VFX Reel

Check out my VFX reel for Obey Me. This video showcases some of the visual effects I produced for the game, including footage from epic boss fights that highlight the complexity of the game’s mechanics and interactions.

Communicating Gameplay Visually

Effective visual communication is essential for Obey Me, given its many complex mechanics. Consequently, some of the VFX behaviors are quite intricate, requiring animation, shader work, camera adjustments, and shader modifications.

The video below showcases a key mechanic of the game, where Vanessa and Monty fuse, highlighting the complex VFX functionality in action.

Vanessa absorbs Monty, and gets some of his powers and visual characteristics

In this effect, we see several different layers of effects going on:

• Camera shake: To give a bit more feedback and make it a bit more juicy.
• Shader effects: Monty is dissolved, Vanessa fades to bright orange, to indicate power growth and hide mesh swap
• Particle Effects: The key element are the particles going from the dog to the player, to communicate the fact that they are becoming a single entity. Extra particles reinforce the feeling of powering up.

To ensure that players can understand and react quickly to the complex mechanics of Obey Me, it’s essential that the VFX and animation systems work seamlessly and efficiently. This includes implementing a reliable canceling system that allows players to interrupt actions and respond to new information on the fly.

By optimizing the animation and VFX workflows, we were able to achieve a high level of responsiveness and fluidity in the game’s mechanics, making it easier for players to react to complex situations in real-time.

Game Juice

Through the VFX, we can not only communicate the game’s mechanics, but also make sure they feel good to interact with. Game Juice was a key consideration for the VFXs of Obey Me.

When Vanessa is on Ultra mode, her Ultimate attack gets recharged over time. The video below showcases the VFX work on her GUI bar.

The big pop on the portrait gives makes sure the player notices the ultimate is ready, even if they’re currently in the middle of heated combat. The electricity effect on the bar will continue until the Ultimate is used up, as a subtle, but clear reminder that the ulti is active.

Each of Vanessa’s 5 forms had its unique UI colours and flavour VFX, to communicate gameplay and contribute to the worldbuilding.

Conveying storytelling

In addition to providing gameplay feedback, VFX can also enhance storytelling. In the video below, we can see Vanessa and Monty fighting an enemy together. In singleplayer mode, the player controls Monty’s Trigger attack (affectionately known as the “puke cone”), but it’s important for lore and worldbuilding reasons to make it clear that it’s Monty who is actually casting the attack, not the player.

To convey this, we styled the attack with the visual language of Monty in its corrupted state, and also included Monty’s own animations and VFX during the attack. This helps to reinforce the narrative and make the player feel more immersed in the game world.

Dynamic elements

In the world of video games, VFX must perform flawlessly from every angle and in any situation, as the player has complete control over the visuals.

In this specific VFX, a series of line renderers are spawned to create the visual of a chain.

The start and endpoint of the chain are dynamic, and once hooked to an enemy, it must accurately track its position. The trail of the chain is designed to wiggle when moving toward the enemy, but lay flat when coming back to convey a sense of weight and tension.

To achieve this result without introducing dependencies with other departments, it is essential to have the ability to code complex functionality and develop the visual aspects. This allows for a faster and more efficient workflow, as there is no need to rely on other departments to implement the required features.

Boss fights

Obey Me features 9 unique bosses, each with their own mechanics and twists. As the Lead VFX artist, I faced the challenge of developing visually striking and engaging VFX for each boss fight.

Below we can see Vanessa barely dodging Zadkiel’s Scythes, only for him to attempt to absorb her into a portal, while shooting projectiles at her.

Lots of attacks going on at once, very challenging for the player… And very challenging in terms of maintaining performance and making sure everything looks correct.