Crystal Growth

HOW IT'S MADE

Crystal Growth stacks 8 particle emitters, each with its own job. Techniques worth a look: sprite modules, a sprite dissolve, collisions, particles stretched along their motion and post filters (bloom). 2 scene layers (ground and props) show in the studio for context and stay out of every export.

It loops seamlessly every 3.2 s, and 6 of its layers fire in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. Start times are staggered from 0 s to 2.35 s, so the layers arrive one after another. To change its colour, select "Crystal Light" in the studio and edit Colour A and Colour B. Size on the same layer sets how big its particles are. The colour swatches by the downloads recolour every layer at once.

Layers, in draw order

1. Crystal Light, Floor Glowparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.1 s. It grows as it ages. Colour: violet.
2. Crystal 1, Crystal 2, Crystal 3 +3spriteA placed image. Extras: squash and stretch, glow, shine sweep, dissolve and hit flash.
3. Growth GritparticlesA stream of debris along a line, its rate keyframed over the loop. They fall under gravity and bounce when they hit something. Colour: grey.
4. Twinklesparticles / additiveA stream of stars across a box, its rate keyframed over the loop. They swell and then shrink away. Colours range between white and pale violet.
5. Flashparticles / additiveA single particle at 2.35 s. It grows as it ages. Colour: white.
6. ShardsparticlesOne burst of 46 shards across a box at 2.35 s. They fall under gravity, bounce when they hit something and spin. Colours range between pale violet and violet.
7. Glintsparticles / additiveOne burst of 30 streaks across a box at 2.35 s. They fall under gravity and slow down with drag. Colours range between white and pale violet.
8. Crystal Mistparticles / additiveOne burst of 12 soft glows from a disc at 2.35 s. They slow down with drag. Colours range between violet and pale violet.