Shader Patch v1_4_Materials_Update - PrismaticFlower/shaderpatch GitHub Wiki

The v1.4 update to Shader Patch now includes changes to material config files. Specifically that the RenderType field has been replaced with a Type field. This is not a simple rename however as the accepted values of the Type field isn't the same as what RenderType accepted.

Before going any further it is important to note that old .mtrl files will continue to be accepted by material_munge and there is no need to update to the new format if you do not want to. However a tool for doing so automatically is provided material_updater.

In previous versions the RenderType field controlled exactly what shaders were selected for a material. Due to changes with how materials are handled in Shader Patch itself this became inconvenient from a technical perspective. Instead the concept of Material Type's was introduced and behaviour previously controlled by the rendertype was shifted instead to the material properties.

All Material Type names are simply their old rendertype names minus any .NAME section. So the rendertype normal_ext.specular.dynamic becomes the material type normal_ext with the properties UseSpecularLighting: yes and IsDynamic: yes.

New Properties

Below is a complete listing (minus terrain material stuff, which are internal to SP anyway) of the new material properties added to replace the old rendertypes.

normal_ext changes

Added UseSpecularLighting property.
Added IsDynamic property.

pbr changes

Added NoMetallicRoughnessMap property.
Added UseEmissiveMap property.

skybox changes

Added UseEmissiveMap property.

static_water changes

Added UseSpecularLighting property.

material_updater

Note that the text formatting of material files ran through this tool will not be preserved and any comments inside the files will be lost!

If you'd like to completely update your project to using Material Types there is a new tool included to automate this, named material_updater. It uses the same logic that material_munge and Shader Patch use to read old materials and after applying the fixes it (unlike them) can save the materials back out.

Although I have tested the tool and it appears to work completely I advise you backup your .mtrl files for your project before proceeding. Just so that if something does break you have files you can restore to get stuff working again. If you do encounter issues with the tool feel free to open an issue about it.

After having backuped your material files you simply have to run the tool. It'll open up a folder picker for you, simply point it towards the folder where you keep your material files and it'll get to work. The folder you select will be searched for .mtrl files recursively (so it's folders will be searched and their folders, etc).

Once the tool closes all the material files in the selected folder should be updated. At this point you should be able to munge your project and test ingame that everything is still working as expected.

Legacy Rendertypes Table

Rendertype	Description	Replacement Properties
`basic_unlit`	Simple unlit rendertype.
`normal_ext`	Normal mapped diffuse lighting.
`normal_ext.specular`	Normal mapped diffuse and specular lighting.	`UseSpecularLighting: yes`
`normal_ext.dynamic`	Same as `normal_ext` but for Dynamic Geoemtry.	`IsDynamic: yes`
`normal_ext.specular.dynamic`	Same as `normal_ext.specular`but for Dynamic Geoemtry .	`UseSpecularLighting: yes` and `IsDynamic: yes`
`particle_ext`	Particles
`pbr`	Fairly typical PBR shader, takes `AlbedoMap`, `NormalMap`, `MetallicRoughnessMap` and `AOMap` as input.
`pbr.basic`	Same as above only skipping the `MetallicRoughnessMap`.	`NoMetallicRoughnessMap: yes`
`pbr.emissive`	Same as `pbr` only also using and taking an `EmissiveMap`.	`UseEmissiveMap: yes`
`skybox`	Simple skybox.
`skybox.emissive`	Skybox with an emissive skybox overlaid on top. See EmissivePower and SkyboxEmissive.	`UseEmissiveMap: yes`
`static_water`	Water with dynamic refractions and static reflections.
`static_water.specular`	Water with dynamic refractions, static reflections and specular highlights from lights.	`UseSpecularLighting: yes`