Unity 5.6 Beta

General Discussion
#1

Hey,

The Unity 5.6 Beta is now available! If you’re interested, there are a few Particle System changes coming in this release:

  • Custom Vertex Streams UI redesign (Send only the exact data you want to the shader, no more forced grouping of attributes)
  • Custom Data Module added to the Inspector for easier configuration of Custom Data (Includes a HDR mode for the Gradient Editor, when used in this Module!)
  • Multi-Edit support!!! (finally!!)
  • Optimised 2D Collisions
  • Optimised Instantiate times (over 2x speedup when creating systems at runtime)
5 Likes
#2

We have just added 2 more new features to the upcoming 5.6.0b5 version, which may be of interest!

  • Burst Emission has been redesigned. You can now add up to 8 bursts, and each burst comes with new parameters to make it repeat at a given interval!

blob.jpg768×162 16 KB

  • The Shape Module now contains some new parameters, offering greater control over how particles are spawned. Previously, each new particle would pick a random position on the chosen shape, but now, some shapes have new options to let you choose alternatives to this. You can now loop the emission around some shapes (circles and cones), or emit along the shape (single sided edge). We also have a ping-pong mode, which alternates the direction after each loop.

There is also a mode to evenly distribute burst particles around/along the shape, as well as a new Spread parameter, which we use to let you only emit particles at desired intervals on the shape.

6 Likes
#3

fantastic.

  • does spread operate on the default generation at all? [generate 90/sec] over 0.1 second. if I wanted to incorporate a start_speed curve and lifetime curve; imagine a “smash” crater so that 9 particles start in circle formation but have asymmetrical Z start_speed as well as lifetimes. is this possible with Loop?

  • or do I make a burst [@time 0.0] [min 1 max 1] [9 cycles] with [interval .01]? will this understand start speed curve?

  • will burst please mimic the other module inputs? simplify [min,max] into a single value unless we choose [random between two constants]

  • could we add curve to the interval property, and randbetween?

#4

Hey,

I don’t follow your first question, sorry! (Perhaps give the beta a go, when it comes out, and experiment with it)

Your second point sounds like it will work yes - start speed will be respected for the repeated bursts - if you use an increasing curve, the later cycles will have a faster start speed.

Your third point is a good idea, but not currently implemented. UI space is a problem, but it wouldbe good to standardise this! I’ve added it to our roadmap!

Regarding your 4th point, again UI space becomes a problem. Maybe we would have to break the UI out into a multi-line-per-burst display, to achieve this kind of functionality. Currently it’s just a fixed value - but you can keyframe it via animation, which would give you some extra control over it.

#5

Hey, just letting you know that we have addressed this in Unity 2017.2.

The burst count UI will use the same curve widget as used throughout the rest of the Particle System, supporting 1 constant, a min-max, plus the curve variants!

Thanks for the feedback :slight_smile:

1 Like