3D particles: effect parts and configuration
Choose the right guide, follow a workflow and diagnose the result.
What makes an effect
GpuParticles3D controls the system, the process material defines simulation, and DrawPass plus its geometry material determine what is drawn. These are separate parts: assigning ParticleProcessMaterial alone does not create a visible Mesh.
A particle is a system element, not a child Entity with its own gameplay script. GPU particle colliders do not replace ordinary character/body physics either.
First obtain a testable effect
- Configure one emitter, lifetime and particle count.
- Assign a process material and visible DrawPass geometry with an appropriate surface material.
- Check starting, stopping emission and visibility bounds.
- Then add forces, collisions, trails and noise.
| Task | Guide |
|---|---|
| Build the first effect | Create a system |
| Configure the emitter and timing | System properties |
| Configure movement and color | Process material |
| Trigger another effect | Subemitters |
| Draw a continuous trail | Trails |
| Add motion noise | Turbulence |
| Add forces | Attractors |
| Collide particles with surroundings | Particle collisions |
| Select birth points from geometry | Complex emission shapes |
Common mistakes
Turning off Emitting stops new births but does not necessarily remove living particles immediately. OneShot, Restart and Finished address different tasks; do not treat Finished as an unconditional guarantee that no effect pixels remain after simulation-speed changes.
If the effect disappears as the camera moves, check VisibilityAabb. If simulation works but nothing is visible, check DrawPass and the surface material. LocalCoords determines whether existing particles follow the emitter transform.
CpuParticles3D is a separate implementation with different features. Choose CPU/GPU and capacity using target-renderer support and measured frame time, rather than a fixed-count promise for every device.