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Hey everyone!
Today we wanted to touch on what VFXs are and what role they play in video games.
VFX is basically an abbreviation of visual effects.
Just imagine a character casting a spell, whether it's a simple fireball or a powerful storm of lightning affecting a large area, each of these are created by VFX artists but their creation process requires a lot of collaboration from many different departments.
There’s a lot more to VFX than just looking cool but let's take it slow and start with how the initial creation process looks.
Energy bridge VFX (Pre-alpha)
Similarly to how animation and characters are being decided, the style is often the first consideration.
Whether it’s meant to be more realistic and grounded, stylized and fantastical or a mix of both. It’s an important decision as it sets a tone for basically everything.
There’s a lot of thought put into how VFX are created” - says Deepak, our technical artist. While the artists have their own ideas for creating stunning visuals, we always have to consider that we don’t go beyond the scope, especially since we’re working on a mobile game, we have to account for how resource consuming each effect is.
There’s a lot of moving parts to account for and, again, similar to how final character designs and animation 3d models change over time, there can be a redesign to accommodate the challenges of game development.
Unsurprisingly the first concepts require the most time but once the general idea and style is communicated to the team it becomes much easier to create VFX that fits within those specifications. Easier doesn’t mean simple though, of course!
Once the teams have a clear understanding of the overall art direction and the vibe, it’s time for the concept artists to shine.
The initial 2D designs from 2D artists are very crucial, since they are a blueprint that the VFX artists use and reference in anything. They’re basically the architects and often rely on provided references and instruction from the previous stage.
It’s easy to recognise similarities between the creation of animation and VFX, they tend to follow similar steps but the tools and processes involved tend to vary greatly.
Once the concept is created and fully approved for implementation, it’s time for the VFX artists to enter the fray.
There are a few different types of VFX that have their own purpose in how they help players immerse themselves and interact with the game.
Each can help to either set an atmosphere or hype the player up.
Some are used as an assistance to help with interacting with the world or simply indicate something of importance or danger.
A good broad classification would probably be:
Waterfall VFX (Pre-alpha)
Azoria's Retribution spell VFX (Pre-alpha)
Wisp VFX (Pre-alpha)
VFX requires a very careful balancing act. - Comments Deepak
You can create the coolest looking visual for virtually every single thing but the harsh reality is that it comes at a cost. A cost to loss of frames, a cost to produce or simply having too much happening on the screen can be taxing for the player. This is undeniably quite tough on artists who want to put out the best possible work for the world. Optimisation is the key and with a proper planning and creation of proper procedures plays an important role, since communication between departments is a core necessity. Luckily, I'm quite skilled in creating such procedures to improve our collaboration!
While VFX are thought of as a cherry on top of existing assets, they can be so much more. They have a unique ability to turn the game world into something visually impressive, informative and enjoyable. Immersing them into a magical world that developers wish them to experience.
I’ve always enjoyed creating impressive creations for others to enjoy. Says Bach, one of our VFX artists.
I began my career as a 2D artist but I’ve felt that static images weren’t generating enough excitement, so I’ve proceeded to shift into animation. I found it more interesting but it still felt like it was lacking that “wow factor”. It was at that point that I decided to go into VFX and it seems like I've found what I’ve been looking for. VFX leave a strong impression on the user. They are like fireworks, they can mesmerise the viewer and allow us to impress them in various ways.
There are a lot of things to consider when we’re creating something. We’re not only trying to impress the player, we’re trying to make the experience enjoyable too. Even if the novelty lasts only for a brief moment, the first impression they get can be a very important one. And being able to provide such experience is quite rewarding!
There’s something special about VFX. - adds Jonathan, another of our VFX artists.
When I’ve been enjoying playing video games, I’ve got really curious about how the whole process works. There weren’t many tutorials or guides within my country so I’ve made an effort to learn other languages so that I could pick up some basic information about the topic. The more I’ve learned, the more I want to improve further. It’s a really vicious cycle, honestly! I’m really glad I’ve decided to do it professionally. It’s also fun to discover new and efficient ways to make the software do what I want it to do.
VFXs creation is very collaborative in its nature. As mentioned previously, VFX are used both for setting atmosphere but also to help players to interact with the world. This requires constant communication and feedback from the game development team but also animation and artists to continuously review any designs from the VFX artist.
It’s important not to get lost in the labyrinth of game development. - laughs Deepak
As someone who has at least surface level knowledge of the whole process, I can tell that the first and foremost issue that needs to be tackled is communication. This comes in many forms, addressing issues we’re facing to others, giving clear instructions, working in tandem with multitudes of different departments with essentially different goals. This often requires previously mentioned processes to either simplify these tasks or make them more understandable for others.
It’s easy to forget that everyone works on the project with goals of their own. Artists want to put in the most impressive, coolest and just best possible art and effects possible.
Game developers want to release a game with a multitude of features, content, fun and replayability. Marketing would love nothing more than to take the best parts to show off to the wider public to hype up the game, whether the features are already in or not (sometimes even make stuff up). None of these is in the wrong but each of these individually can harm the overall production. Since time and resources are limited, there are optimisation efforts put in place.
Game development is best thought of as a framework. - Continues Deepak.
It’s not really a put thing into the thing and now it does a thing”. It’s best to imagine an open space, now consider what you want to use it for, then start putting in all the things that will help you with its creation. Say you want to make a burger. You will need ingredients, a working grill and someone who can put it all together. It’s the same with game development but instead of ingredients, there’s code, instead of grill, there’s software and instead of a chef, you’ve got artists, developers etc.
Everything created within the framework is decided by what works best for the final product, visuals, resource optimization and of course gameplay features. You want to create the best possible game. Looks great, has fun gameplay and it runs smoothly. A game worthy of your time.
The most important thing is always the end product. The evolving work of VFX artists is a journey on its own, the first creations versus the final outcome can differ to such an extent that you wouldn’t even consider them being created from the same concept!
Blade Dance spell VFX (Pre-alpha)
VFXs are quite essential in video games, they enhance the gameplay, share information with the player and play a big role in setting an atmosphere. Even games with the most basic visuals and animations rely heavily on them, sometimes even more.
Just like animation, they play a large part in the creation of our upcoming Origins: The Fall of Azoria game and we hope it’ll be as exciting for you to play it as it is for us to create it!
And finally we’d like to thank everyone who had helped us with the creation of this article and we hope to share more stories from both those who helped out directly and indirectly in the future articles!
Until next time!
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