Real-time VFX

Effects spell out the mechanics first: before pretty, decide what the player must learn (hit confirmed? danger radius?). Then the timing model: anticipation → overload → processing — brief windup, violent fast core, slow lingering decay. Fast in, slow out: peak size in the first ~20% of an effect's life, the rest is decay.

Three more laws: scale of importance — a basic attack must never outshine an ultimate; if it feels long, it's way too long: effects live in a busy scene, default shorter than feels right alone; and replace, don't layer — a weak effect gets removed or replaced, never a new one stacked beside it. Stacking compounds draw calls, noise and maintenance, and reads muddier, not richer.

Before adding an effect