A Pixelpart effect that is rendered using a godot::PixelpartEffect or godot::PixelpartEffect2D node in your scene can be modified at runtime with scripts. This can be used to dynamically change the effect and let it react to other objects in the scene.

Inputs

Effect inputs are the primary technique to dynamically modify effect properties. The following example shows how the value of an effect input, which has been defined in the Pixelpart editor, can be changed with GDScript:

func _ready():
    # Set effect input "Size" to 2.0
    $SampleEffect.set_input_float("Size", 2.0)

Depending on the data type, several set methods are available to change the value of effect inputs:

To retrieve the currently set input value, use the corresponding get methods:

Triggers

Triggers are used to make effects react to events in your game. The following example shows how a trigger can be activated with GDScript using the godot::PixelpartEffect::activate_trigger method:

func _ready():
    # Activate the trigger "Event"
    $SampleEffect.activate_trigger("Event")

To check if a trigger has already been activated, use godot::PixelpartEffect::is_trigger_activated.

Events

In contrast to triggers, events are used to make the game react to something happening in the effect, for example to play an audio clip when an emitter starts producing particles. In GDScript you can connect to the effect_event signal to get notified when effect events occur:

func _ready():
    # Get notified about effect events
    $SampleEffect.effect_event.connect(_on_effect_event)
 
func _on_effect_event(event_id, event_name):
    if event_name == "MyEvent":
        # Do something, e.g. play an audio clip