You've patched in to the enemy's security system: get ready to make your plan. Frozen Synapse is the ultimate strategy game: you have full control over your strike team, directing their every movement. At the same time, your opponent is plotting to defeat you. Plan your moves, then hit the "Execute" button: both you and your enemy's turns are executed simultaneously. Bite-size, hardcore strategy with a striking sci-fi aesthetic.
so am i right in that these are just something make the game look cooler?
Yes.
That is correct guys, It's looking nice!
IMO all your textures should be slightly animated also to give it a high tech feeling, this is a good start.
Yep, this is just a tiny aesthetic effect. Silverfisk, I definitely want to have animated stuff in there - too much is distracting and annoying though, so it's about getting the balance right.
It's really different when you're looking at the game abstractly in a vid, and when you're trying to concentrate on making a plan - you don't want too much whizzy stuff going on. There's already a bit of DISSENT in the ranks about the floor snakes. I think we just need slightly less floor snakes that pop up now and again, as well as a couple of other effects.
These kind of things are late-stage stuff really - Matt just threw this in now as a little test.
It would look great if the snakes just stopped dead when they are near an explosive.