After realizing that the previous shader was not very ideal (yes, it worked, but it was poorly written because I made it during my learning experience), I said "h e c c that" and rebuilt the wisp from scratch. So here's what you have now:

Brand spankin' new shader which perfectly packs all of the necessary visuals into the geometry itself.
No more rigging; the data within the wisp now controls its animation through the shader as well.
1. That's one less skinned mesh on your avatar (it's a static mesh now!)
2. That's also one less animator on your avatar (and those things can get laggy quick).
3. The animation now syncs with your framerate, making it look way smoother for a fraction of the performance cost!
Better allocation of geometry allows the polycount to have been reduced while actually increasing the overall visible detail (you can see the little curved lines from the side now!)
You no longer have to choose a specific prefab for your VR game of choice; it is compatible with all universally.

That said, this does also cut out some stuff, and there are some catches:

That effect a handful of people really liked where it would kind of shimmer through walls is no longer possible under this shader, unfortunately. It was a very niche effect though so I do not anticipate this will be a concern.
At very specific angles, the wisp may disappear in the corner of your vision, but this threshold is very tiny.
There are a couple less lines, but this did end up looking rather nice. If you want to add more, the steps are somewhat technical as you have to comply with the data packing technique I used. Shoot me a message and I'll help you out (or give you the docs if you are a techy person), it's not too hard to do, just a bit unconventional.

As is typical, all previous versions are still available for download all the way back to V1 so if you prefer an older version, it will always be there waiting for you!

Have fun, and happy .. whatever word could reasonably be associated with the action of using this asset!

0 comments

Write a comment

Personal Wisp / Spirit Light now includes a CVR Prop

See all posts from Xan the Dragon // Eti the Spirit