How can I make a good looking laser beam

Questions & Answers
1

Hi,

I am relative new to Unity and I need some tips on how to make a good looking laser beam. I am not looking for a step by step guide, but some tips to how to make this so I can learn to do this and use the technique to other awesome effects. I am working in Unity 2D right now but I think it will be basically the same in 3D, right?

What I am aiming for is something like the number 4 weapon (RedLaser) in this demo: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6602349/SFEffects/WebPlayer/WebPlayer.html

I could of course just buy this pack, but I would like to learn something about material and particle systems and what else is required so I can use that knowledge to all kinds of effects in the future.

But how does people make these things so they both look great and performs well (also on mobile)? Should it be a LineRenderer with some material for the “base” beam together with a Particle System layered on top to make the pulsating parts? Or should I draw some sprites and tile those together and animate them? Can it be done entirely in a Particle System (if so I need some help on how)? How do you guys do this?

Thank you
Søren

3

For laser/ray gun you should check this post.
http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/365186/ray-gun-laser-beam.html

Another guide is here.
http://rockonflash.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/how-to-do-lasers-in-unity3d/

Check yes if you found this answer useful :slight_smile:

2

one thing you could do is use a ray for the actual detecting if the laser hits something and then use either a particle system or a line renderer to draw the line. from my own experience i prefer using a line renderer since as far as i know you cant kill all particles from a particle system simultaneously when the laser stops firing.

4

I think …You should use LineRenderer with a Particle System.

Use Ray Casting to detect the end point of the line-render.

U will have to play with the particle effects to achieve that effect .