en

Effect settings

Effect settings

Every effect has a small set of top-level settings that control how the whole effect is simulated — independent of any particular emitter. They are edited in the Properties panel when the effect itself (the root item of the effect tree) is selected.

Fixed update FPS

By default the effect is simulated with the variable frame time of the host application: each update advances the simulation by however much real time has passed. Enabling Fixed update FPS switches the effect to a fixed time step.

  • Frames per sec. — the fixed sampling rate of the simulation. Each simulated frame advances the effect by exactly 1 / FPS seconds; the runtime internally accumulates real time and runs as many fixed steps as needed.

Use a fixed step for fast effects whose look depends on the sampling rate (e.g. very short-lived particles or rapid bursts) — with a variable step such effects can look different on slow versus fast machines. Higher values (for example 60) make fast effects more consistent at the cost of more simulation work.

Seed type

Controls the random number generator every random value in the effect draws from (random spreads, random directions, Random blocks, and so on).

  • Random (default) — a new seed is picked every time an effect instance is created or restarted, so the effect plays out differently every time.
  • Fixed — the effect always starts from the given Seed value, so every run of the effect reproduces the exact same sequence of random values: the same particle positions, directions, and timing on every restart. All instances of a fixed-seed effect simulate identically.

The setting applies both in the editor and in the exported effect:

  • In the editor, the preview timeline honors the seed type: with a fixed seed, pressing Restart replays the identical simulation every time — convenient for comparing the effect before/after a tweak on exactly the same playback. With Random, every Restart re-randomizes the effect.
  • In the exported effect, a fixed-seed effect reproduces the same simulation in your game or application on every run.

Use a fixed seed when the effect must look identical on every playback (for example a scripted sequence), or while fine-tuning an effect where a re-randomizing preview would make small changes hard to judge.

Presim. time

Time, in seconds, to pre-simulate (warm up) from the start of the effect before it becomes visible. The skipped interval is still fully simulated — you just do not see it; the effect appears already "in progress".

Typical use: ambient effects like rain, snow, or smoke columns that would otherwise visibly "fill up" from empty when they appear.

Be careful: the pre-simulation runs when an effect instance is created, so a long presim time can add a noticeable delay to the effect's start.

Presim. FPS

The sampling rate used only for the pre-simulation interval. Lower values make the warm-up cheaper but less precise; higher values make the pre-simulated state closer to a normally-simulated one.

Sorting

How particles are ordered for rendering within the effect:

  • None — no global ordering; particles are drawn in generation order, emitter by emitter.
  • Depth correct — all particles of the effect are sorted by depth relative to the camera, across all emitters. Use for translucent particles in 3D where incorrect ordering produces visible popping.
  • Per emitter — particles are sorted within each emitter only.

Emitters that build a ribbon with ConstructorStrip support None and Depth correct only. Age-based ordering (Older first / Younger first) is rejected for them, because a ribbon's segments are already drawn in age order by construction — reordering them by age would change nothing.

Be careful: depth sorting is computed a few frames behind the simulation. A ribbon whose particle count is still changing — one that is still growing, or whose tail is dying off — is drawn a couple of segments short at its ends while sorting is on. A ribbon with a steady particle count is unaffected. If a trail's ends matter more to you than its depth ordering, leave sorting at None.

Blending

The blending mode used to composite particles, when not overridden per emitter:

  • Normal — standard alpha blending.
  • Add — additive blending (glows, fire, energy effects).
  • Multiply — multiplicative blending (darkening effects like smoke shadows).
  • Per emitter — each emitter uses its own blending setting.