ExtendedShader

Since 2.0.0

Before reading this page, make sure you understand Minecraft Core Shader.

Photon2 and LDLib2 extend vanilla shaders with ExtendedShader, adding:

• Geometry shader (attach) support
• Extra samplers and uniforms

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📦 How to Use

ExtendedShader JSON is almost the same as Vanilla.
Here’s an example using Texture Material.

hdr_particle.jsonparticle.vshhdr_particle.fsh

{
    "vertex": "photon:particle",
    /*
        "geometry": "<namespace>:<name>.gsh" // (1)
    */
    "fragment": "photon:hdr_particle",
    "samplers": [
        { "name": "Sampler2" },
        // custom samplers
        { "name": "Texture" }
    ],
    "uniforms": [
        { "name": "ModelViewMat", "type": "matrix4x4", "count": 16, "values": [1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1] },
        { "name": "ProjMat", "type": "matrix4x4", "count": 16, "values": [1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,1] },
        { "name": "ColorModulator", "type": "float", "count": 4, "values": [1,1,1,1] },
        { "name": "FogStart", "type": "float", "count": 1, "values": [0.0] },
        { "name": "FogEnd", "type": "float", "count": 1, "values": [1.0] },
        { "name": "FogColor", "type": "float", "count": 4, "values": [0,0,0,0] },
        { "name": "FogShape", "type": "int", "count": 1, "values": [0] },
        // custom uniforms
        { "name": "DiscardThreshold", "type": "float", "count": 1, "values": [0.01] },
        { "name": "HDR", "type": "float", "count": 4, "values": [0,0,0,1] },
        { "name": "HDRMode", "type": "int", "count": 1, "values": [0] }
    ]
}

1. Attach geometry shader if needed.

// have to use 330+
#version 330 core

#moj_import <fog.glsl>
// Photon2 vertex helper
#moj_import <photon:particle.glsl> 

uniform sampler2D Sampler2;
uniform mat4 ModelViewMat;
uniform mat4 ProjMat;
uniform int FogShape;

out float vertexDistance;
out vec2 texCoord0;
out vec4 vertexColor;

void main() {
    ParticleData data = getParticleData();
    gl_Position = ProjMat * ModelViewMat * vec4(data.Position, 1.0);
    vertexDistance = fog_distance(data.Position, FogShape);
    texCoord0 = data.UV;
    vertexColor = data.Color * texelFetch(Sampler2, data.LightUV / 16, 0);
}

#version 150
#moj_import <fog.glsl>

uniform sampler2D Texture;
uniform vec4 ColorModulator;
uniform float FogStart;
uniform float FogEnd;
uniform vec4 FogColor;
uniform float DiscardThreshold;
uniform vec4 HDR;
uniform int HDRMode;
uniform float Bits;

in float vertexDistance;
in vec2 texCoord0;
in vec4 vertexColor;

out vec4 fragColor;

void main() {
    float bits = max(Bits, 1.0);
    vec2 uv = (floor(texCoord0 * bits) + 0.5) / bits;
    vec4 color = texture(Texture, uv) * vertexColor * ColorModulator;

    if (color.a < DiscardThreshold) discard;

    if (HDRMode == 0) {
        color.rgb += HDR.a * HDR.rgb;
    } else {
        color.rgb *= HDR.a * HDR.rgb;
    }

    fragColor = linear_fog(color, vertexDistance, FogStart, FogEnd, FogColor);
}

Difference from vanilla particle shader:

• In vsh, use #moj_import <photon:particle.glsl> and getParticleData() to fetch vertex data.
• In fsh, added HDR color output.

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🎯 Handle Vertex Data

Different FX objects and renderer settings (e.g., GPU Instance, Additional GPU Data) can change vertex type and layout.

Photon2 provides a helper library that, through macros, automatically parses and converts input vertex data into an accessible format.

More info: Vertex Format

// Requires GLSL version 330+
#version 330 core

/*
struct ParticleData {
    vec3 Position;
    vec4 Color;
    vec2 UV;
    ivec2 LightUV;
    vec3 Normal;
};

ParticleData getParticleData() {
    // (1)
}
*/

void main() {
    ParticleData data = getParticleData();
    vec3 position = data.Position;
    vec4 color = data.Color;
    vec2 uv = data.UV;
    ivec2 lightUV = data.LightUV;
    vec3 normal = data.Normal;
}

1. Internal Implementation, check Vertex Format for details.

Implementation Details

In vertex shader:

1. Ensure #version is 330 or higher.
2. Import Photon2 vertex library: #moj_import <photon:particle.glsl>
3. Access data via getParticleData() — no need to handle internal layouts manually.
4. Photon2 supports passing extra GPU vertex data (e.g., particle lifetime, velocity). See: Additional GPU Data

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🎨 Extended Samplers

Photon2 provides extra built-in samplers beyond vanilla. When declared in JSON, these samplers won’t appear in the Inspector.

Sampler Name	Description	Preview
Sampler2	Light Map
SamplerSceneColor	World Color
SamplerSceneDepth	World Depth
SamplerCurve	Curve Sampler	-
SamplerGradient	Gradient Sampler	-

---

📈 SamplerCurve / SamplerGradient

Special samplers, active only if a Curve or Gradient is assigned. Photon2 encodes them into a 128×128 texture for sampling in shader.

#moj_import <photon:particle_utils.glsl>
/* internal implementation
const float INV_TEX_SIZE = 1.0 / 128.0;
const float MAX_U = 1.0 - 0.5 * INV_TEX_SIZE;

float getCurveValue(sampler2D curveTexture, int curveIndex, float x) {
    return texture(curveTexture, vec2(clamp(x, 0.0, MAX_U), (float(curveIndex) + 0.5) * INV_TEX_SIZE)).r;
}

vec4 getGradientValue(sampler2D gradientTexture, int gradientIndex, float x) {
    return texture(gradientTexture, vec2(clamp(x, 0.0, MAX_U), (float(gradientIndex) + 0.5) * INV_TEX_SIZE));
}
*/

uniform sampler2D SamplerCurve;
uniform sampler2D SamplerGradient;

void main() {
    float value = getCurveValue(SamplerCurve, 0, x);
    vec4 color = getGradientValue(SamplerGradient, 0, x);
}

Use:

• Import helpers:

#moj_import <photon:particle_utils.glsl>

• Call getCurveValue() and getGradientValue() to retrieve values.

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🛠 Extended Uniforms

Photon2 adds more built-in uniforms on top of vanilla core shaders.

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📋 Vanilla Built-in Uniforms

Name	Type	Description
ModelViewMat	mat4	Model-view matrix
ProjMat	mat4	Orthographic projection matrix (width=window, height=window, near=0.1, far=1000)
ScreenSize	vec2	Framebuffer width & height (pixels)
ColorModulator	vec4	Final color multiplier
FogColor	vec4	Fog color & density (alpha = density)
FogStart	float	Fog start distance
FogEnd	float	Fog end distance
FogShape	int	Fog mode
GameTime	float	Normalized day time (0–1, loops every 20min)
GlintAlpha	float	Glint strength (0–1)

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📋 Photon2 Built-in Uniforms

Name	Type	Description
U_CameraPosition	vec3	Camera world position
U_InverseProjectionMatrix	mat4	Precomputed inverse ProjMat
U_InverseViewMatrix	mat4	Precomputed inverse ModelViewMat