Team Twist - Abilities and Anmations

Now that we are getting closer to modelling our playable characters, I have been set with a task to figure out the looks and animations while our characters cast spells. This task is something that I have never done before and it was definitely a lot of fun figuring out how to convey everything that I wanted to show.

This page was the first thing that I have done for our Gravedigger character. While designing these I have looked quite close at various fantasy games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Neverwinter Nights. Each of those games have provided me with a starting point on what I wanted to show in my own animation sequences.

This ability, which is called Necrotic Mass, was meant to be a wall of bones emerging from the ground in front of the player. The purpose of this skill was to create a wall that would protect the player and block out incoming enemies.

This was a second approach to Necrotic Mass. Although I knew that we would not do something like this (due to the tight schedule and) I still wanted to play around with different designs and ideas.

This ability was quite simple in design. A big cloud of toxic gas slightly emerging from the air or a horde of insects slightly increasing in size and quantity. 

Spirit Guard is essentially a buff which increases player's defense and increases damage. I imagined this one as a spirit of a gladiator emerging from player's body.

Unholy Utterance was yet another buff ability which, upon casting, would release a floating skull above player's health that would indicate that skill is actively working.
Overall I really enjoyed working on this task, and I think I learned quite a lot during the process. At first I have started with quite detailed designs but I have quickly learned that simplifying my drawings, especially in this task, would work better for me while trying to convey my ideas on paper.