Particle Editor Reference
The particle editor allows you to create and edit particle systems which can later be attached to scene nodes.
Below is a screenshot of the particle editor:
The viewport has the same movement controls as the scene editor:
| LMB + Move Up/Down | Move camera forward/backward |
| LMB + Move Left/Right | Turn camera left/right |
| RMB + Move | Turn camera |
| LMB + RMB + Move | Pan camera |
The default orientation of the particle emission is in the +Y direction. You can changed this in the Viewport menu along the top. Keep in mind that in game, a particle system will always be emitted in the direction of the scene node it is attached to.
To create a new particle system, right-click on a directory in the asset explorer and create an empty particle system file. Upon creation, the particle system will open automatically.
A particle system is essentially just a container of a number of emitters. The properties you are modifying are actually the properties of each emitter.
Properties Panel
The properties panel (right-side panel) is the main part of the editor. It is, as the name suggests, where the properties of the particle system are modified.
The first thing to know is that you create a new emitter by hitting the New Emitter button. This will create a default emitter with a few generic properties set. To delete an emitter, you simply hit the cross button next to the emitter name. You can collapse and expand emitter properties panels by simply clicking on the title.
To define the behaviour of particles, you attach functions to the emitter. Below is a table the available functions. There are not many yet, but this is obviously planned to be expanded in the future.
| Size over Time | Changes the size of the particle over it's lifetime. |
| Linear Velocity over Time | The velocity to apply to the position of the particle over it's lifetime. |
| Angular Velocity over Time | The velocity to apply to the orientation of the particle over it's lifetime. |
| Colour over Time | The RGB colour to use with the particle over it's lifetime. Support for this depends on the material. |
| Alpha over Time | The alpha transparency to use with the particle over it's lifetime. Support for this depends on the material. |
Currently all functions use a simple linear interpolation. A graph/spline based solution is planned for the future. The Min and Max values refer to the spawn and death times of each particle respectively.
For billboard shaped particles, you'll probably only care about the Z-axis for the rotation.