This was the third part of a series of graphics programming assignments for my study where I experimented with normal mapping and mask cutout. For this assignment I chose to create a ruins moss overlay shader that combines a standard diffuse effect with a normal map of the ruins and a mask cut out texture to try and create a realistic moss effect.
Just a standard diffuse effect looked quite ugly so I decided to combine it with a normal map that was included with the Ruins Creation Kit assets. You can immediately spot the difference below and it looks a lot better! The normal map warps the diffuse-calculated texture alpha further, causing the effect to concentrate mainly in the brick seams of the wall. There was still a little too much moss to my liking, so the next step was to add a mask cut out texture.
A mask cut out texture is a simple black and white texture where its whiteness is sampled and multiplied with the moss texture to “cut” out the places on the final moss texture that overlaps with black parts of the mask cut out texture!
Credits:
Ruins Creation Kit by Studio Krokidana
Five Seamless Tileable Ground Textures by A3D – Unity Asset Store