Steampunk tactics game Veil of Ashes ditched Unreal's default tone mapping and finally nailed its gloomy atmosphere

Indie studio Greifenmaer is still hard at work on Veil of Ashes – a real-time tactics game set in a dark steampunk world. Recent weeks of development brought some visible visual and gameplay improvements, with one of the more impactful changes touching the very foundation of how the game renders its visuals.

The team swapped out Unreal Engine's standard ACES tone mapping for AgX, and the results are exactly what they had been chasing.

"We replaced Unreal's standard ACES tone mapping with AgX and can finally achieve the grim and rainy lighting atmosphere we were aiming for. The constant battle against unnatural colors, washed-out highlights, and crushed blacks, especially in forests, is finally over!"

On top of the lighting work, Greifenmaer reworked the main modules for two combat vehicles – the Bellatores Behemoth and the Cataphractus Mortaio.

The old Bellatores module didn't look powerful enough, while the Mortaio had issues with its reloading animation and a gun that was barely visible. The team also shared close-ups of the Cataphractus Angeli tank from an internal playtest.

Worth a mention is how units actually reach the battlefield – giant flying steampunk machines that carry tanks. Greifenmaer also shared screenshots from the latest internal playtest showing the scale of the battles.

Veil of Ashes centers on real-time combat where players command infantry, steam-powered tanks, and colossal behemoths. It includes solo and multiplayer modes with skirmishes up to 4v4, both against AI and other players. During a match, you build your army from different companies and earn Reinforcement Points to call in powerful war machines, tactical strikes, and support.

The setting takes place 200 years after a catastrophic inferno in 1704 that wiped out countless nations. From the ashes emerged Cinium – energetic fragments as white as angel feathers and enormously powerful. Cinium now fuels the steam engines of tanks and behemoths, while the world itself sits under a grey veil of ash.

Three factions fight over what territory remains:

• The theocratic Sacrum Imperium crushes enemies with firepower and super-heavy Cataphractus tanks

• The feudal Lohenreich sends knights into battle aboard armored Lanzierer tanks, supported by loyal Panzerknecht soldiers

• The socialist Communes rely on agile wheeled vehicles of the Force Rapide and waves of Volontaires and Conscrits.

A release date for Veil of Ashes hasn't been announced yet, but there's a Steam page.