My journey becoming a Unity game developer: Make a game look beautiful-URP and Skybox pt.1

Objective: Create a project using the Universal Render Pipeline for the Control Room. Also, create a Skybox for the outside environment using the Procedural technique.

Procedural Skybox with Directional Light used in the scene.

We’re going to use the Universal Render Pipeline which allows us to create optimized graphics across a range of platforms for our scene. The best way to do this without the possibility of damaging our scene by trying to import URP into our project is to create a new project with URP included.

We need to change the name of the active scene from Sample Scene to Control Scene stage1 as we’re going to save this scene as an Export Package. After the name change, go to the Scenes folder and right-click on Control Scene stage1. Select Export Package, make sure everything in the Control Room stage1 scene’s list is selected and click on Export. Now this scene will be saved as a package that can be used in other projects that we would like to use this scene in.

Changed the scene’s name to Control Room stage1 and created an export package of this scene.

In Unity Hub, create a New Project using URP with the 3D Sample Scene naming it Control Room URP.

Created a new project with URP and a 3D Sample Scene included.

Before we import the Control Room stage1 scene package into this package, let’s organize the Project Assets folder by taking all of the assets Unity installed in this new project and place them inside of a new folder name Unity as we don’t need to use them for our Control Room stage1 scene.

Inside the Assets folder, create a new folder name Unity. Drag all asset folders that Unity URP installed into the Unity folder except the Scenes folder. We will use the Scenes folder to import our Control Room stage1 package into. Right-click on the Scenes folder and select Import Package to choose the Control Room stage1 package from your file’s location or drag the package into the Scenes folder. When the Control Room stage1 package list appears, make sure everything is checked and select Import.

Organized the Assets folder, and imported the Control Room stage1 package.

If the Control Room stage1 scene comes in with a magenta color, go to Edit->Render Pipeline->Universal Render Pipeline->Upgrade Project Materials to URP Materials and click Proceed. This will update the assets in the scene using the URP renderer with their original Shader materials.

Used the URP render pipeline to upgrade the project’s materials.

Let’s change the environment outside of the Control Room by using a Skybox. In the Assets folder, create a new folder name Materials and create a new Material name Skybox inside this folder. Open the Lighting tab (Window->Rendering->Lighting), and drag the Skybox material into the Skybox Material slot. Click back on the Skybox material, and in the Inspector change the Shader to Skybox->Procedural. The Procedural Shader does not require any textures and instead generates a skybox purely from the properties set in the Inspector.

Skybox material created and turned into a Procedural Shader used in the scene.

With the Skybox material still selected, go to the Inspector to change the values of the Skybox’s material. We can change the Sun Size to make it bigger or disappear. Also, the Sun Size Convergence we can make the sun appear closer or further away in the scene.

Using Procedural’s Sun Size and Sun Size Convergence properties.

Change the Atmosphere Thickness to make it appear night time with the moon out, or a cool sunny day, or a hot hazy day. Change Exposure for a darker skybox or a brighter skybox.

Using Procedural’s Atmosphere Thickness and Exposure properties.

Change the Sky Tint to tint the color of the sky. Ground is to change the color of the ground.

Using Procedural’s Sky Tint and Ground properties.

If we manipulate the Directional Light object, we will see the lighting in the scene changes under the influence of a Procedural Skybox.

Using the Directional Light to influence the Procedural Skybox.

Back in the Lighting tab, we can adjust the Environment Lighting’s Intensity Multiplier which uses this to set the brightness of the ambient light in the scene from dark shadows to ultra-violent rays appearance. Under Environment Reflections, change the Intensity Multiplier to a degree in which the reflection source is visible in reflective objects.

Using the Intensity Multiplier under Environment Lighting and Reflections.