This is possibly the final version of the emitter program, aside from adding in actual alpha blending options, which I keep forgetting to do. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s not like it’s really part of the game, so as long as it’s complete enough to kick out some good effects with minimum hassle, that’s good enough.
New features:
Each complete emitter system can have many individual emitters, each one individually tunable. This allows for creating much more sophisticated effects, and is the way the Unreal Development Kit does it. Each complete emitter corresponds to a single file.
Emitters can now be saved and loaded from files. The interface for doing so is on the top of the screen.
Fixed that flickering/blinking screen problem. Then created another slightly different one. Then fixed that one too.
You can now define 100 separate data points instead of just 10 on all the “graphable” variables. So you can now have essentially instantaneous changes, or much smoother curves- I found the 10 point system was visibly jerky with some transitions.
There is now a “displacement” mode. Instead of just saying how fast stuff is being spit from the center, you can just graph exactly how far it is over time, if you want. So you can have stuff that goes back and forth, stays in the same places, goes towards the origin, or starts somewhere other than at the origin.
There is now a “rotation” value. This spins all the particles around the origin.
Also included is a couple of fairly silly-looking tech-demo emitters and a png with instructions and controls on it.
So, next up: Back to actually working on the game, instead of emitters. Next thing to add: Support in the game for actually “attaching” emitters to objects, then giving the player’s ship a rocket trail emitter, which I feel is really going to be a significant improvement. Then a wormhole emitter. Then wormholes, and multiple galaxies.
