Bliz Studio - Devlog 1 Minute Update (2019)

1 Minute Update: Devlog July 18, 2019 The current game I am developing is coming along great. So what am I doing today? Well, I am working on using the Unity 3D Shader Graph to rework all of the materials. The problem? Well, I have never used it before so there will be a bit of a learning curve

A one minute devlog from 2019 about starting on Unity's Shader Graph to change the look and feel of every object in the game. What makes this one useful is the honesty about the starting position: this is a first attempt at a tool that hasn't been used before.

The goal: change the look of everything

The current job is using Unity's Shader Graph to update the look and feel of all the objects in the game. Not one hero asset, all of them.

That's the right scope for a visual pass. Materials only read as intentional when they're consistent, so changing a few objects usually looks worse than changing none. It's an all-or-nothing job by nature.

Learning the tool in public

The plan, stated plainly, is that it will work out somehow, because Shader Graph hasn't been used on this project before. That's the actual starting condition for most new tools, and it's worth seeing said out loud rather than edited out.

Shader Graph is node-based, which means you build a shader by wiring nodes together instead of writing shader code. That makes it approachable, but it also means the first few hours are mostly spent learning what the nodes do rather than producing anything usable.

Stripping back before rebuilding

The first practical step was to strip out a lot of the existing material information in the game, then go back in and apply materials through Shader Graph across all the different objects.

Clearing the old setup first is the right move when you're switching approach. Layering a new material system on top of an old one leaves you unsure which system is responsible for what you're looking at, and that ambiguity is far more expensive than redoing the assignments.

Small object count as an advantage

There aren't a lot of objects in the game, which turns out to be the thing that makes this feasible. The expectation is that once the system is understood, going through and updating everything will be quick.

That's a fair read of how node-based tools go. The cost is heavily front-loaded in learning the graph. Once you have one shader you understand, the rest are variations on it, and the work per object collapses.

This is polish, and that's the point

The framing at the end is worth keeping: this is considered polish. A lot of the game mechanics are already in, and this pass is about making everything look and feel better.

Doing the visual pass after the mechanics are working is the correct order. Shaders applied to a game whose systems are still moving get redone. Shaders applied to a game whose systems are settled are the last mile.