Terrestrial

Create a land-and-ocean world with moving clouds and night-side city lights.

Visual example

Where to find it

Shader menu: FORGE3D/Planets HD/Terrestrial. Start with Assets/FORGE3D/Planets/Terrestrial/Planet_Terrestrial_01.prefab.

Material: Assets/FORGE3D/Planets/Terrestrial/Materials/Planet_Terrestrial_01.mat. Select the relevant Mesh Renderer > Materials slot, duplicate that material into your own folder, and assign the copy before editing. See material ownership.

Main settings

The surface contains clouds and city emission; the atmosphere is on separate shell renderers. City lights follow texture masks and the night-side shading. They do not add Unity Lights. Keep CityLight Population positive and nonzero. Terrain colors may be hidden by other terrain layers, water or clouds; changing a hidden color does not reveal that layer.

Surface and effect shape

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
Global Boost	_GlobalBoost	Scales the base surface contribution. Adjust after choosing colors; scatter and clouds can still dominate the result.
Height Map	_HeightMap	Texture that distributes surface layers and detail. Its channels shape the material; it is not a terrain mesh generator.
Height Tiling	_HeightTiling	Texture repetition for height. Increase for finer repeated detail; tune its paired motion control separately.
Land Mask	_LandMask	Red selects water versus land; green shapes shores. Replace this map to redesign continents, keeping both channel roles in mind.
Base Color	_BaseColor	Underlying terrain color. Desert, vegetation and mountain layers can cover it, so first inspect the active masks.
Desert Color	_DesertColor	Color of the desert layer. Coverage, mask textures and overlying layers determine where it is visible.
Desert Coverage	_DesertCoverage	Threshold controlling the extent of the desert layer. Compare small changes with the supplied mask and Desert Factors.
Desert Factors	_DesertFactors	Sharpness of the desert layer transition. Higher values make its threshold harder; tune after Coverage.
Vegetation Color	_VegetationColor	Color of the vegetation layer. Coverage, mask textures and overlying layers determine where it is visible.
Vegetation Coverage	_VegetationCoverage	Threshold controlling the extent of the vegetation layer. Compare small changes with the supplied mask and Vegetation Factors.
Vegetation Factors	_VegetationFactors	Sharpness of the vegetation layer transition. Higher values make its threshold harder; tune after Coverage.
Mountain Color	_MountainColor	Color of the mountain layer. Coverage, mask textures and overlying layers determine where it is visible.
Mountain Coverage	_MountainCoverage	Threshold controlling the extent of the mountain layer. Compare small changes with the supplied mask and Mountain Factors.
Mountain Factors	_MountainFactors	Sharpness of the mountain layer transition. Higher values make its threshold harder; tune after Coverage.

Lighting and rim

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
Fresnel Land Color	_FresnelLandColor	Land rim tint; visible only where the land mask and its multiplier allow it.
Fresnel Land Power	_FresnelLandPower	Concentration of the land rim. Increase for a narrower response; enable Frensel Land Mult first.
Frensel Land Mult	_FrenselLandMult	Strength of the land rim. Zero masks changes to its color and power.
Fresnel Water Color	_FresnelWaterColor	Water rim tint. Tune separately from the land rim and atmospheric shell.
Fresnel Water Power	_FresnelWaterPower	Concentration of the water rim. Compare with Fresnel Water Mult enabled.
Fresnel Water Mult	_FresnelWaterMult	Strength of the water rim. Zero masks changes to its color and power.
Scatter Map	_ScatterMap	Color lookup for the view/light-dependent surface shading. Retain the supplied lookup when first changing the palette.
Scatter Color	_ScatterColor	Tints the surface scatter contribution. A dark color can strongly reduce the visible surface.
Scatter Boost	_ScatterBoost	Strength of the scatter contribution. Tune with Scatter Color rather than compensating only with light intensity.
Scatter Indirect	_ScatterIndirect	Adds a floor to the scatter modulation. Raise it cautiously if the surface becomes too dark outside the bright region.
Scatter Stretch	_ScatterStretch	Scales the lookup coordinates, changing the spread of the shading transition. Tune with Scatter Center Shift.
Scatter Center Shift	_ScatterCenterShift	Moves the lookup transition. Adjust to reposition the scatter band without changing the planet Transform.
Land Specular	_LandSpecular	Strength of land highlights. Tune independently of water; cloud shadows also affect this contribution.
Land Smoothness	_LandSmoothness	Smoothness of land highlights. Use a lower value than water for a rougher terrestrial surface.

City lights

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
City Light Map	_CityLightMap	Red-channel city light pattern. It is sampled through CityLight UV Map and restricted by the other masks.
CityLight UV Map	_CityLightUVMap	Red/green channels supply coordinates for City Light Map. Keep the supplied coordinate texture unless redesigning the mapping.
CityLight Mask Map	_CityLightMaskMap	Red-channel mask restricting the city pattern. Land, night shading and cloud shadows also affect the final lights.
CityLight Color	_CityLightColor	Color and brightness of city emission. Inspect the dark side; black removes the colored city contribution.
CityLight Population	_CityLightPopulation	Shapes the density of the masked city pattern. Use a positive nonzero value and inspect at night; it is not a city object count.

Water

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
Water Shore Factor	_WaterShoreFactor	Shapes the shore transition from the Land Mask’s green channel. Tune with Water Shore Color.
Water Detail Factor	_WaterDetailFactor	Exponent shaping the shallow/deep water detail mask. Change it to redistribute water tones rather than move coastlines.
Water Detail Boost	_WaterDetailBoost	Strength of the water detail mask. Work with Water Detail Factor and the deep/shallow colors.
Water Shallow Color	_WaterShallowColor	Color for the shallow/detail end of the water blend. The Height Map and water detail controls determine where it appears.
Water Shore Color	_WaterShoreColor	Tint near shores, shaped by Land Mask and Water Shore Factor.
Water Deep Color	_WaterDeepColor	Color for the deep end of the water blend. Use it to establish the ocean’s overall darker tone.
Water Specular Color	_WaterSpecularColor	Color of water highlights. Tune alongside Water Specular and the scene light.
Water Specular	_WaterSpecular	Strength of water highlights. Cloud shadows can attenuate the response.
Water Smoothness	_WaterSmoothness	Smoothness of water highlights. Raise for a tighter glint; clouds and their shadows can alter its visibility.

Detail and mapping

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
Normal Map	_NormalMap	Small surface relief through lighting. Keep a compatible normal texture and tune Normal Scale before replacing the map.
Normal Tiling	_NormalTiling	Texture repetition for normal. Increase for finer repeated detail; tune its paired motion control separately.
Normal Fresnel Scale	_NormalFresnelScale	Normal strength used for the rim contribution. Adjust separately from Normal Scale when the edge looks too broken up.
Normal Scale	_NormalScale	Strength of normal-map relief. Increase for stronger small shadows and highlights; it does not raise terrain geometry.

Clouds

Inspector setting	Property ID	Use and visual effect
Gradient	_Gradient	Blend mask joining the pole and middle cloud maps. Keep the supplied gradient when tuning cloud motion.
Clouds Top	_CloudsTop	Cloud texture used around the poles. Its rotation is controlled by Clouds Top Speed.
Clouds Middle	_CloudsMiddle	Cloud texture across the middle of the globe, using a separate UV channel. Clouds Middle Speed controls its panning.
Clouds Blend Weight	_CloudsBlendWeight	Exponent shaping the blend between pole and middle clouds. Change gradually and inspect the join at high latitudes.
Clouds Top Speed	_CloudsTopSpeed	Signed rotation rate for the pole cloud map. Zero stops this motion; inspect in Play Mode.
Clouds Middle Speed	_CloudsMiddleSpeed	Signed panning rate for the middle cloud map. Tune separately from pole motion in Play Mode.
Clouds Height	_CloudsHeight	Offset used to sample the cloud shadow. Changes the apparent separation of clouds and shadow without adding shell geometry.
Clouds Tint	_CloudsTint	Color of the cloud layer. Its visibility also depends on Clouds Output and the cloud maps.
Cloud Shadows	_CloudShadows	Shapes the texture-based shadow mask beneath clouds. Compare against zero to see its contribution; it is not a linear opacity slider.
Clouds Output	_CloudsOutput	Visible cloud contribution. Zero removes that contribution; Cloud Shadows is a separate control.
Clouds Specular Lerp	_CloudsSpecularLerp	Changes the highlight response where clouds cover the surface. Compare on the lit side with Clouds Output enabled.
Clouds Smoothness Lerp	_CloudsSmoothnessLerp	Changes the smoothness response in cloud-covered areas. Tune after the underlying water and land highlights.

Advanced settings

For a different coastline, edit a compatible Land Mask rather than raising a water-color boost. Keep CityLight UV Map as coordinate data. Tune the two normal scales separately: one shapes surface lighting and the other the rim. A zero rim multiplier hides the latter adjustment. For mapping and rendering details, see Technical reference.

Practical example

For a clear ocean view, duplicate Planet_Terrestrial_01.mat and reduce Clouds Output from 0.279 to 0. Restore it before tuning Cloud Shadows. To change the night palette, keep the city maps and adjust CityLight Color while viewing the unlit hemisphere.

Setting comparisons

These examples keep the camera, light and other material settings fixed within each pair. Before appears first and After second. Values describe these examples, rather than a required range.

Clouds Output comparison

Before: 0.279; After: 0

Look at how much of the underlying surface is revealed when the visible cloud contribution is removed.

Before — Clouds Output = 0.279

After — Clouds Output = 0

Cloud Shadows comparison

Before: 0.085; After: 0

Look at the dark shaping beneath cloud regions, independently of the visible cloud color.

Before — Cloud Shadows = 0.085

After — Cloud Shadows = 0

CityLight Color comparison

Before: RGBA(0.941177,0.841904,0.664360,0); After: RGBA(0,0,0,0)

Look at the city emission on the night side; the After color is black.

Before — CityLight Color = RGBA(0.941177,0.841904,0.664360,0)

After — CityLight Color = RGBA(0,0,0,0)

Related topics

Shader guide · Materials and customization · Lighting and effects · Practical workflows · Troubleshooting