Make a new particle effect

Build the sparks

Node names below follow the video. If a name differs in your build, search the add menu for a close match.

1. In the CSDK 12 launcher, select your addon and click Launch Tools.
2. Open the Particle Editor from the tools bar (the fire icon). Create a new particle system.
3. Save it right away inside your addon, for example as particles/my_effects/burst_sparks.vpcf. The preview stays empty until you save.
4. Set the emitter to instantaneous. It spawns every particle at once, which suits a burst. A continuous emitter spawns them over time.
5. Lower the emit count to about 20.
6. Add the initializer Position Within Sphere. Its distance sets the size of the sphere. Set speed min to 100 and max to 200, so particles fly out evenly.
7. Add the renderer Sprite Render. It draws each particle as a flat card with a soft dot.
8. Add the operator Lifespan Decay. Without it you get the warning "system will not end on stop", and particles never clear.
9. Add an Init Float initializer. Change its output from radius to life duration and set it to 2 seconds.
10. Add the operator Movement Basic so particles move. Set its drag between 3 and 8, so they shoot out and then slow down.
11. In the sprite renderer, pick a sparkle texture from the built-in list.
12. Add the initializer Color Random for the start color. Add the operator Color Fade to fade to a second color near the end of life.

Shape it over time

Add a flash and a ring as children

1. Save a copy of the sparks file as burst_flash.vpcf.
2. In the copy, remove the movement functions and set the spawn distance to 0. The flash now sits in the center.
3. Pick a flare texture.
4. If the texture shows a black box, change the sprite's blend mode from alpha blend to additive.
5. Add a fast fade with an alpha curve, so the flash does not linger.
6. Save another copy as burst_ring.vpcf. Pick a ring texture. Animate its radius with a curve, so it grows and fades.
7. Open burst_sparks.vpcf and add the flash and the ring under Children. All three now play together.

A color set in Base Properties blends on top of the color functions. Check there if the colors look wrong.

Preview and tune

1. Restart the effect in the preview after each change.
2. Compare it with the original effect. Match the size, the brightness, and the length.
3. Save all three files.

Use it in place of a game effect

The game asks for each effect by its path. A brand new path would need a game data change. Instead, you edit a copy of the original effect so it plays yours as a child.

1. Find the game effect you want to replace. Weapon effects, such as muzzle flashes, live in particles/weapon_fx/.
2. Decompile it into your addon at the exact same path.
3. If it will not open in the tools, fix its header line, as the recolor guide shows.
4. Open it in the Particle Editor. Add burst_sparks.vpcf under Children. Your file can stay in its own folder.
5. Turn off the original functions, so only your effect shows.
6. Scale your effect to the original's size.
7. Remove any fixed direction from your effect's speed. The point an effect attaches to has its own axes, so "up" in your file can point sideways in game.
8. Save the file.

Your effect stays where it spawns. Making it follow a moving weapon needs control point functions, and no Deadlock guide covers them yet.

Compile, pack, and test

1. In the Asset Browser, select your three files and the edited game effect.
2. Right-click and choose RecompileFullRecompile, then Full.
3. Open your addon's game folder. Copy the particles folder into a staging folder, so the paths stay the same.
4. Remove any compiled file you did not make or change.
5. Built-in textures are already in the game. If you made your own texture, add its compiled .vtex_c at its path too.
6. Pack the staging folder. Follow Pack your mod into a VPK.
7. Play the hero or weapon that uses the effect. Follow Test your mod in game.