Custom Shaders

This document explains how to create new Hardline-compatible shaders by extending the existing Core Shader Graphs.

This is an advanced workflow intended for technical artists and graphics programmers.

Prerequisite
This document requires knowledge of the Hardline Core shaders.
Read this first:
→ UserGuideCoreShaders

Hardline shaders are not normal Unity shaders.
They must participate in the global environment and shadow system driven by SSHStyleManager.

The correct way to extend Hardline is to start from an existing Core shader and modify its surface logic — not to build from scratch.

Why You Must Start From a Core Shader

All Hardline Core shaders already contain:

  • The global environment light bindings
  • The global shadow bindings
  • Additional light volume sampling
  • The correct Shader Graph include files
  • The correct render pass configuration
  • All required global shader properties

These are not optional.

If you build a Shader Graph from scratch, it will:

  • Not receive environment lighting
  • Not receive shadows
  • Not participate in outlines
  • Not behave correctly inside the Hardline pipeline

So the rule is simple:

Always copy a Core shader and extend it.

Choosing a Base Shader

Pick the shader closest to what you want to build.

Base ShaderWhen to Use
GenericSimpleRawest possible base. Flat color, no textures. Best for building custom effects.
GenericBaseTwo-color procedural Hardline shading.
GenericTexturedPainted or masked surfaces.
GenericMappedTexture-driven ink and accent control.
GenericMappedWindVegetation, cloth, foliage.
Procedural shadersRocks, grass, inked terrain.

For this guide we will use:

GenericTextured

We will extend it to support an emissive mask that cancels environment and shadow influence so parts of the surface glow and remain readable.

Goal

We want:

  • A normal Hardline textured material
  • Plus an emissive mask texture
  • That removes environment lighting and shadows where the mask is white

This allows:

  • Windows
  • Neon
  • Magical runes
  • Glowing UI meshes
  • Effects

to appear bright while still living inside the Hardline world.

Step 1 — Duplicate the Shader

Locate:

Assets/SmnStyleHardline/Core/Runtime/Graphics/Shaders/Object/Generic/GenericTextured

Duplicate it into a clean directory in your project, for example:

Assets/MyGame/Shaders/

Rename the new shader:

GenericTexturedEmissive

Open it in Shader Graph.

Step 2 — Understand the Graph Structure

Hardline shaders are arranged in layers.

You will see blocks similar to:

Material Colors & Masks
↓
Procedural & Texture Shaping
↓
Sub Sample Environment Light
↓
Sub Sample Shadow Map
↓
Final Surface

We are going to modify how the environment and shadows are applied — not how colors are generated.

Find these two nodes:

  • Sub Sample Environment Light
  • Sub Sample Shadow Map

These are where the global Hardline lighting enters the material.

Step 3 — Locate the Environment Influence Input

Select Sub Sample Environment Light.

You will see an input called:

Environment_Light_Influence

This is the per-material multiplier that controls how strongly the global environment affects this surface.

Normally it is connected directly to the material property:

Environment_Light_Influence (float)

We are going to modulate this value using a texture mask.

Step 4 — Add the Emissive Mask

Create a new Shader Graph property:

Texture_Emissive

Type:

Texture2D

This texture will be a mask:

  • White = emissive (ignore environment & shadows)
  • Black = normal Hardline lighting

Step 5 — Sample the Mask

Add a:

Sample Texture 2D

Connect:

  • Texture → Texture_Emissive
  • UV → the same UVs used by the color texture

This gives us a grayscale value representing where emission should exist.

Step 6 — Invert the Mask

We want:

  • White = cancel lighting
  • Black = allow lighting

But the environment system works by multiplying influence.

So we need:

1 − mask

Add a:

One Minus

Connect:

Sampled Emissive → One Minus

This creates a cancellation mask:

  • Emissive area → 0
  • Normal area → 1

Step 7 — Cancel Environment Light

Add a:

Multiply

Inputs:

  • A → Environment_Light_Influence
  • B → Output of One Minus

This produces:

Final_EnvInfluence = Environment_Light_Influence × (1 − EmissiveMask)

Now connect this result to:

Sub Sample Environment Light → Environment_Light_Influence

instead of the original float property.

The emissive areas now ignore environment light.

Step 8 — Cancel Shadow Influence

Now do the same thing for shadows.

Find:

Sub Sample Shadow Map

Locate its input:

Environment_Multiplier

Add another:

Multiply

Inputs:

  • A → the original shadow influence value
  • B → the same One Minus emissive mask

Connect this to:

Sub Sample Shadow Map → Environment_Multiplier

Now emissive areas also ignore shadows.

Final Result

Your shader now has:

  • Normal Hardline shading everywhere
  • But where Texture_Emissive is white:
    • No environment darkening
    • No shadow tint
    • Pure base color remains

This creates true Hardline-style emission that integrates perfectly with:

  • Presets
  • Day/night
  • Weather
  • Style blending
  • Outline rendering

without breaking the global system.

Why This Works

We did not bypass Hardline.

We simply modulated its influence.

The global environment system still runs.
The material simply chooses where to ignore it.

This is the correct pattern for extending Hardline.

Key Rule

When adding new surface behavior:

Always operate between the material and the Sub Sample nodes.

Never remove:

  • Environment sampling
  • Shadow sampling
  • Global parameters

You only reshape how they apply.

That is how you build powerful custom looks that remain fully compatible with the Hardline pipeline.