Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Shaders
Shaders are by far the most powerful visuals-changing feature of the game, as they actually
change the way that light and pixels are displayed. When you've seen those really gorgeous
photos of Minecraft with lots of realistic shadows and lighting effects, they are always cre-
ated in a Minecraft world that has shaders enabled. It's by far one of the most dramatic ways
to change your game, with some players saying that they simply can't go back to playing
without shaders on. However, shaders are PC/Mac/Linux only, they're somewhat difficult to
install, and they require a pretty powerful computer to be able to run and actually play the
game (and not just take a quick screenshot).
How to Change
There are a few built-in shaders for Minecraft on the computer, which can be found by click-
ing the “Super Secret Settings” button in the menus in-game. However, these are mostly
just pixel shaders and not very good to play with. The shaders that people use to actu-
ally play the game require that you install the Forge modloader (files and instructions at
files.minecraftforge.net
), and you then need to install the Shaders Mod (found at
http://bit.ly/
ShadersModLink
with instructions).
Once this is installed, you'll need to make a shaderpacks folder in your main Minecraft
folder (the same place where you find the folders for your screenshots, saves and mods), and
then download and place shaderpacks into the shaderpacks folder. Once you've got it all set
up like the instructions at the Shaders Mod page tell you, you'll be able to load your Forge
mod profile through the Minecraft launcher, open a world, and then hit the ESC key to go
to your options. In your Video settings you will now have a Shaders option, where you can
select which shader you want to use.
Where to Get Shaders
