In this lab we will be checking out particle systems, This lab will be based on the “The Ogre 3D Startup Sequence” from the book “Ogre 3D 1.7 - Beginner's Guide” by Felix Kerger, Chapter 10.

Discussion thread for this lab is here: Lab 8 Discussion Thread

Setup a new project based in the instructions from previous labs, you can use the provided basic application code, or you can use your own Application.

We will need to have the following folder in our application scope ParticleSystems so add it to your resources file FileSystem=ParticleSystems or how ever your application is set up.

1. Add the following code your MyApplication::createScene function Here we are creating a particle system from the given examples that come with the ogre sdk, and attaching it to our Sinbad model.
   You should see a “fireish” thingamajing emitting from the head of Sinbad.

   // Create a particle system
   Ogre::ParticleSystem* partSystem = _sceneManager->createParticleSystem("smoke", "Examples/Smoke");
   // Attach the particle system to Sinbad
   _SinbadNode->attachObject(partSystem); 

2. Creating our own particle emitter Now we will create our own particle system.
   Particle systems are created in *.particle files so create a file MyParticleSystem.particle in your ParticleSystems folder.
3. Adding particle code Now we must add some code to it. This will create a particle system that can be acces via its name in the application. You can see more about particle script configuration at The Ogre Particle System reference.

   particle_system MySmoke1 {
   	// Make the particles use the "Examples/Smoke" material, and be 10x10 units large.
   	material		Examples/Smoke
   	particle_width		10
   	particle_height		10
   	// Make the emitter limit the emitter to have at maximum 500 particles active.
   	// And set the particle type as point, which always faces the camera.  
   	quota			500
   	billboard_type		point
   	// Make the emitters origin a point.
   	emitter Point {
   		// Make the emitter emit 3 particles per second. 
   		emission_rate	3
   		// Emitt the particles in the given direction, at a velocity of 20 units per second.
   		direction	1 0 0 
   		velocity	20
   	}
   }

4. Now add additional properties to the Emitter, Now lets make the particle emitter shoot the particles in a random fashion, and destroy them after 10 seconds alive. Additionally we will color them red.

    
   // This will be the range of angle varialtion the particles will be fired at.
   angle		30
   // Destroy the particle after 10 seconds.
   time_to_live	10
   // Colour the particles red with a fully opaque alpha value.
   Colour		1 0 0 1

Upload your commented source files into Lab8 in MySchool (zip them up if more than one). The lab projects will not be graded, but their completion counts towards your participation grade.