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HoldsWhat

The ParticleType every particle a system creates is made from.

Specification
Applies to
ParticleSystemType
File
rules.ini
Section
[<ObjectType ID>]
Value
string
When omitted
(empty)An empty name is registered as a ParticleType of its own rather than resolving to nothing, so the type holds a blank particle carrying every built-in value; a later file that carries the section without this key puts that blank particle back.
rules.ini
[MySparkSys] ; a ParticleSystemType registered in [ParticleSystems]
BehavesLike=Spark
HoldsWhat=MySpark ; a ParticleType registered in [Particles]
ParticleCap=12
SparkSpawnFrames=1
SpawnSparkPercentage=1

Every behavior that creates a particle creates one of this type, and it is the only particle a system makes for itself. A particle’s own NextParticle governs what it turns into afterwards, so a gas cloud or a smoke column may end up holding types this key never names.

A name no particle declares is registered as a new particle type rather than refused, and a misspelling therefore produces a system holding a particle with no artwork, no damage and a one-frame life instead of an error. That is also what an omitted key resolves to: the blank name is registered as a particle in its own right, so the system holds something invisible rather than holding nothing, and every type in the rules that omits the key ends up sharing that one blank particle.