OHH NOOOOOoooOOooo.. Don't pay the magical fairies that work on video games for free and have no expenses or material needs. ..Oh wait, paying for entertainment? That sounds.. reasonable.
The magical fire looks alot more like a flare than a fire - a combination of its speed and intensity. but they both look really cool. Looking forward to more.
No good... I want to play it RIGHT NOW! And want to play it EXACTLY the same way they do! (except when the laptops come in and spoil the magic). Excellent work!
My guess is that you translated the flattened hull at object level instead of translating at component level. In a blendshape (morph), the vertices need to move somewhere for the magic to happen.
As @Steppenwolf advised, block out in 3d from your top view based on your sketch........and then let the magic of 3d take you to the left/front view...... :)