Terrain Particle Handler

Terrain particles are material-based sprites distributed around the player. Fixed-axis sprites follow the surface orientation and point sprites face the player; the range setup controls fading and wrapping, while force and wind setup controls movement.

Before you start

1. Open the map script inside your own mod. Keep its generated includes, cScrMap : iScrMap class and callback structure. See Add your first script if you have not edited a map script yet.
2. Add the helper include shown below alongside the script’s other includes.
3. Read the stock example before copying its calls: named entities, voice subjects, materials and callbacks must belong to the map or resources you are using.

Use the helper

#include "helpers/helper_modules.hps"

TerrainParticles_SetupRange

Sets up the maximum and minimum distance that the particles are visible Particles also wrap around the maximum distance, coming out on the other side if they get to far away This should be called before spawning particles to get the best spread

Parameter	Meaning
afRangeMinStart	particles closer than this value will not be visible
afRangeMinEnd	particles between min start and min end will fade to fully visible
afRangeMaxStart	particles further away then this value will start to fade out
afRangeMaxEnd	particles further away then this will not be visible and will be spawned on the other side of the player

TerrainParticles_SetupParticles

Spawn particles that use the specified material There are two kind of particles. FixedAxis sprites follow the rotation of the surface. PointSprite always look at the player.

Parameter	Meaning
asMaterial	the mat file used by the particles
alFixedAxisCount	the number of FixedAxis particles to spawn
afFixedAxisSizeMin	smallest size of a FixedAxis particle
afFixedAxisSizeMax	largest size of a FixedAxis particle
avFixedColorMin	random color bound of the FixedAxis particle
avFixedColorMax	random color bound of the FixedAxis particle
alPointSpriteCount	the number of PointSprite particles to spawn
afPointSpriteSizeMin	smallest size of a PointSprite particle
afPointSpriteSizeMax	largest size of a PointSprite particle
avPointColorMin	random color bound of the PointSprite particle
avPointColorMax	random color bound of the PointSprite particle

TerrainParticles_SetupForces

Setup forces that affect the particles

Parameter	Meaning
avVelocityLimit	limit to velocity of the particles
afGravityAmount	how much gravity should affect the particles, value between 0.0-1.0
afRandomDirectionForce	the amount of random force that should be appled to the particles, the direction of this force is based on position and changes over time
afRandomDirectionFrequency	how fast the direction of the random force changes

Check your change

Save the script and restart the map in development mode with F5. If the script fails, open F1 and use Show Error List or Show HPL Log. See the development loop for the launch and debugging steps.

Still to expand

The helper and module implementations define setup and motion, but a shipped campaign caller was not found. A complete map setup and visual verification are still needed.

See also

• User modules
• SOMA module helpers