Design reference index · 24/27
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Hit Reaction
A response movement, such as flinching or falling, after being hit.
Recoil Animation
Movement in the opposite direction following a shot or impact.
Recovery Animation
The recovery movement after an attack before returning to another action.
Animation Synchronization
Coordinating animation phases, events, or paired participants' movement.
Motion Matching
Selecting and joining motion segments from data to match the current state and desired trajectory.
VFX
Visual effects representing events or states such as fire, smoke, magic, and impact.
Real-time Visual Effects
Visual effects calculated and played in response to runtime input and scene state.
SFX
An abbreviation usually meaning sound effects in game audio, but sometimes special effects in film production.
Gameplay VFX
Functional effects communicating rules, area, damage, or status during play.
Environmental VFX
Effects expressing an environment's atmosphere, weather, or physical phenomena.
Cinematic VFX
Effects supporting the emotion, story, or scale of a cinematic scene.
Diegetic Effect
An effect presented as actually existing within the game world.
World-space Effect
An effect positioned relative to the scene's world-space coordinates.
Anticipation Phase
A phase signaling danger, direction, or scale before the main effect.
Build-up Phase
A phase accumulating energy, brightness, or particles before an effect activates.
Climax / Impact Phase
The phase containing the effect's strongest event or impact.
Dissipation Phase
A phase in which glow, smoke, or debris diminishes and disappears.
Aftermath
Environmental or residual visual elements remaining after the main effect ends.
Primary Shape
The central silhouette that first communicates an effect's function and direction.
Secondary Detail
Small particles, sparks, or glows supporting the primary form.
Visual Noise
Excessive elements, contrast, or motion that obstruct important information.
Effect Envelope
The progression of an effect's intensity through properties such as size, brightness, and particle count.
Particle
An individual effect element with attributes such as position, velocity, and lifetime.
Emission Rate
The quantity of particles generated per time interval or distance traveled.
Spawn Rate
A property usually specifying the number of particles created per unit of time.
Burst Emission
Generating multiple particles together at a particular moment.
Emission Shape
The geometric distribution of positions from which particles are created.
Spawn Position
The location where a particle first appears.
Initial Velocity
A particle's speed and direction at creation.
Normalized Age
A progress ratio calculated by dividing elapsed age by lifetime.
Color over Lifetime
A rule changing particle color and alpha according to age.
Size over Lifetime
A rule changing particle size according to age.
Rotation over Lifetime
A rule changing particle rotation or angular velocity according to age.
Velocity over Lifetime
A rule changing particle velocity during its lifetime.
Spawn Randomization
Varying initial position, size, direction, or timing within specified ranges.
Random Seed
A value specifying the initial conditions of a pseudorandom sequence.
Prewarm
Advancing simulation before display so an effect starts as though already ongoing.
Looping Emitter
An emitter that repeats its emission cycle continuously.
One-shot Effect
An effect that plays once and then finishes.
Sub-emitter
A configuration emitting additional particles on events such as particle birth, collision, or death.
Particle Event
A signal triggered by a particular change in particle state.
Particle Attribute
Per-particle data such as position, color, velocity, or identifier.
Custom Particle Data
Additional values passed to shaders or logic beyond standard particle attributes.
Gravity Force
A force applying acceleration in a consistent direction.
Drag Force
A force resisting velocity and reducing particle motion.
Attractor
An element pulling particles toward a point or region.
Repulsor
An element pushing particles away from a point or region.
Vortex Force
A force producing rotational motion around an axis or center.
Turbulence
Variation creating irregular, complex flow.
Curl Noise
A flow pattern using the curl of a noise-based vector field.
Vector Field
A field defining a vector's direction and magnitude at positions in space.
Particle Flow Field
A field defining flow direction at each location for particles.
Brownian Motion
A visual approximation of small, irregular random movements producing a wandering flow.
Particle Collision
Handling particle responses when they contact scene surfaces or specified shapes.
Restitution
A value controlling how much an object rebounds after collision.
Collision Friction
A property reducing tangential movement after surface contact.
SDF Collision
Collision handling using signed distance to a surface.
Depth-buffer Collision
Approximating particle-surface collisions using the camera's depth information.
Inherit Velocity
Transferring emitter or parent velocity to newly created particles.
Local-space Simulation
Calculating particle positions relative to the emitter's coordinate system.
World-space Simulation
Calculating particles in world coordinates independently of subsequent emitter movement.
Spline-following Particles
Particles moving along or being attracted toward a specified curve.
Particle Flocking
Particle motion governed by neighboring separation, alignment, and cohesion rules.
Sprite Particle
A particle represented by a plane carrying a 2D image.
Billboard
A plane aligned to face the camera or another specified direction.
Stretched Billboard
A planar particle stretched according to its velocity or orientation.
Mesh Particle
Representing each particle with a 3D mesh.
Ribbon
Rendering connected points as a continuous strip of geometry.
Beam
A line, strip, or volumetric effect connecting a start and end point.
Ribbon Width Curve
A rule varying ribbon width along its length or according to age.
Trail Lifetime
The duration for which each segment of a trail remains visible.
Trail UV Mapping
The arrangement of texture coordinates along a ribbon or trail.
Projected Decal
Projecting an image onto surfaces within a specified spatial volume.
Mesh Decal
Displaying a decal through a separate mesh placed over a surface.
Soft Particle
A particle treatment that softens intersections with scene surfaces.
Volumetric Effect
An effect representing density or scattering throughout space rather than only on a plane.
Particle Light
A light linked to a particle's position or attributes.
Geometry Trail
A movement trail created by accumulating or deforming actual geometry.
Afterimage
Retaining an object's earlier appearance or position to emphasize movement.
VFX Material
A material defining the color, transparency, emission, or distortion of effect particles, meshes, or decals.