- Pixelpart for GameMaker! - 10 July 2026
We're excited to announce that Pixelpart effects can now be displayed in the GameMaker engine! With this release, GameMaker becomes the third engine officially supported by Pixelpart, alongside Godot and Unity.Getting StartedYou can find detailed installation and usage instructions at https://pixelpart.net/plugins/, but here's a quick overview to get you up and running:Download the Pixelpart plugin net.pixelpart.pixelpartgm from https://pixelpart.net/plugins/ and install the package using Import Local Package in the GameMaker editor. It comes with pre-built binaries for the targets Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android and HTML5.Add the .ppfx file created with the Pixelpart editor to the Included Files of your GameMaker project.Create a custom object, for example obj_MyEffect, and set obj_PixelpartEffect as its parent. The obj_PixelpartEffect object serves as a base object for all Pixelpa…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.9.3 - 25 June 2026
Hey everyone!This update focuses on improvements to the plugins and the internal effect runtime.(Godot/Unity Plugin) Added support for Windows ARM64 and Linux ARM64 platforms.(Godot/Unity Plugin) Improved effect simulation performance for smoother runtime execution.(Unity Plugin) Fixed material errors caused by incorrect detection of the active render pipeline.(Editor) Improved effect simulation performance.
- Update: Pixelpart 1.9.2 - 7 June 2026
Hey everyone, another update is here! This release brings an improved preset selection experience and a number of bug fixes.Improved preset selectionCreating a new effect from a preset is now much easier. You can now preview presets directly by hovering over them. Presets also display useful information such as the number of nodes and particle types they contain.There also is a new menu option in the Object browser to create a particle type together with a default emitter in a single step.Other changesThe presets available under Add emitter to in the object browser have been consolidated into the Add effect option.Updated icons for different force field types.Improved various UI labels for better clarity.Fixed an issue where the node selection in the Events window could sometimes cause a crash.Fixed an issue where the rotation gizmo was unavailable for certain emitters.Plugins(Unity/God…
- In-Depth Guides for Pixelpart - 26 May 2026
Hey everyone, just a quick update: we've started creating some in-depth guides for Pixelpart, now available at pixelpart.net/documentation/book/guides.These guides walk you through creating effects step-by-step in Pixelpart and show how to integrate them into game engines like Godot and Unity. We'll be adding more guides over time, so stay tuned!
- Update: Pixelpart 1.9.1 - 15 May 2026
Hey everyone, I’m back with another update mainly focused on improving the game engine plugins.Plugins: Editor previewYou can now see Pixelpart effects directly inside the engine's scene editor as they would appear in-game! A new Restart button also lets you manually restart non-looping effects.This feature is available in the Godot and Unity plugins.New effect presetsThe editor now includes three new effect presets that you can customize for your own projects or use as inspiration when creating new effects! Dust Storm 3DElectric Cloud 3DMagic Heal 3DOther changes- (Editor) Fixed selection of video formats in render window.- (Unity plugin) Refactored several PixelpartEffect fields into properties.- (Unity plugin) Added an icon for the PixelpartEffect component.- (Unity plugin) Fixed particle alignment issues for 2D effects.- (Godot plugin) Fixed an issue where canvas item properties wer…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.9.0 - 4 April 2026
Hey guys,today I've got another update for you, which features a new event system!Effect eventsThe new event system is useful if you're working with the Godot or Unity plugin and want to make your game react to things happening in the effect. For example, you may want to play an audio clip when a specific emitter starts producing particles.To create such an event in Pixelpart right-click on the timeline of the emitter. You can move the event on the timeline as well to invoke the event some amount of time after the emitter starts:You may also give the event a custom name in the new Events window:In Godot, connect to the effect_event signal to get notified when events are fired:func _ready(): $Effect.effect_event.connect(_on_effect_event) func _on_effect_event(event_id, event_name): if event_name == "MyEvent": # Do something, e.g. play audio clipIn Unity, you can use the event EffectEvent…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.5 - 7 February 2026
Node editor toolboxThe node editors for compute graphs and shaders now feature an improved toolbox located directly next to the graph. This makes adding nodes faster and more intuitive with simple drag-and-drop. Node editors also now support snapping.New demo rulesThe demo version has been updated to make testing Pixelpart more flexible and less disruptive. Instead of blocking you with an error message when exceeding the allowed number of nodes or particle types, you can now continue editing your effect, only saving is disabled.Other changesNew Open recent button on the startup screenImproved material parameter panelFaster startup time
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.4 - 2 January 2026
I hope you had a great New Year's celebration! Here's a small update for Pixelpart with some quality-of-life improvements!Custom sprite sheet sizeIn previous versions, sprite sheet sizes were always calculated automatically based on image resolution and effect duration. The exporter aimed to make the sprite sheet as close to square as possible.With this release, you can now also specify a custom sprite sheet size during export. This gives you full control over the layout. For example, you can create a sprite sheet with a single row or any other configuration that fits your workflow.Improved gizmosThis release improves the gizmos for translation, rotation and scaling. Especially the 2D gizmos have been overhauled to match the 3D gizmos. The scaling gizmo now has a size box to resize nodes more easily.Other changesVisually improved background grid in 3D.Fixed lagging that sometimes happen…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.3 - 6 November 2025
Hey everyone, hope you’re doing well! This update brings several improvements to the timeline and plugin integrations.Timeline improvementsJump to any point in time by simply clicking on the desired position in the timeline. Note that moving the timeline is now done with the middle mouse button. Other changes:The new button next to play button lets you step through the effect one frame at a time.Clicking on a property in the timeline will now automatically select it.Particle property timelines are now scaled according to the particle lifespan.Plugin updates(Godot/Unity) The effect class now includes a Finished signal/event, triggered when the effect has fully completed (no particles remain). This is great for handling clean-up logic.(Godot/Unity) Added a Seed property for custom simulation seeds. Using a fixed seed creates deterministic effects, while enabling Random Seed gives slightly…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.2 - 19 September 2025
Hey everyone! Today, I have another update with new features for the mesh importer and a few bug fixes.Improved mesh importThe mesh importer has received a few updates:You can now import glTF models (file extensions .gltf and .glb) and use them as mesh particles!Materials (texture and other parameter) are automatically imported if the "Load materials" option is enabled.Other changesFixed issue where the app would crash pressing certain keyboard shortcuts when no effect was loaded.Fixed issue where effects could not be loaded via drag & drop.
- Plugins Available on Asset Library and OpenUPM - 18 July 2025
Hey! If you're using Pixelpart with Godot or Unity, it's now easier than ever to get started: The official plugins are now listed on the Godot Asset Library and OpenUPM.The Godot plugin is available on the Godot Asset LibraryThe Unity plugin is available on OpenUPMAdditionally, I've renamed the base Unity plugin from net.pixelpart to net.pixelpart.core to better comply with Unity's package guidelines. Make sure to remove net.pixelpart when updating.Thank you for using Pixelpart!
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.1 - 12 July 2025
Hey everyone! I'm back with a new update focused on quality-of-life improvements and some bug fixes.Keyframes with locked componentsYou can now lock components of a property together when editing keyframes! Just click the lock icon next to the component names to link them. This is especially handy when editing properties like particle size to keep width and height equal without adjusting them individually.Other changesImproved selection behavior of gizmos in 2d modeRefined light color themeImproved palette & dithering image effectFixed an issue where the image effects window could be hiddenUpdated some tooltipsThe selected property's name now appears in the compute graph window
- Update: Pixelpart 1.8.0 - 4 July 2025
Hello, hope you guys are doing well! This update of Pixelpart is packed with new features!Effect triggersThis exiting new feature offers a way to make your effects react to events that happen in your game. For example, suppose you are creating a visual effect for a sci-fi laser weapon that has two stages: A "charging" stage that is active when the user holds down the mouse button and a "fire" stage that is activated by releasing the button. You can model this with triggers inside Pixelpart: The emission of the particles of the second stage is only done when a trigger is activated.You can use the new Triggers window to define triggers:These can then be set as the start or stop trigger of particle emitters, force fields etc. A particle emitter only starts emitting particles after its start trigger is activated: Then you can use the scripting API of Pixelpart in Unity or Godot to activate…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.7.2 - 3 October 2024
Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to share the latest update to Pixelpart, packed with some highly requested features to enhance your workflow! Video Export: MP4 and WMV You can now export your visual effects directly to MP4 and WMV formats, making it easier than ever to share your projects across platforms. In addition, I've added the ability to control the playback speed of effects right in the render window. This gives you more flexibility in fine-tuning the export. Note: The new export formats are only available on Windows. On Linux, use the existing exporters for webm or ogv instead. New Effect Presets Plus, I've also added two new pre-built effects! Magic trail: Smoke and sparks: Other Changes Improved slow-motion behavior of effects
- Plugin Update 1.7.1 - 8 September 2024
Hi everyone, just wanted to inform you that I've updated the plugins for Godot 4 and Unity! They now allow you to adjust effect inputs (a new feature in Pixelpart 1.7) directly in the inspector, not just with code: I've fixed some bugs as well. As always, you can download the newest version of the plugins from pixelpart.net/plugins. Other than that, I'm currently developing a plugin for Unreal Engine 5. Stay tuned for more updates on that!
- Update: Pixelpart 1.7.1 - 17 August 2024
Hey guys, I hope you had a great week! After the major release of version 1.7, I have another update for you improving some usability aspects of the editor! Advanced Timeline This update completely overhauls the effect timeline giving you more options to time your effects properly. You can now adjust the start time and duration of emitters, force fields and other nodes in your scene without needing to go into the properties window of each node. Additionally, the timeline lists all animated properties of your effect, making it easy to sync keyframes between different objects and properties. Graph Node Icons I've visually refined the visual scripting in the shader graph editor and the compute graph editor with many new icons improving readability, especially for large graphs. Other Changes Improved file dialog Fixed bug when rendering looping effects Changed capabilities of demo version s…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.7.0 - 14 July 2024
Hope you guys are doing well! I'm finally back with a big update for Pixelpart. Buckle up, this release is packed with new features! Mesh particles Apart from sprite and trail particles, Pixelpart now supports mesh particles, which means you can use 3D models as particles in the 3D effects you create. This feature is fully integrated with the updated versions of the game engine plugins. Currently, Pixelpart supports obj and ply files, but importers for other file formats like gltf are planned. Pixelpart also provides more than 50 built-in meshes that you can use for your effects. In the editor, you can add these mesh particles via the object browser: In the settings of the Renderer property you can then change the rendered mesh: HDR rendering system with lighting Complementing the new mesh particles, the rendering system of Pixelpart has been improved and now supports HDR rendering with…
- Update: Pixelpart 1.6.3.1 - 10 March 2024
No, this isn't the big update yet, just a small bugfix release :) If you're interested, I've talked about my future plans for Pixelpart in my previous community post. Fixes Fixed bug in Image Effects window that occurred when adding colors to a palette
- Roadmap for Pixelpart - 19 February 2024
Hope you guys are doing well! It's been a few months since I last posted anything, and I would like to update you about the things I'm working on and my vision for Pixelpart. I believe Pixelpart has the potential to be useful to many more game developers and VFX artists. Beginning with the upcoming release of Pixelpart 1.7, I aim to bring Pixelpart to a truly professional level in the context of visual effects in games. Specifically, the changes will include: Support for 3D meshes making it possible to use them as particles Revision of the rendering system with real-time lighting and HDR rendering New effect attribute system, which will allow you to define dynamic attributes for your effect and connect them to the basic particle attributes via visual scripting. This is particularly useful for the game engine plugins. Instead of needing to change a lot of particle properties with scripts…
- Plugin Update - 19 November 2023
Currently, I'm working on a big feature release for Pixelpart with lots of new stuff like 3D mesh particles, lighting and noise fields. This is gonna take a bit of time, but in the meantime I've improved the plugins for Godot and Unity and fixed some bugs! As always, you can download the newest plugins at pixelpart.net/get/. Updates for Godot 3/4 Added icons for nodes PixelpartEffect2D and PixelpartEffect (Godot 4.1) Fixed problems with rendering particles trails that had the "Smooth" option enabled Fixed problems with texturing of particles sprites that appeared upside-down if using certain alignment modes Improved performance of particle simulation engine Improved performance of particle sprite rendering if particle sorting is enabled Updates for Unity Engine Fixed generation of particles shaders: Now particle shaders that have the same shader code as other shaders properly reuse that…
