Particles In Code
This page details the management of "Orange Box" particles in C++ code. It does not cover the old, hard-coded particle tech.
Precaching
Particle systems must be precached before they can be used. This is done by listing the PCF file containing them in particles_manifest.txt
, then making this call:
PrecacheParticleSystem( "your_particle_effect_name" );
Dispatching
When dispatched from the server, the particle systems will be networked as temporary entities.
#include "particle_parse.h"
// Create at world co-ords
DispatchParticleEffect( "my_particle", vecOrigin, angAngles, pOwnerEntity )
// Create at model attachment
DispatchParticleEffect( "my_particle", ParticleAttachment_t, pOwner, iAttachment, bResetAllParticlesOnEntity )
- See also
ParticleAttachment_t
, below. -
vecStart
, taken by some overloads ofDispatchParticleEffect()
, defines the location of control point 1. If you don't specifyvecStart
, the value ofvecOrigin
is used instead.

Destroying
-
StopParticleEffects( CBaseEntity* )
- Stops all effects on the given entity.
Client
Creating
For more control over the effect, a particle system can be created by a new CNewParticleEffect
object and managed through the owning entity's ParticleProp()
accessor:
#include "particles_new.h"
C_MyEntity::MessWithParticles()
{
// Create a new system
CNewParticleEffect* pEffect = ParticleProp()->Create( "my_particles", PATTACH_ABSORIGIN );
// System already exists
CNewParticleEffect* pEffect = ParticleProp()->FindEffect( "my_particles" );
}
Particles_new.h must also be #included here.
Alternatively, you can hook into particle creation events:
void C_MyEntity::OnNewParticleEffect( const char* pszParticleName, CNewParticleEffect* pNewParticleEffect )
{
if ( V_strcmp(pszParticleName, "target_effect_name") == 0 )
{
// Do something
}
}
Warning: A dispatch message from the server configures both control point 0 AND 1. The values are applied after
OnNewParticleEffect()
is called, so don't bother trying to assign either of those CPs from it!
Control points
When dispatching an effect from the server you can define the location of control points 0 (with vecOrigin
) and 1 (with vecStart
).
On the client, you can configure the location, rotation and parent entity of any CP with these CNewParticleEffect
functions:
-
SetControlPoint( Vector )
- Arbitrary set the CP's value.
-
SetControlPointEntity( CBaseEntity* )
- Follow the given entity's origin.
Confirm:Set to NULL to disable following.
-
SetControlPointOrientation( QAngle )
-
SetControlPointRightVector()
-
SetControlPointForwardVector()
-
SetControlPointUpVector()
- Set orientation with a QAngle or a series of Vectors.
Destroying
-
StopParticleEffects( CBaseEntity* )
- Stops all effects on the given entity.
-
ParticleProp()->StopParticlesInvolving( CBaseEntity* )
- Stops all effects with a control point attached to the given entity. To do: Global or only on current entity?
-
ParticleProp()->StopParticlesNamed( const char* )
- Stops all effects with the given system name. To do: Global or only on current entity?
-
CNewParticleEffect::StopEmission( bool bInfiniteOnly, bool bRemoveAllParticles, bool bWakeOnStop)
- Stops the current particle system, without removing it. To do: Meaning of first and third arguments.
ParticleAttachment_t
One of these values is passed when dispatching or creating an effect:
-
PATTACH_ABSORIGIN
-
PATTACH_ABSORIGIN_FOLLOW
- Spawn at (and optionally follow) the entity's origin.
-
PATTACH_POINT
-
PATTACH_POINT_FOLLOW
- Spawn at (and optionally follow) an attachment point on the entity's model.
-
PATTACH_CUSTOMORIGIN
- Spawn at a given origin.
-
PATTACH_WORLDORIGIN
- Don't associate with an entity at all. Use with caution - could easily cause memory leaks.