Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0

 

Sun shafts underwater

 

Underwater Master, i am getting closer to the final automated creation of everything underwater. There are just a few tweaks left (specifically the fog should be thicker, the sun should filter less when going deeper and clouds now show through water etc)

Also i will have another sound for underwater

 

Glacier formation and option slow movement motion using the new Ocean module in Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0. Caustics can be visible below the ice.

 

I have opened a Unity5 Template Scene 2.0, and hit play.
I get:
chanType.dimension == 0
UnityEngine.GameObject:SetActive(Boolean)
Artngame.SKYMASTER.SkyMasterManager:Start() (at Assets/SkyMaster/Scripts/V1.0 Scripts/SkyMasterManager.cs:526)

Nothing else in the scene yet, just SkyMaster. Any ideas as to the cause and the fix?

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

I checked the scene and i cannot replicate the error. What Unity version do you use ? I am testing on Unity 5.1.1f1.

Also is the error game stopping ? There is a known bug in Unity that can cause the
"chanType.dimension == 0" in certain particle system configurations, so this could be a cause in combination with a different Unity version.

From what i gather this error is not game stopping, but i will send a message to Unity to see if they have any development on this issue.

Best,
Nasos

 

I also checked like 526 and is a call to the Leaves particle, so the activation of this particle based on season or on demand may cause the internal bug issue related to particles.

 

I want that ocean shader just for the color fading depth thing. Where it's transparent at first but then it gets more blue as it goes deeper.

 

That is definitly one of the coolest aspects, along with the subsurface scattering.

The first v3.0 will be about getting all the basics down (shading, integration, automatic setup, complete underwater environment with caustics, filters, fog etc) and v3.1 will be moving towards giving a lot of artistic control over every ocean aspect, more wave detail and controls and many more presets for various styles.

Also gameplay related features will be considered for v3.x cycle, like buoyancy etc

 

I'm going to talk with my team about getting this sometime, so

 

I am very close to the first beta, so i hope it will soon be on the store. It is a behemoth update so i cant say exact date, but is now very close.

I remade all of Sky Master 2.0 in almost every aspect and added multiple new systems like gradual snow coverage for all Unity items (InfiniGRASS, Speed Tree, Unity trees, billboards, meshes, terrain etc), moon phases and a complete ocean system with underwater etc.

Plus a new automated configuration tool, with extensions like a particle scaler and event based handlers for weather.

 

I'll be watching for it on the store.

Need that water shader. I need it.

 

Volumetric cloud style sets, selectable in inspector/configurator - the 3rd set is anime clouds



Ocean and clouds

Here is some more pics i took from the WIP with both ocean and clouds

Also the two icon sets that will be used to select which volume cloud set to apply in the configurator. These are the lighter clouds and ones with more particles (better for camera roll etc). Anime cloud set is also WIP

Many more sets will come in later updates as well and a similar system will apply for the ocean styles as well

 

More on ocean and clouds, in clear water

 

WIP on ocean and volumetric clouds for realistic setting

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 snow and InfiniGRASS integration






UPDATE:

Most of the volumetric clouds have been defined and weather patterns based on them as well, so I am gettting closer to finilizing the system.

There is many parameters still to tweak and test, but it is now 95% there so the release of the behemoth update is getting closer.

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.0 is like a whole new asset, remade in almost every regard and with brand new spectacular snow and water systems to go along with the sky, for a complete atmosphere and environment creation suit.

The system will also combine with InfiniGRASS (and InfiniTREE 2 when it releases) for optimized and performant next generation grass and foliage to further complete a trully epic and AAA world generation.

 

Yeah, I read that it has _something_ to do with particles, but there has been no definitive answer. I'm on Unity 5.2.0.f3
It is not a games topper, but I try to avoid bug creep. What starts off as a minor annoyance can grow as one adds additional code or assets. If you, I, or anyone else finds a fix, it should be posted.

Keep driving that 3.0 version! I can hardly wait to see the Configurator and all the advanced capabilities that have been teasing us with, Nasos. It looks frickin' awesome!
Mark