Effects

A temporary effect is something the game draws for a moment and forgets: a beam, a shockwave, an explosion, sparks, a light, blood. Each effect is a function of effects, its options are the effect's arguments, and the second argument says who sees it.

const 
shock
 = 
server
.
precache
("sprites/shockwave.spr");
const 
trail
 = 
server
.
precache
("sprites/laserbeam.spr");

function blast(
here
: number[]) {
    
effects
.
beamCylinder
({ 
at
: 
here
, 
radius
: 385, 
sprite
: 
shock
, 
life
: 0.4, 
width
: 60, 
color
: "#0096ff", 
alpha
: 200 }, { 
near
: 
here
 });
    
effects
.
sparks
({ 
at
: 
here
 });
}

function thrown(
grenade
: Entity, 
thrower
: Player) {
    
effects
.
beamFollow
({ 
entity
: 
grenade
, 
sprite
: 
trail
, 
life
: 1, 
width
: 5, 
color
: "#0096ff" }, { 
to
: 
thrower
 });
}

Sprites and models

An effect draws a sprite or a model the game has precached. server.precache returns it as a Resource, and that is what an effect's sprite or model takes:

const 
shock
 = 
server
.
precache
("sprites/shockwave.spr");   // at the top level of the file

server
.
addEventListener
("precache", () => {
    const 
gibs
 = 
server
.
precache
("models/glassgibs.mdl");  // or in the "precache" event
});

A file asked for at the top level of the plugin is precached when the map loads; in the "precache" event it is precached at once. A plugin reloaded in the middle of a map runs its top level again: the file is not precached a second time, and the Resource finds the index the map gave it.

resource.path is the path it was given, resource.index the index a native takes (0 while it is not precached).

Who sees it

An effect is sent the way the game sends its own: a player whose connection drops it simply misses it.

Units

• Times - life - are in seconds: life: 0.4.
• A colour is CSS hex, "#0096ff" or "#09f"; alpha is the brightness, 0 to 255.
• Points, sizes and velocities are the world's units, as entity.origin is.
• A few sizes are the effect's own numbers, 0 to 255, which each option's description explains: a beam's width (10 is one unit), its noise (100 is one unit), a sprite's scale (10 is its own size).
• palette is a colour of the game's palette, 0 to 255: blood red is 247.

The effects

Required options first; the rest have defaults.

The beam's options are sprite, life and width, then color (white), alpha (255), noise (0, straight), frame and frameRate (the sprite's animation) and speed (how fast the sprite scrolls along it). Each option's own description - in the editor - gives its range and default.

A text on the screen is player.showHud. A decal - a bullet hole, a spray on a wall - is not an effect yet: send it with the natives, message_begin and write_* (limitations).