Artwork by Viggo Rohden
"A mysterious source of energy has been discovered in the ancient Roman empire, and it is being used to develop technology that is starting to augment the world, and the people in it. Prepare for one-on-one encounters against experimental gladiators as you fight to earn back your freedom in this challenging boss-rush title."
Shifting Sands is the continuation of a project I worked on it second year called "Indomitable". We decided to rework a lot of aspects of the game to better fit with the new theme we were going for which was focused on an ancient roman aesthetic with some mysterious energy that is allowing people to do things that they probably shouldn't be able to do.
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My work on this project was almost exclusively focused on the VFX and the creation of shaders for said VFX and some other aspects of the game (i.e. the lava, the shield, the sand, etc). I did some sound design to fit with the new VFX as well, but this will only be focused on the VFX.
Software/Tools used: Unity VFX Graph, Unity Shader Graph, Clip Studio Paint, Blender
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VFX Highlight Reel:
Shockwave texture created using Clip Studio Paint
This texture is then dissolved as the shockwave expands.
Procedural "Fire Lashes" made using Shader Graph
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3 layers of this shader applied to a sphere make up the tongues of fire and smoke that come off the shockwave explosion.
The shader mainly consists of noise to which I apply both radial shear and twist and then use step to dissolve.
SHOCKWAVE
Video of the entire effect
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This effect was for a big attack that affects the whole arena. The only way to evade it is to hide behind a shield.
It needed to feel powerful and impactful.
Simple Mist/Smoke texture made using Clip Studio Paint
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This texture along with a more stylized procedural approach to smoke create the... well... smoke coming off the shockwave.
OVERHEAD IMPACT
Video of the entire effect
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This effect plays on the simple overhead attack of the boss. It needed to sell the impact of this big metal giant bringing down his hammer on you, but also be simple enough since it was a fairly basic attack.
Very simple, low-poly debris pieces created in Blender
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These pieces fly out from the center of the impact and then collide with the ground. Helps sell the impact.
Ground Cracks Texture created with Clip Studio Paint
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Very simple texture, but adds a lot to the impact.
Additional Sand Impact VFX
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All effects that hit the ground additionaly play some variation of this effect to make the sand feel more immersive and interactive.
Dissolving Ring Effect
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Some simple noise with a ring shaped mask that dissolves as it moves towards the edges.
Gives the energy a bit of that instability that we wanted.
"Spark" Texture
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An incredibly simple texture that I use in almost every effect for this game. Add some color, emission, turbulence and you have some great sparks.
Isolated continuous sparks - very simple
PERFECT BLOCK
Video of perfect block effect
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One of the, if not THE main mechanic of the game is the directional block and the associated perfect block.
This effect needed to feel really satisfying and communicate to the player that they just did something awesome.
The game also briefly slows down upon performing a perfect block which gives it extra power.
"Blurred Ring" Texture
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Used to create a sort of shockwave that communicates the vast amount of energy absorbed by the block. Adds power and impactfulness.
This is also part of every other "perfect" effect in the game.
ATTACK SLASH
Normal Version
The basic light attack in the game. This effect needed to be simple and clean since you would be seeing it a lot. Yet also needed to feel good to use and communicate the "energy sword" aesthethic that we were going for.
Perfect Version
The perfect version of this attack can be activated if the player times their swings in a certain way.
This needed to feel a lot more impactful obviously, so I added a bool to toggle between the two states. The perfect version is much brighter and spawns slightly more sparks.