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Particle (Power Type)

Spawns particles on the body of the entity that has the power, once every frequency ticks.

Type ID: apoli:particle

note

Apoli spawns these particles on the server, once per viewer, so bientity_condition is evaluated on the server and every condition type works there. The power's own condition applies as well: while it is false, no particles spawn. Both are checked once per frequency interval, so neither costs anything per tick.

Fields

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
particleParticle EffectrequiredThe particle type to spawn. Use apoli:custom for a particle built from your own texture.
bientity_conditionBi-entity Condition TypeoptionalIf set, a viewer only sees the particles when this condition passes. The actor is the entity that has the power and the target is the player looking at it.
countInteger or Expression1How many particles spawn each time.
speedFloat, Expression or Vector0.0A number is vanilla's random speed multiplier: every particle flies off in a random direction at up to that speed. A vector gives every particle that exact velocity instead, which is what you want when the particles should travel somewhere. Read through space.
velocity_x, velocity_y, velocity_zFloat or Expression0The same explicit velocity, written per axis. Takes priority over a vector speed. Read through space.
spaceSpaceworldHow offset_*, spread and the velocity are read. world uses the world axes. local is relative to the entity's facing, so offset_z: 2 is two blocks in front of it and velocity_z: 0.5 sends the particles the way it is looking. With model_part set and no space written, they are all read in the part's own frame instead (see below).
model_partBody PartoptionalAnchors the particles to a body part instead of the entity's feet, and reads offset_* and the velocity along that part. See Particles on a body part for the names.
forceBooleanfalseShows the particles to players up to 512 blocks away when true, or up to 32 blocks when false.
spreadFloat, Vector or Expression{"x": 0.5, "y": 0.5, "z": 0.5}The size of the volume the particles scatter through. A single number applies to all three axes, and a vector sets each axis. Every component can be an expression. It is read through space like the offset, so space: "local" with {"x": 0, "y": 0, "z": 3} draws a line running away from the entity's face instead of along world south.
offset_xFloat or Expression0.0Where the particles are centered on the X axis, relative to the anchor.
offset_yFloat or Expression0.5Where the particles are centered on the Y axis, relative to the anchor.
offset_zFloat or Expression0.0Where the particles are centered on the Z axis, relative to the anchor.
frequencyInteger or ExpressionrequiredHow often the particles spawn, as an interval in ticks.
visible_in_first_personBooleanfalseWhether the holder sees their own particles while in first person. Other viewers are unaffected, and the holder still sees them in third person.
visible_while_invisibleBooleanfalseWhether the particles still show while the entity is invisible.

Aiming particles

By default offset_* is measured along the world axes, which is why offset_z: 10 puts the particles ten blocks due south instead of ten blocks in front of the player. Set space: "local" and both the offset and the velocity turn with the entity:

{
  "type": "apoli:particle",
  "particle": {"type": "apoli:custom", "texture": "example:textures/particle/spark.png"},
  "count": 12,
  "frequency": 2,
  "space": "local",
  "offset_y": 1.4,
  "offset_z": 1.5,
  "velocity_z": 0.6,
  "spread": {"x": 0.15, "y": 0.15, "z": 0.05}
}

That sends sparks out from a block and a half in front of the entity's eyes, travelling the way it is facing. spread scatters the spawn positions and every particle gets the same velocity, so the cloud takes the shape of the spread. With space set, a spread of {"x": 0, "y": 0, "z": 3} is a line pointing where the entity looks, and {"x": 3, "y": 0, "z": 0} is a line across its shoulders.

warning

An explicit velocity is sent as one packet per particle, because the vanilla particle packet can only carry a direction when its count is zero. Apoli caps that at 64 packets per call. Keep count modest on a directed burst, and use the scalar speed for large ambient clouds.

Particles on a body part

model_part moves the anchor onto a limb and reads offset_* and the velocity in that limb's frame, so the particles follow the part as it moves.

The axes are measured from the anchor: +y runs back along the part towards its pivot, +z out of the part's front and +x out of its left. A negative offset_y from a hand or foot anchor carries on past the fingertips or toes, whichever way the limb is pointing, so use that for particles just past the hand.

AnchorWhere it sits
head, hatthe neck pivot, at eye level
bodythe top of the torso
chestthe front of the chest
backthe middle of the back
right_arm, left_armthe shoulder
right_hand, left_hand, main_hand, off_handthe end of that arm, where a held item is
right_leg, left_legthe hip
right_foot, left_footthe end of that leg
armshalfway between the shoulders
handshalfway between the hands
legshalfway between the hips
feethalfway between the feet
achilles_heelhalfway between the backs of the heels
upperthe waist
lowerthe neck
wholethe feet, on the ground

These are the body part names every other body part field uses. An anchor that sits between two limbs (the groups, hands, feet and achilles_heel) has no single limb to follow, so its axes are the entity's own: +y up, +z forward and +x to its left.

The anchor follows the pose the entity is in (walking and attack swings, crouching, riding, swimming, gliding) and the rotations, pivots and scales that apoli:modify_model_parts applies on top of it. Raise an arm with a modify_model_parts power and a particle anchored to right_hand rises with it.

Each player's game places the particles on the part where it draws that part for them, at the moment they arrive, so the anchor follows a modify_model_parts keyframe animation frame by frame instead of lagging behind or jumping ahead of it. Poses that other mods put on the player model, such as a Better Combat swing, an Iron's Spells casting pose or anything built on playerAnimator, are followed too while the particles keep coming. The first burst for an entity sits where Minecraft and Apoli alone pose the part.

With visible_in_first_person, a holder in first person sees particles anchored to an arm or hand at the hand on their own screen: the bare hand, or where the held item is gripped. Everyone else sees them on the body.

{
  "type": "apoli:particle",
  "particle": "minecraft:flame",
  "count": 6,
  "frequency": 4,
  "model_part": "main_hand",
  "offset_x": 0,
  "offset_y": -0.25,
  "offset_z": 0,
  "spread": {"x": 0.05, "y": 0.05, "z": 0.05},
  "velocity_y": -0.15
}

This puts flames a quarter of a block past the fingertips, drifting further out. They stay past the fingertips when the arm swings, or when a modify_model_parts power raises it.

note

Writing space explicitly opts back out. The anchor still moves to the part, but offset_* and the velocity are then read in that space (the world axes, the entity's facing or its velocity) instead of along the limb.

Examples

Portal particles on the entity that has the power, every 4 ticks:

{
  	"type": "apoli:particle",
  	"particle": "minecraft:portal",
  	"frequency": 4
}