particle_get_info

This function returns a struct with information about a Particle System Asset created using The Particle System Editor.

The returned struct is a Particle System Info Struct, which contains an Array of Particle Emitter Info Structs. Each of these emitter structs stores info on the particle type that the emitter uses in its parttype variable, which contains a Particle Type Info Struct.

WARNING If no valid Particle System Asset is passed to the function, GameMaker will throw an error.

In a simplified way, the contents of the struct returned by this function look something like the following:

part_sys_info_struct =
{
    emitters:
    [
        {
            parttype:
            {
                // Particle type properties...
            }
            // All other particle emitter properties...
        }
        // More emitters...
    ]
    // All other particle system properties...
};

The tables below list all variables that are available in each of these three structs.

Particle System InfoParticle System Info

Particle Emitter InfoParticle Emitter Info

Particle Type InfoParticle Type Info

Finally there is also a constant for the particle emitter mode: 

Syntax:

particle_get_info(partsys);

Returns:

Particle System Info Struct

Example 1: Particle Type Info

var _particle_info = particle_get_info(ps_Clouds);
var _asset_name = _particle_info.name;

var _arr_emitters = _particle_info.emitters;
if (array_length(_arr_emitters) > 0)
{
    var _type_info = _arr_emitters[0].parttype;
   
    if (_type_info.additive)
    {
        show_debug_message("The first emitter in {0} creates shiny particles!", _asset_name);
    }
}

The above code first gets information from an existing Particle System Asset ps_Clouds using particle_get_info and assigns the returned struct to a temporary variable _particle_info. It then looks up the emitters in the particle system through the Particle System Info Struct's emitters variable. If the particle system contains any emitters (i.e. the array's length is greater than 0), the first emitter's parttype variable is assigned to a temporary variable _type_info and checked for additive blending (bm_add). Finally a debug message is shown if additive blending is used for the particle type.

Example 2: Listing Emitter Names

var _particle_info = particle_get_info(ps_Environment);
var _asset_name = _particle_info.name;

var _emitter_names = array_map(_particle_info.emitters, function(_element, _index) { return _element.name; });
_emitter_names = string_join_ext(", ", _emitter_names);

show_debug_message("{0} contains the following particle emitters: {1}", _asset_name, _emitter_names);

The above code first calls particle_get_info to retrieve information about an existing Particle System Asset ps_Environment. The asset's name is stored in a temporary variable _asset_name. After that, an array of emitter names is generated from the Particle System Info Struct's emitters variable and converted to a string listing all names, separated by a comma, using string_join_ext. Finally a debug message displays the information in a readable form.