Arcane Vortex (Top-Down)

Arcane vortex effect for a top-down game: violet and cyan magic smoke spirals into a glowing eye, the two colours braiding as they mix, with motes of light sucked inward. Seamless loop.

Arcane Vortex (Top-Down) is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 3 seconds, drawn on a 448 by 448 canvas. It is built from 1 simulated smoke and fire layer and 3 particle emitters. Most layers blend additively, so it glows on dark backgrounds.

Colour

Recolours the preview and the free downloads.

Free download with a transparent background, cropped to the effect, 90 frames at 30 fps. Use it in commercial games, no credit needed.

Roblox: the download is a flipbook for a ParticleEmitter. Set FlipbookLayout to Grid8x8, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 3, then emit one particle per cycle. Roblox setup.

Engine data for Unity, Godot, GameMaker and Aseprite comes with a plan: open it in the studio.

OPEN IN THE STUDIO

Change the colours, timing or size, or export for Unity, Godot 4, GameMaker, Phaser, PixiJS and Aseprite.

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 3 s loop.

Arcane Vortex (Top-Down) at 8 moments, from 0 s to 2.63 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Arcane Vortex (Top-Down) is built around a fluid simulation of fire and smoke on a grid, with 3 particle emitters on top. Techniques worth a look: particles feeding the fluid, a vortex, magnets and post filters (bloom).

Every layer emits continuously and the 3 s loop closes seamlessly, so it can run for as long as you need. To change the flame colour, select "Arcane smoke" and edit Fire colours; Smoke colour sets the smoke. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

Arcane smokefluidSimulated fire and smoke from a ring. "Cyan streams" feed it. It turns in a vortex.
Cyan streamsparticles / additiveA steady stream of soft glows from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are pulled toward a magnet and feed smoke and heat into the fluid. Colours range between orange and gold.
Runes of lightparticles / additiveA steady stream of stars from a ring. They swirl around a vortex and are swallowed by a magnet at its centre. Colours range between white and pale cyan.
Flashparticles / additiveA single long-lived particle that stays for the whole loop. It grows as it ages.

DETAILS

Length: 3 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas: 448 x 448, HD
Layers: 3 emitters
Blend: Mostly additive (glows)
Colours: pale violetorangewhitegold
Sprites: Built-in shapes only
Tags: arcane, vortex, magic, whirlpool, spell, top-down, fluid

USING IT IN YOUR GAME

Phaser, PixiJS: The PNG sheet is a plain grid of frames that both can slice. A TexturePacker JSON atlas comes with a plan, from the studio.
Unity: Import the PNG sheet as a Sprite with Mode set to Multiple and slice it, or open the effect in the studio for a ready-made grid.
Godot 4, GameMaker, Aseprite: Open it in the studio and pick your engine in Export: with a plan, it writes the files that engine imports.
Web and chat: The GIF plays anywhere; the APNG keeps soft edges on any background.
Blend mode: This effect is made of light. For the same glow in your game, draw the sprite with additive blending, or export it on black from the studio for additive shaders.

Step by step: Unity, Godot 4, Roblox, GameMaker, Phaser and PixiJS, Aseprite, Web games (live runtime). Drawn with additive blending: see glow effects without a black box.

MORE Smoke & Fire

Fire Vortex (Top-Down)

Creeping Poison Gas (Top-Down)

Dust Shockwave (Top-Down)

All Smoke & Fire effects or the full library.