Force Shield Shader
I created this force shield material in Unreal Engine 5, following Unreal CG's latest tutorial from YouTube (https://youtu.be/8QI6WLbrFEY?si=x2cnPb7kOSdLqnnv). However, I added some changes to avoid using a mesh for the target, and instead use the sphere mask for the location target, used blueprints to code on component hit, and limit the visibility of the shader with parameters.
This was a complex shader due to its many functions and parameters, but honestly, I learned a lot and will apply what I know now in future materials!
Force shield effect in action using first person projectile
These nodes determine the location where the sphere mask will appear and I added a sine node to edit the number of circles around it.
With these parameters, I am able to dictate the limit that the shader reaches within the sphere so it can be closed until the top or wherever you want it to be visible.
I used these parameters to control the difference of the vertex normals that I used later on within the blueprint for the target hit.
Main nodes to control the parameters form the material instance, that use a timeline to activate the sine node and the "bounce" effect when there is a component hit.