Particle Count Saturation Calculation

Hi! Ugh, i just visited a club that had like 90 particle sources....and I saw particle effects and stuff being dropped, even after I turned up my Max Particle Count to 8192 (the max setting). Which got me thinking...

I want to create particle effects that consume the least amount of particle resoures possible (of course)...so, is this the right way to think about it?

The inverse of the rate, times the numbers per burst, times the duration -- does this equal the maximum particle load?

Also, wot does the "Max Particle Count" include....i mean, all particle sources in the draw distance? or, uhm...in the sim? does occultation help at all?

Heh, i just wanna make sure i don't take more of the limited resource than i hafta. And that my effects don't even turn on if no one is near enuff 2 enjoy them.

If you find (or found) a particle cult, I want in. And we better have long robes and a secret handshake.

ph34r teh particle v00d00.

Yes, the simplified formula is:

Particle_Count = Burst_Count / Burst_Rate * Particle_Age

This is for every emitter. So, add up all the emitter particle counts pretty much in Draw distance (as set in your preferences, though recent tests show that all emitters you have ever come near in the sim will still be counted, even if they are outside of your current draw distance). This includes ones in adjacent sims that are in your draw range as well.



Nope. If the emitter is in draw range, it is time-sharing particles with those emitters as well, even if they are completely obscured.



I've talked about this elsewhere, but if you keep continuous single effects under 500 particles max, and short-lived effects at under 1000 particles, you'll do OK. The best thing to do is to get the look you want in the least particle-spammy sandbox possible, with the least number of particles as possible, then adjust up as necessary to keep your effects looking decent. Don't be afraid to use other tricks to reduce the need for more particles; like making particle textures with multiple random-sized images, like a bunch of snowflakes, instead of one single snowflake.

Thanks for the response! Oh, is there any way to like "mute" a particle source that is over-utilizing the resource, if the owner of the particle source is unwilling or unable to change it?

Thanks again!

unfortunately there is no way to "mute" specific particle effects that I'm aware of. OTOH, the invisiprim that hides avatars also stops particle effects from being rendered. if you're setting up a plot of land and want to block out your neighbor's particle effects, using such prims would be a possible solution.

although said particle effects are not rendered when behind/in an invisiprim, I do not know if they are no longer counted towards the overall particle limit .

Senuka- they certainly are counted...

(invisiprim textures block particle viewing because most particle textures have an alpha channel more than any other specific reason... but they still get counted.)

There's a fair bit of uncertainty about what does or doesn't get counted in. Obviously any active emitters in view count... it's pretty certain that all within draw distance are being counted (and there's some thought that even some outside of draw distance above or below the viewer may be being counted.)

Also... it seems to be the case that if you use PSYS_SRC_MAX_LIFE to shut an emitter off after a period of seconds, that the de-activated emitter may still be counted. I usually add a timer that forces auto-off emitters all the way off to make sure they're completely shut down.