Flint Particle System

Version 1.0.4 released

Richard — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:40:17 +0000

This will be the final version on the 1.0.x branch. It incorporates a few minor changes that were already in the code repository. The next version released will be the first 3D version. New features and changes in this version are Added a Collide action that manages collisions between particles. Added bounce parameter to the Bounding Box [...]

3D plans

Richard — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:20:45 +0000

Because I had a lot of client work on, I haven't done much work on Flint since April. That's now changing since the large job I was working on is complete and I have some time to myself again. I thought I'd outline the plans for the next major version of Flint. The next major version [...]

Reorganised SVN

Richard — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:19:56 +0000

I reorganised the SVN repository today. You may need to check-out the code all over again - sorry about that. It's a minor change but the repository's structure is more logical this way. I don't anticipate altering it again so it seemed sensible to get this change out the way as soon as possible.

Alpha of the 3D version is available

Richard — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:16:05 +0000

I've added the alpha of the next version of Flint to the SVN code repository. You can check it out anonymously from http://flint-particle-system.googlecode.com/svn/branches/three_d/ This version will support 3D particle systems in addition to 2D particle systems as supported by the current version. The 2D content in this alpha should be stable and has some features not present in [...]

Version 1.0.3 released

Richard — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:25:13 +0000

This version adds some minor enhancements KeyDownCounter - this new meta-counter causes an associated counter to only emit particles if a particular key is down. KeyDownAction - this new meta-action causes an associated action to only occur if a particular key is down. ZonedAction - this new meta-action causes an associated action to only affect particles that are [...]

Version 1.0.2 released

Richard — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:40:32 +0000

This version fixes a couple of minor bugs. When setting the dimensions of the canvas on a BitmapRenderer, it didn't correctly remove the previous canvas, causing the dimensions of the renderer to appear wrong. This has been fixed. The Velocity and Position initializers didn't always correctly reflect the rotation of the emitter. This has been fixed. Also added, [...]

Version 1.0.1 released

Richard — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:16:55 +0000

I uploaded version 1.0.1 this morning. The main change is to fix a limitation in the BitmapRenderer and PixelRenderer classes. The BitmapRenderer and PixelRenderer create a canvas for drawing the particles in. In previous versions this canvas covered the stage. This has caused problems for some developers who want more flexibility over the size and placement [...]

Flocking behaviour in particles

Richard — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:37:38 +0000

Among the new actions added in version 1.0 are three that cause interaction between particles. These are

ApproachNeighbours which causes nearby particles to move towards each other.

MinimumDistance which causes particles to keep a minimum distance between themselves.

MatchVelocity which causes particles to adjust their velocity to match the average of all near neighbours.

By combining these actions, we can create flocking behaviour, where particles approach each other, but not too close, and match the velocity of the particles around them.

View the source code.

Version 1.0.0 released

Richard — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:16:13 +0000

I uploaded version 1.0.0 this morning. This version features a number of additions and a couple of key structural changes. The structural changes are Changes to setCounter The counter in the emitter is now a getter/setter so rather than emitter.setCounter( someCounter ); you need emitter.counter = someCounter Changes to Rendering The rendering has been moved out of the emittter into a separate set [...]

Version 0.9.4 released

Richard — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:42:13 +0000

Now in SVN and download. The core features haven't changed but I have added a number of new behaviours. Access all properties in Actions, Initializers, Counters and Activities so they can be modified while the emitter is running. AlphaInit initializer sets the initial alpha value for all particles ImageClasses and SharedImages initializers set the particle image to one [...]