Adding VFX package, cleaning up texture on terrain slightly, and adding new build FX asset for orbital drop visuals.

Assets/_Project/Scripts/Gameplay/BuildSiteVisual.cs

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ using Unity.Netcode;
 using UnityEngine;
 using TD.Core;
 using TD.Towers;
+using TD.VFX;
 
 namespace TD.Gameplay
 {
@@ -69,6 +70,13 @@ namespace TD.Gameplay
                  "Leave empty to fall back to the legacy cube Y-scale growth below.")]
         [SerializeField] private ConstructionPhaseSet defaultPhaseSet;
 
+        [Header("Drop reticle FX")]
+        [Tooltip("Optional targeting-reticle effect (ground decal + beam + motes) shown for the " +
+                 "life of this build. Spawned as a child on every peer and fed construction " +
+                 "progress each frame so it shrinks as the tower builds, then destroyed with " +
+                 "this visual at completion/cancel. Leave empty to build with no reticle.")]
+        [SerializeField] private TowerDropReticle dropReticlePrefab;
+
         [Header("Construction stages (cube fallback)")]
         [Tooltip("FALLBACK ONLY (no phase set assigned): number of discrete growth stages " +
                  "while constructing. 4 = 1/4 → 2/4 → 3/4 → 4/4 height.")]
@@ -247,6 +255,10 @@ namespace TD.Gameplay
         private int activePhaseIndex = -1;
         private bool usePhases;
 
+        // Spawned child targeting-reticle effect (local, all peers). Fed progress in Update;
+        // destroyed automatically with this NetworkObject at completion/cancel.
+        private TowerDropReticle dropReticleInstance;
+
         // ----- Lifecycle --------------------------------------------------
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -299,6 +311,15 @@ namespace TD.Gameplay
             // cube). Depends on towerTypeId, which is replicated by now on every peer.
             ResolvePhaseSet();
 
+            // Spawn the targeting-reticle FX as a local child. It reads this build site's
+            // replicated progress (fed in Update) and dies with us at completion/cancel.
+            if (dropReticlePrefab != null)
+            {
+                dropReticleInstance = Instantiate(dropReticlePrefab, transform);
+                dropReticleInstance.transform.localPosition = Vector3.zero;
+                dropReticleInstance.transform.localRotation = Quaternion.identity;
+            }
+
             // Subscribe to value changes so visual updates are reactive.
             currentStage.OnValueChanged += HandleStageChanged;
 
@@ -353,6 +374,13 @@ namespace TD.Gameplay
 
         private void Update()
         {
+            // Drive the targeting reticle on every peer, every stage: 0 while Queued
+            // (full-size reticle, awaiting a builder), shrinking while Constructing, frozen
+            // while Paused. Kept before the Constructing early-return so it also animates
+            // the queued/paused states.
+            if (dropReticleInstance != null)
+                dropReticleInstance.SetProgress(ComputeProgressNormalized());
+
             // While constructing, advance the visual based on server time. Runs on every
             // peer so visuals stay synchronized. Paused does NOT update — the visual is
             // frozen at the pause point.

Assets/_Project/Scripts/VFX.meta

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
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Assets/_Project/Scripts/VFX/TowerDropReticle.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+// Assets/_Project/Scripts/VFX/TowerDropReticle.cs
+using UnityEngine;
+using UnityEngine.Rendering.Universal;
+
+namespace TD.VFX
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Local visual for a tower-drop targeting reticle — the ground decal, the vertical
+    /// energy beam, and the rising motes, bundled under one root. It is spawned as a child
+    /// of a <c>BuildSiteVisual</c>, which feeds it construction progress via
+    /// <see cref="SetProgress"/> each frame. The decal (and optionally the beam) shrink/fade
+    /// as progress climbs toward 1 through the shader's <c>_Progress</c> property.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// <para>Pure visualization — no networking. It runs on every peer because the owning
+    /// <c>BuildSiteVisual</c> spawns on every peer, and it reads the build site's already-
+    /// replicated progress. It is destroyed automatically when the build site despawns at
+    /// construction-complete or cancel (it's a child of that NetworkObject).</para>
+    ///
+    /// <para><b>Per-instance materials.</b> Several towers can build at once, so each reticle
+    /// needs its own material — a shared material would make every reticle share one
+    /// <c>_Progress</c> value and shrink in lockstep. The decal's material is cloned here;
+    /// beam renderers use <see cref="Renderer.material"/>, which auto-instantiates.</para>
+    /// </remarks>
+    public class TowerDropReticle : MonoBehaviour
+    {
+        [Tooltip("Ground decal projector. Its material's _Progress drives the reticle shrink/fade. " +
+                 "Auto-found in children if left empty.")]
+        [SerializeField] private DecalProjector decal;
+
+        [Tooltip("Optional extra renderers (e.g. the beam) whose material also exposes _Progress " +
+                 "so they fade with construction. Renderers without the property are skipped.")]
+        [SerializeField] private Renderer[] progressRenderers;
+
+        [Tooltip("Shader float property that drives the shrink: 0 = full size, 1 = complete/gone.")]
+        [SerializeField] private string progressProperty = "_Progress";
+
+        private int progressId;
+        private Material decalMaterialInstance;
+        private Material[] rendererMaterialInstances;
+
+        private void Awake()
+        {
+            progressId = Shader.PropertyToID(progressProperty);
+
+            if (decal == null) decal = GetComponentInChildren<DecalProjector>();
+
+            // Clone the decal material so this reticle animates independently of any other
+            // build site sharing the same source material asset.
+            if (decal != null && decal.material != null)
+            {
+                decalMaterialInstance = new Material(decal.material);
+                decal.material = decalMaterialInstance;
+            }
+
+            // Renderer.material returns a per-renderer instance, so these are already unique.
+            if (progressRenderers != null && progressRenderers.Length > 0)
+            {
+                rendererMaterialInstances = new Material[progressRenderers.Length];
+                for (int i = 0; i < progressRenderers.Length; i++)
+                    if (progressRenderers[i] != null)
+                        rendererMaterialInstances[i] = progressRenderers[i].material;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Feed normalized construction progress. 0 = build just started (reticle full size);
+        /// 1 = complete (reticle shrunk away). Safe to call every frame on any peer.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void SetProgress(float t01)
+        {
+            t01 = Mathf.Clamp01(t01);
+
+            if (decalMaterialInstance != null)
+                decalMaterialInstance.SetFloat(progressId, t01);
+
+            if (rendererMaterialInstances != null)
+            {
+                for (int i = 0; i < rendererMaterialInstances.Length; i++)
+                {
+                    var mat = rendererMaterialInstances[i];
+                    if (mat != null && mat.HasProperty(progressId))
+                        mat.SetFloat(progressId, t01);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void OnDestroy()
+        {
+            // The cloned decal material is ours to free. Renderer material instances are
+            // owned by their renderers and cleaned up when those GameObjects are destroyed.
+            if (decalMaterialInstance != null)
+                Destroy(decalMaterialInstance);
+        }
+    }
+}

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