Research And Analysis

I have begun thinking about the visual effects for the shard abilities, i came up with a structure to which ill start making those as well, earlier i have been looking at cutting geometry with alpha transparency, i came up with this structure that will form the bases for any magic effect in our game, note that not all the components shown in diagram is necessary they are interchangeable and can be swapped out or omitted based on the effect we are trying to achieve. 

I made this structure out off looking at different in effects in other games. Any complex effects seen in games are made by adding multiple layers of simpler effects together.  

Take for instance the Hydra from Diablo 3 in the image below, the effect can be broken down into separate components, at the base of the Hydra is an swirling fire aura. this can be achieved by applying a circular mask to a scrolling texture or procedural noise blended with a color applied to a quad

The Hydra it self is a 3D mesh that sits on top of the quad underneath, it looks to be semi transparent this is most likely has a transparent effect applied to the mesh and then blended with a color, any embers that fly’s off the the hydra would be generated by a particle system. to finish off the whole effect bloom is applied to give the effect of glowing fire. 

the Specific implementation of the effects will differ depending on the engine that is used, but the underlying concept will be the same.

Status Effect Concepts

Using the structure above i have made some concepts for Poison and Burning Status effect. Since status effects are temporary, my current thoughts is having these effects applied to a transparent shape around the unit so it doesn’t interfere with the units actual effect. it also make removing then easier simply remove the effect around the unit