Tips for creating particle effects in games
Effects should signal
All visual effects in your game should signal something, inform the player of some action, so think about this at the beginning of the process. Some effects can be secondary, such as weather effects: rain, snow, etc. They just need to convey a certain mood, which is an artistic task in itself. But gameplay effects need to be readable and reflect what’s going on from a gameplay perspective, so you need to understand what the requirements are before you start.
Use your observations
If possible, try to look at references from real life of what you are doing. Try to get a feel for the effects and find the components that make them up. Most visual effects are based on something from real life, even if you are doing something magical or abstract. For example, if you want to create a fire effect for a character, you have to check how the fire moves, what shapes it creates, how fast it moves, and so on. Basically, you’ll want to look at themed videos. Pictures are good, but movement is important.
Ideally, you can check something out in the real world. Let’s say we want to create a water-based visual. If you can, observe the river in real life. Look at the behavior of the wave, the color and the movement. Then think about what would make your particle look like water, even if it’s an abstract effect. Imagine you want to make a waterfall.
Test and keep it simple.
When you have a general picture and components such as time, shapes and colors, you’ll want to put all those components together into a particle and place it on a level. This is a great time to learn about the other elements you need, the ones you don’t, and what works and what doesn’t. Taking the waterfall example, testing is a great time to see how the fog dissipates with the light. Find out how refraction works and if you need to make changes. Then consider the other elements of the waterfall – does the player need to go through it, interact with it, or will it be a background element? If it’s a background element and the player can’t interact with it, design according to that position and don’t overcomplicate it.
Work fast and nimble.
Another thing you might want to consider is making it easy for others to use. You will want to give other members of your team control over the active elements. For example, you might want to show them a color. But when you do, consider exposing only those colors that you think will be appropriate in your artistic vision.