Daily Archives: April 19, 2018

Unsung Saviors, Interface Assets

Buntaien Character Portraits v1

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For a quick recap, I wanted to post the original Photoshop portraits – that I had previously created for a prototype fighting system known as “Buntaien Brawlers” – one more time, considering I used them in the first version of the GM interface for “DDnD – Unsung Saviors.”  The faces that can be seen above are of the 5 Buntaiens – the main characters of the current campaigns – that the players will be choosing from and eventually role-play as.  In order from left to right, we have:

  • Yenen Gaiabeta, the Life/Energy Buntaien of Knowledge
  • Kaiel Genhold, the Friction/Water Buntaien of Passion
  • Draegon, the Movement/Wind Buntaien of Understanding
  • Wajoby, the Gravity/Earth Buntaien of Order
  • Luka Soar Akanashi, the Combustion/Flame Buntaien of Purpose

I would go more into what Buntaiens are, but I’ll let RuMa say that, itself, in an upcoming video of actual gameplay, with actual players!  One last thing before I publish this post, within the GM Interface on the Player Viewer side, are different elements of which a GM can control other aspects of the game.  Be on the lookout here soon for more VFX effects, and how they might tie in to the portraits seen above!

Unsung Saviors, VFX Assets

Map Reveal Effects (Fire & Electricity) v1

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Map Reveal Effect (Fire) in action (during Campaign #1)
Map Reveal Effect (Electricity) v1 in action

I used the same free Shader asset from the Unity Store I had used on the POI and IOI effects – posted about earlier – and went on to create two different textures in Photoshop; one for a fiery effect and the other for a more electric feel.  After messing around with the other effects I had made, it wasn’t too difficult to implement these new ones, and I didn’t find myself changing too many options to get the desired effects I was looking for.

Within “DDnD – Unsung Saviors,” certain parts of maps will be covered up by a shape of a similar color to the environment.  One should think of the “fog of war” effect used in many video games, however, the way it’s used in this is slightly different.  Typically two reasons this “fog of more” (as I would like to call my version) effect would be used when the player’s characters can’t see in the game world.  For the fire effect example above, when the players enter Level 5 of RuMa Temple – known as the Sanctus Cathedra – they can barely see their surroundings, everything being blotted out by an old darkness, with only a beam of light above them to help them see.  After examining the area and through some experimenting with their environment and Buntaien Powers, players will figure out how to lighten the rest of the room up, revealing new, important sub-areas to explore.

Back on the subject of Buntaien Powers: each of the 5 Buntaiens have a distinct Essence that they can harness with their souls.  Like with typical RPG games, the roster of magic being flame, energy, water, earth, and wind – and is the same for “Unsung Saviors” – but this game designates certain physics-based qualities to each (even though that last piece of information is irrelevant for this discussion).  With the fire effect, Luka – the flame Buntaien – would have to create a makeshift torch by harnessing her combustion abilities from within the wood, which would set off the Map Reveal (Fire) effect seen above.  As for the Map Reveal (Electricity) effect above, using a Buntaien that can harness energy (electricity being a primal form energy can take) might be able to power up certain areas that were inaccessible before.