richard
973db7d8b8
Replace code-buried CPUParticles with inspector-editable effect scenes fired through one Fx autoload: code names the effect (Fx.spawn(&"blood_burst", xform)), the .tscn owns the look. Ships four placeholder effects (blood_burst, slam_dust, spark, hit_flash) seeded from the old code params, a self-freeing one_shot_effect root helper, a live preview gallery, and an FX style guide for Siim. CPUParticles only (mobile GLES3 constraint). Existing call sites untouched -- migrated later. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
60 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# FX — the effect library
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Gameplay code fires a **named** effect; the **scene** decides how it looks. That split is the whole
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point: a programmer writes `Fx.spawn(&"blood_burst", hit_transform)` once, and from then on every
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change to how a hit *feels* is a `.tscn` Siim edits in the inspector — no code, no recompile.
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```gdscript
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# anywhere in gameplay code
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Fx.spawn(&"blood_burst", global_transform) # at a node
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Fx.spawn(&"slam_dust", Transform3D(Basis(), point)) # at a world point
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```
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## Siim's workflow
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1. **Open the gallery.** Run `fx/effect_gallery.tscn`. It loops through every effect on a sand-lit
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stage with the effect's name on screen, so you see each one the way it reads in play.
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2. **Pick an effect** `.tscn` in `fx/` (`blood_burst`, `slam_dust`, `spark`, `hit_flash`) and open it.
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3. **Tune it in the inspector.** Everything lives on the `CPUParticles3D` node and its material:
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- **Colour** → the node's *Color Ramp* (start colour → faded/transparent end).
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- **Shape of the burst over time** → *Scale Amount Curve*.
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- **Amount / Lifetime / Explosiveness / Spread / Velocity / Gravity** → the node's emission group.
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- The viewport previews particles live as you drag — no play needed.
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4. **Save.** That's the whole edit. Re-run the gallery to compare.
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New effect? Add a `fx/<name>.tscn` (root = `CPUParticles3D` with `one_shot_effect.gd` attached — copy
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an existing one), then register its name → path in `fx/fx.gd`.
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## House style (keep effects reading as one game)
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**Palette** — pull from these, don't invent per-effect colours:
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| Role | Start | End (fades to alpha 0) |
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|-------|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
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| Blood | `#FF0505` | `#400000` |
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| Dust | `#B89966` (tan) | `#8C7326` |
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| Ember | `#FFF299` → `#FF8C1A` | transparent |
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| Flash | `#FFFFFF` | transparent |
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**Timing budgets** — hits read best short: strike/flash effects ≤ **0.4 s**, dust/settle ≤ **1.1 s**.
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A one-shot effect frees itself `lifetime + 0.5 s` after spawn (`one_shot_effect.gd`), so keep
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`lifetime` honest.
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**PS1 look** — materials are **unshaded**, **alpha-blended**, **vertex-colour** (colour comes from the
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ramp), cull disabled. Prefer few, chunky, low-poly billboarded quads over dense fine particles; the
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game runs the PS1 filter over everything, so subtlety is lost anyway.
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**Mobile** — effects are **`CPUParticles3D`, never `GPUParticles3D`**. The web/GLES3/ANGLE target
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compiles particle shaders badly (see the notes in `player.gd`); CPU particles are just as tunable in
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the inspector and safe on-device. Keep this constraint when adding effects.
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## Files
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| File | What it is |
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|---|---|
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| `fx.gd` | The `Fx` autoload — `spawn(name, xform, parent=null)`; name→path registry |
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| `one_shot_effect.gd` | Root helper: fires the emitter(s) once, frees the scene when done |
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| `blood_burst.tscn` etc. | The effects themselves — **edit these** |
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| `effect_gallery.tscn` | Preview stage (run it to review) |
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| `_seed_placeholders.gd` | One-off generator that wrote the first-draft defaults; not used at runtime |
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