R2 Custom Particle VFX
Hot on the heels of the R2 projectile improvements, we’ve given Particle VFX a similar treatment.
Particle effects have always been possible in RRS, but you can now save them into a registry so you can access them with circuits. This makes it very easy to save them into R2 Inventions and share them with others!
Following the same pattern as projectiles, there’s a new Particle VFX Constant and a chip called Play Particle VFX At Position. The constant will give you access to all of the existing VFX in the Emitter, plus any custom Studio particles in your room, whether you downloaded them with an Invention or made them yourself.
And as you might imagine, custom Projectiles and custom Particle VFX play pretty nicely together!
Making custom Particle VFX in Studio
In Rec Room Studio, create a new game object, turn it into a prefab, then add the “Particle VFX (Rec Room Studio) component to the root object. From there, add a particle system and create like normal! While you can have nested particle systems, don’t add extra colliders or other components - if it’s too complex, you will get an error when uploading.
Then add that prefab to the new Particle VFX Registry, which can be found in the Rec Room Studio Hierarchy window.
After you upload your room, your new particles will be available in Particle VFX Constants for use with circuits. It’s also fine for instances of your particle prefab to be embedded inside other Studio Objects, as long as it’s a prefab of its own in your Project folder.
Particle VFX Constant
The new Particle VFX Constant is available in the Maker Pen palette. The pattern is similar to the existing Audio and Projectile constants. The Particle VFX Constant can be set to a specific particle VFX, then used with the Play Particle VFX At Position chip.
Find your custom particles in the config menu of the Particle VFX constant!
All the existing particle systems from the Emitter are also available. Spawning an invention into your room can add new stuff to this list, so check the Invention Store for more Particle VFX Constants.
Play Particle VFX At Position
Once you’ve imported your particle VFX, just wire it into the Play Particle VFX At Position chip to fire it.
You’ll need to pipe in a Particle VFX, a position and orientation, and you also have the option of changing some common settings on playback. There’s a “Synced/Unsynced” toggle in the config of Play Particle VFX At Position, which is set to unsynced by default so it’s easy to use with the “Projectile Hit” events.
Inventions
Custom Particle VFX work with R2 Inventions, so you’ll be able to easily share your creations with others.
Making an Invention
Making an Invention that includes custom Particle VFX is as easy as including your Particle VFX Constant in the Invention (subject to the same moderation steps that other Studio Inventions go through.). Whichever VFX you’ve selected on that constant will be included in the R2 Invention and become available to anyone who uses it.
Downloading an Invention
Using an R2 Invention that includes custom VFX is the same as using any other. If you use an invention that brings some custom Particle VFX with it, you’ll see those new VFX in your Particle VFX Constants elsewhere in the room. Deleting the original invention won’t delete the VFX as long as you’re using it somewhere else.
Feedback + show us what you’ve made!
Let us know here in this thread if you’ve got feedback on custom particle effects and feel free to share anything cool you’ve made with them.
Cheers
~ The RR Team
