Under construction. Don't look >:(
Preface
Cobblemon uses the Bedrock format for expressing particle effects. Much like Blockbench for Bedrock format models, there exists a tool called Snowstorm that can be used for creating particle effects.
Particle effects have a wide range of applications. In Cobblemon, we use particle effects for move effects, evolution effects, Poké Ball effects, and as accents on Pokémon models. (Gastly for example)
Components
There are three primary parts to particle effects that you should be aware of.
Emitter
The emitter can be thought of as an invisible little box that spits out (emits) particles. The emitter has several tweakable behaviors:
- The rate at which particles are emitted (x per second, x instantly)
- The shape that the emitted particles start in (a point, a sphere, a box)
- The duration that the emitter exists for
Particle
A particle is what actually displays in the world. They make up the actual "display" of the particle. Locators and Emitters are incapable of being seen in the world. Generally, once a particle is spawned from an emitter, it moves independently from the emitter (though this is configurable)
Locators
Locators aren't technically part of a particle effect, they are part of Bedrock models. They basically determine a "place" on a Pokémon. For a more complete description of what they are, and for a list of Locators available, see Locators.
They serve an important role in dealing with particle effects. They can be used to determine the position of the particle's Emitter. A locator can be specified when spawning a particle effect, and the emitter will stay attached to the locator. This is extremely useful for when you want particles to be emitted from a Pokémon's mouth, but the mouth moves in the Pokémon's attack animation.