Hey everybody, I’m currently trying to make a soulnado similar to the one in Mortal combat. Its getting there but Im not sure how to approach the central focus for it. Should I just make it similar to the Mk Soulnado where its a cylinder?
or is there a way to make so the it doesnt explicitly show the cylinder shape?
Any other critiques or criticisms are welcome as well!
Looking cool so far!
Id go with what you’ve suggested, a cylinder mesh in the centre - pan some nice denser textures across, it, will no doubt need a fair few layers to blend it with the sprites too!
And think abit about scale, yours is pretty so far but to me looks like a character would fit perfectly in it rather than it being a giant tornado as such 
The big things that will help you avoid the standard cylinder look will bee to 1) add noise to your mesh so the edges aren’t a smooth read, and 2) multiply its opacity with a fresnel so that it softens those edges even more. Then like @chrisdunham95 suggested, just use multiple larger cylindrical/tornado shapes on top of the main core and vary their opacities and textures. The textures should pan the fastest on the core cylinder, and pan slower for each subsequent cylinder larger than the core one.
Throw some sprites on top of that and it will be looking real good! Can’t wait to see what you make!