Confusion Status: A confusion status on a character: three question marks orbit the head over a turning lilac spiral as swirl sparks spin off and a woozy glow wobbles.

Confusion Status

A confusion status on a character: three question marks orbit the head over a turning lilac spiral as swirl sparks spin off and a woozy glow wobbles. Loops seamlessly.

Confusion Status is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 2 seconds, drawn on a 320 by 320 canvas. It is built from 6 particle emitters and 3 text layers. 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, 60 frames at 30 fps. Use it in commercial games, no credit needed.

Licence: use it in any project, including paid commercial games such as a game sold on Steam. There is no per-project licence to buy and no credit needed. Terms.

Roblox: the download is a flipbook for a ParticleEmitter. Set FlipbookLayout to Grid8x8, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 2, 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.

Try variations: new colours, motion and shapes of this effect, free in the studio.

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 2 s loop.

Confusion Status at 8 moments, from 0 s to 1.75 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Confusion Status stacks 6 particle emitters, each with its own job. Techniques worth a look: styled text animated letter by letter, ribbon trails, paths, keyframed parameters and post filters (bloom and vignette).

Every layer emits continuously and the 2 s loop closes seamlessly, so it can run for as long as you need. To change the words, select "Question 1" and edit Text; Font and the fill colours restyle it. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

  1. Woozy Glow, Floor Glowparticles / additiveA single long-lived particle that stays for the whole loop.
  2. Spiral, Inner Spiralparticles / additiveA single long-lived particle that stays for the whole loop. It spins.
  3. Question 1, Question 2, Question 3textThe words "?" in Luckiest Guy. They keep moving while they are shown.
  4. Swirl Motesparticles / additiveA steady stream of ribbon trails. They travel along a path. Colours range between pale magenta and violet.
  5. Swirl Sparksparticles / additiveA steady stream of image sprites from a ring. They orbit the emitter and slow down with drag. Colours range between white and pale magenta.

DETAILS

Length
2 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas
320 x 320, HD
Layers
6 emitters and 3 text layers
Blend
Mostly additive (glows)
Colours
violetmagentapale pinkpale magenta
Sprites
Kenney Particle Pack by Kenney (CC0)
Tags
confusion, confused, dizzy, question mark, status, debuff, loop

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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