Place an effect

Reviewed

In the menus: ESC → Design → Effects

Find an effect

Browse the effects tree on the left, or type into Find and select SEARCH to sweep every folder, pk3 archives included.

Select [end search] to go back to browsing.

Selecting a file picks it and previews nothing.

The Selected: line under the list is the only place your pick stays readable.

To see what each one looks like before you place it, use the effects library.

In Use lists effects placed in the scene, beside Favourites and Current.

Place it in the world

Select PLACE IN WORLD. The menus close and the real effect plays at your crosshair, so the placement mode is the preview.

MOUSE1 stamps, TAB changes what the wheel dials, and MOUSE2 comes back to the panel. Place a model teaches the mode in full.

The dials

TAB walks them in this order:

  • Yaw aims the effect from side to side, 5 degrees a notch
  • X, Y and Z offset it from the point under your cursor, 8 units a notch
  • Pitch aims it up or down, 5 degrees a notch, stopping at 90 either way
  • Interval is how often a loop replays, 0.016 to 5 seconds
  • Phase is where in that loop it fires: scatter, sync, 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4
  • Mode is loop or once
  • Grid snaps the point to 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128 units, or is off

Hold SHIFT while turning the wheel for smaller changes on numeric dials that support it. Grid snapping includes height.

Yaw starts pointing the way you are facing. Dialling Phase switches Mode to loop.

sync fires every effect sharing an interval on the same beat. scatter, the default, offsets each one so a row of vents does not pulse as one.

Things to note

  • The map holds 128 effects.
  • A once-mode effect leaves nothing behind. Anything you want to keep or retune has to be a loop.
  • The EDIT panel's Interval slider stops at 2 seconds. For a slower loop, select the effect in Manage and use MOVE, whose Interval dial reaches 5 seconds. MOVE can also change its Phase and switch its Mode between loop and once.

Prefer the console?