Particle Editor

Visual editor for creating particle effects.

Overview

The HGE Particle Editor is a visual tool for designing particle effects like fire, smoke, explosions, magic spells, and other dynamic visual elements. You design effects in real-time and export them for use in your game.

Interface

The particle editor window shows:

  • Preview area — See your effect in real-time
  • Parameter panels — Adjust all effect properties
  • Texture selection — Choose particle sprites
  • Preset management — Save and load effect files

Key Parameters

Emission

  • Emission rate — Particles spawned per second
  • Lifetime — How long particles live
  • Direction — Initial movement angle
  • Spread — Angle variation (cone width)

Movement

  • Speed — Initial particle velocity
  • Gravity — Downward acceleration
  • Radial acceleration — Expand/contract from center
  • Tangential acceleration — Spiral motion

Appearance

  • Size — Particle start and end size
  • Rotation — Spin speed
  • Color — Start and end colors with alpha
  • Blend mode — Additive or alpha blending

Creating Effects

Fire Effect

  1. Set high emission rate (100+)
  2. Direction pointing up with medium spread
  3. Enable gravity (negative to rise)
  4. Start color: bright orange/yellow
  5. End color: dark red with zero alpha
  6. Use additive blending

Smoke Effect

  1. Lower emission rate (30-50)
  2. Slow speed with high spread
  3. Particles grow over lifetime
  4. Start color: light gray with some alpha
  5. End color: dark gray with zero alpha
  6. Use alpha blending

Explosion Effect

  1. Use burst mode (high rate, short duration)
  2. High initial speed
  3. Strong negative gravity (or radial)
  4. Rapid fade out
  5. Multiple colors for variety

Using Effects in Code

// Load the effect
hgeParticleSystem *ps = new hgeParticleSystem("effects/fire.psi", sprite);

// In frame function
ps->Update(dt);

// Move the emitter
ps->MoveTo(x, y);

// Trigger burst effects
ps->Fire();

// In render function
ps->Render();

Tips

  • Start simple — Begin with default values and adjust one parameter at a time
  • Watch performance — High particle counts can impact frame rate
  • Test in context — Effects look different against various backgrounds
  • Save often — Keep versions as you experiment

See Also