An effect file is made up of Segments. A segment can be one of the following: Sprite, Oriented Sprite, Model, Line, Linked Line, Decal, Electricity, Sound, Light, Debris, Effect, Vision Effect and Delay.
Segments can be hidden by removing the check to the left of their name in the segment list. This does not remove the segment from an effect, but will hide it temporarily while you are working on the effect. This is useful while working on a specific segment of an effect.
Fx segment order is important: Fx segments at the top of the list will be last in the Z-Order. This means to have your sparks segments sort on top of your smoke, adjust your smoke segment layer to be above your sparks segment layer. This can be done by selecting segments and hitting CTRL + ] to move a segment forward, and CTRL + [ to move a segment backwards.
Segment Types
Sprite
- A segment consisting of polygons that always face the player.
Oriented Sprite
- A segment made of polygons that face a direction specified in the segment properties. (Usually the normal of the effect.)
Model
- Models can be placed in segments and given motion/gravity effects.
Line
- A segment of lines. Lines differ from Sprites in that they have length and size (width), and can be made into very long rectangles. A sprite with a different height than width will be a diamond shape.
Linked Line
- Linked lines are used to have a set of lines linked together at their ends. Mostly used for arcing and curved effects attached to models or as projectiles such as the Quake4 Nailgun.
Decal
- This segment places a decal on the surface the effect plays from. (note: some decal shaders have a specific lifetime in their material and as such are normally used only for weapon impact effects)
Electricity
- Special case segment with Jitter and Forks settings allow easy simulation of electricity.
Sound
- Effects can have sound segments that play sounds at specific times during the effect.
Light
- A pointlight within the effect that has size/color/light shader/timing options
Debris
Debris defined in .def files can be used in place of models, in the event of more complex debris interactions. This segment allows the placement of Debris in an effect.
Effect
- Effects can be nested inside one another. By pressing the + plus button in the properties for this effect you can add complete effects to this segment, while the – minus button removes effects.
Vision Effect
- Camera Shake, Double Vision and Tunnel Vision can all be added to an effect.
Delay
- By using a delay, an entire effect can have its looping state altered to include a delay. A delay segment affects every segment within an effect.