The Origin tab controls placement of effect and bounds in which it will spawn. In the case of using min/max origin numbers, the Origin will be the space in which a particle will spawn. Larger min/max numbers mean a more random spawn location within the origin space. Please see Notes about Origins below for more detailed information.
Forward
- Forward is relative to the normal the effect is played from.
Left
- Relative to the world coordinates or bone coordinates the effect is played from.
Up
- Relative to the world coordinates or bone coordinates the effect is played from.
Linear
- Spawns sprites along a line.
Sphere
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a sphere.
Cone
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a cone.
Box
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a box.
Cylinder
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a cylinder.
Spiral
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a spiral, most noticeable when using lines or linked lines. The number to the right of the spiral setting determines how many subdivisions to use.
Model
- Spawns sprites within the confines of a specified model.
Spawn on Surface
- Spawns on the outside surface of the specified origin rather than within the origin space.
Example: With this setting checked and a sphere origin, sprites will spawn on the outside of the sphere: creating a “bubble.”
Flip Normal
- Used to invert the normal the effect is played on.
Use End Origin
- Draws a line from effect origin using the effect normal. This line projects until it hits a wall. This will override the “forward” origin and use the entire length of the projected line instead for the forward origin.
Example: The Railgun effect uses end origin to ensure that the rail effect line is exactly the distance from the Railgun barrel to the surface the Railgun hits. End origin can also be affected by target_null’s in the level editor. An effect file that uses end origin targeting a target_null will instead project to the target_null instead of projecting until it hits a surface.
Distribute Evenly
- This will ensure even space between sprites throughout the origin. Mainly used for end origin effects so that particles do not bias one side.
Use Effect Normal
- This is the default mode for all effects and will play based upon projectile impact surface, func_fx placement in the level editor or bone on an .md5mesh.
Generate Normal from Center or Surface
This will generate the forward normal as the center of an origin spread (center of a sphere/shape origin), or the surface of the an origin if spawn on surface is checked.
Example: An origin range of –10 min and 50 max for Forward, Left and Up will have a ‘center’ of the effect that is not the effect origin.
Generate Normal from Effect Origin
- This will generate the forward normal from the effect origin, rather than the true center of the effect.