Codename: Shenbuyan devs detail per-character eye shader
The team built a dedicated eye shader with separate cornea, iris, sclera and tear-line controls, and gave Ryou, Souya and Hisame individual pupils.
The development team behind the urban fantasy romance adventure game Codename: Shenbuyan has explained how it handles character rendering, in an interview published to coincide with Unreal Fest Shanghai 2026, according to inside-games.jp.
Chief artist Bing Liu, chief rendering engineer Qian and character art director Lin said the project uses a dedicated eye shader rather than a generic eye rendering solution. The shader allows the cornea, iris, sclera and tear-line layers to be controlled separately.
Each of the characters Ryou, Souya and Hisame received their own pupil designs and facial expression sets, instead of drawing on a shared expression library.
The game is built on Unreal Engine 5's Substrate material system and the MetaHuman character system. The team also described optimization work intended to deliver high-quality graphics on mobile devices.
A new in-engine demo includes shots in which the camera moves very close to the characters, putting the eye and expression work on display.
Quick answers
What engine does Codename: Shenbuyan use?
The team said the game uses Unreal Engine 5's Substrate material system and the MetaHuman character system.
Which characters have individual eye and expression designs?
Ryou, Souya and Hisame each have their own pupil designs and facial expression sets.