Venatori Crystals

I scripted the behavior of these assets in addition to animating, scaling, and placing its sub-components

Summary

Venatori Crystals were used throughout the game. Mainly found in Minrathous, but also in Nevarra. They were used in exploration and combat to add tone and interest. Venatori crystals can protect one another and are connected into networks that force the player to destroy them in a certain sequence in order to progress. There were several different types with slightly different functions, but they all could be connected to one another to create interesting puzzles and scenarios.

Basic Protective Crystal

The most used crystal type that protects other crystals and enemies and can be protected

Basic Crystal States

Intact (Default): This crystal on its own is essentially just a destructible object
Destroyed: The crystal has been smashed and is no longer part of the network - either by being protected or protecting something else
Protecting: This Venatori crystal is linked to one or more other crystals or enemies which creates a barrier around them
Protected: A Venatori crystal can be protected by one or more other crystals

Venatori crystal networks are always sequential and never create invulnerable loops of protection
Venatori crystals generate a beam vfx that occasionally flows out towards the entities that are being protected by it
When protected by a barrier, the player will get knocked back if they hit or touch the barrier
- Calculating the position to play the VFX from was an interesting hurdle

Barrier Crystal

There is a small Venatori crystal embedded into Venatori barriers that can be destroyed to drop the barrier. It can be hit from either side of the barrier if unprotected. There is also a one-sided variant where the crystal sits on a specific side of the barrier and cannot be destroyed unless you can position yourself such that you can hit it from the side it is on - generally via a ranged hit. This one-sided variant was stood up by another designer but used mine as a template

Barrier Crystal States

- Intact (Default): A barrier on its own could easily be destroyed and mainly adds a touch of visual interest
- Destroyed: The barrier crsytal has been smashed and the barrier is dropped
- Protected: The crystal within the barrier could be protected by one or more other crystal types. This added some interest and forced the player to explore the environment a little before progressing

The player gets knocked back if they hit or touch the barrier

Healing Crystal

This crystal is used in combat sections to add interest. It is a moderately sized crystal that sends out pulses periodically that heal any enemies in the area. While it is still possible to kill enemies while this crystal is active, it is advisable to destroy it in order to kill enemies more effectively.

Healing Crystal States

- Intact (Default): Much like the basic crystal, this one is essentially a destructible prop on its own
- Destroyed: Crsytal has been smashed and cannot protect or heal
- Healing: If there are Venatori enemies nearby, the crystal sends out periodic pulses that heal a portion of their health
- Protecting: This Venatori crystal is linked to one or more other crystals or enemies which creates a barrier around them
- Protected: This crystal can be protected by other types of Venatori crystal

There is a vfx shockwave that emanates from the crystal when it sends out a healing pulse
Small vfx projectiles race towards the enemies to be healed and heal them on impact

Explosive Crystal

This crystal has a charge cycle where it slowly generates 3 small crystals floating above it. When all three crystals are generated, there is a beat before an explosive wave is emitted from the main crystal. The explosion shatters the small crystals and the pulse pushes back and damages the player depending on their proximity to the main crystal. The explosion can be stalled by shooting any of the smaller generated crystals before it goes off. After the explosion, the cycle repeats until the main crystal has been destroyed.

Explosive Crystal In Action

Explosive Crystal States

- Intact (Default): Much like the basic crystal, this one is essentially a destructible prop on its own
- Destroyed: Crystal has been smashed but the metal base persists
- Active: When active, this crystal generates 3 smaller crystals and then sets off an explosive pulse (if all three smaller crystals are still intact)
- Protecting: This Venatori crystal is linked to one or more other crystals or enemies which creates a barrier around them
- Protected: This crystal can be protected by the other crystal types

Before the explosion, an AOE indicator appears on the ground around the crystal to indicate the range of the explosive effect
The explosion effect scales with distance such that it will only push back the player at further distances, but will knock the player down if they are very close
The player can hide behind other geometry to avoid damage if they are within the blast radius

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