Phase(2026) – Alireza Khodatars (Armin)

Phase

Phase | Hero Character VFX R&D

In this R&D project, my main focus was on hero character VFX, exploring how to create a complete set of magical attacks and connect them seamlessly with character animations and gameplay.

My goal was to develop a 10-attack action set, starting with three main attacks and expanding into more complex combo sequences using Animation Montages, Blueprints, and Niagara systems.

I used the same Paragon Phase character with three different outfits, exploring different visual themes while keeping a consistent character identity.

Each attack has its own geometry, visual style, timing, and particle behaviour. I experimented with custom meshes, materials, ribbons, particles, and layered impact effects to give every ability a distinct look and feel.

One of the main challenges was synchronizing everything together — from the character’s animation and casting moment to the projectile movement, impact effects, and gameplay interactions. I wanted the effects to feel like a natural part of the character’s movement rather than separate visual elements.

modular workflows

I also reused and expanded the environment interaction system from my previous R&D, allowing the VFX to respond to the surrounding environment and feel more integrated into the scene.

Another important part of this study was exploring modular workflows and asset reuse. Being able to branch from an existing project, extract assets and data, and adapt them for other projects is a valuable practice. It helps build more flexible, reusable systems instead of creating everything from scratch each time.

Overall, this R&D was a great opportunity to explore the connection between technical art, character animation, gameplay systems, and real-time VFX, while improving my approach to building scalable and reusable effects in Unreal Engine.

I spent some time developing the opening scene and main menu, focusing on creating a more cinematic and engaging introduction to the character. Instead of using a simple static menu, I wanted the opening to feel connected to the overall visual style of the project. I experimented with camera composition, lighting, character animation, and Niagara VFX to create a magical atmosphere from the very beginning. The character introduction includes different stages, starting with a subtle waiting state and transitioning into a more elaborate reveal with glowing ground symbols, floating particles, butterflies, petals, and magical ornaments. Using Blueprints and Animation Montages, I explored how to synchronise these elements and create smooth transitions between the introduction and the character’s ready state. The goal was to make the menu feel like part of the game experience rather than a separate interface.

I also focused on character movement VFX, including idle, walking, running, sprinting, jumping, and landing. My goal was to make the character feel magical even during normal movement, rather than limiting the effects to combat. I created different Niagara systems for subtle idle particles, floating magical companions, footstep effects, flowing ribbons, and movement trails. For jumping and landing, I explored more dynamic effects such as magical ground symbols, expanding ripples, petals, dust, and impact bursts. These effects are connected to the character’s movement and animation, using Blueprint to control their timing, position, and behaviour. I also experimented with attaching effects to different body sockets, allowing ribbons and particles to follow the hands, feet, and hair naturally. The main challenge was finding the right balance between visual detail and readability, keeping the character visually interesting without overwhelming the animations or gameplay.

🌹 Attack 01 — Rose Spell

The first attack focuses on a magical rose projectile, combining a mesh-based core, helix ribbons, floating petals, and layered impact effects. I explored using custom Niagara modules to control the projectile’s trajectory, rotation, scale, and visual behaviour. Blueprint handles the casting animation, target position, flight duration, and impact logic. The main challenge was keeping the projectile movement and Niagara layers synchronized while maintaining a readable silhouette.

🦋 Attack 02 — Butterfly Spell

This attack uses multiple butterfly meshes, ribbon trails, and particle layers to create a more organic magical movement. The Cast and Bolt Niagara systems are connected through the shared spell Blueprint, which controls the release timing, target, and flight parameters. The challenge was coordinating multiple moving elements while keeping the butterflies visually recognizable and the impact effects balanced.

🌙 Attack 03 — Crescent Spell

A two-handed magical attack built around a travelling crescent mesh, energy ribbons, flames, and layered ground impacts. Niagara handles the projectile movement and visual layers, while Blueprint manages the animation timing, damage, and render-target painting to create a persistent burning path. One of the main technical challenges was connecting the travelling effect with the ground interaction and ensuring the impact aligned correctly with the target surface.

🪡 Attack 04 — Needle & Thread Combo

This combo introduces a more complex setup using Animation Montages, Blueprint listeners/controllers, and multiple Niagara systems. The attack includes an aura, casting effects, needle projectiles, thread ribbons, and a larger finishing effect. Blueprint tracks the montage timing and triggers individual strikes at specific moments. The main challenge was coordinating several attacks within one animation while updating hand positions and Niagara parameters.

🪭 Attack 05 — Fan & Rosette Combo

A sequence of spinning magical fans, combining custom mesh geometry, ribbon trails, petals, and decorative impact layers. The setup uses separate Aura, Cast, Bolt, and Final Niagara systems, controlled through montage timing in Blueprint. Four fan strikes lead into a larger rosette-wheel finisher. The challenge was managing the timing and transitions between repeated projectile effects while keeping each strike visually distinct.

🧴 Attack 06 — Perfume & Bloom

This attack explores a different type of projectile using a perfume bottle built from glass and gold mesh layers. The Niagara Bolt system handles the flying bottle, glass fragments, scent ribbons, and a magical bloom vortex after impact. Blueprint controls the throw timing, target, and gameplay interaction. The main challenge was coordinating the transition from a recognizable solid object into multiple particle layers, while maintaining the timing of the impact and bloom.

🧵 Attack 07 — Spindle & Briar

A golden spindle attack combining mesh particles, flowing thread ribbons, roses, and growing briar effects. The Niagara systems are driven by Blueprint montage timing and shared projectile parameters, with two separate strikes and a stronger finishing variation. The challenge was connecting the detailed thread movement with the projectile trajectory and coordinating the different impact layers without losing the visual focus of the attack.

✂️ Attack 08 — Shears & Ribbon

This attack focuses on sharp, fast movements using animated shears, spirit echoes, ribbon trails, and cutting effects. The setup combines Niagara mesh and ribbon renderers with Blueprint-controlled montage timing to trigger two snips and a larger final cut. The main challenge was synchronizing the cutting motion with the animation and making the impact feel precise, while controlling ribbon movement and particle timing.

👑 Attack 09 — Crown & Hearts

The final attack explores a more elaborate, royal-themed VFX setup using crown meshes, crystal hearts, glowing particles, and magical ground symbols. It combines Aura, Cast, Bolt, and Final Niagara systems, with Blueprint coordinating four strikes and a larger finishing sequence through the animation montage. The main challenge was managing multiple overlapping effects, controlling their timing and intensity, and creating a strong visual progression toward the final impact.

Wall Destruction — RBD, Physics & Damage System

For the destruction system, I explored combining Rigid Body Dynamics (RBD), physics simulation, Chaos Geometry Collections, Blueprints, and Niagara VFX to create more interactive environments. The goal was to make walls and breakable objects react to the character’s magical attacks instead of relying only on visual impact effects. I built a Blueprint-based damage system using radial damage with falloff, allowing each object to receive damage based on the attack’s strength, impact distance, and surrounding obstacles. Each breakable object has configurable health and material properties, controlling how it responds to hits and when it should break. For destruction, I explored using fractured geometry and physics-driven rigid-body fragments, allowing broken pieces to react to gravity, collisions, and the surrounding environment. I also connected the damage events to separate Niagara systems for hit and destruction effects, adding dust, debris, sparks, magical particles, and impact flashes. One of the main challenges was coordinating the damage logic, destruction timing, physical fragments, and Niagara effects so everything reacted as one connected system. I also focused on keeping the setup reusable, allowing different objects and materials to share the same destruction framework while producing different visual and physical responses.