Directional Drift

Custom particle base

FXMaster+Particle base

Directional Drift is used when a custom particle should travel across the Scene in a selected direction. It also supports Top Down and Orbit presentations, a persistent background surface, and token interaction.

Create the custom effect through Manage User Particle Effects, then select Directional Drift from Base Effect.

Reference	Value
Package	FXMaster+
Definition type	Custom particle base
Base Effect label	Directional Drift
Exposed parameters	35

Important controls

• Direction: Sets the main travel direction while Top Down and Orbit are disabled.
• Top Down: Switches the particle projection to the overhead presentation.
• Orbit: Makes the images circulate around the effect area instead of crossing the Scene.
• Spin: Controls how quickly each image rotates while moving.
• Background: Adds a persistent field of settled images behind the airborne particles.
• Token Trails: Allows moving tokens to disturb the persistent background.

Movement modes

Directional travel

Leave Top Down and Orbit disabled to move the images across the Scene using Direction, Speed, Lifetime, and Density.

Top Down

Enable Top Down for an overhead presentation. Direction is handled by the Top Down movement rather than the normal Direction field.

Orbit

Enable Orbit to circulate the images around the effect area. Orbit Distance controls the radius of the path. Top Down and Orbit are mutually exclusive.

Background and token interaction

Within an enabled custom Directional Drift effect, Background can be toggled and configured separately from the airborne particles. It is not a standalone effect; disabling the custom effect disables both layers. Background Fill, coverage, pile, and particle-size controls define the settled surface. Enable Token Trails when moving tokens should displace that surface, create trails, lift particles, and allow them to settle again.

Parameters

The table combines the settings inherited by a custom Directional Drift effect in Scene and Region contexts. Scene-only and Region-only badges identify controls limited to one context. Hover or focus an info button to see what the parameter changes on the canvas. Select it to keep the card open.

35 exposed parameters1 Scene-onlyGenerated custom ID API type

iHover or focus an info button to see what the parameter changes on the canvas. Select it to keep the card open. Context badges identify Scene-only and Region-only controls; unbadged parameters are available in both. Hover or focus an availability condition to highlight the parameter that controls it.

Parameter	Control	Default	Range or choices	Availability
Below Tokensi belowTokens	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Below Tilesi belowTiles	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Below Foregroundi belowForeground	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Levelsi levelsScene only	scene-levels	All Levels	—	Always
Tinti tint	color	#FFFFFF (disabled)	—	Always
Sound FXi soundFxEnabled	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Sound FX Soundsi soundFxManualSoundIds	multi-select	Rule default	—	Shown when Sound FX = On and the matching enabled SoundFX rule uses Multi-Sound Mode = Manual with at least two configured sounds
Top Downi topDown	checkbox	Off	—	Hidden when Orbit = On
Orbiti orbit	checkbox	Off	—	Hidden when Top Down = On
Orbit Distancei orbitDistance	range	0.5	0–1 · step 0.01	Shown when Orbit = On
Scalei scale	range	0.24	0.1–1 · step 0.01	Always
Directioni direction	range	0	0–360 · step 5	Hidden when Top Down = On or Orbit = On
Speedi speed	range	0.29	0.1–1 · step 0.01	Always
Lifetimei lifetime	range	0.27	0.1–1 · step 0.01	Always
Densityi density	range	0.15	0.05–1 · step 0.05	Always
Opacityi alpha	range	1	0–1 · step 0.1	Always
Spini spin	range	0.33	0–1 · step 0.01	Always
Backgroundi backgroundEnabled	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Background Filli backgroundMode	select	accumulate	Full Coverage, Fill Over Time	Shown when Background = On
Time to Full Coveragei backgroundDuration	range	180	10–3600 · step 10	Shown when Background = On and Background Fill = Fill Over Time
Background Opacityi backgroundOpacity	range	0.9	0–1 · step 0.01	Shown when Background = On
Ground Coveragei backgroundCoverage	range	0.65	0.05–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On
Fill Variationi backgroundFillVariation	range	0.7	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Background Fill = Fill Over Time
Pile Amounti backgroundPileStrength	range	0.5	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On
Pile Size (Grid Spaces)i backgroundPileSize	range	3.5	0.5–12 · step 0.5	Shown when Background = On
Ground Particle Sizei backgroundParticleSize	range	0.31	0.01–1 · step 0.01	Shown when Background = On
Token Trailsi backgroundInteractionEnabled	checkbox	Off	—	Shown when Background = On
Trail Widthi backgroundInteractionRadius	range	0.9	0–2 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Trail Strengthi backgroundInteractionStrength	range	0.65	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Trail Swirli backgroundInteractionSwirl	range	0.6	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Trail Lift Chancei backgroundInteractionLiftChance	range	0.35	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Settle Time (Seconds)i backgroundInteractionSettleTime	range	3	0.1–12 · step 0.1	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Settle Impacti backgroundInteractionSettleImpact	range	1	0–1 · step 0.05	Shown when Background = On and Token Trails = On
Darkness Activationi darknessActivationEnabled	checkbox	Off	—	Always
Darkness Activation Rangei darknessActivationRange	range-dual	{"min":0,"max":1}	0–1 · step 0.01	Shown when Darkness Activation = On

Direct-effect API example

After a custom effect is created, its generated effect ID can be used as a particle type. Replace the placeholder below with the ID used by the custom definition.

const customType = 'your-custom-particle-id';

const created = await FXMASTER.api.effects.play({
  particles: [{
    id: 'apiMacro_customDirectional_p',
    type: customType,
    options: {
      direction: 0,
      speed: 0.35,
      density: 0.2,
    },
  }],
});

await FXMASTER.api.effects.particles.stop(created.particles);

For scene targeting, stack ordering, updates, and toggle groups, see the Direct Effect API guide.