Godot Version
4.4.1
Question
Im looking for some guidance here. My journey now has the need for some animations (doing 2D games). My characters for sure but I set my mind to do some exploding barrels first. But im thinking do i create some animation or use a particle system for it? I also thought of creating some explosion in blender, record it and then use those frame for an animation… Animation are just space on the harddrive, particles are CPU/GPU intensive. And I actually I have no program (besides blender) where I know how to create animations (2d) besides creating each frame on its own. I just found my knowledge lacking in these regards and asking for advice.
How do you do your animation?
Take all of this with a grain of salt, I still very much consider myself learning Godot!
You could use AnimatedSprite2D for a simple explosion. There are many free textures you could use, for example Kenney Particle Pack.
I think unless you were targeting very low end PCs or older mobiles, particles would be fine to use. Assuming of course you don’t try and generate 100s of particles! To make a really nice looking explosion with particles you’d almost certainly still want to use a texture.
Particle will give you much more options and allow you to create more interesting/advanced effects.
I’ve found Le Lu YouTube channel to have some really nice tutorials for particle effects.
It’s certainly possible to create your own animation via Blender or manually create animation frames using aserite or krita, but unless you want some very specific / stylised sfx, it will be simpler to find some free texture packs.
How do you do your animation?
I’m actually making a 3D game, and honestly I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll ever actually finish. I haven’t really thought about targeting specific specs, if it still works on my machine I’m currently happy! So I’m currently using the forward+ renderer and have used GPU particles for my vfx.
I’ve also built a really simple 3D model and added some simple animations using Blender.
Thanks for the input gentle, I check out kennys pack tomorrow, if they suit my needs. Its just the thought that crossed my mind to use 3D generated animations (from blender) in a 2D Game.
I guess I go with particles. And funny enough I created the post after watching one of Le Lus videos on particles. Guess I have sink some time into particles.
I used MakeHumans for blender and some basic animations that also kindeled the thought of 3D to 2D animations.
Thanks for the input.