In order for us to put the particles in a level, we need to create what is called a particles_manifest.txt file. The particles manifest tells the engine where to locate our particle systems and when to load them into a map. You need to create one manifest file for each map in which you have particles in addition to the master.
The master particles manifest file needs to contain all the custom .pcf files you have created with Particle Editor. Browse to your mod's particles folder and create a new .txt file called particles_manifest.txt. Type the following and then save the file:
particles_manifest
{
file "particles/my_particles.pcf"
}I have included a sample particles_manifest.txt file along with the my_particles.pcf file so that you can refer to them.
As previously noted, each map needs its own manifest file in order to load the correct particles. The per-map manifest goes into the maps folder and contains the map name *_particles. In my example, mapch12_example.bsp will need a manifest file titled ch12_example_particles.txt. It follows the same format as the master manifest file located in the particles folder but you only need to include the .pcf files that will be used in that map.
Let's insert our new fire particle into Hammer. If our particles_manifest.txt file is coded properly and is in the correct locations, all we need to do is place an entity and reference the file. Then, create or load a map and place the point entity info_particle_system.
Open the properties for info_particle_system and type myfire01 in the Particle System Name field. This is not the name of the .pcf file; it's the name of the particle system within the .pcf file! Set Start Active? to yes and we're done!
Compile and load the map to check our results in game.
Particle systems cannot emit light! In the preceding example, I used a separate orange light entity to simulate the fire's light output.