Pixel Eras — Quick start
A true low-resolution retro look for URP and HDRP in one click: pixel-perfect scaling, palettes and dithering, pixel outlines, CRT, VHS, composite video and LCD screens, PS1/N64 materials and twenty eras.
Quick start
- Open Window → 4ssets → Retro Studio.
- Press Make it Retro. It sets up the pipeline (URP: the Pixel Eras renderer feature on your renderers; HDRP: its two shaders in Always Included Shaders), adds a Pixel Eras Camera to the Main Camera and sets the 16-bit Console era. One Undo reverts it.
- Pick another era in the Eras tab. Retro ON / OFF in the header compares before and after.
- Make it yours: press New style on an era, give it a name and descriptions, and tune every detail in the Look tab — resolution, colours, dithering, edges, CRT, VHS and material shapes. It saves itself; use it in any scene, or tick Default for new scenes.
- For pixels that never shimmer, use an orthographic camera with Smooth Pixel Camera on.
- For the same picture on every player's screen, set the camera's Resolution to Fixed Resolution; heights of 360 or 180 fill 1080p, 1440p and 4K with no border.
- Optional: in the Assets tab press Convert scene materials — URP, HDRP and Built-in materials, transparent ones and terrain included, become Retro ones (URP_RETRO or HDRP_RETRO) — then check the Doctor tab for settings that fight the look.
Next: step-by-step workflows for a
32-bit console game, 3D pixel art, a 2D sprite game, stepped animation and more. Everything else —
every setting with its default and range, the scripting API and troubleshooting — is in the
full documentation. Retro Studio's Docs button opens it.
Requirements
- Unity 6.0 LTS (6000.0.85f1) or newer; URP 17 or newer (Universal Renderer or 2D Renderer), or HDRP 17 or newer — see the HDRP section of the documentation.
- URP: Render Graph on every Unity 6 version; Compatibility Mode on Unity 6.0–6.3.
- Demo only: Unity UI (
com.unity.ugui); the Input System when installed.
Demo (can be deleted)
Open Assets/4ssets/PixelEras/Demo/Demo.unity and press Play: shoot your way
through a growing zombie horde in a graveyard on a moonlit night, pick up ammo and grenades, survive as long as you can. Press
Esc to change the era and every setting of the look live; the FPS tab sets how
stepped enemies, the hero, the camera, pickups and particles move. It plays in URP and HDRP.
| Action | Keyboard | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|
| Move: forward, back, strafe (relative to the camera) | WASD / arrows | Left stick |
| Aim (turns the camera and the survivor) | Mouse | Right stick |
| Fire (hold) | Left click / F | RT |
| Throw a grenade | G / right click | LT |
| Blaster / shotgun / rifle | 1 2 3 / mouse wheel | X / LB / RB |
| Reload | R | — |
| Dash (not while backing off) | Space / Left Shift | A |
| Pause and settings | Esc / P | Start |
| Settings tabs | Q / E | LB / RB |
| Retro on/off compare | Tab | Y |
| Restart (after a round ends) | R / Enter | A |
The Demo/ folder is self-contained; delete it when you no longer need it.