We are seeing many new resources for the Flash^R designer. Flash particle systems are very popular. In the past, if you wanted to create falling snow or rain, you needed to write your own ActionScript code for the particle system.

Now, we have many "packaged" particle systems that range from free open source to commercial. Why would you want to use one of these systems if you can write your own in ActionScript? There is no reason why you couldn't use your own code except for the ease and flexibility of these systems, as well as the savings in production time.

Let's take a look at some of the common features. Most systems come with at least a few preset effects. It's relatively easy to change the parameter values to customize these effects to your needs. Although most systems have supporting documentation in the form of ASDocs, this may not be very much help unless you are familiar with particle systems and how they work. Luckily, a few systems also have a user guide or a few tutorials that will demonstrate how to use the system. Most systems support XML control of the particles in order to customize the effect without the need to recompile. A few have a particle explorer, which is a user interface for changing parameter values and previewing the results.

Flint Particle System
https://flintparticles.org/
Author: Richard Lord
MIT Licence
User Guide: No
ASDocs
Tutorials: Few
Examples: Yes, with AS3, Flash and Flex code
Supports 2D and 3D particle effects
Forum: Yes


Stardust AS3 Particle Engine
https://code.google.com/p/stardust-particle-engine/
Author: Allen Chou
MIT License
User Guide: Yes
ASDocs
Video Tutorials on YouTube
Tutorials on ActiveTuts
Examples: Yes
Supports 2D and 3D particle effects
Forum: Yes


Pulse Particles
https://www.rogue-development.com/
Author: Marc Hughes
MIT License
User Guide: No
ASDocs
Tutorials: Few
Examples: Few
Particle Explorer: Yes


Orion Particle Engine
https://blog.coursevector.com/orion
Authors: Gabriel Mariani and James Efstathiou
User Guide: No
ASDocs
Examples: Yes
Particle Explorer: Yes


Partigen 2
https://desuade.com/
Author: Andrew Fitzgerald
MIT license: Source Code only
ASDocs
Examples: 165+
Particle Explorer within Flash IDE (commercial)
Control entire life of particle


Flash Particle Studio
https://www.increditools.com/flash_particle_studio/index.php
Author: Increditools
Commercial License
Examples: Few
Export as AVI, SWF, FLV or PNGs

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