Wx78 Big Spark

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-07

Overview

wx78_big_spark is a non-persistent FX prefab that generates a short-lived animated spark effect (light, sound, and animation) when spawned. It supports alignment to a target entity via AlignToTarget, after which it optionally drives a screen flash by updating the target's additive colour (blinking effect). The prefab is designed to be lightweight and non-networked on clients, with server-side lifetime management and client-side rendering only when not dedicated.

Usage example

local spark = SpawnPrefab("wx78_big_spark")
if spark ~= nil then
    spark.AlignToTarget(target_entity)
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used: updatelooper, colouradder, freezable, AnimState, SoundEmitter, Light, Transform, Network Tags: Adds FX to the created entity.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
_fx_intensity	number	0.90	Controls the initial light intensity, decayed over time in the onupdate loop.
_has_soundemitter	boolean	nil	Tracks whether SoundEmitter exists to ensure sound is played only once.
_update_task	Task	nil	Periodic task handle for updating the FX decay.
_target	Entity	nil	Reference to the entity being aligned to and flashed (set by AlignToTarget).
_flashtime	number	1	Flash duration accumulator used in the blinking update loop.
_blinkcycle	number	0	Counter for blink cycle state in the flash effect.
_intensity	number	0.2	Base flash intensity used during screen flash.
killfx	boolean	nil	Flag that triggers removal of the FX entity when animation completes.
OnRemoveEntity	function	nil	Callback invoked when the entity is removed, used to reset additive colour.

Main functions

StartFX(proxy, anim, build)

• Description: Spawns and configures a local FX entity for the spark effect (light, sound, animation), starts the decay loop, and registers the animation-over callback.
• Parameters: proxy (Entity) — the source entity whose transform to mirror; anim (string) — not used in current implementation; build (string) — not used.
• Returns: Nothing (side-effect only).
• Error states: Sound emitter is not added on dedicated servers; FX entity is pruned on animation over if killfx is true or task cancellation otherwise.

AlignToTarget(inst, target)

• Description: Aligns this FX entity to the world position of target and, if not already active, initializes the screen flash effect by adding an updatelooper with OnUpdateFlash and setting OnRemoveEntity.
• Parameters: target (Entity) — the entity to align to and flash.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: If target is invalid or lacks required components, flash effect terminates early.

onupdate(inst, dt)

• Description: Periodic update loop for the spark FX entity; decays light intensity, plays sound once (if emitter exists), and removes the entity when intensity reaches zero or killfx is set.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the FX entity; dt (number) — delta time in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnAnimOver(inst)

• Description: Callback triggered when the spark animation completes; cancels updates if not already scheduled for removal.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the FX entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnUpdateFlash(inst)

• Description: Updates the screen flash effect by adjusting the target’s additive colour based on blink cycle and remaining flash time, using PushColour or SetAddColour.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the FX entity.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Terminates flash effect if target becomes invalid.

OnRemoveFlash(inst)

• Description: Resets additive colour on the target entity upon FX removal, preferring PopColour via colouradder, otherwise using SetAddColour or UpdateTint.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the FX entity being removed.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: animover — triggers OnAnimOver when the spark animation completes.
• Pushes: None.