Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Shaders

Shaders in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) are compiled GPU programs that control the appearance of objects and effects. Most shaders have several different variants with different feature support. Multiplayer shaders may have additional optimisations, like replacing real-time planar reflections with cubemaps.

In the Xbox 360 version of the game, shaders are stored in the following archives:

Type	Location
Singleplayer	/game/xenon/archives/shader.arc
Multiplayer	/game/xenon/archives/shader_lt.arc

Within the archives, shaders variants are stored in a number of sub-folders.

Folder	Description
std	Standard
np	Standard without point lights
lm	Replaces CSM with baked lightmaps and shadows.
lm_np	Same as lm without point lights
morph, morph_np	Morph targets (only affects vertex shaders)
skin, skin_np	Skined meshes (only affects vertex shaders)

Many of the shaders within the sub-folders are exact duplicates of the standard variant.

Each of the shaders listed below are in the .fxo format in the 360 version of the game. Each shader can contain multiple techniques, which hold the respective vertex and fragment shaders.

The shader and specific technique used are defined per mesh set in XNO files. Some shaders are not referenced in XNO files, either because they are used internally or because they are unused altogether.

Shader Inputs

All shaders used for rendering 3D objects use a common input block format.

Registers	Parameter	Description
c0-c3	g_Material	NinjaNext material parameters. Not always used as described.
c4	g_Misc
c5-c6	g_OffsetUV
c8-c13	g_OLS	Hoffman–Preetham scattering parameters. Most shaders evaluate phase at constant cos(θ) = 0.5.
c14	g_RTDimensions
c15	g_ClipInfo
c16	g_KhronosParam	Time
c28-c30	g_LightMisc
c31-c34	g_DirectionalLights[2]
c39-c44	g_PointLights[2]
c64-c66	g_MatW	World matrix
c68-c70	g_MatWV	World * View matrix
c72-c75	g_MatWVP	World * View * Projection matrix
c76-c78	g_MatV	View matrix
c80-c82	g_MatVI	Inverse View matrix
c84-c87	g_MatP	Projection matrix
c88-c91	g_MatVP	View * Projection matrix
c92-c95	g_mtxCSMViewProj	CSM View * Projection matrix
c96-c191	g_BoneMtx[32]
c192	g_Morph
c193	g_MorphFlags
c194	g_SystemLightMapWork
c210+	Shader-specific constants
b0	bReflection	CharacterMaterial only
b1	bCubeReflection
s0-s3	Material textures
s8	g_smpEnvMap	Static environment cube map
s9	g_smpDepth0	Packed linear depth, used by Fog00, DepthOfFieldFilter
s10	g_smpDynamicEnvMap	Planar reflection, used by CscGlass02, MefiressSpecific, TpjWater00, Water03
s11	g_smpCSM	CSM array
s13	g_smpFB	Resolved framebuffer, used by OpticalCamouflage

Shader List

Shader	Notes	Morph/Skin	Used in XNOs
AcrobataPrimitive	Used in rendering of Acroarts particle effects.
Air00			✓
Animal00	Used for Kingdom Valley eagle.	✓	✓
Animal01
Animal02
AqaScene00
AqaScene01
AqaScene02
Aqua00			✓
Artifact00
Artifact01
Artifact02
Artifact03
Artifact06
Artifact07
BackGround
balloonicon	Used for rendering quest "balloons" in hub worlds.
Billboard00	No lighting, CSM sampling or point lights support.	✓	✓
Billboard01	Vertex lighting and point lights, no CSM sampling.	✓	✓
Billboard02	By far the most used shader. Vertex lighting with no CSM sampling or point lights support.	✓	✓
Billboard03	Vertex lighting, CSM sampling and point lights.	✓	✓
Billboard04	Pixel lighting, CSM sampling, no point lights.		✓
Billboard05	Pixel lighting, no CSM sampling or point lights.		✓
Billboard06	Pixel lighting and point lights, no CSM sampling.		✓
Billboard07	Unused. Pixel lighting, CSM sampling and point lights.
BillboardSp00			✓
BillboardSp01			✓
BillboardSp02			✓
BloomFilter
bod_light	Used by "Book of Darkness" aka Scepter of Darkness.		✓
bod_metal	Used by "Book of Darkness" aka Scepter of Darkness.		✓
BurnoutBlurFilter	Responsible for the radial "motion" blur seen in the final game. Likely named after the Burnout racing series.
ChaosDrive			✓
CharacterMaterial	Responsible for rendering playable characters, NPCs, and many random hub world objects. By far the densest shader in the game, including many unused techniques.	✓	✓
ColorCopyFilter
ColorCorrectionFilter
ColorOutFilter	Outputs a solid colour. Used for bright areas of spotlights in White Acropolis stealth sections.
Common
conditional_rendering	Used in rendering of lens flare effect.
CopyFilter
core_circle
CscGlass00			✓
CscGlass01
CscGlass02			✓
CscScene00			✓
CscScene01			✓
CscScene02
CscScene03
csd	Used in rendering of CSD (UI) scenes.
csd3D	Used for world-space UI like enemy health gauges.
csdBG
cyl
DepthOfFieldFilter	Unused in the final game. Likely a depth of field effect similar to the one in Sonic Unleashed.
DtdSand00
DtdSand01			✓
DtdSand02			✓
DtdSand03
DtdSand04
DtdScene00			✓
DtdScene01
DtdScene02			✓
DtdScene03			✓
DtdScene04			✓
DtdScene05
ecb_light	Used for Egg Cerberus.		✓
ecb_metal	Used for Egg Cerberus.		✓
Effect00		✓	✓
egen_light	Used for Egg Genesis.		✓
egen_metal	Used for Egg Genesis.		✓
egen_slight	Used for Egg Genesis.		✓
emob_light	Used for Egg Mobile.		✓
emob_metal	Used for Egg Mobile.	✓	✓
en_bullet	Used by en_cmn_bullet00.		✓
en_laser00
en_lava	Used by various Iblis enemies, and Solaris.	✓	✓
en_light		✓	✓
en_lightani		✓	✓
en_metal		✓	✓
en_plating			✓
en_rock		✓	✓
EndSky00			✓
FBTex_NrmMap	Used by esp_ripple and esp_Sphere		✓
Fence00			✓
Fence01			✓
FlcCore00		✓	✓
FlcScene00			✓
FlcScene01
Fluff00	Used by Tropical Jungle plant grind rails.	✓	✓
Fog00			✓
font	Used in font rendering for CSD.
fsol_armor		✓	✓
fsol_eye
fsol_fluid
Gadget_Glider
Gadget			✓
gindows
Glass00			✓
Glass01			✓
Glass02
Glass03
iblis01_eye		✓	✓
iblis01_lava		✓	✓
iblis01_rock			✓
iblis02_eye	Unused, iblis02.xno uses iblis01_eye. They seem more or less identical.
iblis02_lava		✓	✓
iblis02_rock		✓	✓
iblis03_eye		✓	✓
iblis03_lava		✓	✓
iblis03_rock		✓	✓
Ice00			✓
Ice01			✓
Ice02			✓
Ice03
Item_Board	Crisis City snowboard. Separate from White Acropolis board.	✓	✓
ItemGlass00		✓	✓
ItemMetal00		✓	✓
KdvAqua00
KdvAqua01			✓
KdvMist00			✓
KdvRope
KdvWindRoad
Kyozoress	Likely referring to "巨像", the large monsters in Mephiles' final boss fight.	✓	✓
Laser00
Laser01		✓	✓
Leaf00			✓
Leaf01			✓
lensflare
LightCore			✓
Lightmap00			✓
Lightmap01			✓
LightmapSp00			✓
LightmapSp01
LightmapSp02			✓
LightmapSp03
LightmapSp04			✓
Luminous00		✓	✓
Luminous01		✓	✓
Luminous02		✓	✓
Luminous03		✓	✓
Luminous04		✓	✓
Luminous05		✓	✓
Luminous06			✓
Luminous07
lzout_pt
lzout
Mantle00			✓
Mantle01		✓	✓
Mantle02		✓	✓
MarathonSpeedTree
MaskCopyFilter
Mefiress	Mephiles-specific CharacterMaterial variant.	✓	✓
MefiressSpecific	Used for Flame Core Mephiles boss floor to draw his "shadow".		✓
MefiressSpecific2	Used for goopy Dusty Desert Mephiles boss floor.		✓
Mercury
Metal00		✓	✓
Metal01			✓
Metal02			✓
MotionBlurFilter	BurnoutBlurFilter is used in retail rather than this shader.
movie
movieARGB
movieYUV420
no_shader
OpticalCamouflage	Used for rendering camouflaged enemies.
pe
PhaseShiftFilter
physicsviewer
player_homing
primitive
psi_effect	Used for rendering Silver's psychokinesis effects.	✓	✓
Ring	Goal rings, hint rings, regular rings, and keys.		✓
rt_clear
rt_restoration
Rust00		✓	✓
SampleFilter
scr_metal			✓
Shield			✓
simple
Sky00	Used for Egg Wyvern fight and E0026 skybox.		✓
Sky01	Used for Egg Wyvern fight skybox.		✓
Sky02	Used for every other skybox not previously mentioned.		✓
Snow00			✓
Snow01			✓
Snow02			✓
Stone00		✓	✓
Stone01		✓	✓
Stone02			✓
Stone03		✓	✓
Stone04
Terrain00	Only used by kdv_obj_D_bridge01		✓
Terrain01	Only used by tpj_obj_oldtree and tpj_obj_sphere		✓
Terrain02	Only used by csc_obj_groundA, csc_obj_groundB, and tpj_obj_sphere		✓
Terrain03
Terrain04	Only used by e0125_map02_nos_ and tpj_mapA_roadlm		✓
Terrain05	Used extensively (91 times).	✓	✓
Terrain06
Terrain07
Tex_Phone
Tex_Spec_Phone
TpjWater00	Tropical Jungle specific variant similar to Water03.		✓
TpjWater01	Tropical Jungle specific variant similar to Water04.		✓
TwnFence00
TwnGate	Used for warp gates.		✓
TwnGlass00
TwnGlideWire
TwnScene00			✓
TwnScene01
TwnScene02			✓
TwnScene03
vout
WapScene00			✓
WapScene01
WapScene02			✓
Water00
Water01	Used by translucent waterfalls and splash effects.		✓
Water02
Water03	Used for planar-reflection enabled liquids, water in Kingdom Valley and mercury pools in Aquatic Base.		✓
Water04	Used for static environment-mapped liquids.		✓
Water05
Waterrise	Unused Kingdom Valley object. Some kind of rippling water/mist.		✓
Wood00		✓	✓
Wood01			✓
Zakoress	Referring to "雑魚" small-fry crowd of NPCs, the tiny shadow minions in Mephiles' boss fight.		✓
ZakoressBillboard	Billboarded approximation for distant Zakoress.
zout_pt	Used for rendering depth pre-pass for punchthrough.
zout	Used for rendering depth pre-pass.