Instruction file imported from hoatv2211/GameStudios-CopilotKIT (.github/instructions/shader-code.instructions.md). Copyright stays with the author.

Shader Code Standards

All shader files in assets/shaders/ must follow these standards to maintain visual quality, performance, and cross-platform compatibility.

Naming Conventions

• File naming: [type]_[category]_[name].[ext]
  • spatial_env_water.gdshader (Godot)
  • SG_Env_Water (Unity Shader Graph)
  • M_Env_Water (Unreal Material)
• Use descriptive names that indicate the material purpose.
• Prefix with shader type: spatial_, canvas_, particles_, post_.

Code Quality

• All uniforms/parameters must have descriptive names and appropriate hints.
• Group related parameters (Godot: group_uniforms, Unity: [Header], Unreal: Category).
• Comment non-obvious calculations, especially math-heavy sections.
• No magic numbers -- use named constants or documented uniform values.
• Include authorship and purpose comment at the top of each shader file.

Performance Requirements

• Document the target platform and complexity budget for each shader.
• Use appropriate precision: half/mediump on mobile where full precision is not needed.
• Minimize texture samples in fragment shaders.
• Avoid dynamic branching in fragment shaders -- use step(), mix(), smoothstep().
• No texture reads inside loops.
• Use a two-pass approach for blur effects (horizontal then vertical).

Cross-Platform

• Test shaders on minimum-spec target hardware.
• Provide fallback or simplified versions for lower quality tiers.
• Document which render pipeline the shader targets (Forward/Deferred, URP/HDRP, Forward+/Mobile/Compatibility).
• Do not mix shaders from different render pipelines in the same directory.

Variant Management

• Minimize shader variants -- each variant is a separate compiled shader.
• Document all keywords/variants and their purpose.
• Use feature stripping where possible to reduce build size.
• Log and monitor total variant count per shader.