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[WIP - Demo Inside] NextGenSprites: Curvature, Reflection, Dissolve, Liquid and more!

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by garrido86, Jun 16, 2015.

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Do you have Demand for this Asset?

  1. Yes!

    22 vote(s)
    68.8%
  2. Nope.

    2 vote(s)
    6.3%
  3. Not now, maybe for future projects.

    8 vote(s)
    25.0%
  1. garrido86

    garrido86

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    NextGenSprites is now released, please refer to the new Forum:
    http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/re...ites-reflections-liquid-dissolve-more.365717/

    AssetStore link:
    https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/47482

    BETA INVITATIONS CLOSED!

    Hello everybody!

    As you know, Unity ships for 2D Sprites only with a Unlit and Diffuse Shader and that's it.
    I wasn't quite happy with this narrow selection so I began working on a Sprite Shader-Setup that brings us more nice goodies to our beloved Sprites!

    Webplayer Demo - Beta

    So, what does NextGenSprites have to offer?
    • Diffuse Lightning with Tinting (obviously, duh)
    • Curvature (aka Normal Mapping)
    • Surface glossiness
    • Light Emission with Masking and Tint (eg. eyes glow Yellow in darkness)
    • Reflections with Masking
    • Translucency with Density Settings (a second sprite gets revealed by light from behind)
    • Shadow Casting
    • Dissolve effect with Edge Glow
    • FX-Sprites Shaders: Glass(Refraction), Lava(Flow) and Liquid(Refraction+Flow)
    • UI Shader with most of the above features
    • over 30 Dissolve patterns included
    • over 30 Surface Maps for Refraction included
    • over 20 Flow Maps for Lava and Liquid included
    • Nice Material Inspector
    • Uber-/Monster Shader (toggle unused features off to save performance)
    • Helper Scripts
    • Playmaker Extension
    • Production ready example Assets

    Showcase



    Inspector




    More to come :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2015
  2. Rin-Dev

    Rin-Dev

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    Really amazing actually. I love the 2d sprite system but this itself makes it even better. Plus the inspector for it looks neat. Does the inspector create a shader based on settings or does the inspector just provide extras to mess around with ?
     
  3. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Thanks for you interest I, appreciate it a lot!
    Regarding the inspector: Your later guess is correct, it just provides a nice interface for the shader Settings since Unity's default Material Inspector is kinda cluttered. But if there is demand, I could make some sort of button that Generates a ngS Material to the current selected Sprite
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2015
  4. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Guys I updated my Showcase (see my start posting) and if everything goes smoothly I will show morning something X-Ray related. I also plan to deliver a Webplayer demo but this might take some time, though I hope to have it done before an Asset Store release.

    Oh and one last thing, you can make the mirror which you see in the above example also milky!
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  5. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hey Everybody, I updated my Shader now with a dissolve Effect (see start posting for Gif) and I think it looks pretty neat :)

    Anyway, so far I think my Shader is nearly done and then I will go there and make different variations like Unlit, Single Directional Light Lit, Multi Light Lit and also Stacked Sprite.

    Stacked Sprite allows you to Blend between two Sprites, but not just Sprites; Curvature(Normal) Map, Masks and even Cubemaps will be also stackable too! I think this gives us a lot of possibilities for some cool 2D effects! What do you guys think?

    Suggestions are highly welcome!
     
  6. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hello Everybody, I have a big Update regarding ngSprites Material Inspector!
    You can now switch directly from inside the inspector the shader and even the lightning mode:

    The shader itself is now nearly done, last thing missing is a stacked sprites version of the shader.
    As mentioned somewhere before, with stacked sprites you can fade between sprites via script and make visually some interesting effects (like switching a clear glass to smooth/milky).

    I will also make some helper script for sprite fading and what not. Most interestingly is that you will also able to offset the Masks and with that unleash some pretty cool effects. You could for example accomplish a rainy stone Wall by animating the reflection mask's offset - endless possibilities!

    As usually, feedback is highly welcome!
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
    gavinb80, theANMATOR2b and nasos_333 like this.
  7. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Wow it's more then a whole week since the last update, sorry for that! Well just to give an quick update: The shader and inspector are done, now I am working on a Scene-View widget, so that you can directly manipulate the sprites from there!
    After that I will work on the Wiki and make some proper examples scene and record some Tutorials. Yep I think will need about two weeks until I can submit it to the AssetStore.
    BTW, is anyone interested in trying a Beta version?
     
  8. michidk

    michidk

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    Wow sounds really awesome. I would love to try the Beta! Are the examples above included?
     
  9. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Yep the examples are included!
    I will send the beta out this evening around 21:00.
     
  10. nasos_333

    nasos_333

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    Great looking
     
  11. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Thanks that you like it and I hope ngSprites will be as good as your awesome Assets :)
     
    nasos_333 likes this.
  12. gavinb80

    gavinb80

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    This does look really impressive !
     
  13. tango209

    tango209

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    I would like to, thanks.
     
  14. garrido86

    garrido86

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    You are in :)
     
  15. nasos_333

    nasos_333

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    I use a custom shader for my sprites but is not as cool as this one, so would gladly give it a go, if possible
     
  16. IanStanbridge

    IanStanbridge

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    Looks great. I would gladly test it if you want. Does it work on mobile ?
     
  17. Osirius

    Osirius

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    Wow, those showcase gifs look fantastic! Love the inspector UI too.
    If you need another tester I'd be happy to give it a go :)
     
  18. Odorias

    Odorias

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    Really cool stuff! Our current project doesn't have dynamic lighting or anything like it, but for our next project something like this would be fantastic!
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  19. rxmarccall

    rxmarccall

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    For sure something that we could use in our project, please count me in on the Beta.
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  20. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hello everybody, I am sorry that I couldn't fulfill my promise to deliver until 21:00 but there was one last feature I wanted to add to the beta:
    A Sceneview Widget! Yup, you can also change properties(limited for now to floats) directly from your Sceneview without touching the Material Editor!

    And now it's time to roll out and send you guys the Beta. I must also note that the Beta comes without any documentation on how to use it or make maps for the different features. So you need to find out by yourself by looking into the provided example assets. The coming week I will be quite busy, but I will try my best to fill/expand the Wiki.

    Cheers!
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  21. garrido86

    garrido86

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    I haven't tested it on mobile, hence why this beta ;)

    @michidk
    @Odorias

    Could you both please start a conversation with me? For some reason I can't start one with you.
     
  22. BTStone

    BTStone

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    Make this work with 2DToolkit Sprites and you're my hero! :D
     
  23. garrido86

    garrido86

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    I don't have 2DToolkit but I would be happy to pass you the Beta Version, so that you can test it :)

    Edit
    WOW the environment Artwork from your game Sir Eatsalot looks fantastic! With NextGenSprites you could also give the Hero some nice metallic effect :)
     
    BTStone likes this.
  24. BTStone

    BTStone

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    @garrido86 Thank you, would love to get my hands on a beta version!

    And thanks for the kind words! :D
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  25. IanStanbridge

    IanStanbridge

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    Just playing around with the beta. It does all appear to work correctly on mobile apart from the stacked shader. What exactly is the stacked shader ? It also appears to work pretty well with uni2d so you can also animate the sprites that are generated too by just switching the shader that is used by uni2d so you can use bone animations with it.
     
  26. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Wow awesome to know that NGS works with Uni2d, I actually planned on buying Uni2D to test it with NGS but now I don't need to :p

    Regarding the Stacked Shader, it's naming is actually kinda misleading. The idea behind the Stacked shader is to fade between two sprites in-game by using a tweening engine (obviously DoTween ;) ) So maybe I should rename it to "Fade" or something, however, as you note the stacked shader is something you would rather use for special effects and not regularly.

    Thanks for your feedback!

    I am also thinking about renaming X-Ray to Translucency because it seems to be more fitting., that do you guys think?

    About mobile: I am preparing a simple demo where I will test all the shader variants properly and also measure the performance.

    BTW
    I am currently working on the Wiki and it's honestly not very far but I think until Friday it should be finished.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2015
  27. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hey guys, I reworked on the Inspector!
    Do think that those Icons are too big or should I replace them with just text?

    I must also apology for no updates, I had a super busy week but I am finally on track again and I am adding new stuff like drop-shadows!
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  28. IanStanbridge

    IanStanbridge

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    The icons are fine but you should put more header titles in especially when your user interface for the different tabs is not consistent.

    For your shader types at the top you should label the first line as Shader Group and the second group as Shader Type so that people know they have to select from both lines. Since your user interface for the buttons underneath this then changes where the selections are tabs rather than buttons you should then make this clear with another tittle.

    For example Title them as Sprite Channel Selection Tabs or something like that. You need to make it clear that those icons are just to switch through the different channels rather than them being buttons like the shader buttons above them. It isn't clear just by looking at it that you need to navigate through those tabs to fine the places the attach the other channels for the sprites. Also if you can add some tool tips over each of those icons if you hover over them that would also help
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  29. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Thanks Ian for your well written feedback, that's exactly what I need! And "Channel" is also the word I have been looking for :) I will post later a new revision!
     
  30. garrido86

    garrido86

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    I slimed down the inspector a lot and you can also now hide the shader selection!
    What do you guys think?

    Also if you notice, you can now set how fast the reflection scrolls by its position. Scrolling was not implemented in the Beta but now it's finally in and the shader is now complete.

    Now I will continue on making shadows working. SpriteRenderer doesn't support shadows but I have some ideas.

    Edit
    Wohoo working shadows!

    But there is one problem, while casting shadows do always work, receiving shadows is an other case. In order to receive Shadows, transparency needs to be replaced with a cut-out style, this means no smooth edges or alpha gradients. Because of that, I will add another new Shader variant which enables this functionality.

    TLDR; Casting Shadows = Works on all shaders, Receiving Shaders = Only works on "cut-out" shader.

    If you still need alpha gradients and like to receive shadows, then you could use a normal quad and apply a material with a NGS shader to it - that should also work flawlessly.
    Either Way, Shadows won't be really a problem - as long you are on Unity5.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  31. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Just a quick Update:
    • Shader performance slightly improved
    • Emission Tint can be "overshoot" to give Glow (needs Bloom on Camera)
    • Removed Dissolve and X-Ray Shader (they remain in the main shader)
    • Better namings on the Shaders and their properties
    • Added Cast and Receive Shadows Buttons in Scene Widget
    • Added Clip Shader for Receiving Shadows
    Next Step will be adding a Magic/Scifi Dissolve Shader where the edge gets some nice coloring with glow (needs Bloom on Camera). This will also be the last Shader I will add and after that I will purely work on making more helper functions and widgets and also beginning work on documentation and video tutorials.

    Cheers!
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
  32. GhandiJones

    GhandiJones

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    I would love to try the beta for this. Looks quite impressive.
     
  33. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Thanks for your interest Ghandi! I am sorry but I forgot to mention in the OP that Invitations are closed. I am sorry for the inconvenience. But I will upload a Webplayer and Android Demo ASAP!
     
  34. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hello everybody, this week was kinda slow (spent most time debugging problems on mobile) but I still managed to hit two milestones, first and the most important is directive based shader compilation. This means that now you can toggle all features On and Off and won't waste performance on unused features. With that said, the complexity increased and I see myself faced to remove the Fading feature. I excuse this inconvenience but since Fading was kinda a niche feature to begin with, it's absence won't hurt much anyway, nonetheless it will be re-added at a later time.

    Last but not least, proper dissolving with edge glow - enjoy:

    (Kudos to PygmyMonkey Tools for his upcoming Unity GifMaker!)

    Anyway, so far I am happy to have finally finished the Shader, from now development will go much faster and I look forward to send a new Beta in 1 week.

    Next Milestones: Refactor Inspector > Improve Helper Script > Improve SceneView Widget > New Beta Release.
     
    nasos_333 likes this.
  35. nasos_333

    nasos_333

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    The new dissolve is extremely cool :)

    Also great to see shadows addition, these are a must for my project.

    Cant wait for release :)
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  36. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Oh yeah speaking about Shadows, they also work together with dissolvement:
     
  37. Jonathan-Westfall-8Bits

    Jonathan-Westfall-8Bits

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    Wow that looks great. I have not seen a question on this yet or might of overlooked it, but what is your idea for a price tag. So far by what I can see it is definitely a more than worth while buy. I especially enjoy the dissolvement with shadow support. I hope to see more from you in the future.
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  38. p6r

    p6r

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    WOW ! Wonderful !
    Is it possible to add a 2D sided option ???

    6R
     
    garrido86 likes this.
  39. garrido86

    garrido86

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    I am not sure about pricing yet but it definitely won't go beyond 50$. I am also happy that you like the dissolving, there lies a lot of creative potential :)

    Do you mean Double Sided? Yes, you can turn on double sided, but keep in mind that this is a standalone feature which does not work on mobile.

    Alternatively (and this is what Unity recommends anyway) you can flip sprites by negatively scaling the X axis.
    For example:
    Code (CSharp):
    1.         var objScale = transform.localScale;
    2.         objScale.x = -1f;
    3.         transform.localScale = objScale;
     
  40. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Hello everybody, I had unexpectedly a very busy week and couldn't continue work on NGS as much as i wanted to - I apology sincerely to anyone who already planned using NGS in his current project.
    Therefore I will take the later half week off from my day job to fully work on NGS.
    Nonetheless the NGS Shaders are done and mobile optimized as much as possible. Now I am working on adding 3 new special shaders; Glass/Refraction, Water and Magma. I will post later some pictures of those new three shaders ;)
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
  41. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Stained Glass!

    To be precise, this is a Refraction shader and can also be used for water(e.g. a Waterfall, etc.)

    Next step will be a flow map controlled variant Magma Shader. So yeah, my next update will follow on Wednesday where I will show said Refraction/Water and Magma Shader.

    BTW, what do you guys think about a quick pre-view video where I explain what nice things you can do with NGS? Is this worth the time or should I rather keep working on NGS?
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  42. Manny Calavera

    Manny Calavera

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    Looking forward to this!
     
  43. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Water!

    Lava!


    Both are controlled by a Flow-map which are very easy to make (video tutorial will be provided).

    Anyway, I have now finally all shaders done which I wanted to have included with NGS first release.

    Now I will prepare the next Beta release, I hope you guys will like it!
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
    Manny Calavera likes this.
  44. Dahlvash

    Dahlvash

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    After months of frustration with the lack of built-in sprite support; a sprite system choca-full of polished features! Very much looking forward to this release and I cant force my money into my screen hard enough!

    p.s. is that beta invite period still open? :3
     
  45. BTStone

    BTStone

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    Does this work with Ferr2D ? :)
     
  46. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Haha I am glad that you like this! I was currently kinda stuck with the Liquid shader because I encountered some distortion problems, but after some stupid-long bug hunting I finally fixed it yesterday at 2 AM :p

    Anyhow, to further speed-up development, I decided to only included the most important Helper functions.
    But worry not, you get all what you need and anything extra I had in mind was just sugary that isn't really important to the end-product.

    Now something different; Playmaker Actions!

    More coming soon!

    I don't have Ferr2D but as long it uses the SpriteRenderer, I don't see why not :)
    But you know, you can try out yourself, afterall you are in the Beta since the beginning :p
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2015
  47. BTStone

    BTStone

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    Yes I am, is there a new beta out yet?

    Regarding Ferr2D: Sadly, it doesn't use the SpriteRenderer :/
     
  48. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Well NGS should in theory also work with the normal MeshRenderer. We keep in touch about Ferr2D!
     
    BTStone likes this.
  49. garrido86

    garrido86

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    Testing NGS for UI and Font!

    UI and Font shaders will very likely not be included in the initial release but I still hope to do so!
     
    Manny Calavera likes this.
  50. Too-Nerd-To-Die

    Too-Nerd-To-Die

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    I am interested, already have a date for the launch?
    I'm working on a game in the style of Rayman fiesta for mobile devices and these shaders would help me a lot to improve the process in development.
    Do not care much about the visual art as we are still working on them.