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BlackShipsFillt
04-11-2010, 11:32 PM
Hi, we were having a discussion in the office today about the visual representation of auras in our game (Pocket RPG)... I ind myself on one side of the argument and everyone else kind of on the other...

What I was trying to argue is that auras should look kind of runic, ancient and mysterious, like the Auras in DOTA or for that matter Warcraft 3 (and every other game I could find with illustrated aura effects)...

The other side of the argument was that it is good to spell out what the aura represents through recognizable symbols which would help the casual player understand.

I feel that while recognizable auras would be nice, all the auras we are working on are activated by the player (by equipping an item) and hopefully will have noticeable effects and so the visual is candy and so the flavour is most important.

I would concede that if a aura is activated by a shrine or or trap (something other than the player) then the effects should be spelled out.

Those are my thoughts, I'm wondering what other gamers think?

Here are some screenshots of auras, the last three are the ones I am most happy with.

http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Shield.png
http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Poison.png
http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Frost.png
http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Vampiric.png
http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Devotion.png
http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/PocketRPG/PocketRPG_Aura_Arrows.png

They might all need to be a bit smaller or subtler, but I would like some feedback on what we've got so far.

SkinkLizzard
05-11-2010, 12:52 AM
well I'd say that if you're going to use arcane power circles to represent aura's do it properly
like the last 3, if you want clearly visible representative auras again do it completely, ice auras could make a small
patch of frosted ground, fire auras could have the ground heated up with little gouts of flame erupting,
poison auras could have a green gas floating up around the players feet. if it isnt overboard effort the more abstract auras
can effect the players appearance slightly, increased armour aura giving the player a silvery sheen to the characters cloths or skin.
so yea Imo don't try to mix them up although I kinda like knowing at a glance what aura/effects are active.

As for what you've got now they work, although perhaps having them all follow the same theme would be better so kinda like the shield one just with different colours and symbols. Of all of them the only one I find I dislike is the one I assume to be a poison aura (second picture)

reading through this post again its probably not very helpful but on the off chance it is I'll post anyway

Gazza_N
05-11-2010, 07:59 AM
I'm of the opinion that if the spells are player-activated, they should already have an idea of what's going to happen. Besides, I notice they're all colour-coded anyway, and I figure "Hey, my shield spell has a white rune circle, but I see a yellow rune circle here, so I've totally pushed the wrong button" is enough visual feedback for anyone. The rune graphics themselves are purely aesthetic.

FuzzYspo0N
05-11-2010, 09:51 AM
I'm in the same boat as Gazza and Blackships. If they are activating it, they can get a brief on screen icon flashing and the rune can be aesthetic and color coded.

The thing is the ones presented with icons are really really subtle anyway, as in, its not in your face so it works the same as an aesthetic one and might even expand some players ability to play. I think if it was an obtuse giant icon in the center that steals attention and focus from the character or the gameplay thats not good - but in these shots either looks good.

Also, here are some references of some other developers approach (http://arcane-fx.com/afx_gallery/afx_gallery_scr.html)

BlackShipsFillt
05-11-2010, 10:55 AM
Yes it is helpful SkinkLizzard :) I'm just trying to get oppinions. I like the idea of a little bit of poison smoke, I think that would be a better visual representation than skulls. Though I don't want to spend too much CPU on rendering these things, especially as there could be more than one active (so changing shaders or substantial plumes of fire may be too much).

Also part of my problem, perhaps the biggest part, was that, if you look at the first 4 screenshots, the auras were following a very simple formula. The first 4 are all two rings with some decoration round the outside (except perhaps the 4th which has stuff in the middle too). My concern was that if I let it continue we would end up with every single aura following this formula (The last two auras were made after I complained)

I'm not against recognizable auras, in fact I am for it wherever possible, but I'd like the auras to look ancient and runic (as there are other runic things in the game).

I feel that the meaning of the symbols in the first two auras are very modern. ie. shield in the screenshot means protection- whereas an ancient symbol for protection might be a cross or an ankh. and the skull in the screenshot is for the poison aura - whereas skulls in ancient terms mean a curse or something undead. (the poison-skull association came about through relatively recent household poison products).

Thanks for the link fuzzy!

Once again, I don't think meaning is entirely necessary, but it is desirable. And I think any meaning should be ancient and a bit mysterious and that each aura should have a flavour a little bit beyond only having different outer decorations (I don't mean wild differences, just a bit of TLC).

dislekcia
08-11-2010, 10:55 AM
I'm a big fan of auras that visibly show the effects they're having on the game world. As such, I was wondering if the same auras are available to each character (via the same mechanism, assuming ancient runic magic if so) or if there are unique auras. Diablo 2's different aura graphics per character class is always a reference point...

Are they auras or enchantments? IE: Do they have a radius of effect, or are they simply character modifiers?

I think the biggest thing about spell graphics is coherence: You need to have the same symbol, whatever it is, appear on the casting shortcut, the graphics and the documentation. As long as you do that, you could re-purpose whatever odd symbol you like, players will learn that in this game world, it always does the same thing.

BlackShipsFillt
08-11-2010, 03:43 PM
The auras are termed "auras" in the game world and are equipped by equipping items that have aura effects in their stats. There will be no icon or button that activates them, but rather some text that says for example : "Amulet of Inferno: +25% Fire Damage, Fire Aura"

Ideally, for fire, frost and poison auras the player will see enemies being burnt, slowed and poisoned. The shield and thorns auras will flash and absorb and reflect damage respectively. And the vampiric and energy drain auras will create little sparks that travel to the player and increase the energy and health bars respectively.

I think the visualization of the effects should be intuitive, but the graphic on the ground I mostly want to be pretty (although colour use and style can make it at least mildly intuitive)