Kevin Kincaid
Game Designer & 3D Artist
Particle FX Test Zone
April 2022 -
May 2022
Single Player | Varied viewpoints
All assets & coding created by Kevin Kincaid
Particle FX Zone is a showcase of four different particle effect systems. These were all separate class assignments initially, and include environmental effects, a weapon effect, and a magic effect. I had refined and upgraded each based on feedback received after initial submission.
The project was created for my particle FX class at Savannah College of Art and Design, which focused on particle FX creation in Niagara. In addition to the particles, the models, animations, and textures shown were created by me.
Finished Showcase
Development Process
The weather effects were the first project created for the class and were relatively simple. This snow effect was later used in my Snowy Station Cinematic project. The tornado was much trickier. My first few attempts at the tornado form looked broken and blocky. I went through several iterations before reaching the final design which used spiral mesh particles with the wind material on them.
Weapon Effect
The second section of this project utilized my lightning gun weapon project. This included both the particle FX and creation and animation of the weapon itself. The lightning gun was complicated for a few different reasons. I had not used animations in Unreal before, and creating a directed lightning effect took many attempts. I could not create a lightning bolt that looked sufficiently random. Ultimately I combined the particle system with a projectile blueprint that would follow a straight path but randomly moved the spawning point of the FX, which created different lightning bolts with each blast.
Finished Weapon and Documentation. The gun fires metal bolts and blasts of lighting. Additional animations were reloading and equipping the weapon. The lightning projectile creates a random effect each time, and leaves scorch marks and sparks on the target
Crystallizing Magic Effect
The third and final one was the most fun. It started out as a simple directed beam that had a Crystallizing magic effect. Once activated, the player could guide the effect around with their mouse. When the laser hit an object, a crystal would grow from the ground. The player could later detonate the crystals. When targeting the statues a material transition would occur for the statues to become covered in the ruby texture. I really enjoyed this idea, and this portion is more similar to a demonstration for a game mechanic. I may return to this project one day and expand it into a full game.
