Automedic's Particle Project
Hello there!
Welcome to my little workshop. I'm specializing on particle effects so pretty much everything you will see here has particle effects attached to it one way or another. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a collaboration.
ACCEPTED:
SUBMITTED:
VIDEOS and GIFS:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJDXrbP-2E"]Mirror of Companionship 4 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8cqW_p0Ug"]Celestial Spark - Ingame Footage - YouTube[/ame]
Welcome to my little workshop. I'm specializing on particle effects so pretty much everything you will see here has particle effects attached to it one way or another. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a collaboration.
ACCEPTED:
SUBMITTED:
VIDEOS and GIFS:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJDXrbP-2E"]Mirror of Companionship 4 - YouTube[/ame][ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8cqW_p0Ug"]Celestial Spark - Ingame Footage - YouTube[/ame]
Replies
I was wondering about that, so that set never came with custom particles?
I think it's a fine line having users create particle effects, creating something super flashy and impressive will gets lots of votes from the public, but can lead to the game looking like a huge disco.
Perhaps valve want's to moderate that, arcanas and mythicals tend to get their own custom particles to make it special, so when everyone's submitting sets with those in them it might lose its value over time.
Might be, I don't think that applied to this item though. Compare it to the normal Pugna Weapon and ward effect. This one is a lot less flashy. We were actually concerned that it might not be visible enough. Anyways, during the Cinese New Year event they told us they were busy with other projects so I suppose they simply forgot about it. Otherwise they could've just told us the effect won't make it into the game straight out.
I personally consider particles a way to enhance a concept of an item over just its model. Of course the game will get super-messy if everyone just randomly applies particle effects to their items, so I generally try to avoid that and keep it basic.
Unfortunately pictures don't quite catch an animated particle effect, so here's a video:
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I've started off with Disruption. For this I've reworked the entire effect and created new materials for it. The chains around the effect are randomly rotated when the effect is spawned so it will always look a little bit different.
The second effect I've tackled is Shadow Poison. I think it's pretty tough to rework the effect as its recognition pattern is extremely basic (a black, smokey cloud). To allude to the strife for power theme of SD's lore I've added a humanoid silhouette that should rise from the cloud, embrace/grab the targets the spell is supposed to corrupt, then fall back into the smoke. This effect still is nowhere near finished, I'm currently looking for a way to add a blur/smoke effect to the humanoid silhouette so it blends better with the main body of the effect. As of now I've had no luck with that, but I'll keep working on it.
The effects for Soul Catcher and Demonic Purge are currently only in a very early stage, so I'll upload gifs of them some other time.
Now, besides my opinion on that. The shadow shamon stuff youre working on is absolutly brilliant, even as it is now it looks solid, cant wait to see the finished product.
They also need to consider selling gems separately so we can just submit particles and animations without bundling them with sets. :thumbup:
That gives me an idea :poly123:
No, let's be serious: Actually the first version of the effect I created was red/green-ish and therefore a lot closer to the original, using the colours of the default rot and the dismember blood effect. It looked pretty sick (literally). We changed it later on because SUNSFan and Neil wanted it to be black (given the black plague theme) and Valve agreed to the colour swap, probably because they thought the scope of the change would be justified by the rarity and overall complexity of the set (levelling beard, custom icons, several styles). I absolutely agree that changing the basic effect colour is a very dangerous thing but black/red were the only colours that we could've swapped to without introducing new colours to his palette (red is used by his wounds, the hook and dismember; black/grey is present in the hook, the offhand, the rings/chains; the only other colour is green). I don't think it will be something they'll accept on a regular basis, so I guess we should consider it Terrorblade Arcana's little brother in that aspect.
Hehe thank you very much. I personally don't think particle effects should stand alone. I like the supporting aspect of particles, they should be a way to enhance a set concept beyond its model. For animations though it's a different matter entirely since they can be combined more freely without risking a complete clusterfuck. An option to submit gems or taunts is long overdue.
*charges into the sunset*
P.S.: Sorry.
Thanks for the feedback.
I'm not sure wether multiple smaller models wouldn't just be more confusing. I think alternatively I could reduce the size or turn him invisible once I manage to attach a blur/shadow effect to the silhouette.
-
You can also just change the person into a skull and make some sort of "Consumed into darkness" thing.
or
Some sort of sludge or ooze to define the poison aspect of the ability
("shadow poison")
I'm using the Alien Swarm Particle Editor. Cyborgmatt once released a simple guide to get it to run.
That was actually my first concept for the effect. The problem was that most people would see the skull from top view so the animation would be barely noticeable.
That's a good idea! Maybe small, dark puddles left in the wake of the effect. I think I'll try something like this.
The new Shadow Demon particles are amazing too - they really show that great FX can add that little something extra which a normal set or custom animation can't.
Besides that I've been busy working on some other projects. First a small particle effect for Crowntail's Slardar set. He wanted some additional blurs originating from Slardar's fins during the sprint. I also wanted to expand the cast animation a bit (a water splash dripping off of his body) to make it a bit more unique but Crowntail preferred the simple version.
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And also a small collaboration on a set of AM weapons for [prosto-mogy]'s chest. He requested custom particle effects for the blades as well as a new Blink and Mana Void effect. Creating those was a bit tricky because it's a pretty fine line between creating a unique effect and retaining the readability of short-lived effects like those.
...oh, and something nice will happen tomorrow
oh really?
Tomorrow is April first. So it can be anything*shrug*
best day of the year
Hahaha, nicely done
Damn, was in lab all day and now you beat me to posting it
Well guys, here's my new collaboration with DotaCinema,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWwOuELhws&feature=youtu.be
(Fun fact: DC l Neil contacted me about that idea completely independently from AndrewHelenek :poly115:)
I must admit I've been pretty thrilled about the latest sets for ES and Abbadon that got accepted. Non-arcana sets that can overhaul the entire ability set were something I've been waiting for for a long time. And that's where my Shadow Demon particles kick in. Looks like what started off as a practice/just-for-fun project could actually stand a realistic chance. Anyways, here's the updated version of Shadow Poison and Disruption.
Shadow Poison - still the same crappy animated silhouette, but I feel like the particle effect part is pretty decent now.
Disruption: added a few new details and reduced the particle count a bit.
And last but not least: a brand new effect for Soul Catcher. I didn't dare to touch the debuff as that could easily screw up the recognition value and hence affect gameplay, but the spawn effect gives a bit room to play. The particles emitting from the edges of the pentagram are actually homing, it looks quite nice when you have a moving target. Probably the most complex effect I've ever created. The gif is a bit laggy I'm afraid (because my computer is really crappy), so just imagine it to be... smoother
We need more of this stuff!
How do you make all these amazing effects? (with what softwares?)
Would you ever make a tutorail of how to make an effect so we all can see the workflow of making an effect for Dota 2?
Keep it up man!:D
Let me elaborate. The eyeball on the ward, while interesting makes it very hard to identify as a ward, without there being a black pupil it reads as a single color. Simply darkening the center of the 'eye' would greatly increase its visablity in game. I also believe there should be a tilt in the eyeball to also make the center cross the path of the camera, the 'eye' would read better that way. The other half is the particles, while on the sentry they look cool, the warmer hue of the observer ward makes the particles look really silly and unfitting. I feel that if the particles also reflected that hue shift then they would be less of a problem. I think something like that is possible since the observer and sentry by default have different particles.
And personally, I feel the particles are a bit overwhelming to begin with. But that could very well be a person peference.
On a more positive note, the shadow demon stuff is awesome, although some feedback on the chains, I feel there should rotate on more then one axis, even if the other axis is subtle.
Cheers!
wasn't sure what I was looking at either
Everything looks really awesome though. I've been trying to create some particles as well, but it's a complete bitch. major respect :P
@vertical: you mean that big, green splash attack? That shouldn't be too difficult - I'm still a bit busy but I'll give it a shot if I find the time.
@Shtreimel: I'm using the Alien Swarm SDK's particle editor. Cyborgmatt once released a little guide to get it to run. I've considered creating a tutorial but since I'm still pretty tied up at the moment (and accouting for the editor's complex options is more a task for a wiki than for a guide), it's probably not going to happen in the near future.
@AndrewHelenek: Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I wasn't actually involved in the modelling process so I don't really know what the reason for the missing iris is. As far as the particles are concerned: I've tried recolouring the effect for the observer but it just didn't read as a Disruptor ward anymore, so I kept the blue for both versions. The flashiness and "dominance" of the particles over the model is indeed intended (a tesla coil is also pretty bright business
Concerning the Disruption chain effect: The chain rotation axis indeed varies independently for both chains when it is cast, so they'll always spawn differently. I've considered to slowly rotate the chains around the core but I think it might just be a bit of a visual overkill (too much happening at the same time). I'll give it a shot though, I guess. You never really know how it turns out.
After you edit your costum FX in the alien swarm what is the next step . How do you realize put the particle effect into the game.
best regard
after you created a particle file you have to override the vpk for that specific file. Here's a guide for that - replacing particles works pretty much the same way as replacing models/sounds. You can also add completely new particle files to the game but that's fairly complicated and probably more advanced than what you need right now.
I hope that helped!
How about your particles works,Are they all using replacing method instead of adding new complicated particle files.
I find that alien swarm particle editor is so hard to learn, how to start.
for some reason a lot of materials(vmt) for particles doesn't shows up in preview when i'm browsing it, but particles still works fine, for exaple "abaddon_aphotic_shield_explosion_trail"
i have same thing with 50% material. did you faced this problem? how you solved it?
The one you have there is a trail.
got it. much thanks
First a particle request for an OD weapon by prosto-mogy I created some time ago:
You also might have seen the particle overhaul I created for the Qualdin's Ambassador set by Crowntail and Yakonusuke. Here are a few gifs of the effects.
And last but not least some WIP of a Sniper Ultimate I'm creating for BrontoThunder's upcoming Sniper set. He requested an ultimate consisting of two spinning bullets instead of one. As I pesonally think that his interpretation of Sniper is pretty... macho (?) (come on: headband and double-barreled rifle - it doesn't get more manly than that) I aimed for a more brutal/unrefined version of the ult (for example by adding absolutely exaggerated barrel fire when launching the projectile). I'm still not sure about the impact effect though - I initially wanted to go for a more bloody version but figured that it might probably be a bit too violent/gory (given that the bullets actually pierce the body in this effect), so I settled for sparks instead. I'm still a bit undecided, though - what do you think?
Yes and no - I actually tried that earlier but his casting animation is pretty fucked up. If the rotation is not locked the effect will launch sideways in a pretty weird way. (Fun fact: Sniper's rifle doesn't actually face straight ahead when he shoots his bullet. Imagine the barrel fire emitting at an angle 20° different from the projectile. :poly124:).
Had you ever tried to make a custom SFX item,I mean the original item did not have sfx. if you did so ,how was the work thread.