Over the last couple of days I have been prototyping the VFX pipeline for creating effects by first developing a procedural blood shader and splatter effect, and then using those potential limitations and possibilities in mind with how to approach the effect when developing the concept art for these effects.
*The gameplay design around these abilities are subject to change as the project progress.
Blink
I redesigned the blink ability first with bringing something new and dark in mind, so I have made it so that smoke tendrils will rise up the arm with rats appearing and then being shattered into dust as the player blinks forward to their new position. The player will then rise out of a scurrying pile of rats which will be used to show the point the player will be blinking to before they pull the trigger.
Fire
The fire ability is pretty standard but I did some experimentation with the colour in which I decided to go for a nice hot cyan instead of the atypical orange/red fire. This makes the fire feel mystical and even hotter like a blue flame.
The player will use this combat centric ability to throw a fireball which will set enemies on fire and melt their skin if it’s a killing blow (tap), or provide a radial area of damage around the player (hold).
Dark/Mirror
The dark ability will appear as a hand coming form the player’s sleeve, and releasing will shatter this into fragments/shards. This ability will be used to slip into a dark plane by having the player appear to trip – this will be used to evade combat quickly by slipping into an alternate mirror reality for a brief period of time. Alternatively holding the ability will allow you to switch places with another enemy – this can be used to lure enemies into traps, displace across a distance to escape, or simply in combat to displace an enemy at a height or into water.
Blood/Time
The blood ability can be either used to replenish health by using it as a stealth attack on an enemy (tap), or to manipulate time (hold) to almost a halt – though this will drain health and mana.
Technical Showcase: Dishonored 