Alan Zucconi
Goldsmiths senior lecturer and science communicator known for Unity shader tutorials, machine learning and game development articles. Author of the Unity 5.x Shaders and Effects Cookbook and co-author of the 2018 edition.
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- Maths Archives - Alan Zucconi
Archive of Alan Zucconi's math tutorials for games.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2026 - Xorshift Generators
Deep dive into xorshift pseudo-random number generators.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2026 - Xorshift Generators: Appendix
Appendix listing maximal triplets and technical details for xorshift generators.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2026 - Orbital Mechanics
Teaches orbital mechanics basics, from gravity simulation to Keplerian two-body orbits.
alanzucconi.com · Sep 2025 - Yellow Paint in Video Games Needs to Stop (IGN)
IGN video on in-game hint design and accessibility, and why yellow-paint guidance is both useful and overused.
ign.com · Dec 2024 - @alanzucconi.com: noise shader makes a game impossible to screenshot
Horror game uses a noise shader so the hidden content only reads in motion; stills look like static.
bsky.app · Dec 2024 - Unity 4D #4: Creating 4D Objects
Explains how to create four-dimensional objects for the Unity4D extension.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2023 - Unity 4D #3: Rendering 4D Objects
Renders 4D objects in Unity with orthographic, perspective and cross-section projections.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2023 - Unity 4D #2: Extending Unity to 4D
Extends Unity to support four-dimensional geometry.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2023 - Unity 4D #1: Understanding the Fourth Dimension
Introduces the fourth dimension and how to create, manipulate and visualize 4D objects.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2023 - Shaders Archives - Alan Zucconi
Archive of Alan Zucconi's shader tutorials.
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2023 - Slippy Maps with Unity
Builds web-based slippy maps of a game world with Unity and LeafletJS.
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2023 - How Minecraft ACTUALLY Works (terrain generation)
Explains how Minecraft generates its terrain.
youtube.com · Mar 2023 - The Rain World Animation Process
Explains how Rain World's animation is produced procedurally.
youtube.com · Dec 2022 - Protean Clouds (Shadertoy, ~120 lines)
Shadertoy: compact raymarched volumetric cloud shader in about 120 lines.
shadertoy.com · Dec 2022 - Physics of JellyCar: Soft Body Physics Explained
Explains how JellyCar's soft body physics works.
youtube.com · Nov 2022 - The World Generation of Minecraft - Alan Zucconi
Explains how Minecraft generates worlds, biomes and terrain with noise-based layers.
alanzucconi.com · Nov 2022 - Sand Rendering in Journey (GDC, John Edwards)
GDC talk on how Journey renders its sand.
youtube.com · Nov 2022 - The Secret Behind Valve’s Flickering Lights
Explains how Valve's classic flickering light effect works and how to reuse it.
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2021 - Delegates, Lambda Expressions & Closures in C#
Explains delegates, lambdas and closures in C# for functional programming concepts.
alanzucconi.com · Mar 2021 - Piecewise Interpolation - Alan Zucconi
Explains piecewise interpolation for blending between multiple values.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2021 - Linear Interpolation - Alan Zucconi
Explains linear interpolation for moving objects in code.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2021 - The Mathematics of Catenary - Alan Zucconi
Explains the math behind catenary curves for hanging cables and chains in games.
alanzucconi.com · Dec 2020 - Implementing Catenaries for Games - Alan Zucconi
Implements catenary curves for hanging cables, wires and chains in games.
alanzucconi.com · Dec 2020 - An Introduction to Floating-Point Arithmetic - Alan Zucconi
Explains how floating-point numbers work in C# and the surprising bugs they can cause.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2020 - Improving Floating-Point Precision in C#
Techniques for improving floating-point precision in C# for high-precision simulations.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2020 - An Introduction to Mie Theory
Introduction to Mie theory for atmospheric scattering (members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2020 - Journey Sand Shader: Glitter Reflection
Part five of a series recreating Journey's glittering sand reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2019 - Journey Sand Shader: Specular Reflection
Part four of a series recreating Journey's sand specular reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2019 - Journey Sand Shader: Sand Normal
Part three of a series on the normal mapping behind Journey's sand.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2019 - Journey Sand Shader: Diffuse Colour
Part two of a series on the lighting model and diffuse color of Journey's sand.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2019 - A Journey Into Journey’s Sand Shader
Part one of a series recreating Journey's sand rendering.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2019 - Parallax Shaders & Depth Maps
Builds a parallax shader that turns 2D images and depth maps into 3D-feeling photos.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2019 - Inside Facebook 3D Photos: Parallax Shaders
Explains how Facebook 3D photos work and how to build parallax shaders in Unity.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2019 - Shader Showcase Saturday #11: Return of the Obra Dinn
Analyzes the aesthetic of Return of the Obra Dinn and how to recreate it with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #10: Fortnite Procedural Animations
Recreates Fortnite-style procedural animation effects with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Sep 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #7: Billboard Impostors
Uses billboard impostors to reduce polygon counts in Unity.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #6: Dynamic Snow
Creates dynamic, realistic snow using shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #4: How To Start A Fire With Shaders
Creates realistic animated fire with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #3: Interactive Grass
Creates interactive grass that reacts to wind and player movement.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #2: Waterfalls
Creates dynamic waterfalls with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2018 - Shader Showcase Saturday #1: Volumetric Crystals
Creates volumetric crystals with shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2018 - Learning Shaders
Curated online resources for learning shaders effectively.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2018 - GPU Sorting (Part 2)
Part two of GPU sorting with compute shaders, including source download.
alanzucconi.com · Dec 2017 - GPU Sorting (Part 1)
Introduces parallel sorting and a shader that sorts pixels on the GPU.
alanzucconi.com · Dec 2017 - Car Paint Shader: Thin-Film Interference
Step-by-step car paint shader simulating iridescent thin-film interference.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - Atmospheric Scattering Shader
Final shader step of a series simulating Rayleigh scattering for a planet's atmosphere.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - A Shader for the Atmospheric Sphere
Writes the shader for the atmospheric sphere in a scattering series.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - A Journey Through the Atmosphere
Models how atmospheric density changes with altitude for scattering.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - The Mathematics of Rayleigh Scattering
Introduces the mathematics of Rayleigh scattering that makes the sky blue.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - The Theory Behind Atmospheric Scattering
Starts deriving the equations behind volumetric atmospheric scattering.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - Intersecting The Atmosphere
Handles ray-sphere intersection to find how far light travels through the atmosphere in a scattering shader.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - Volumetric Atmospheric Scattering
Intro to volumetric atmospheric scattering, explaining why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2017 - Fast Subsurface Scattering in Unity (Part 2)
Implements fast subsurface scattering in Unity, part two, for more realistic materials.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2017 - The Mathematics of Thin-Film Interference
Explains the math behind thin-film interference and iridescent reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - Iridescence on Mobile
Efficient mobile-friendly way to simulate iridescent reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - CD-ROM Shader: Diffraction Grating – Part 2
Part two of a CD-ROM diffraction grating shader recreating rainbow reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - CD-ROM Shader: Diffraction Grating – Part 1
Part one of a shader recreating rainbow diffraction reflections seen on CD-ROMs.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - The Mathematics of Diffraction Grating
Explains the math of diffraction gratings that produce iridescent reflections.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - Understanding Diffraction Grating
Explains how iridescence works via diffraction gratings for reproducing it in shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - Improving the Rainbow – Part 2
Part two on physically based rainbow patterns, converting wavelengths to RGB in Unity and WebGL.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - Improving the Rainbow – Part 1
Part one on physically based rainbow patterns, converting visible wavelengths to RGB.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - The Nature of Light
Explains the nature of light as groundwork for iridescent materials in Unity.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2017 - An Introduction to Procedural Animations
Introduces procedural animation concepts and how to use them in games.
alanzucconi.com · Apr 2017 - Inverse Kinematics for Robotic Arms
Moves robotic arms in Unity with inverse kinematics and procedural animation in C#.
alanzucconi.com · Apr 2017 - An Introduction to Gradient Descent
Introduces gradient descent as a way to solve inverse kinematics for procedural animation.
alanzucconi.com · Apr 2017 - Implementing Forward Kinematics
Implements forward kinematics in Unity with code, as part of an IK series.
alanzucconi.com · Apr 2017 - The Mathematics of Forward Kinematics
Explains the mathematics of forward kinematics behind procedural animation and IK.
alanzucconi.com · Apr 2017 - Iterators in C#: yield, IEnumerable & IEnumerator
Guide to C# iterators with yield, IEnumerable and IEnumerator.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2017 - 3D Printer Shader Effect – Part 2
Part two of replicating the 3D printer build-up shader effect.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2016 - 3D Printer Shader Effect – Part 1
Part one of replicating the 3D printer build-up shader effect seen in Astroneer.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2016 - Volumetric Rendering: Ambient Occlusion - Alan Zucconi
Adds ambient occlusion to a raymarched volumetric shader.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2016 - Volumetric Rendering: Surface Shading
Adds realistic surface shading and lighting to raymarched volumetric rendering.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2016 - Volumetric Rendering: Volume Raycasting
Volume raycasting for volumetric rendering (members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2016 - Volumetric Rendering: Hard & Soft Shadows
Hard and soft shadows for volumetric rendering (members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2016 - LCD Monitor Shader Effect
Builds a photorealistic LCD monitor shader effect with code and package.
alanzucconi.com · May 2016 - How to Simulate Cellular Automata with Shaders
Simulates Conway's Game of Life with GPU shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Mar 2016 - How to Simulate Smoke with Shaders
Simulates realistic smoke in Unity using only shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Mar 2016 - How to Use Shaders for Simulations - Alan Zucconi
Series on using GPU shaders to run simulations.
alanzucconi.com · Mar 2016 - The Transformation Matrix for 2D Games
Introduces the transformation matrix for translating, rotating and scaling 2D graphics.
alanzucconi.com · Feb 2016 - A Gentle Primer on 2D Rotations
Primer on 2D rotations for game developers.
alanzucconi.com · Feb 2016 - The Secrets of Colour Interpolation
Explains how color interpolation works and its pitfalls.
alanzucconi.com · Jan 2016 - Tutorials - Alan Zucconi
Alan Zucconi's tutorial index covering game development and programming.
alanzucconi.com · Oct 2015 - Extension methods in C#
Extends Unity classes using C# extension methods.
alanzucconi.com · Aug 2015 - Enum, Flags and bitwise operators
Explains C# enums, flags and bitwise operators.
alanzucconi.com · Jul 2015 - Practical trigonometry for 2D games
Practical trigonometry for 2D games (members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2015 - Fur shading in Unity3D
Fur shading in Unity (Patreon members-only post).
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2015 - Physically Based Rendering and lighting models in Unity3D
Tutorial on physically based rendering and lighting models in Unity shaders.
alanzucconi.com · Jun 2015 - To Voronoi and Beyond
Builds Voronoi diagrams with Unity shaders, C# and shader code included.
alanzucconi.com · Feb 2015