Twinkling Stars: Twinkling stars loop: four-point twinkles pop and turn at random spots over a softly glinting star field, with a few big flare stars.

Twinkling Stars

Twinkling stars loop: four-point twinkles pop and turn at random spots over a softly glinting star field, with a few big flare stars.

Twinkling Stars is an HD effect that loops seamlessly every 3 seconds, drawn on a 384 by 384 canvas. It is built from 4 particle emitters. Most layers blend additively, so it glows on dark backgrounds.

Free download with a transparent background, cropped to the effect, 90 frames at 30 fps. Use it in commercial games, no credit needed.

Licence: use it in any project, including paid commercial games such as a game sold on Steam. There is no per-project licence to buy and no credit needed. Terms.

Roblox: the download is a flipbook for a ParticleEmitter. Set FlipbookLayout to Grid8x8, FlipbookMode to OneShot and Lifetime to 3, then emit one particle per cycle. Roblox setup.

REMIX WITH AI

Try:

Left empty, it just opens in the agent, free. Each change is one AI build, and you start with free builds.

Engine data for Unity, Godot, GameMaker and Aseprite comes with a plan: open it in the studio.

OPEN IN THE STUDIO

Change the colours, timing or size, or export for Unity, Godot 4, GameMaker, Phaser, PixiJS and Aseprite.

Try variations: new colours, motion and shapes of this effect, free in the studio.

FRAME BY FRAME

8 evenly spaced moments across the 3 s loop.

Twinkling Stars at 8 moments, from 0 s to 2.63 s

HOW IT'S MADE

Twinkling Stars is a compact effect made from 4 particle emitters. Techniques worth a look: sub-emitters set off by other particles and post filters (bloom).

It loops seamlessly every 3 s, and one layer fires in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. To change its colour, select "Flare Stars" in the studio and edit Colour A and Colour B. Size on the same layer sets how big its particles are.

Layers, in draw order

  1. Star Fieldparticles / additiveA steady stream of image sprites across a box. Colours range between white and pale orange.
  2. Twinklesparticles / additiveA steady stream of image sprites across a box. They swell and then shrink away. Colours range between white and pale blue.
  3. Flare Starsparticles / additive3 single particles at set times. They spawn "Flare Star Glow" as they appear and swell and then shrink away. Colours range between white and pale gold.
  4. Flare Star Glowparticles / additiveImage sprites set off by "Flare Stars". They swell and then shrink away. Colour: pale blue.

DETAILS

Length
3 seconds, seamless loop
Canvas
384 x 384, HD
Layers
4 emitters
Blend
Mostly additive (glows)
Colours
whitepale bluepale orangepale gold
Sprites
Built-in shapes only
Tags
twinkle, stars, sparkle, night sky, star field, glint, magic, shine, ambient

USING IT IN YOUR GAME

Phaser, PixiJS
The PNG sheet is a plain grid of frames that both can slice. A TexturePacker JSON atlas comes with a plan, from the studio.
Unity
Import the PNG sheet as a Sprite with Mode set to Multiple and slice it, or open the effect in the studio for a ready-made grid.
Godot 4, GameMaker, Aseprite
Open it in the studio and pick your engine in Export: with a plan, it writes the files that engine imports.
Web and chat
The GIF plays anywhere; the APNG keeps soft edges on any background.
Blend mode
This effect is made of light. For the same glow in your game, draw the sprite with additive blending, or export it on black from the studio for additive shaders.

Step by step: Unity, Godot 4, Roblox, GameMaker, Phaser and PixiJS, Aseprite, Web games (live runtime). Drawn with additive blending: see glow effects without a black box.

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