This tutorial will take you step-by-step through the process of creating a Unity shuriken particle system effect like the classic Windows starfield screensaver.
Step 1 – Starting from a new project and scene, select the Main Camera in the Hierarchy and change the 'Background' color to black. This will make the particles easier to see in the Game view.
Step 2 – Click on the GameObject drop-down menu and select Particle System. Click on the Particle System object in the Hierarchy. The Particle System options should appear in the Inspector.
Step 3 – In the Inspector, set the 'Position Y' value under the Transform tab to 1, and the 'Rotation X' value to 180. The particles should now be flying directly towards the camera in the Game view.
Step 4 – Set the 'Start Size' variable in the Particle System tab to 0.05. This setting will adjust the size of the stars flying past the camera. You should now have a basic starfield particles object.
Step 5 – Enjoy your beautiful classic starfield particle effect!
Extra notes:
- Change the 'Start Lifetime' variable to make the stars fly slower or faster.
- Change the 'Rate' variable under the Emission tab to increase/decrease the number of stars in the starfield.
- With the present settings, the particles emit from the center of the screen. To make the particles emit from a larger area, got to the Shape tab and change the 'Emit from:' variable to Base Shell, and increase the 'Radius' value to a number greater than 1.
- To create colorful stars instead of white stars, click the small arrow to the right of the 'Start Color' variable in the Particle System tab and select the Gradient option. The click on the colored bar to create a gradient with your desired colors.
- Optimize the Particle System for performance by reduce the 'Start Lifetime' variable so that the particles disappear soon after flying past the camera. For the above settings, a value of 2 works well. The variable will likely need to be adjusted if you change the 'Start Speed' variable.
- You can make the Particle System object a child of the Main Camera object to have it move with the camera, so that the effect is always constant regardless of where the camera moves.
- Ensure that the 'Looping' box is checked. This should be checked by default, but the Particle System will only play for the number of seconds in the 'Duration' variable if it is not.
A similar starfield effect is used in the main menu scene for my latest Android game: Uncle Scotty's Arcade At The End Of The Universe (AATEOTU).
AATEOTU on Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.AnachronicDesigns.AATEOTUAnachronic Designs website:
http://anachronicdesigns.com/Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anachronic-Designs/508626405847222Twitter:
https://twitter.com/anachronicgames
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