Slime Shader

Surface-intense slime variation

This demo showcases a fully dynamic slime material in Unreal Engine 5, featuring enhanced normal map distortion, glow emission, and real-time WPO-based deformation.
It demonstrates how the material can shift from clean translucency to active wet surface behaviors.
(All parameters shown are fully adjustable in the material instance.)

Default state

This cleaner version demonstrates the base condition of the slime material with lower normal intensity, used for calmer visual states.
This contrast highlights how the shader can support a wide emotional or contextual range.

Full material control interface

Material instance control panel in Unreal Engine showing parameters for glow, normal, WPO, and opacity

The shader is structured for production use, exposing multiple parameters for glow intensity, panning speed, normal distortion, WPO magnitude, and opacity.
Artists and designers can use the material instance to fine-tune its appearance in real-time without touching the graph.

Shader Feature Breakdown

Base color texture

Soft green-to-yellow gradient for slime core tone.

Blueprint Animation Integration

Blueprint node graph for real-time mesh scaling during character motion

This demo shows a squash & stretch effect created entirely through mesh scaling via Blueprint.
The timeline controls X/Y/Z scale values to simulate reactive movement upon jump and landing.

In-progress VFX elements

This prototype also includes early-stage particle effects: a ground-hugging slime trail and small droplets emitted during movement. While both are visible in the demo, they remain under visual refinement and are not yet finalized for primary presentation. These elements are being iterated for timing, scale, and fluid feel.