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Tone down spell animations

TherealnightbladeTherealnightblade Member
in General Discussion
Glad to see the game coming along. I’m hoping for the best. This game could be what we all have been waiting for. Anyways, one criticism I do have from the gameplay footage I’ve seen so far is that the spell animations are too flashy. An example of how this could be bad is when you have several people in the same area casting spells how will anyone know what’s happening. I believe lower profile spell animations should take up the majority of abilities for all classes and major abilities that require cooldowns should be the extravagant looking animations. I haven’t played ashes but from my experience from other games it won’t be fun if my eyes are incapable of processing what’s happening on the screen due to over the top animations.

PS if you could make some parts of the game look grim and dark that would be awesome too. Again I haven’t played ashes but from what I see I don’t get the feel of any evilness in the world. And yes I am a warhammer fan in case you were wondering.
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Comments

  • TherealnightbladeTherealnightblade Member
    Glad to see the game coming along. I’m hoping for the best. This game could be what we all have been waiting for. Anyways, one criticism I do have from the gameplay footage I’ve seen so far is that the spell animations are too flashy. An example of how this could be bad is when you have several people in the same area casting spells how will anyone know what’s happening. I believe lower profile spell animations should take up the majority of abilities for all classes and major abilities that require cooldowns should be the extravagant looking animations. I haven’t played ashes but from my experience from other games it won’t be fun if my eyes are incapable of processing what’s happening on the screen due to over the top animations.

    PS if you could make some parts of the game look grim and dark that would be awesome too. Again I haven’t played ashes but from what I see I don’t get the feel of any evilness in the world. And yes I am a warhammer fan in case you were wondering.
  • WMC51WMC51 Member
    edited July 2020
    I agree with how flashy the spells were. I think its okay for big spells that are used less often or finish a combo etc but doing a whirlwind into the air every 5 seconds and shooting a fireball is a bit much.
  • CaptnChuckCaptnChuck Member
    edited July 2020
    Its personal preference. I like flashiness during combat. They should just include an option to reduce spell effects in the settings, kind of like in league of legends.
  • CurrentCurrent Member
    Based on the 4k footage id have to agree its a bit much atm. But some like it flashy, others dont, happy either way tho, minor problem for loving this game.
  • VexednPerplexedVexednPerplexed Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I like flashy - unique spells to an extent, but I think if there's an option to tone them down in the graphic settings, it'll be helpful. That way people who like flashy have it and those who don't, or want to save their computer can still play comfortably.
  • VerusVerus Member, Alpha Two
    The animations and bloom shown in the recent video are definitely over the top, and multiple people laying those down would result in a chaotic mess. From what I heard in the Q&As, though, many of these effects are temporary and will be corrected.

    Cool and unique effects are nice, but overly wide, bright, and bloomy flashes on standard abilities is too much. I expect they recognize this.
  • jsolojsolo Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I like the flashy spell animations, saying that prove the point what some don't like other will have the opposite opinion.
  • DarkLordeDarkLorde Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited July 2020
    With regard to flashy animations, I believe he mentions them in the pre-alpha game play footage released about a month ago and says that the spells will be toned down.
  • MrScrewtapeMrScrewtape Member
    Haven't they said most of the animations and such are placeholders / barebones? With the feature of defaulting characters to a default look/appearance for big battles for optimization, I imagine they will/should do some type of spell effect scaling setting so people can turn them down.
  • tugowartugowar Member, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I like basic too

    Virtue is the only good.
  • akabearakabear Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    screwtape wrote: »
    Haven't they said most of the animations and such are placeholders / barebones? With the feature of defaulting characters to a default look/appearance for big battles for optimization, I imagine they will/should do some type of spell effect scaling setting so people can turn them down.

    Correct, in one of the most recent streams it was stated that they are honing the animations to improve the visuals so they are not overdone.
  • WiplasherWiplasher Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I will also say you do eventually get used to the effects for the most part.

    My most recent experience was the new smash bros. Jesus are the particle effects insane when you have 8 people in a game. It took me 10 hours of game play until I was able to track my characters the entire time on screen.
  • ShoelidShoelid Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Like others here are saying: as long as the flashiness mirrors the impact of the ability. In fact, if somebody wants to fight and they use their mega supreme gigablast once-a-day explosion to kill me, please let it be epic.
  • grisugrisu Member
    Which videos are you referring too? If it's Castle Siege preview or the BR then it's already confirmed that it will be tuned down for the mmo. Those are 2 different enviorements with different guidelines.
    I can be a life fulfilling dream. - Zekece
    I can be a life devouring nightmare. - Grisu#1819
  • ExzearExzear Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Steven have said its just placeholder and that it will be toned down alot so we just have to wait
    People are like trees. They fall when you hit them with an axe.
  • IzilIzil Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Agreed with all. Awesome concept of a game so far absolutely love it, but for players like me who wants 'cleaner' screen while playing need toggle options for spells and effects in options preferrably.
    Izil.png
  • HiddenDaggerInnHiddenDaggerInn Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    as long as it doesn't effect performance, I loved them, really stood out.
  • TherealnightbladeTherealnightblade Member
    If we have a toggle option the devs should make sure the players who have it at max settings don’t have a pvp advantage. For example in wow if you have the settings all the way low you can’t see a paladins consecrate effect which will break a rogues stealth if they walked over it. Bottom line though is if you have 20 people spam spells then it’s HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE to understand what’s happening. It will be a disco light show
  • MarcetMarcet Member
    Agreed, I guess they will change most things but at the moment is too bright, red and monotone for what I see in videos.
  • Dakar1425Dakar1425 Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I have this same concern with the level of brightness. I can see 200 people on a battle field using these crazy effects and you be completely blinded. I instantly think of the Epic NPC Man skits: Holy Nova and Magic :D
    https://youtu.be/bwxkz0dePQw
    https://youtu.be/8NbwizzxQ_s
  • YuyukoyayYuyukoyay Member
    What you are seeing is most likely ultra settings stuff. A lot of developers develop for those settings. Lower settings are just toning the ultra version down quite literally. It's a pc game obviously you are going to be able to choose the graphics settings with the finest of details.
    zZJyoEK.gif

    U.S. East
  • Jay1204Jay1204 Member
    That's exactly what I wanted to say. Even though it's now 2023, I watched a livestream clip from over a month ago, and the flashy skill effects are too distracting in team battles. Plus, the color tones don't match the surroundings at all, giving it a feel similar to playing a Korean mobile game. I suggest scaling down the size of the skills or significantly increasing their transparency to enhance the immersive experience in team battles.
  • MorgalfMorgalf Member, Alpha Two
    Therealnightblade wrote: »
    Glad to see the game coming along. I’m hoping for the best. This game could be what we all have been waiting for. Anyways, one criticism I do have from the gameplay footage I’ve seen so far is that the spell animations are too flashy. An example of how this could be bad is when you have several people in the same area casting spells how will anyone know what’s happening. I believe lower profile spell animations should take up the majority of abilities for all classes and major abilities that require cooldowns should be the extravagant looking animations. I haven’t played ashes but from my experience from other games it won’t be fun if my eyes are incapable of processing what’s happening on the screen due to over the top animations.

    PS if you could make some parts of the game look grim and dark that would be awesome too. Again I haven’t played ashes but from what I see I don’t get the feel of any evilness in the world. And yes I am a warhammer fan in case you were wondering.

    I think you made some great points here. I think that keeping a low fantasy profile is beneficial for various reasons. It makes "special" stuff like cooldowns more impactful. Using them makes you feel real cool. Also, it just becomes difficult to see what's going on! Maybe having the ability to toggle how crazy the animations are would be helpful? As long as there is a base indicated animation that allows the player to understand what is happening, what is the point in going over the top and blinding us.
    c8ybb18afj2p.jpg
    "The gods do not fear death. They greet death as an old friend. When your time comes to return to the ashes, move forward knowing death is merely one of many paths to a new adventure."
  • JC31JC31 Member
    Therealnightblade wrote: »
    Glad to see the game coming along. I’m hoping for the best. This game could be what we all have been waiting for. Anyways, one criticism I do have from the gameplay footage I’ve seen so far is that the spell animations are too flashy. An example of how this could be bad is when you have several people in the same area casting spells how will anyone know what’s happening. I believe lower profile spell animations should take up the majority of abilities for all classes and major abilities that require cooldowns should be the extravagant looking animations. I haven’t played ashes but from my experience from other games it won’t be fun if my eyes are incapable of processing what’s happening on the screen due to over the top animations.

    PS if you could make some parts of the game look grim and dark that would be awesome too. Again I haven’t played ashes but from what I see I don’t get the feel of any evilness in the world. And yes I am a warhammer fan in case you were wondering.

    Not all spells need to be toned down, that will most likely be an option that a player can make in the graphics menu and is easily solvable my having the default setting for particle effects in the middle some where.

    I agree there is currently a spell that is way too flashy. The fighter spell that has a yellow hammer of light doesn't look right at all. Fighter is not supposed to cast spells and it looks more like a paladin ability. A fighter is supposed to be more like a warrior and doesn't cast spells.
  • Enigmatic SageEnigmatic Sage Member
    edited November 2023
    JC31 wrote: »
    Therealnightblade wrote: »
    Glad to see the game coming along. I’m hoping for the best. This game could be what we all have been waiting for. Anyways, one criticism I do have from the gameplay footage I’ve seen so far is that the spell animations are too flashy. An example of how this could be bad is when you have several people in the same area casting spells how will anyone know what’s happening. I believe lower profile spell animations should take up the majority of abilities for all classes and major abilities that require cooldowns should be the extravagant looking animations. I haven’t played ashes but from my experience from other games it won’t be fun if my eyes are incapable of processing what’s happening on the screen due to over the top animations.

    PS if you could make some parts of the game look grim and dark that would be awesome too. Again I haven’t played ashes but from what I see I don’t get the feel of any evilness in the world. And yes I am a warhammer fan in case you were wondering.

    Not all spells need to be toned down, that will most likely be an option that a player can make in the graphics menu and is easily solvable my having the default setting for particle effects in the middle some where.

    I agree there is currently a spell that is way too flashy. The fighter spell that has a yellow hammer of light doesn't look right at all. Fighter is not supposed to cast spells and it looks more like a paladin ability. A fighter is supposed to be more like a warrior and doesn't cast spells.

    ahh hammer slam?

    https://youtube.com/shorts/L7jq1cK_dVE?feature=share
  • RuerikRuerik Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Honestly, as long as we as individuals, can customize the bloom setting of spell effects, they wont be too bad.

    (I want to be able to keep bloom for generic lighting and area lighting0

    its just I dont want bloom on spell effects, let me keep them sharp so I can see under them
    ptZBAr9.png
  • RuerikRuerik Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Taerrik wrote: »
    Honestly, as long as we as individuals, can customize the bloom setting of spell effects, they wont be too bad.

    (I want to be able to keep bloom for generic lighting and area lighting0

    its just I dont want bloom on spell effects, let me keep them sharp so I can see under them

    edit--

    it just game to mind, and I dont want to really start a new thread for it, and the wiki has no page on it.
    Do you think we will be able to use shaders for the game?
    ReShade works for many games, and is absolutely worth the experience if your GPU can handle it.
    ptZBAr9.png
  • Enigmatic SageEnigmatic Sage Member
    Taerrik wrote: »
    Taerrik wrote: »
    Honestly, as long as we as individuals, can customize the bloom setting of spell effects, they wont be too bad.

    (I want to be able to keep bloom for generic lighting and area lighting0

    its just I dont want bloom on spell effects, let me keep them sharp so I can see under them

    edit--

    it just game to mind, and I dont want to really start a new thread for it, and the wiki has no page on it.
    Do you think we will be able to use shaders for the game?
    ReShade works for many games, and is absolutely worth the experience if your GPU can handle it.

    My guess is they'll give various options for graphic settings. No idea currently on the depth for allowances.
  • JC31JC31 Member
    Yes hammer slam looks like a summoner spell. Makes no sense for a fighter to have that spell.
  • Enigmatic SageEnigmatic Sage Member
    edited November 2023
    JC31 wrote: »
    Yes hammer slam looks like a summoner spell. Makes no sense for a fighter to have that spell.

    The animation seems weird to me not being synchronised with the weapons build up and distance from character but I guess that is due to weapon type, lengths and potentially racial augment issues. I suppose it could be seen as a summoner like hammer with a golden cleric life tone.

    The graphical design and animation on its own is really well put together.

    Will have to see how augments adjust it.
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