Realtime VFX Breakdown - Lightning Storm

This is a breakdown of a visual effect I developed for our indie RPG currently in development. Built and animated in Unity, shaders authored with Amplify Shader Editor.

[@Lunatheia]

I just got into VFX-ing and you just gave me SO MUCH knowledge. I love that lil tid bit of inversing your effect to make it look even more impactful

[@Moonz97]

This is mesmerizing! You're criminally underrated.

[@Excavier]

Thank you very much for putting this on youtube! really helpful for indie game dev that interested in RPG. Keep up the good work!

[@Evilc00kies]

The breakdowns are incredible!

[@amel_lemouri]

Those effects are so well made

[@braidsmeetsbalthor7517]

MikaMobile team, I just have to say you guys will hold a place in mobile gaming nobody can touch. Beautiful animations, simple intuitive gameplay yet somehow deeply complex for those looking for more. The fact that you guys do not monetise your games to the Nth degree does not go unnoticed and your fan base will always love you for that. Battleheart and Battleheart Legacy are classics… and have skyrocketed you to mobile gaming royalty. Thank you for all your efforts.

[@MRxRadex]

Thank you for the breakdown. With you since original BattleHeart, Zombieville 2 and OMG Ninjas

[@GeekSHO]

Nice video! I've been following you since I think 'Nam.

[@biggiestos2361]

I can't wait to see your next project, battleheart kicks ass and so does zombieville

[@Mrtrymelol]

Amazing techniques :P

[@stickiagamer4577]

this was amazing. your audio is very quiet though. this vfx is stunning i can't wait to make stuff like this

[@shibi6939]

great work

[@owenhey3187]

Super cool!!!

[@edcaous]

I don't know much about this project, but today I asked myself "I wonder how people make lightning effects in these programs?" and this video came up.

[@sat.chid.ananda]

i see the chip implanted in your neck works fine!

[@elsombra7343]

Amazing

[@TheParasone]

are you planning on doing a livestream and walk us through the whole creation process of a VFX?

[@DonEsteban3D]

hey, thx for this.

[@cristophermiranda3026]

Ojalá algún día saquen traducción a Español, por cierto, me encantan sus juegos y espero pronto poder disfrutar de uno nuevo

[@RicoPrabowo]

Skill: Lightning Storm ⚡ Damage: Elemental 🌱 Class: AOE / Offensive 💥 Cooldown: 60 seconds 🕛 Deals 11 hits of elemental damage to the designated area! *27500 damage per hit* ⚡ If Rally level reaches 2, inflicts *Enfeeble 50% for 10 secs!* 🔻 If Rally level reaches 4, also inflicts *Sluggish 25% for 5 secs!* 🔻 If Rally level reaches 6, you gain *Focus 10% for 15 secs!* ⬆️ If Rally level reaches 8, also gain *Defense 80% for 10 secs!* ⬆️ When Rally level maxed out to 10, *become invincible for 3 secs and stuns anyone who got caught within your spell for 10 secs!* 💫

[@EdgarasArt]

Hello, that's really nice! Do you have this effect for sale?

[@Drillgon]

Wonderful effect, but how do you make that texture mask?

[@JoaoPaulo-mk8ro]

I loved! Thanks for sharing! Would you give me some tips to start planning the vfx creation?

[@MikaMobileApps]

When planning an effect - do plenty of concept painting before you start. Doesn't have to be complicated, just some color thumbnails is what I tend to do. If you spend some time figuring out your visual target, it all goes much easier.

[@user-qu8yv9wk2e]

Keep going

[@Arxontas10]

Oh boy, i like this, and the fireball too! You mentioned at the end "not long ago", how much would that be?

[@MikaMobileApps]

About 6 months, I guess. I'd done a fair amount of 2D effects animation before, but only in the last year have I really dug into shaders and what they can do for 3D effects.

[@quick2k692]

I hope Battleheart legacy 2 is coming soon. I’ll play any amount for it haha.

[@axeman89757]

Hope you guys can make maybe like a new roguelike game or some endless game of some sort where I can enjoy endless fun

[@e.g2896]

If this a Battleheart Legacy second game i'm gonna play the hell out of it. If not and it's cool i'll do the same

[@caemanbay]

Any chance that Zombieville USA 3 will ever be created? I would pay so much money to play it

[@sollux6973]

Hey, battleheart 2 will not receive more updates? I'm really enjoying playing it :)

[@KJ-ud9uf]

can you guys bring back OMG pirates? It was one of my favorite games and id really like if it could be put back on the app store.

[@edlleybruno7674]

👍

[@felipe-ph4pz]

adds more weapons in zombville usa 2 pls

[@transpuffer627]

I love your games. Please make a battleheart legacy 2. Its ok if you dont want to. It would just be great

[@gaggygiggle8945]

Hi, i spent countless hours on the first battleheart wayback in 2013 thanks to my cousin, i see the progression of animation is impressive and i hope for this game development to be finished. I was really curious, how was the 2011 first Battlehearts animated in terms of equipment (like a tablet)?

[@MikaMobileApps]

I drew the characters on a tablet, broke them up into layers (for arms, legs, heads, etc.) and animated the parts moving around in Maya. Many limitations back then - couldn't change the overall drawing really, just had to rotate and squish around the parts to make them do stuff, like a paper cutout.

[@gaggygiggle8945]

@@MikaMobileApps so in terms of "Papercut motion" is simillar to tweening/motion guide in Adobe animate, very interesting. Thanks for da knowledge :) i also tried to make a sort of game with a gotoandplay and hold + drag script in flash but drawing frame by frame is really tiring so i puppeted them after drawing.

[@alanmar6809]

Hello, which program did you use to generate those mask texture? thanks exellent video.

[@MikaMobileApps]

The lightning mask I painted on my ipad with procreate, with some editing in photoshop to make it seamlessly tile, and to create the gradient which allows for the thickness control. That gradient is just the default photoshop "outer glow" layer style, with the falloff set to be perfectly linear. The other masks are just photoshop gradients.

[@athier5898]

do you have a tutorial going over how to make these textures?

[@estebanairasca6435]

Great stuff, un new to vfx, how do that mesh with the texture at the Start?

[@estebanairasca6435]

I'm new*

[@DarrisRobins1]

any update on the battleheart legacy 2?

[@azuretooth]

waiting for you game

[@mylifeissoshortsoidie48]

How that lighting get so big

[@SpotIsFat]

Guess they makin battle heart legacy sequel

[@andrestapiatorres7766]

How did u make the random thickness to be smoothly blended with the original texture? Im getting alot of big seams D:

[@MikaMobileApps]

If I remember correctly, I'm just adding to the values from that "random thickness" gradient to the base texture. The gradient loops seemlessly, and the base texture does too, so no seams.

[@andrestapiatorres7766]

@@MikaMobileApps I'll run some test to see how it goes. Thanks!

[@TheParasone]

@@andrestapiatorres7766 did you manage to make it work? i can help you if needed.

[@3po_Orisen_Sithappen]

wow so cool can we by this

[@Fae_law]

How were you able to make the mesh expand in and out like that, with the gradient? Every time I try the modify that axis it just flattens the object

[@MikaMobileApps]

You talking about expansion at 0:30? That's not the mesh expanding, but just the edges of the mask. Another way to think about it - that step node in the shader is basically saying "Only show pure white pixels" by default. As I reduce the step, it adds more and more values. If you're talking about the wiggling mesh displacement at 0:41, you can try each of the axes to see which is which if you're having trouble, but in this case its only changing X offset and leaving the others alone. You can multiply your offset by the surface normal to make the direction consistent regardless of how the mesh is oriented too.

[@Fae_law]

@@MikaMobileApps I see what you mean and I'm having some luck. One other question, How did you get the bolt texture to come out like that? Is it a procedurally generated, using effects, hand drawn? I only ask because there are sharp bends along the outside of the bolt.

[@MikaMobileApps]

@@Fae_law I hand painted the innermost shape (the thinnest the bolt can be), and then did a "glow" layer effect in photoshop with the falloff set to be completely linear

[@nasimabegum1318]

Is this still in development?

[@jhantudas6684]

Is this in unity game engine?? If yes than what version??

[@MikaMobileApps]

Yes, I'm using 2019, but nothing here requires current versions or the new fancy stuff. Amplify Shader Editor is what I use (rather than shader graph) which is compatible with a lot of much older unity releases.

[@jamescalleros3060]

Battleheart legacy 2? 👀👀👀

[@user-iu4uz3nv1x]

is this battle heart 3?

[@amel_lemouri]

Basically, yes.

[@ratlinggull2223]

it's JRPG though

[@tomasgodoy2671]

I need OMG pirates on Android please

[@smoothddd]

please sell this

[@noahbaloria3079]

You haven't uploaded in a while

[@MikaMobileApps]

Yup, been busy working. I took a (remote) studio job as a VFX artist, so my personal work has been slower lately.

[@noahbaloria3079]

@@MikaMobileApps big fan of your work. Looking forward to your next game

[@DarrisRobins1]

@@MikaMobileApps any update on the battleheart legacy 2?

[@ImZhald]

@@MikaMobileApps yo i like your games bro please keep it up