The new Particle Addon update is released and adds some simple commands to render the 3D particle effects into sprite textures for using them in a 2D setting.
The effects are still rendered in 3D first, unfortunately I don't think that can be avoided with AppGameKit currently unless handling the positioning with sprites as individual particles CPU side, which would totally defeat the purpose of having a GPU particle system.
I thought it would be fun to test if we can achieve a pixelated look for fire, portal and projectile effects.
Here is a simple video (just threw together some assets from a bundle, nothing fancy). It's really easy to load effects, assign them to sprites and move them around. The standard sprite depth system can ofcourse also be used to correctly layer the effects. Also using the helper function to create particle trails that try to match a sprite's movement. 1080p vid, enlarge for the full brute force of pixelation :p
And here is a quick video of the sidescroller starter project that is included in the addon package.
Hope someone finds the new functions helpful.
I have some ideas for more 2D oriented functionality (particle collisions with a level collision layer and some other madness, plus I want to test an idea for a separate fully 2D system, would be fun to have a 2D focussed effect editor), just need some feedback if this stuff is of any use to you guys or if we should stick to 3D with the addon.
