Sword Slash Arc

Sword slash effect for 2D games: a crescent arc whips across with a white-hot edge and blue glow, its tail chasing the tip to a needle point, with a spray of sparks. Loops for flipbooks.

Sword Slash Arc is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 0.6 seconds, drawn on a 384 by 384 canvas. It is built from 1 particle emitter and 3 glowing strokes. 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, 18 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 Grid4x4, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 0.6, 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.

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

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 0.6 s loop.

Sword Slash Arc at 8 moments, from 0 s to 0.53 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Sword Slash Arc is drawn with 3 glowing strokes, lines with a hot core and a soft glow traced along their shapes, plus 1 particle emitter. Techniques worth a look: paths, particles stretched along their motion, keyframed parameters and post filters (bloom).

Every layer emits continuously and the 0.6 s loop closes seamlessly, so it can run for as long as you need. To recolour the line, select "Air swoosh" and change Core and Glow; Start and End set how much of it is drawn. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

Air swoosh, Slash, Inner edgestroke / additiveA glowing line traced along a path. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off.
Tip sparksparticles / additiveA stream of streaks, its rate keyframed over the loop. The emitter itself travels along a path. They fall under gravity and slow down with drag. Colour runs from white to pale blue over each life.

DETAILS

Length: 0.6 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas: 384 x 384, HD
Layers: 1 emitter and 3 glowing strokes
Blend: Mostly additive (glows)
Colours: bluewhitepale blue
Sprites: Built-in shapes only
Tags: slash, sword, melee, attack, swing, arc, blade, action

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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