Not sure what the coined term is for this, but another level of detail we should have in our particles is the ability to “dissolve” particles from the outside in. A radial transparency filter would make the edges of a particle transparent and the center would be visible. If the scale goes from 0 to 1, .5 would leave the inner circle of the image visible but the rest invisible. Ideally this could also soften the edges of the particle so it looks more natural as it fades.
Normal transparency can be applied on top of this to mix the effects.
This is very useful for fire effects. When you look at modern fire particle effects, fire doesn’t usually shrink the whole image and then fade out of existence. Most of the time they make the fire to dissolve away from the edges to achieve the shrinking effect and transparency isn’t even used for it since this more closely acts like fire would in real life.It’s subtle but goes a long way to make better looking fire.
Would this be challenging to do in the engine? If so I think it’s about time we get alpha layer support for the engine anyways. Have the capability to mask things based on alpha layers would open up this technology along with many others.
Edit: I’m adding glow. This is probably the biggest needed feature to let us make better particles. It would be reserved for 9&10 graphics users due to the performance, but it’s completely worth it.
Pics:
All from Fallout 4. It looks like with the new screen effects added last spring, the technology is in place to do this. Please look into making this effect! It would look absolutely amazing.