Black Hole Vortex: A black hole spell for action RPGs and fighting games: a black core in a white-hot ring swallows a violet whirlpool of ribbons, motes and tumbling rocks while rings collapse inward.

Black Hole Vortex

A black hole spell for action RPGs and fighting games: a black core in a white-hot ring swallows a violet whirlpool of ribbons, motes and tumbling rocks while rings collapse inward. Seamless loop.

Black Hole Vortex is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 2.4 seconds, drawn on a 512 by 512 canvas. It is built from 10 particle emitters. Most layers blend additively, so it glows on dark backgrounds. Some particles draw ribbon trails.

Colour

Recolours the preview and the free downloads.

Free download with a transparent background, cropped to the effect, 72 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 2.4, then emit one particle per cycle. Roblox setup.

REMIX WITH AI

Try:

Left empty, it just opens in the agent, free. Each change is one AI build, and you start with free builds.

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 2.4 s loop.

Black Hole Vortex at 8 moments, from 0 s to 2.1 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Black Hole Vortex draws its motion with ribbons: 4 of its 10 particle emitters leave a trail through their recent positions. Techniques worth a look: a vortex, magnets, particles stretched along their motion, keyframed parameters and post filters (bloom, chromatic aberration and vignette).

It loops seamlessly every 2.4 s, and one layer fires in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. To change its colour, select "Collapsing Rings" in the studio and edit the Colour over Life gradient. Size on the same layer sets how big its particles are. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

  1. Lensing Halosprite / additiveA placed glow. Extras: keyframed motion.
  2. Lensing Ringsprite / additiveA placed image.
  3. Arm Dust, Arm Dust, Arm Dustparticles / additiveA steady stream of soft glows from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are swallowed by a magnet at its centre, shrink as they age and slow down with drag. Colour runs from violet to pale magenta over each life.
  4. Arm Ribbons, Arm Ribbons, Arm Ribbonsparticles / additiveA steady stream of ribbon trails from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are swallowed by a magnet at its centre and slow down with drag. Colour runs from violet to pale magenta over each life.
  5. Infalling Motesparticles / additiveA steady stream of streaks from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are swallowed by a magnet at its centre and slow down with drag. Colour runs from violet to pale magenta over each life.
  6. Rock DebrisparticlesA steady stream of debris from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are swallowed by a magnet at its centre, shrink as they age and spin. Colour: violet.
  7. Hot Inner Discparticles / additiveA steady stream of ribbon trails from a ring. They swirl around a vortex, are swallowed by a magnet at its centre and slow down with drag. Colour runs from pale magenta to white over each life.
  8. Collapsing Ringsparticles / additiveA single particle every 0.8 s. It shrinks as it ages. Colour runs from violet to pale magenta over each life.
  9. Rim Glowsprite / additiveA placed glow.
  10. Event HorizonspriteA placed shape.

One more layer is in the studio.

DETAILS

Length
2.4 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas
512 x 512, HD
Layers
10 emitters
Blend
Mostly additive (glows)
Colours
violetpale magentamagentawhite
Sprites
ParticleFX Originals by ParticleFX Studio (CC0), Kenney Particle Pack by Kenney (CC0)
Tags
black hole, vortex, gravity, spell, singularity, void, pull, skill

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.

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