Thanks djaydino,
For picture 1, I will change textures.
For the shatter effect, I'm still having trouble deciding the best way to do this. Right now I'm experimenting with spawning 10 cubes with rigid bodies and letting them fly... but is this silly and wasteful of resources to do? I guess I'm discovering ways to do this... but I'm looking for thoughts on the best way... simplest to implement, looks nicest, not terribly expensive processor wise. Has anyone done something similar with advice on the best balanced approach?