Ability and destruction VFX authored inside a fixed frame budget: Niagara systems, layered meshes and shader work that still read at 60 fps. Tuned against the shipped camera, not a free-flying debug view.
Confidential — global AAA publisher2024Unreal Engine 5
Artwork from our archive. High-resolution originals are available on request under NDA.
Production stills
The brief
What the client needed.
Effects are where frame budget goes to die. The client needed abilities that read as powerful on a phone screen while staying inside a fixed budget — which rules out the usual approach of stacking particles until it looks right and optimising later.
How we ran it
Set the frame budget before the first effect, then authored against it rather than optimising afterwards.
Built each ability as layered, switchable components so intensity could be dialled per device tier.
Reviewed effects in the real gameplay camera and at phone screen size, not in a free-flying debug view.
Standardised particle setup and material presets so different artists produced consistent results.
Profiled on target hardware at every milestone, not only at the end.
Result
Abilities that read clearly on a phone while staying inside the frame budget.
Component-based effects that scale down for lower device tiers instead of being cut.
A consistent VFX look across artists, from shared setups rather than supervision.
Performance verified per milestone, so no late optimisation scramble.
