Particle System

Overview

CPU-based particle simulation with GPU point-sprite rendering. Each emitter manages a pool of particles with configurable emission rate, lifetime, color gradients, and gravity.

Adding Particles in the Editor

Select an entity in the Scene Hierarchy (or create a new one)
In the Inspector, click Add Component > ParticleEmitter
Configure emission properties in the Inspector

ParticleEmitter Properties

Field	Type	Default	Description
emitRate	float	10.0	Particles emitted per second
lifetime	float	2.0	Particle lifetime in seconds
speed	float	3.0	Initial emission speed
speedVariance	float	1.0	Random variation in speed
size	float	0.1	Starting particle size
sizeEnd	float	0.0	Size at end of life (lerp)
colorStart	vec3	(1, 1, 1)	Starting color (RGB)
colorEnd	vec3	(1, 1, 1)	Color at end of life (RGB)
gravity	float	-9.81	Gravity applied to particles
maxParticles	int	256	Maximum active particles
enabled	bool	true	Enable/disable emission

Rendering

Uses GL_POINTS with gl_PointSize for billboarding
Circular point sprites with smooth alpha falloff
Additive-style blending (SRC_ALPHA, ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA)
Depth write disabled during particle rendering

Integration Notes

Particles are updated CPU-side and uploaded each frame via dynamic VBO
Color and size interpolate linearly over particle lifetime
Velocity has a slight upward bias for natural-looking emission