Below is a Unity 3D environment we created using Volumetric fog & Mist asset and the Meadow Environment - Dynamic Nature package from the Unity 3D asset store. We also added some forest animals to the scene for a more dynamic feel. The goal was a to create a Virtual tour of this beautiful forest. We will talk about the processes we took to get the scene to look fantastic.
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Volumetric fog is now a standard for triple A games. In this demo we used The Volumetric Fog & Mist Kit we found on the Unity asset store. We've been using the volumetric fog tool for a number of projects over the years because of its ease of use and quality in games. You can quickly make a beautiful scene in your Unity 3D project stand out even more.
ENVIRONMENT DESIGN
To create our environment below we used the Meadow Environment - Dynamic Nature package from the Unity 3D asset store. See video below if you want to know how the asset looks and how we used it in our scene. It's great for Unity 3D terrain design.
We added a few animals we also found on the Unity 3D asset store. That asset is called the Animals Pack Deluxe and it comes with a variety of animals including animal animations. They are prefabs so all you have to do is drag and drop into your scene.
You can download these assets below from the Unity 3D Asset store below
Volumetric Fog & Mist will give depth to your scene and give it a sense of realism. In our project below we created two scenes. We created a day scene to demonstrate the atmospheric depth with volumetric fog. Then we created a morning scene to create that beautiful crisp morning forest to demo straight the morning sun rays
You can adjust the look of your fog buy changing a few parameters to create a more smooth foggy scene to a windy foggy after noon. The kit comes with a few presets that you can use to get a feel of what you want for your scene.
Volumetric fog also gives you the ability to create god rays in your scene as well as light scattering. We recommend pairing this up with some post processing to really give your scene that finished looked. Check out our demo below on using Unity 3D post processing for our forest scene.
The volumetric fog kit also comes with the ability to create fog of war. This is great for anyone creating a multiplayer game where you need to hide the player from view. The volumetric fog kit is highly optimized to work smoothly with your scene.
Getting Started
After installing the Volumetric Fog & Mist navigate to your MAIN CAMERA and go to ADD COMPONENT and look for the VOLUMETRIC FOG & MIST SCRIPT.
Select the VOLUMETRIC FOG & MIST SCRIPT
Sometimes you wont be able to see the fog at first, make sure you adjust the fog height to make sure the fog is visible.
Also you can ONLY see the volumetric fog in GAME VIEW. Be sure to check game view when making adjustments to your fog settings.
To see some quick results go to your preset drop down and check out some of the PRESETS. From there you can adjust your fog settings.
You will notice a lot of setting for the Volumetric Fog and Mist kit. We will go over the most important and most used settings to get your scene looking nice.
General Settings
allows you to Add your own custom made fog profile as well as the preset fog profiles. You can also add a directional light to get even more realistic fog look, this is good if you want to play around with light scattering.
Fog Geometry
Density
allows you to adjust how dense you want the fog in your scene.
Noise strength
controls if you want your for to have a more noisy look or a more smooth soft look.
Scale
The scale controls allows you to control the scale of the noise
Base Height
Where the fog starts on the ground
Fog Colors
Alpha
Allows you to change the opacity of the fog in your scene
Albedo
Lets you control the color of your fog
Light Intensity
Controls the intensity of your sunlight (directional light)
Light Color
Is the color of the light if you have a directional light in your scene hookup to the fog (see general settings)
Copy sun color
Copy the directional lights color to your fog to give it a more realistic look
Sky Haze
Control how hazy you want your sky to be.
Light Scattering
Controls the light shafts or god rays
Sun Shadows
Controls sun shadows you seen in fog
Fog Animation
Check the demo below on adjusting direction the wind is blowing your fog.
You can also create small fog volumes if you don't want to create a fog volume that takes up the entire scene. See video below.
Volumetric Fog & Mist from the Unity 3D asset store is a great asset to make your scene look more dynamic and pretty. We highly recommend this to anymore looking to give their game design project a nice look.
Below is a detailed look of us exploring Volumetric Fog & Mist
We aim to create a community of like minded individuals to share knowledge on game design and art. Stay tuned for more demo's coming soon. Thanks for checking out our blog.
