Effects
An effect is VFX Graph particles whose parameters are split into modules: how many particles, where they fly out from, how they move, what colour and size they are. You edit them in the inspector or in the effect editor
Effect inspector
Shows the parameters of a VFX Graph effect in groups: config, core, forces, shape, angle, scale and colour. Every group is visible at once
Effects are seeded the same way as everything else: from the numbers you edit, not from generator state. So the level plays back identically on any device
Colours can reference the level theme instead of a fixed value. Gradient types open the shared gradient editor
More: The level's budget
Core - how many particles and for how long
Sets how many particles exist, how long they live and what they are drawn with. That is everything true before the first force. The other half is Forces
Particle Count is the main cost knob. It is exactly the number the level capacity hint counts
An emitter costs roughly its count times its lifetime. Doubling Lifetime Bounds costs as much as doubling the count
Shape is each particle's silhouette, from the same set ordinary objects use. Texture is the image on top of it. Both fields may be empty. A particle without a texture is the cheap ordinary case
The count is capped at 1024. That is the capacity of the graph itself. A VFX graph processes its whole CAPACITY every frame, not only the live particles. So a system costs as much as it asked for, even if it needs less
The reset next to this button returns every field to its default in one undo step
More: What a level can afford
Config - when the emitter goes quiet
Sets when the emitter stops spawning. When off, it spawns for as long as the object lives. That is the ordinary case: the burst ends together with the object
Stop Frame counts from the start of the OBJECT's own span, not from the level timeline. So an effect at the end of a level may go quiet three hundred of its own frames later
Particles already alive live out their life. The emission is cut off, and the picture fades out smoothly
The reset next to this button returns both fields to their defaults in one undo step
More: What a level can afford
Angle - particle rotation
Sets how a particle is rotated over its life. There are five variants:
Value- a fixed angle- the two
Curvesvariants read a curve - the two
Randomvariants draw a value between A and B for each particle
Which rows exist depends on the choice. The two curve variants differ in WHAT the curve is read by:
Over Life- by the particle's lifetimeBy Speed- by the particle's speed, through the speed window below
The reset next to this button returns the whole group to its defaults, Type included. The curve or random pair you set up is lost
More: Readability
Color - particle colour
Sets how a particle is coloured over its life. Six variants: the same five as Angle and Scale, only with gradients instead of curves, plus one more gradient Random:
Over Lifereads the gradient by the particle's lifetimeBy Speedreads it by the particle's speedRandomtakes one colour from the gradient per particle instead of moving along it- the two
Randomvariants at the bottom draw a colour between two colours
A colour here can be a theme reference, as anywhere else in the level. That way the effect follows a level that changes its palette along the way
The reset next to this button returns the whole group to its defaults, Type included. The gradient or colour pair you set up is lost
More: Colour and themes
Scale - particle size
Sets a particle's size over its life. The same five variants as Angle: a fixed size, a curve or a range per particle
There are two curves here, because size has two axes. Curve X and Curve Y are read independently. A particle can stretch and shrink at the same time
The row under the curves is REUSED. Under Value and the two Random variants it is the size itself. Under By Speed it is the speed window. The caption next to it and its hint tell what the row is right now
The reset next to this button returns the whole group to its defaults, Type included. Both curves and the random pair are lost
More: Readability
Shape - where particles fly out from
Sets the spawn volume: a point, a ring, a rectangle, a segment, a cone or a torus. It decides only where a particle STARTS. What happens to it next is Forces
Changing Type changes the set of fields below. The rows are reused: the first one is a circle's radius, a cone's top radius or a torus' minor radius, depending on what is selected
Arc is how much of the rim is used, in radians, counter-clockwise from the +X axis. Less than a full turn gives a fan
Spread turns a static ring into a moving one. It decides where on the rim the next particle lands: randomly, round in one direction, back and forth or along a sine. Loop is the classic rotating emitter
The reset next to this button returns the whole group to its defaults, Type included. The shape you set up, with its radii and spread, is lost
More: Composition
Forces - what moves a particle
Sets everything that moves a particle after it spawns. Shape decides where it starts, and this group decides where it flies
The fields come in two kinds. Mixing them up is the usual mistake:
- the
Startpairs are drawn ONCE when a particle is born, between their minimum and maximum. Spread a pair apart and an even burst becomes a fan - everything else acts CONTINUOUSLY for the particle's whole life
Fields of the second kind:
Linear Velocityis wind, not a pushLinear Forceis an acceleration, so it accumulatesOrbital Velocityturns particles around the centre, not around themselves
Velocity Speed multiplies the whole result. That way a finished effect can be slowed down or sped up without touching the other fields
The reset next to this button returns all eleven fields to their defaults in one undo step
More: Composition
Effect editor
Builds a particle effect and shows it on the canvas
The parameter groups are the same as in the effect inspector. Here they are edited as a draft: nothing reaches the level until you save
Save the effect to the device's shared library to use it in other levels
More: The level's budget