Plastic Army Men — Documentation

Overview

Plastic Army Men is a Unity collection of models, weapons, characters and vehicles in a plastic toy style. Inspired by the 90s PC game by 3DO and the toys I grew up with.

Thanks for downloading. Please leave a star rating and review if you like the asset, so I can continue producing more high-quality work. It really does help, thanks!

If you would like to support me further, you can do so via paypal.me/ChrisBurns3D.

Installing

After downloading and importing the project, if there are Rig Errors in the console, these can be safely ignored. The texturing in this asset pack uses the Imphenzia PixPal shader, which is available for free and allows for easy texture sharing and packing for the objects in the pack.

If you notice the prefabs and models look magenta, simply navigate to PlasticArmyMen/Core/Materials, select the ImphenziaPixPal_URP material and set its shader type to Shader Graphs/ImphenziaPixPal_URP.

Saving your project should regenerate the previews of the assets, fixing any magenta previews.

Unity editor showing the ImphenziaPixPal_URP material in the Materials folder — Locating the ImphenziaPixPal_URP material in PlasticArmyMen/Core/Materials.

Built-in Render Pipeline Setup

To set up the project to work with the Built-in Render pipeline, you will need to update the materials in the project. Firstly, download the Shader Graph package if it is not already in your project, from the Package Manager window.

Package Manager showing the Shader Graph package under Unity Registry — Installing the Shader Graph package from the Package Manager (Unity Registry).

Once installed, find the ImphenziaPixPal_URP material and set its Shader type to Shader Graphs/ImphenziaPixPal_URP. Then press the Edit… button next to the dropdown to open the Shader Graph window. In this window, you will see a yellow warning icon that indicates an unknown Active Target (Universal) in the Graph Inspector.

Shader Graph window open showing the ImphenziaPixPal node graph with a magenta preview — The ImphenziaPixPal Shader Graph open in the editor.

Graph Inspector showing the Universal (Unknown) active target to be removed — Remove the unknown Universal target, then add the Built-In target.

Simply remove this target, and add the Built-In type to the list, then save the Shader with the disc icon in the top-left corner of the Shader Graph window. If you then save the Unity project, the magenta preview of the material should also update.

Material Setup

Other materials in the project, such as the Ground, Flags, etc., can all be set to Standard for their Shader type.

PlasticArmyMenBag (Material)
Set its Rendering Mode to Transparent.
Face materials (AEI, AH, BMP, etc.)
Set Rendering Mode to Fade and Source to Metallic Alpha.
Mouth materials
Set Shader to Standard, Rendering Mode to Fade, and Source to Metallic Alpha to make them transparent.

Inspector for the Ground material set to Standard shader, Metallic Alpha source — Ground material using the Standard shader with Metallic Alpha source.

Project view of the face materials and their previews — Face and mouth materials set to Fade with a Metallic Alpha source.

The demo scene should now look correct with all materials set up. The scene itself may look overexposed because it is configured for URP. Simply select the Directional Light and lower its Intensity to something closer to 1.79.

Demo scene rendered in the Built-in pipeline before lighting adjustment — The demo scene with all materials configured for Built-in.

Directional Light inspector with Intensity set to 1.79 — Lower the Directional Light intensity to about 1.79.

Final demo scene look in the Built-in Render Pipeline — Final set-up in the Built-in Render Pipeline.

Animation & Rigging Package

This asset also uses Unity's Animation & Rigging package for handling the IK chain physics used for the Radio Man, Flamethrower, etc. You can download this from the Package Manager under Unity Registry — search for "Animation".

How to Use the Included Base Plate Controller

All prefab characters have an included Base Plate Controller script component on them. This is used for easily hiding and showing the base plate that gives them the iconic toy look, as well as for controlling its distortion during animation.

When the Show Base Plate bool is disabled, the character's mesh is offset down slightly (the thickness of the base plate) so that their feet remain on the ground. This does not affect the actual transform of the character, so it should not affect your character controller scripts. If you do not wish for this to happen, you can simply leave the Character Roots array empty. This is where you assign the root of the rig, and any additional items that need to be offset, such as backpacks (see Radioman or Flamethrower for example).

Inspector showing the Base Plate Controller script component on a Green Soldier prefab — The Base Plate Controller component on the GreenSoldier-Rifleman prefab.

Component Reference

Follow Strength
Controls the weighting between the Baseplate bones and their follow targets (the foot bones).
Baseplate
The Skinned Mesh of the baseplate.
Baseplate Bones
The two bones that allow it to bend and twist.
Foot Targets
The positional and rotational targets for the Baseplate bones to follow.
Auto Find References
Helps you reconnect these references if you lose them. Note that the Character Roots array is populated, as this may not find all the items needed for the positional offset.

Tip — Correcting Vertical Position If you ever need to correct the vertical position of the character (clipping below the floor or floating above it when it should not), toggle the Show Base Plate bool, then disable the component, re-toggle the bool, and then enable the component again.

This tool works in both Editor and Runtime modes. The options can be animated on or off for individual animations, or controlled via the Animator using Event Behaviours — for example, when a character mounts a vehicle or performs a pose that distorts the Baseplate too much.