Additive Billboard Particles — Canonical Material Settings (VFX water ripple skill)

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Settings

var bm := StandardMaterial3D.new()
bm.transparency = BaseMaterial3D.TRANSPARENCY_ALPHA
bm.blend_mode = BaseMaterial3D.BLEND_MODE_ADD
bm.shading_mode = BaseMaterial3D.SHADING_MODE_UNSHADED
bm.billboard_mode = BaseMaterial3D.BILLBOARD_PARTICLES
bm.emission_enabled = true
bm.emission_energy_multiplier = 3.0   # 1.0–5.0 typical; bump for HDR bloom
bm.disable_receive_shadows = true
bm.shadow_to_opacity = false
bm.no_depth_test = false              # true only if particles must read on TOP of opaque geometry
bm.billboard_keep_scale = true        # BILLBOARD_PARTICLES drops per-particle scale without this
bm.albedo_color = Color(R, G, B, 1.0)
bm.emission = Color(R, G, B)          # usually same as albedo for single-color motes

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When to use this vs a custom shader

• Use this StandardMaterial3D config when the effect is just a tinted soft-circle mote (magic glow, sparkles, dust). Less code, faster iteration, free engine-managed billboard math.
• Per-particle color over age does NOT need a custom shader. ParticleProcessMaterial has color_ramp, color_initial_ramp, alpha_curve and emission_curve (all present on the shipped engine) — those drive the particle’s COLOR from age and feed straight into a plain StandardMaterial3D. Reach for a ramp before reaching for a shader.
• Use a custom ShaderMaterial when you need per-fragment shape masks (muzzle flash star burst), noise-distorted UVs (fire, smoke), or anything that varies within the quad. Those are what StandardMaterial3D genuinely can’t express.
• If a custom shader does need the particle age, note that the age lives in INSTANCE_CUSTOM.y (normalized by INSTANCE_CUSTOM.w, the lifetime), that INSTANCE_CUSTOM.x is the rotation angle — not the age — and that INSTANCE_CUSTOM is vertex-stage only. Pass it to fragment() through a varying.

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Performance note