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> Designing Visuals, Rendering, and Graphics > Cascade Particle Systems > Particle System Reference > Beam Type Data

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Beam Type Data

The Beam type data module indicates that the emitter should output beams - connecting particles to form a stream between a source point and a target point.

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The Beam type data module indicates that the emitter should output beams - connecting particles to form a stream between a source point, such as the emitter, and a target point, such as a particle or Actor.

The Beam type data module has the following properties:

Property

Description

Beam

Beam Method

This enumeration allows for setting the method for generating your beam. It can be one of the following:


Method	Description
`PEB2M_Distance`	Use the distance property to emit a beam along the X-axis of the emitter.
`PEB2M_Target`	Emit a beam from the source of the emitter to the supplied target.
`PEB2M_Branch`	Currently unused.

Texture Tile

The number of times to tile the texture along the beam. Currently, this is unimplemented.

Texture Tile Distance

The distance along the beam that represents one tile of the source texture.

Sheets

The number of sheets to render along the beam. Sheets will be evenly distributed around the beam path. For example, 2 sheets would form a cross if you were looking down the axis the beam is travelling down.

Max Beam Count

The maximum number of live beams the emitter is allowed to have.

Speed

The speed at which the beam should move from source to target when firing up. If the value is set to 0, the beam will instantaneously jump from the source to the target.

Interpolation Points

Indicates whether the beam should use the source and target tangents to interpolate a curve along the beam. If this value is less than or equal to zero, the beam will be a straight line between the source and target (i.e., no interpolation). If greater than zero, the beam will determine the path between source and target by interpolating between the two utilizing their respective tangent values. The number of steps it will use during this will be the value set in this property.

Always On

If true , the emitter will ensure there is always a live particle.

Up Vector Step Size

The approach to use for determining the Up vector(s) for the beam.


Value	Method
0	The Up vector should be calculated at every point in the beam.
1	The Up vector should be calculated at the start at the beam and then used at every point.
N	An Up vector should be calculated every N points and interpolated between them. This method is not currently supported

Branching

Branch Parent Name

Currently unused.

Distance

Distance

This float distribution provides the distance along the X-axis the beam should travel when the BeamMethod is set to PEB2M_Distance.

Taper

Taper Method

How the beam is tapered along its length. Can be one of the following values:


Method	Description
`PEBTM_None`	No tapering is applied to the beam.
`PEBTM_Full`	Taper the beam relative to source moving to target, regardless of current beam length.
`PEBTM_Partial`	Currently unused.

Taper Factor

A distribution supplying the amount to taper the beam. When using a constant curve, a time value of 0.0 represents the taper at the source of the beam, while a time value of 1.0 is the target.

Taper Scale

The amount to scale the tapering. The final taper values used will be Taper = (TaperFactor * TaperScale). This is intended primarily to be used as a particle parameter distributor to allow game code to set scale factors on the tapering of the beam that correspond to its usage.

Rendering

Render Geometry

If true , the actual geometry for the beam will be rendered. This should typically be enabled as the trail is not visible otherwise.

Render Direct Line

If true , a direct line will be rendered between the source and target of the beam. Used for debugging in Cascade.

Render Lines

If true , lines will be rendered along each segment of the beam. Used for debugging in Cascade.

Render Tessellation

If true , the tessellated path between the source and target will be rendered. Used for debugging in Cascade.