Create a schematic to animate magic abilities, e.g. a fire attack or healing spell.
In this tutorial we’ll create a simple schematics to animate magic abilities with a cast animation, particle effect and audio clip.
We’ll use prefab and audio overrides to use the same schematic in different abilities, simply replacing the used prefab and audio clip.
Resources #
We’ll use different particle effect prefabs and audio clips for different spells.
You can download the particle effect prefabs and hit audio clip here:
Magic Ability Schematic #
This schematic will play a cast animation, spawn a particle effect prefab and play an audio clip on the target and calculate the outcome (there’s no hit chance used, so no need to react to that in the schematic).. The user is the Machine Object and the target is the Starting Object of the schematic.
You can download the finished schematic here:
You’ll have to select the animation type (Combatant Animation node) to get the schematic working in your project.
Settings #
We’ll add a prefab and an audio clip setup to the schematic – but we don’t actually select a prefab or audio clip in it, as they’ll come from resource overrides in individual abilities.
You can select a default prefab and audio clip if you want, though.
Prefabs #
- Destroy Prefabs
Disable this setting.
The particle effect will be destroyed manually in the schematic, after some time that’s ending after the schematic ends.
Click on Add Prefab Resource.
- Name
Set to Particle.
Audio Clips #
Click on Add Audio Clip Resource.
- Name
Set to Sound.
Combatant Animation #
Add Node > Animation > Combatant > Combatant Animation
We’ll play a cast animation on the user.
- Object
Select Machine Object.
Animation #
- Animation Type
Select Cast.
Or whatever animation you want to play. - Wait
Enable this setting. - Normalized Time
Set to 0.4.
We’ll only wait for 40% of the animation’s duration to spawn our particle effect during the cast animation.
You might need to adjust this depending on your own animation.
Spawn Prefab #
Add Node > Game Object > Prefab > Spawn Prefab
Now we’ll spawn the particle effect prefab on the target.
- Prefab
Select Prefab 0: Particle. - Target Type
Select Object.
Target Object #
- Object
Select Starting Object. - Mount
Enable this setting.
The prefab will be parented on the target’s game object.
Audio Settings #
We’ll also play the audio clip when spawning the prefab – all in one go!
- Play Audio
Enable this setting. - Audio Clip
Select 0: Sound. - Play One Shot
Enable this setting.
Wait #
Add Node > Base > Wait
Add a short wait time for the effect to show and start emitting particles.
- Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 0.5.
Calculate Action #
Add Node > Battle > Action Outcome > Calculate Action
This node is used to calculate the outcome of an action, e.g. an ability or item’s user and target changes.
- Animate Target
Enable this setting.
This’ll play damage or evade animations of the ability based on the damage type of the ability.
Learn more about damage types in this documentation.
Emit Particles #
Add Node > Game Object > Component > Emit Particles
Now we’ll stop the particle effect. It’ll take some time for the already emitted particles to vanish.
- Emit
Disable this setting.
Target Object #
- Object
Select Prefab 0: Particles.
Set the prefab ID to -1 (i.e. using all spawned instances of the prefab). - Scope
Select All In Children.
Destroy Prefab #
Add Node > Game Object > Prefab > Destroy Prefab
This node is used to destroy prefabs that where spawned by the schematic – it can also destroy them after a defined amount of time.
- Prefab
Select Prefab 0: Particles. - Spawned Prefab ID
Set to -1.
I.e. using all spawned instances of the prefab. - Destroy After Time
Enable this setting. - Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 5. - Wait
Disable this setting.
Wait #
Add Node > Base > Wait
Wait a bit more before ending the action.
- Time
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 1.
And that’s it for the schematic. Click on Save Schematic to save it, e.g. as MagicAbility.
Using the Schematic #
The schematic is used to animate a magic abilities. Using resource overrides we can use it with different prefabs and audio clips to animate multiple abilities.
E.g. to animate a fire ability, navigate to Status > Abilities, select your fire ability and change the following settings.
Battle Animation #
Click on Add Battle Animation to add the schematic animating the ability and calculating the damage.
- Schematic Asset
Select the MagicAbility schematic (or however you named it).
Resource Overrides #
The Prefab Settings allow us to override prefabs of the schematic.
Click on Add Prefab Override to add a prefab that’ll override the schematic’s prefab.
- Prefab
Select the fire effect prefab you want to use.
Similar to the prefabs, the Audio Clip Settings allow us to override the audio clips of the schematic.
Click on Add Audio Clip Override to add an audio clip that’ll override the schematic’s audio clip.
- Audio Clip
Select the audio clip you want to use.
You can also limit using the schematics to defined battle systems or only use them for the player faction, etc.
To use the schematic in other abilities, just use a different prefab and audio clip.
