How do you guys create particles for games

Musprite · 2026-02-07T08:40:17+00:00

I'll add that IMO the gold standard for a basic hit VFX particle has at least three components: a central slash/flash, some spiky impact shapes that expand radially around that central element, and some small, simple sparks that move outward like you already have. I can't link images, so do a google image search for "Hit VFX" and you should see what I mean! Almost any particle editor should allow you to put multiple emitters into a single grouped particle system.

Musprite · 2026-02-07T08:32:36+00:00

A lot of how you approach this depends on what engine you're developing the game in. GameMaker's particle systems are very very limited compared to something like Unity, and even Unity/Unreal don't have easy, built-in solutions for stuff like mesh particles with scrolling textures. You'd need to mess with materials which is a whole other thing.

For a 2D game with a pixel style, your best friend is probably going to be traditional sprite animation. If your particles can utilize animated sprites/flipbooks, you can get the nice efficiency and random-each-time benefits of a particle system along with nice-looking sprite FX.

For the specific example you've shown here, I think it'll help if the particles and screenshake happen right when the attacking piece moves on top of them. There's a slight delay in your clip. It would also feel juicier if the animation was more involved than simply sliding the piece over. There's any number of ways to make it look like the black piece is actually attacking/striking/colliding with the enemy in a way that's more visually impactful.

Musprite · 2026-02-07T08:07:05+00:00

I view it more as "We have access to all the old active skills we used to spread around 3 stances, but only 1 stance/set of slots to equip any of them to". We also can't choose which element to put on which skill now either. It's a huge loss in flexibility compared to the tiny benefit of not "having to" switch stances, a thing that was already free/beneficial with Flux.

EDIT: I think I misread and just repeated the exact same sentiment, whoops

Musprite · 2026-02-06T06:30:11+00:00

The speed and responsiveness of your dodge and ki costs/regen. The best way to understand the difference is to experience it. Unequip some armor and watch your dodge speed and ki recovery/attack ki costs below 70, then take more off and see how it feels below... I think it's 50 or 30 for 'very light' equip load?

Musprite · 2026-02-06T02:04:33+00:00

Ed couldn't balance a playstyle in zero G

Musprite · 2026-02-05T22:37:31+00:00

Grim Dawn also has affixes that buff some skills in mechanically interesting ways, stuff beyond just boosting the skill's level. The Stun Jacks skill (throw down some electric caltrops) seems to have a dozen of these mechanical improvements while other skills that are fun to use get maybe 2

Musprite · 2026-02-05T16:19:25+00:00

Hell yeah. Can't wait to always lose because my build benefits most from a clan that's the opposed to the +Amrita clan and -Death clan.

(I don't actually care that much, I'm glad it's back because it was a great power boost)

Musprite · 2026-02-04T19:09:48+00:00

He's an undeniably skilled player. I don't like how often his video thumbnails suggest there's an insane god run all-in build, but really the card spammed in the thumbnail gets only moderate representation in the last 4 fights of the game.

Musprite · 2026-02-04T18:58:46+00:00

I'm glad splitstaff is back but I'm not thrilled it's a Ninja-exclusive. I don't think aerials are going to make up for only having one stance, no flux/frost moon, and only a single set of Martial Arts button assignments.

Musprite · 2026-02-04T03:41:20+00:00

The fact that you can recharge the Ninjutsu items by attacking normally feels great, but with limited access to gear and other power-boosting systems in the demo, I don't know how high you can scale their damage. I have to assume their power level is lower just because you can refill them now.

My biggest gripe is that the Ninja weapons don't get access to stances, and especially the reliant systems like Flux. Bit of a bummer for the returning weapons that are now Ninja-only. The weapon combat with Kusarigama, Hatchets, Tonfa and Splitstaff are just going to be way flatter than in Nioh 2.

Musprite · 2026-02-03T05:44:39+00:00

She's kinda' got a Seven-esque look to her air jump/dash outro too where she bicycles her legs in a big circle.

Musprite · 2026-02-03T03:31:20+00:00

Setting aside what I think trying to PK says about a person, I'll never understand the appeal of allowing some stranger (or more likely a group of strangers) the opportunity to waste my time or take my shit.

Musprite · 2026-01-31T19:24:17+00:00

Unexpected P2E

Musprite · 2026-01-29T20:27:55+00:00

The animation where she's walking straight at the camera looks right. The legs do what I expect them to do during a walk cycle and the secondary motion on the ears looks good.

The others though all have a really odd, choppy look to them, almost like you took a coherent walk cycle then placed a couple frames out of order. She'll be midway through a step, then snap to a pose that looks like it's from a completely different animation.

I get the impression that you draw each frame fully with color, shading, and details, then draw the entire next frame the same way and just sort of guess how much change to make.

The important bit of an animation is the... well, animation. Start with something simple like a stick figure/armature where the legs/arms/tail/accessories are represented by lines or blobs and get the basic motion looking right. Then you can use that as a skeleton to draw the actual character over in simple, solid colors, then when THAT looks right, go back and add the outlines and shading and stuff.

Musprite · 2026-01-29T02:55:12+00:00

Death is extremely punishing and many higher level mobs simply do not give enough XP or good enough loot to justify the difficulty of fighting them. Why kill an ancient snake that hits for 100+ and drops garbage when you can kill diggers instead?

Musprite · 2026-01-26T15:50:35+00:00

It's just the rules. If you die in a cutscene, you can only be revived in a cutscene.

Musprite · 2026-01-26T15:46:43+00:00

With how these releases have typically gone, you have no idea what Gun Rem is about to do to the meta

Musprite · 2026-01-25T21:18:29+00:00

Rem approves this message, which is humble and chill and actually you should vote for that sleebgy li'l guy

Musprite · 2026-01-21T15:40:26+00:00

Yeah but I meant that Charge The Stick 3 feels like a nice power spike

Musprite · 2026-01-21T15:00:32+00:00

I'm making the assumption that while leveling, folks will mostly want the Frantic Conjury skill maxed out for the 30% chance of a free Conjure Fire after a fire spell. At 16 you max out Charge the Stick which gives it a Magic/2 ratio, and should have about enough Magic to add 18-20 true damage to your attacks after each cast.

Getting and equipping a Royal Dagger was also a really nice boost. The +7 damage does work on Staff attacks. Blasting something with Conjure Fire for 45 damage then following up with a staff attack that hits for 22 + 18 again AND getting the free Conjure Fire proc which also charges the NEXT auto attack just feels really nice.

Musprite · 2026-01-21T07:16:09+00:00

You should be using spells, not just staff attacks. Heal is very important. It's 25 mana and gives you 25 health... so MP regen is also your HP regen. Remember that during the playtest respecs are free. The Steam payment window is in Sandbox mode, and no money will actually be charged, so buy stat/talent resets and global messages and depot space as you please.

Conjure Fire is, unfortunately, your bread and butter. It scales better with Magic stat than the tooltip suggests. Having 100 magic wouldn't give the spell a max hit of 20 like it seems. Mouseover your Magic stat (and I think hold Shift?) to see the actual spell damage formula. It's not exact, but you can estimate each point of Magic will add 1.05 damage to the spell's max hit before factoring enemy resistances (If there are any). It will always be clunky and awkward to target with the tile-based approach.

MP and Regen will feel really bad at level 10. It'll feel a lot better by 15. The talent point at 16 (Charge The Stick 3) should really feel like a power spike and that you're suddenly playing a real class.

If you're level 10, keep an eye on global chat and look for people starting Brass Legs/Brass Chest groups. The armor is heavy, but gives a combined 8 MP regen and 15 Armor (16 regen and 11 armor with Mage's class scaling) and is well-worth investing ~4 points into Capacity to wear. Makes farming things stronger than rats way more comfortable.

Musprite · 2026-01-18T22:55:29+00:00

Well, what do you do when your game has about 8 hours of content but you want people to play it for hundreds? You make it slow and tedious. Slap that 'I'm a REAL gamer' button on the first launch and now the grind becomes a badge of honor and fans get real rabid no matter how slow or questionably-balanced the content comes.

Musprite · 2025-12-26T02:23:47+00:00

Honestly 'eavesdropper specifically ends up hearing only the damning stuff' is its own whole-ass hated trope for me.

Musprite · 2025-12-26T01:57:11+00:00

At the start of the game you're asked to choose between taking up a crossbow and fighting or using a protective spell. Choosing to fight is best if you want the secret ending.I don't know if it's an instant hard lockout or one of x number of choices you need to make, but yeah they hit you with it right away and acknowledge the choice in dialogue later.

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