Heroes of the Ashenwatch - Kuş Bilge
Hey there! Demircan here with an exciting update on the development journey of "Heroes of the Ashenwatch." Today, I want to delve into what makes our game's art style so special and why we're hyped about it.
From the beginning, we knew we wanted "Heroes of the Ashenwatch" to stand out in the crowded realm of gaming with its visuals. We made a bold decision to incorporate cel-shading and outlines into our art style. This combination isn't just eye-catching; it's the secret sauce that gives our game its distinct personality and allows for fast iteration speed.
Trends may come and go, but great art endures. By embracing a timeless art style rooted in the rich tradition of animation, we've ensured that "Heroes of the Ashenwatch" will hopefully remain relevant for years to come. With its clear lines and expressive forms, players will immerse themselves in the game.
At the center of our art style are the techniques of cel-shading and hard-edge outlines. These artistic choices make "Heroes of the Ashenwatch" stand out.
GETTING TECHNICAL
Cel-shading is achieved through stepping NdotL with a single value through the whole project. And then a simple posterization filter applied to the diffuse pass. Here's a direct example from our Lighting.hlsl
Then there comes the tricky part, the outlines. Outlines are computed through different render passes from a single camera. Diffuse, Normal and Depth.
Diffuse (Gbuffer) pass is to draw outlines on textured things especially the terrain and environmental objects and props. ;
Normal pass is to draw outlines on the concave edges and objects with normal maps to make them stand out. ;
And depth pass is to find different pixels through the depth texture of the camera. This technique is also pretty useful to give the illusion that foliage and terrain is connected.
And with all the simple post-processing and through some painful iterations here's all the shaders and effects combined in a single pass;
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Early mockup for the new randomized tech tree structure with static 'spine' techs, minor techs, major techs, rare tech and late-game upgraded tech. 
