Bouncy Burst Particle System — Copy/Mod LSL Emitter for Second Life (Smoke, Bounce & Chaotic Bursts)

You built something useful and clean — a particle system that actually behaves like a collection of little objects, bouncing off geometry and scattering in all directions. This Bouncy Burst Particle System packages that exact behavior into a ready-to-use, copy/mod LSL asset so creators, builders, and scripters in Second Life can drop it into their builds and get immediate, realistic, chaotic particle motion without fighting parameters.

Here’s the simple truth: most particle presets either drift in one direction or look the same every time. This system feels different. It generates energetic bursts, spreads particles across a full 360°, and uses the bounce mask so particles ricochet off prims and terrain — producing a lively, physical look that works for smoke puffs, debris, confetti, sparks, or playful ambient effects. It’s tuned to be versatile: fast and scattered when you want chaos, soft and puff-like when you dial the burst count down.

What you get
A single LSL script that drives a configurable particle system. It’s already set with sensible defaults: multiple particles per burst, broad speed ranges, full angular coverage, and bounce enabled. The script is copy/mod — that means you can clone it, tweak the numbers to fit a scene, or embed it into linked prims for layered effects. No transfer restrictions on the asset itself; you keep control of your modifications.

Why this works
Particles in Second Life are governed by initial velocity, acceleration, flags, and collisions. The key differences here are: no directional accel (so initial velocity dominates), a wide burst-speed spread (so particles move in many directions), and PSYS_PART_BOUNCE_MASK enabled so collisions produce real bounce behavior. The result is a three-dimensional, physical-feeling motion that sits far closer to real-world particle dynamics than a static drift.

Typical uses

Environmental effects: smoky chimneys, campfire puffs that scatter and bounce on nearby rocks.

Special effects: explosion debris, shattered glass fragments, or magical burst effects that ricochet off castle walls.

Decorative: confetti cannons, party effects, and stage visuals that need lively motion.

Interactive props: dancefloor tiles, interactive objects, or installations where particles should respond to nearby geometry.

Layered art: combine multiple copies with different lifetimes and sizes to build depth and complexity.

How to use

Drop the script into any prim with Copy/Modify permissions.

Adjust the constants near the top if you want a different look — burst count, burst rate, min/max speed, and max age are the primary knobs.

For directional bursts, set PSYS_SRC_ACCEL to a nonzero vector (if you want gravity or drift). For fully chaotic scattering leave it at <0,0,0>.

If you want particles to stop after a set time, change PSYS_SRC_MAX_AGE from 0.0 to the number of seconds the emitter should run.

To create layered effects, place the script in linked child prims and give each child different parameters (short-lived small puffs on top of longer low-speed smoke underneath).

Customization tips (fast)

Bigger, softer smoke: raise PSYS_PART_START_SCALE and PSYS_PART_END_SCALE, lower burst speed, increase burst radius.

Explosive debris: shorten PSYS_SRC_BURST_RATE, raise PSYS_SRC_BURST_PART_COUNT and PSYS_SRC_BURST_SPEED_MAX, keep bounce on.

Long, slow drifting: set PSYS_SRC_ACCEL to a small upward vector and lower PSYS_SRC_BURST_SPEED_MIN/MAX.

More collision response: place visible geometry (small invisible prims) where you want particles to ricochet to emphasize bounce.

Technical notes

Bounce happens only when particles intersect geometry. If there’s no nearby collision geometry, the visual effect will be more free-flight and less ricochet. Add invisible collision prims where you want visible bounce.

The script uses PSYS_PART_BOUNCE_MASK alongside PSYS_PART_EMISSIVE_MASK and PSYS_PART_WIND_MASK for a good balance of visual presence and natural drift.

Particle lifetimes and burst cadence affect performance. This script is tuned to be lively but not excessive; if you use multiple instances on the same parcel, reduce burst counts or increase burst rates to avoid lag.

Works with standard SL viewers; behavior may vary slightly by viewer and physics engine, but the core bounce + scatter behavior is consistent.

Permissions & packaging

Copy/Modify: You can duplicate the scripted prim, edit parameters, and integrate it into your own creations.

No transfer: The item is intended for resale or inclusion in your builds but check your marketplace listing for your preferred transfer policy. (You set transfer on the item when creating your listing.)

Includes: the primary LSL script with comments, a short README (installation and parameter notes), and a suggested default prim setup for quick testing.