Simplest shield effect in Unity5

May 03, 2015

I was needing a solution for a shield effect and none seems to fit my needs or taste so I started a simple new one. Maybe you will need more complex stuff later but this is enough to start. Something like this:

A shield GameObject

Create a sphere 3D object inside your spaceship GameObject.
Adjust the transform position and scale to fit your spaceship.
Attach a Rigidbody.

The material

Create a new material and add it to your new shield GameObject.
Set Shader to Standard (Specular setup).
Set Rendering Mode to Transparent.
Select your Albedo color. Alpha value should be 0.
Set Smoothness to 0.

Before step 4 and 5 is a good idea to play with some values in order to get your desired shield style first. Mine is really subtle blue.

The script

Add this script inside your new shield GameObject.

Basically, the magic consist in putting the maximum alpha and smoothness when a collision is detected and fade out slowly.

Conclusion

Probably are better ideas or solutions to achieve a shield effect but this one seems pretty light and easy. This could be a prefab with some adjustments.

Unity version: 5.0.1f1

Disclaimer: When I check my code after a while it usually sucks. Be careful.