Class SurfaceParticleSystem

Controls particle emission for a single wheel, generating tire smoke and surface dust based on wheel behavior.

Inheritance

object

SurfaceParticleSystem

Namespace: NWH.VehiclePhysics2.Effects

Assembly: NWH.VehiclePhysics2.dll

Syntax

[Serializable]
public class SurfaceParticleSystem

Remarks

SurfaceParticleSystem manages two distinct particle effects per wheel:

Smoke Particles: Emitted during tire slippage (wheelspin, braking, drifting). Emission rate scales with slip magnitude - more slip produces more smoke. Suitable for asphalt, concrete, and other hard surfaces. The system monitors longitudinal slip (acceleration/braking) and lateral slip (cornering/drifting) separately, using whichever is greater.

Dust Particles: Emitted when rolling over loose surfaces like dirt or gravel. Emission is speed-based rather than slip-based, creating ambient dust as the wheel rolls. The binaryEmission flag controls whether dust appears gradually or instantly.

Chunk Particles: Small debris ejected by wheel rotation on loose surfaces. Emission and speed scale with wheel angular velocity and slip.

Particle properties (color, size, lifetime) come from the SurfacePreset assigned to the current ground surface. The system automatically switches between smoke and dust behavior based on the surface's particleType setting.

Fields

binaryEmission

When true, particles emit at full rate or not at all with no gradual transition. Use for dusty surfaces (gravel, sand) where slip magnitude doesn't affect dust amount. When false, emission smoothly interpolates with slip for surfaces like asphalt.

Declaration

[Tooltip("    Makes the particle either emit or not emit with no in-between.")]
public bool binaryEmission

Field Value

Type	Description
bool

chunkPS

Particle system for chunks kicked up by the wheel

Declaration

public ParticleSystem chunkPS

Field Value

Type	Description
ParticleSystem

chunkPrefab

Prefab for the chunks kicked up by the wheel.

Declaration

public GameObject chunkPrefab

Field Value

Type	Description
GameObject

emissionRateCoeff

Multiplier applied to the base emission rate from the SurfacePreset. Values above 1 produce more particles, below 1 produce fewer. Set by SurfaceParticleManager.

Declaration

[Tooltip("    Coefficient by which the emission rate will be multiplied.")]
public float emissionRateCoeff

Field Value

Type	Description
float

lateralSlipCoeff

Multiplier for lateral (sideways) slip contribution to smoke emission. Higher values produce more smoke during drifting and cornering. Only affects Smoke type particles. Set by SurfaceParticleManager.

Declaration

[Tooltip("Coefficient by which the lateral slip will be multiplied.\r\nIncrease the value to emit more particles when there is lateral slip (wheel skid / drift).")]
public float lateralSlipCoeff

Field Value

Type	Description
float

longitudinalSlipCoeff

Multiplier for longitudinal (forward/backward) slip contribution to smoke emission. Higher values produce more smoke during wheelspin and hard braking. Only affects Smoke type particles. Set by SurfaceParticleManager.

Declaration

[Tooltip("Coefficient by which the longitudinal slip will be multiplied.\r\nIncrease the value to emit more particles when there is longitudinal slip (wheel spin).")]
public float longitudinalSlipCoeff

Field Value

Type	Description
float

particlePS

Smoke particles particle system

Declaration

public ParticleSystem particlePS

Field Value

Type	Description
ParticleSystem

particlePrefab

Smoke particles prefab

Declaration

public GameObject particlePrefab

Field Value

Type	Description
GameObject

particleSizeCoeff

Multiplier applied to the base particle size from the SurfacePreset. Values above 1 create larger particles, below 1 create smaller ones. Set by SurfaceParticleManager.

Declaration

[Tooltip("    Coefficient by which the particle start size will be multiplied.")]
public float particleSizeCoeff

Field Value

Type	Description
float

surfacePreset

Surface preset for this SurfaceParticleSystem

Declaration

[SerializeField]
public SurfacePreset surfacePreset

Field Value

Type	Description
SurfacePreset

Methods

Destroy()

Stops coroutines and destroys the spawned particle and chunk GameObjects so re-init doesn't orphan them.

Declaration

public void Destroy()

Disable()

Stops the particle and chunk update coroutines and stops playing the particle systems.

Declaration

public void Disable()

Enable()

Starts the particle and chunk update coroutines and begins playing the particle systems.

Declaration

public void Enable()

Initialize(VehicleController, WheelComponent)

Initializes the particle system by instantiating particle and chunk prefabs as children of the wheel.

Declaration

public void Initialize(VehicleController vc, WheelComponent wheelComponent)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
VehicleController	vc	The parent vehicle controller.
WheelComponent	wheelComponent	The wheel this particle system is attached to.