# How do i make basic lambert style shading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rendering\ **Tags:** unreal-engine, question\ **Created:** [October 29, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505 "2025-10-29T01:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quittzer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Quittzer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Quittzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/1 "2025-10-29T01:10:18Z")
i hate unreals lighting and i need to make a basic flat lambert and or burley shading for my stylized game, here are some examples of what that looks like, its just that flat true color shading you see, in old games, looking pretty close to unlit mode with the colors. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/4/3/44380a5aa03760782027b3b22d2c0b4060297cb8.jpeg) ![dm](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/4/f/24f65e813d0c44d256bf1cefc4e734a9c659073d.png) ---
**Author:** ![jblackwell](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@jblackwell](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/jblackwell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/2 "2025-10-29T02:42:23Z")
UE5 substrate material with retroreflection disabled and roughness at 100%. Will that be able to do the job for you, or not? UE5’s non-substrate diffuse is also acceptable, it’s a standard lambert. ---
**Author:** ![SupportiveEntity](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@SupportiveEntity](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/SupportiveEntity)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 7:12am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/3 "2025-10-29T07:12:07Z")
Hey there @Quittzer! To expand on what jblackwell mentioned, if those suggestions don’t work you may want to tailor the style starting from an unlit shader and fake it with the same methods developers use to make more cel shaded stylized shaders. [This thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/unrealengine/s/H3WZbqNPUA) has a couple leads but much of the effort will be custom. **Disclaimer: One or more of these links are unaffiliated with Epic Games. Epic Games is not liable for anything that may occur outside of this Unreal Engine domain. Please exercise your best judgment when following links outside of the forums.** ---
**Author:** ![Quittzer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Quittzer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Quittzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 7:36am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/4 "2025-10-29T07:36:25Z")
that doesnt work, also idk what substrate is ---
**Author:** ![Quittzer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Quittzer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Quittzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 7:38am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/5 "2025-10-29T07:38:06Z")
ive tried alot of cel shader tutorials but none of them gave true color lambert like this and faking the lighting has always been hard im really surprised there isnt an option to use basic lambert. ![andrew-fellows-specular](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/f/7/5/f7538e3da44d6e5598ffb6bbd8c41d3ab7ff59ee.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![glitchered](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/glitchered/32/768299_2.png) [@glitchered](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/glitchered)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/6 "2025-10-29T12:32:01Z")
the engine’s default diffuse lighting model is lambert. you just remove all specular in the material and done. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/3/6/1/36135611eade6a8de52e531f3e194c4e33197408.jpeg) in terms of world setup you gotta disable all gi and ao relevant settings and use a skylight as the basic ambient term. be aware it’s got a horizon. means you gotta color match the upper and lower hemisphere. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/0/b/c0b579e81f7aa6efa3cdfd9dab1ead3ed563a437.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Quittzer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Quittzer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Quittzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/8 "2025-10-29T16:19:49Z")
hmm, im probably not understanding what im asking fully, but even in that screenshot it just doesnt look the same as a screenshot like this, the shading is clearly different ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/4/3/44380a5aa03760782027b3b22d2c0b4060297cb8.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![glitchered](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/glitchered/32/768299_2.png) [@glitchered](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/glitchered)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/9 "2025-10-29T16:33:42Z")
is that better? i obviously didn’t color match it, but close. all artist control. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/7/5/7/7577cb0c3014c3cce2b7b4d5fe1a81babd544eca.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Quittzer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Quittzer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Quittzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/10 "2025-10-29T16:45:11Z")
yeah its looking closer, still i can see the bright side is a bit brighter in unreal, that always seems to happen to me even with speculuar off, also heres more examples of games with the shading, its as if the older ones are almost unlit looking they are never brighter than you expect and always look flat. ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/5/7/c57ff181f0babd0ba1778ee2689ab72ccbb5ac59.jpeg) ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/e/b/7/eb7ab618df64b33aa1b42886e23548d3ca063a90.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![glitchered](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/glitchered/32/768299_2.png) [@glitchered](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/glitchered)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 10:45am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-do-i-make-basic-lambert-style-shading/2669505/11 "2025-10-30T10:45:51Z")
i shot it with a 3 lux sun lamp. at 1 or 2 it looks even closer. it’s all about setting lighting values. all artist controlled. you can get that done.