Dev Stream: Melee Mayhem: Wiring Gameplay Ability System + Niagara Slash VFX (Indie Dev Stream)

Welcome back to the chaos! Between packaging-hell crashes and only three hours of sleep, we finally tackled something fun: turning a placeholder slash into a real, damage-ready melee attack. This stream is a live peek at how messy GAS, Niagara, and designer-friendly workflows can get—all while the play-test clock keeps ticking.

What’s inside

Packaging update & art sneak peek – creatures are rolling in, builds are still exploding.

ArtStation hiring tips – sorting hundreds of portfolios without losing your mind (or schedule).

Tutorial-zone polish – clearer jump / climb prompts and new double-jump pickups.

Building GA_MeleeAttack – input tags, ability sets, instant-vs-duration effects, and the checkbox that killed our VFX.

GAS debug safari – stat commands, tag hunts, and why “instant” sometimes means “works”.

Niagara slash prototype – spawning, auto-destroy, camera-shake oops, and random rotations for future combos.

Designer-friendly vectors – feeding orientation offsets so any artist can angle the swing without touching Niagara graphs.

Next steps – damage traces, melee/ranged input split, combo windows, and the final packaging blocker before public play-test.

🎮 Want to help test the game?
https://www.ludicrousfilmandgames.com

💜 Patrons, you keep the lights on
Your pledges literally paid the new creature concepts—thank you!
Join the chaos, vote on features, and get dev-stream replays:   / askadev  

💸 Tip Jar / One-off support
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🗣️ Hop into the Discord
Community Q&A, bug hunting, and the occasional meme:   / discord  

Spreading the word is just as valuable—likes, shares, and comments help more than you know.
🙏 Thanks for riding shotgun on this rollercoaster. Next stop: ranged attacks, combo logic

Chapters
Intro & Packaging-Hell Update — 0:00
ArtStation Hiring + Creature Peek — 1:58
Tutorial Zone Walk-Through — 3:32
Setting Up the Melee Ability Folder — 5:04
Blueprinting GA_MeleeAttack (Input & Grants) — 10:02
GAS Debug Safari — 24:26
Niagara Slash VFX Prototype — 43:18
Random Rotations & Combo Prep — 56:30
Attaching VFX & Position Offsets — 1:05:03
Next Steps & Play-Test Countdown — 1:15:12


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