Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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✔️ Works in 2020.1 ➕ 2020.2 ➕ 2020.3
🩹 Fixes:
► Make sure your source mesh has read/write enabled in it's asset importer inspector.

Grass is a tough thing to render in games! In this video, I improve my grass layers script by converting it to use a compute shader and implementing LOD techniques! This makes it run much faster, so I can cover the screen with it!

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🎬 Previous videos
► Grass geometry shader: youtu.be/YghAbgCN8XA
► Introduction to compute shaders: youtu.be/EB5HiqDl7VE

✨Follow up videos
► Procedural blades grass: youtu.be/DeATXF4Szqo
► Improved blade grass: youtu.be/6SFTcDNqwaA

📜 Required scripts
► NMGGrassLayersHelpers.hlsl: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/7dc307df5aba5626f3e2789497937e8b
► GrassLayers.shader: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/1e86d3827a6441a498905359bc20a26a
► GrassLayers.hlsl: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/880ab6aadbaed95de2cabba8b67c410a
► TriCountToVertCount.compute: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/4342891e191064217cc80fd2e95fc531

📚 Reference scripts
► Base shaders: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/e7250105ad4d62beeb3758f203ed411b
► Generating layers: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/a972e1706596ba2c57b0c1f99e5f4883
► Edit mode adjustments: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/7bd707058cc395f945c96cd1f494feb7
► Multiple grass objects: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/de043c1a4e4a208c31169a0d5a6cdd74
► Tiling with world position: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/8b414c553419e5d02a23b50f1049e650
► Adding LOD: gist.github.com/NedMakesGames/8b3546c44e5e97ebdbcd66c63c21d74b

⏲️ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Project setup
1:45 Base shaders
7:44 Generating layers
9:04 Edit mode adjustments
9:27 Multiple grass objects
10:20 Tiling with world position
11:07 Adding LOD
13:53 Wrap up and credits

🎖️ Credits and references:
• Keijiro Takahashi: Noise Ball - github.com/keijiro/NoiseBall2
• Sam Driver: URP Lens Flares - github.com/Anatta336/bright-spots
• TotallyRonja: Compute Shader - ronja-tutorials.com/2020/07/26/compute-shader.html
• DuncanF: MarchingCubesGPU - gist.github.com/DuncanF/353509dd397ea5f292fa52d1b9b5133d
• benblo: TransformBounds - answers.unity.com/questions/361275/cant-convert-bounds-from-world-coordinates-to-loca.html
• Shahriar Shahrabi: grass examples - medium.com/@shahriyarshahrabi/volumetric-grass-shader-28ebb9f6860b
• Brute Force Games: grass examples - bruteforce-games.com/post/grass-shader-devblog-04
• BoxCat Games: music "Love Of My Life" - freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games/Nameless_the_Hackers_RPG_Soundtrack/BoxCat_Games_-_Nameless-_the_Hackers_RPG_Soundtrack_-_16_Love_Of_My_Life

#GameDev #IndieDev #Unity