THUNGSTEN CLOUDS

Performant cloud shader

Thungsten Clouds is a handcrafted, lightweight, HLSL based system for dynamic clouds and projected shadows for URP and HDRP (BRP support coming in update). Fully modular, performant, environment-aware, and runtime configurable, perfect for realistic skies with minimal setup.

Features

All features can be toggled and configured.

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🌥️ Realistic Cloud Coverage

Built-in layered noise masking and dual-layer parallax scrolled textures creates believable, non-repeating cloud formations. Autogenerated mesh with configurable 3D height detail.

⚡ Performant

Uses a single draw call which is then modulated by clouds and shadows. Adjust resolution and position freely, only rendering pixels that are needed.

🧩 Highly Customizable

Run clouds and projected shadows together or completely separately. Adjust scales, smoothness, puffiness, coverage and more to achieve just the style you want.

☀️ Adapts to Environment

Shadows and lighting respond automatically to your scene's main directional light. Simulate time-of-day shifts with zero manual tweaking.

🔄 Camera Distance Fade

Fade out clouds smoothly with configurable start/end range as the camera comes closer to avoid obstructing gameplay.

⏱️ Custom Time Control

Adjust or freeze cloud movement without touching global time. Pause, rewind, or

accelerate clouds freely.

🪄 User-friendly UI

Comes with a tailored editor that replaces the default inspector for easy configuration.

⚙️ Fully Runtime Configurable

Control all features mentioned above and more settings through code or inspector in the editor or during runtime for varying and smooth effects.

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Use Cases

• Strategy & sim games
• Any game with outdoor scenes
• Lightweight cloud projection for mobile or mid-spec PC

Includes

• 2x seamless 1024×1024 cloud textures for base shape and details (NOTE: these are further randomized through the shader, as to not repeat)
• 1x Realistic Cloud Shape Material Preset
• 1x Stylized Cloud Shape Material Preset
• 1x Documentation in HTML format
• For each render pipeline:
• 1x Prefab easy to drop into any scene
• 1x Demo scene

Extra information

The HLSL shader serves to generate the general cloud shape that both the clouds and their shadows use. The final touches is then done by a respective Shader Graph.

The cloud system works well for both aerial (top-down) and ground-level perspectives with some tweaking of settings.

Requirements

• Unity 2021.3+
• Decal Projector support enabled (in HDRP and URP asset settings)

Help and Feedback

Got feedback, questions before purchasing or need help setting up?

Join the recently started Discord.

Author: develop01c

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THUNGSTEN COMMITMENT

One-time purchase. Every update, every feature - yours for good.

No "Pro" version, no feature lockouts, no upselling. The price may rise, but you keep full access.

Development transparency.

~60 hours of work invested in the initial release.

THUNGSTEN.COM