Case File: Shih Chi
ROLE
Lead Artist
Case File: Shih Chi is a horror game made by team Sigma Males. Experience this horror puzzle game in a unique, 2.5D aesthetic!
Year
2022
GENRES
Third-Person, puzzle, Horror
PLATFORMS
PC
2.5D Aesthetic
At the brainstorming stage, we set the horror and 2.5D art style as the two foundation elements of this project. And we want to be a bit experimental this time - by combining 2.5D aesthetic inspired by Octopath Traveller with horror style.
I was the lead artist of the team, before this project, I was responsible for making pixel art assets, this time was a really interesting chance to experiment and learn something new.
Bringing Pixel to Life
After researching how Octopath Traveller did to achieve the "modern pixel" art style, we find that there are several techniques:
- Postprocessing and lighting contribute a lot
- Modern techniques to improve photorealism like PBR material could be applied to pixel sprite assets
We created the project with Unity 3D Universal Render Pipeline, which enabled us to work on a 3D environment, with all lighting and postprocessing possible. Then I researched how to make a sprite that has the same attributes as the PBR material. The answer is to implement the normal map to the 2D image (there could be more ways to play around like adding emission, metallic and diffuse channels), so the 2D sprite responds to light based on its location, making the presentation more realistic.
This requires a custom shader and a corresponding normal map for every sprite. I made the shader and normal map for one of our assets from previous project to see the result.
With the normal map, different parts of the character (like the top of the hat) reflect more light when it's coming from the same direction (the top of the hat being lightened by light shooting from the top, whereas the forehead is covered in shadow would not)
Detective and Monster
The story is set in an abandoned school, where a detective investigates and unveils its mysterious past. I made some concepts of the detective and the monster which will come after the player. After that, I made the run and idle animation for 4 directions.
