And again, refer to the Game Maker manual to learn more about the stuff I’m leaving out here! Step 7: Enter the Emitter. We’re almost there! All that remains is to set up the emitter, the thing that spits out your particles inside the game. Particle systems are the primary rendering mechanism for simulating fire, gun effects, exploding barrels, fireworks, laser beams, bursts of energy, bursts of cartoon stars, shards of glass, shrapnel, magical spells and gory splashes of blood. When paired up with the right sound effects, the impact can be made.

Click to expand.Sure - it's a piece of cake (and bear in mind you can just influence velocities if you don't want to handle positioning them manually) - and it's a lot faster than you think since it uses a reference to your array of Particle[]. First study This is you bog standard single particle. You'll want an array of these matching the maximum size of your actual amount of particles you set in Shuriken. Then you'll fiddle with the array as you like, before telling Shuriken to update them (ie whenever you make changes) with: I wouldn't recommend using GetParticles unless for some reason you want to get the current state of affairs since this is more expensive, obviously. Edit: got beat by forum wizard above, but it's all good. Jeff Johnson, CEO of Digital Ruby, LLC.

I make iOS apps and Asset Store material. What kind of game are you trying to build or would like to build? I like RPG games and anything with lots of cool magic like effects. How does particles fit into that? What use-cases do you have?

Right now I'm working on lightning. Cm 01 02 original database. Hitting some performance cases which I'd like to offload some calculations to GPU such as calculating the size of a particle in screen space given a start and end point on a line. Very expensive on CPU. I don't see any way that Shuriken can currently pass these parameters on the GPU. I really want to pass custom data per vertex such as center points, start / end points, brightness, velocity, lifetime, etc.

What are the GOOD things about the particle system now you like? It's fairly easy to get something setup and running. Lots of demos are available. What are the BAD things about the particle system now you dislike? Anytime I want to do something that is advanced (like high detail lightning), I run into CPU performance bottlenecks. There is also no way to access much of the particle system parameters via script (color over lifetime, etc.). How can we make it BETTER?

Please provide a way to pass custom properties per vertex. I know this is a difficult feature to implement and make cross-platform, but most graphics API allow this (DirectX, OpenGL, Metal, etc.). Please provide a way to access all the particle system parameters via script. Hi everyone, Thanks for all the input, posting a summary here. Let me know if I missed anything.

This list doesn't mean it will be implemented, just capturing the feedback for internal discussion. Cool to read this Bibbinator! So this is going to be a long one. Since my last post, a lot o things has changed so I'll just answer the OP's questions again. I am a VFX artist and junior Graphics Programmer at CreativeForge Games, previously worked as a freelance Motion Designer.

I have been using UDK, UE4, Unity (since 3.5), GameMaker Studio. What kind of game are you trying to build or would like to build? Currently, I am using Unity to build effects for tactical weird-west game called 'Hard West'. After work I am developing semi open-world, low-fi exploration game. It's initial focus lies in maintaining your mobile base, exploring the planet.

How does particles fit into that? What use-cases do you have?

Let's start with Hard West game - it is set in late 1800' in a weird west world. The game is gritty, bloody and harsh.

It has strong focus on so called 'shadow play' which limits ability to see a character if he is hidden in the shadow. That's why properly lit VFX are crucial in this game. There are also a lot of abilities which have MOBA-like visualizations. My hobby project is about surviving on a foreign planet and exploring it. I have day/night cycle, some vehicles, few shallow caves. Player often has to leave his mobile base and go out exploring. Player often use his anti-gravity vehicle which kicks up a lot of dust up in the air.