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What are the best shaders for mobile platforms ?
Hi everyone, I would like to know what kind of shaders are favored for mobile platform development (3D) and Why ? If anybody can direct me to a good detailed reference where I can learn , I would be grateful. Cheers, Thank you !
Answer by Lilius · Oct 02, 2016 at 06:32 PM
Try this for good detailed reference: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/ShadersOverview.html
There's huge performance differences between mobile devices and it also depends on your game what shaders you could use. With very low poly count you could use standard shader and shadows and it would run fine.
One simple example I can give is vertex color shaders. You can paint your model with vertex colors and could get rid of textures, texture atlasing and UVs and have only one material for your models. It simplifies the modelling work flow (in some cases) and gives nice performance with higher poly count scenes. On the other hand it can look really ugly or too simple, and if you would want to draw colored patterns on a surface, you would have to actually model the patterns. I would use this for a simple tree or a hammer, but not for a t-shirt with palm trees all over it.
Hi there , I had gone through the link you shared before posting the question. I want to get into more details. I am looking for a visual guide also if I can find one. Or may be If I learn well, might as well create one myself. But first I need to learn. Cheers.
If you already have a game under development you could experiment with different shaders that come with unity. There are more in standard assets (Assets -> import package -> Effects). When you find some that you like, start combining them or remove stuff that you don't need. The mobile shaders are a good reference for simple shaders. Then test with profiler on and modify your shaders if needed. Repeat until you have the looks and performance you need. Also video tutorials are good, search Youtube for shaderlab or unity shaders, videos show the effects better with moving and rotating camera. Then modify your shaders again and again and test again and again. In the end you have the answers, what are your target devices and what kind of looks and performance you can accept.
Answer by tanoshimi · Oct 02, 2016 at 05:56 PM
There is nothing "special" about mobile platforms that requires special shaders. Mobile devices simply have more limited processing power (and other resources) because they're primarily designed to make phone calls, not play Call of Duty...
So, you need to write mobile shaders to create the effect that you want, using the most efficient method. But, then again, you should really be doing that anyway - it's just that if targetting PC/Console, you can be more lazy because you've got more resources to play around with and it's less necessary to squeeze performance.
Hello there :D Today we can play Call of Duty too. I just want to notice. :D