[HOW-TO] Using custom CG shaders in KSP

[asmi]

Hello,

As you might know, it's possible to load your own shaders into KSP that uses fixed pipeline, but not custom CG shaders as runtime lacks CG compiler and so it's unable to compile the shader. Well, as it turned out, it is possible to do that with little trickery. Here's how:

1. put your shader into some Unity project

2. open it in Unity

3. find the shader in the asset explorer, right click it and select "Reimport"

4. navigate into your Unity project's Temp folder.

There will be a file named "CgBatchOutput.shader". Open it up and it will contain your compiled shader. Now you can load up it's contents however you want (hardcode it into the code, embed it as a resource in dll, put it as a stand-alone file), and the pass this text into constructor of Material object. Bingo! Now you can leverage however complex and cool shaders you want!

A word of caution though - if you opt to use some advanced shader features (like Geometry shaders for example), be aware that there might be users with hardware that doesn't support them. In this case you can either provide a fallback solution, or provide some other sensible reaction to the user.

[Starwaster]

So, I could conceivably import my Crysis fur shader....

[Majiir]

So, I could conceivably import my Crysis fur shader....

No, because KSP is built for DX9 and thus doesn't support geometry shaders.

[asmi]

No, because KSP is built for DX9 and thus doesn't support geometry shaders.

Isn't it using OpenGL?

Anyways I think it's worth trying.

[comham]

I can't seem to get this to work. Perhaps it was just an unintended half-feature in an old version of Unity?

[MartGonzo]

So, I could conceivably import my Crysis fur shader....

No, because KSP is built for DX9 and thus doesn't support geometry shaders.

Shame, imagine how cool hairy rockets would be!

[sarbian]

I can't seem to get this to work. Perhaps it was just an unintended half-feature in an old version of Unity?

It works fine. It's used in MJ and I do it in SmokeScreen too.

[comham]

It works fine. It's used in MJ and I do it in SmokeScreen too.

You are quite right, I tried the same instructions today and they worked. Now to find out how I get the shader working with a kerbtown model.