To add variation each time your shader effect is instantiated, you can use Godot 4's per-instance shader uniforms feature. This allows you to set unique values for each instance without duplicating the entire shader. Here's how you can modify your code to achieve this: In your shader code, declare the parameters you want to vary as instance uniforms:

text shader_type spatial; // or canvas_item, depending on your use case

instance uniform float random_seed : hint_range(0, 1); instance uniform float speed_variation : hint_range(0.5, 1.5);

void fragment() { vec2 uv = 2.0 * UV - 1.0;

// Use the random_seed to create variation float varied_speed = speed * speed_variation; uv += 2.0 * fbm(uv + TIME * varied_speed + random_seed, octave_count) - 1.0;

float dist = abs(uv.x); vec3 color = effect_color * mix(0.0, 0.3, hash12(vec2(TIME + random_seed))) / dist; COLOR = vec4(color, 0.8); } In your GDScript code, when instantiating the object with the shader, set unique values for these instance uniforms:

text func instantiate_effect(): var instance = preload("res://your_effect_scene.tscn").instantiate() add_child(instance)

# Assuming your shader is on a MeshInstance3D named "EffectMesh" var material = instance.get_node("EffectMesh").get_surface_override_material(0)

# Set unique values for instance uniforms material.set_shader_parameter("random_seed", randf()) material.set_shader_parameter("speed_variation", randf_range(0.5, 1.5)) This approach will create variation in several ways: The random_seed will offset the fbm function, creating unique patterns for each instance16. The speed_variation will make each instance's animation slightly faster or slower1. The mix() function in the color calculation will now use a unique seed, varying the color intensity for each instance1. Remember to adjust the ranges and parameters to suit your specific effect needs. This method allows you to maintain a single shader while still achieving varied results across multiple instances267. Citations: https://godotengine.org/article/godot-40-gets-global-and-instance-shader-uniforms/ https://www.reddit.com/r/godot/comments/16yyxes/godot_4_setting_a_shader_param_affects_all/ https://forum.godotengine.org/t/how-to-change-a-shaders-parameters-individually-for-multiple-instances/3750 https://forum.godotengine.org/t/change-shader-param-in-multiple-instances-from-gdscript/7293 https://forum.godotengine.org/t/strange-unique-shader-instance-behaviour/96779 https://forum.godotengine.org/t/adjust-shaders-per-instance/37948 https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/83472 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BquGTgW7Te4 Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

can't add instance uniforms to canvas_item shaders. dealt with this in rand c code