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Foreword
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You will need Sparky's Collision Dll for this to work.
Find it here:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=31051&b=5

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Hey people,
As I continue making Jazz I end up making various systems I use for my games, not least of all is the particle system.
As its still going to be a while till jazz is complete and opensource I thought I'd release the particle sysetm now !

As i have a habit of making horrendously long commands i thought i put the editor up here aswell so you can play around and fine tune an effect without having to re-compile your game each time.

Here are some screenies of it in action.


http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/Screen2.jpg
http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/Screen4.jpg


You can download the editor here:
http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/ParticleEditor.zip

But while its downloading read on as there is more you need to know !

How to use the editor and How to get the effect into your game
http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/Help.htm


Example code of How to get a effect in game
For more info read the Help Document above
http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/ParticleExample.zip

Adding more particles
If you want more particles in the editor just copy the files and paste them in the particle folder...the editor will find them automatically next time you run the editor.

Well I hope you like it, im sure theres some bugs to iron out so if you find one just post it and i'll fix it as soon as I can.
Any Critic is welcome
Enjoy !

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Looks like fun!

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Cellbloc: Thanks !

All: Everything should be working now ! enjoy

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Nice! I will use this for ROBOI--- thanks

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Jeku: No problem man, great to know its being used already, thats put a big smile on my face !

All: Working on a new version with more features...allows for some more fluid effects.
Here is an example Video Clip (dont worry its only 950kb)
http://www.unseenconcept.net/Other/ParticleEditor/ParticleEditor1.avi


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EDIT
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Here are 3 more showing the range of effects you can make:
Embers reacting with a complex object

A nice snow

Fountain of light

New Features
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View emmiter : This allows you to see the area the particles are emitted from

Emmiter Y: Allows you to set the height the particles start at...its how I got the snow to start above the camera

Show Toy: Gives you an object you can move with the mouse. You can use it to test particles interating with objects.

Advanced: Click it to enter advanced mode, all speeds and accellerations then have a range they can be between so you can set starting yspeed to be between 5 and 10....you can experiment to get more fluid effects.

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EDIT2
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Ok the files have been updated you now have the new options in the editor...i have updated the example aswell due to the changes....any effects you have already made will work fine though so dont worry !
And to re-iterate here are the links
The Particle Editor Itself
How to use the editor and How to get the effect into your game
Example code of How to get a effect in game

Enjoy !

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wow... the screenshots look pretty nice. I might use this in a project i'm doing.

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thx Baggers

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Final Epsilon: Cool! itll be great to see it in people's projects

FXTC: no problem !...im actualy thinking about adding even more features....ive just complete unreal2 again and ive got a few ideas !

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cooool

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it reminds me of the unrealengine's particle editor.

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Hi Baggers,
Great job on this engine! I will definitely use it for my projects.
I was wondering how hard this might be to convert to Newton physics for things like gravity, elasticity, collision, etc. Would it be possible or practical?

Thanks for your time,
Underhill

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AZP: Awesome!...ive never seen it before, wait for the new features they should allow for some nicer looking effects....im looking into a way to make explosions practicaly in the editor aswell.

Mr Underhill: Well im not entirely sure, i suppose in some aspects quite easy as the engine moves the particles and lets them react with other objects...however im not sure how well it would handle very rapid creation and deletion of the particles. If the source code was neater it might be worth getting one of the newton gurus on it. Good luck with it though, please keep me informed of any progress you make !

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will there be a saving function ?

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There alreay is ...you click ok, it saves to the clip board and you pas te it into your game...try reading the help file i gave.

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Nice one Baggers! Looks great as does the game.

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I just get a "Bitmap does not exist"

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did you try my example further up the page, as far as i know that worked fine.

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what will be in the new version ?

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Mainly control, though a few new options may be available i.e. pointing the paritcle in the directions its traveling, this can be used to improve rain, sparks etc.
Im looking it optimisation aswell...trying to get the engine to ignore anything its not going to be using...also theres a tiny scaling bug i need to squash.

Currently though im heavily working on my editor for Jazz jackrabbit, and also i have to rewrite the collision code for it aswell, which will be a challenge !

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ok, good luck

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Congrats in getting in the newletter too. Here have a beer!

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Hehe thanks man ! yeah I was pretty chuffed with that.
Nice to think that more people got to see it thanks to that.

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when is the next version of the particle editor coming out ?

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When I have time to code it !
Sorry thats not very helpful, but I tackle each of my little projects as i need to and currently Jazz is the highest project on the list. Still if any help is needed with the current version im still here to help !
It will probably be in a few months time.
Thanks again for the interest people!

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ok.

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Awesome particle effect editor, but...
How do you move the particle emitter in the game?
For example use a particle effect to make a fireball, but then how do I make the emitter move across the screen, you can’t just use x acceleration because it makes it separate and destroys the fps to maintain the same look.

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This is (I think) the best thing I have downloaded for DB.

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Squid: Thanks man ! thats really put a smile on my face this morning !

Matt G: Yup there is a way...i'll go write a command for it now !
Here ya go mate 4 new functions.

PSourcePositionX(sourcenumber)
Finds the specified particles sources X co-ordinate

PSourcePositionY(sourcenumber)
Finds the specified particles sources Y co-ordinate

PSourcePositionZ(sourcenumber)
Finds the specified particles sources Z co-ordinate

PositionPSource(SourceNumber, x#, y#, z#)
Positions the specified particle source at x#,y#,z#

These functions will not slow down your game in the slightest as you are just chaging a couple of variables.

Add this code to your program to gain the new commands. I will add them to the main system soon.
+ Code Snippet

Function PSourcePositionX(sourcenumber)
 res#=ParticleSource(SourceNumber).X
Endfunction res#

Function PSourcePositionY(sourcenumber)
 res#=ParticleSource(SourceNumber).Y
Endfunction res#

Function PSourcePositionZ(sourcenumber)
 res#=ParticleSource(SourceNumber).Z
Endfunction res#

function PositionPSource(SourceNumber, x#, y#, z#)
 ParticleSource(SourceNumber).X=x#
 ParticleSource(SourceNumber).Y=y#
 ParticleSource(SourceNumber).Z=z#
endfunction

Hope thats helps !

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Heh, didn't know I could do that, lol.

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Hehe, I hope MatG sees this .... if anyone has his email address please let him know about the changes.

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His email. Just click the E-Mail icon below his post...

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There isn't one under his post...

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Checking out the code right now...

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Awesome Baggers!
That is part of what i meant but when i tried to edit my post i get an error (i think it's cause I haven't posted much yet).

I mean can you make your particles move at the same offset when you reposition the source?

If you run the source code (it uses the example program media)
and hold the space key it does move the source but it will leave a trail of the old particles and then emit particles from the new position.

Are you able to make it so the source moves and all particles still alive move with it (gets rid of the trail)? That would be perfect for effects like fireballs.

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Another good idea to improve it would be allow the user to specify start and end size as startXsize startYsize and endXsize and endYsize.

That way you can dramatically improve performance on things like beam effects by having a 6x2 plain instead of emitting 3 2x2 particles.
(I'm thinking DBZ kamehameha like effects or lasers)

Don't think i'm being critical or anything though the particle engine is really good as it is. Really good job, keep up the good work!

sorry about multiple posts i'm still not allowed to edit my messages.

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Thanks Matt, dont worry baout the multiple threads..its nice to have saome good suggestions !
Setting start and end size: Yeah that is what i want to so next...also id like to be able to set animations into it also !...but thats a challenge for another day.

Offseting sprites as the source is moved...the only problem with that is the source would have to keep track of all particles made by it...which could be slightly impractical...though not impossible so i may try it.

Another featuire i want to add is volitile sources...which only last for a ceratin amount of time.
eg. you could set the life to 0.5 of a second and use it as an explosion !

Sorry im so busy at the moment, ive crippled DBP purposfully so i cant code until my exams are over....But after then, i may have time to look into it.

Thanks man !

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Good luck, with your exams baggers, my last one is tomorrow, and...
oh crap! tomorrow, gtg.
Seriously I had better go study instead of playing with db too.

[EDIT] I can edit now! I'm a fully fledged forum user, YESSSS!
Just Finished my exams, now I got 5&1/2 weeks holidays to play with DB, well unless my mum makes me get a job