Effects Editor

The Effect Editor allows you to edit PFX effect files and see the changes in real time, like in this video.

To use the effect editor, you need SporeModder FX (obviously) and to have the ModCreatorKit mod installed. SporeModderFX already comes with the latest version of that mod; you can also download it here. Use the ModAPI Launcher Kit to install it.

How to use

1. Open the Effect Editor item you will find at the bottom of the Project panel.

2. Open the game. The first time you use the editor you need to open the editor before opening the game.

3. Open the cheat console with Ctrl+Shift+C and type the cheat effectEditor.

Done! Now, whenever you save changes to the effects file in SMFX, the effect in Spore will reload and reflect those changes. The editor comes with a simple example particle effect. Notice that the effect must be exported with the name _effect_editor, otherwise it won't work.

Other usages

The Spore effect viewer reloads the effect automatically, but it has some limitations. For example, you can't test terraform brushes (because there is no planet) nor skinpaints (there is no creature). However, you can still use the _effect_editor effect outside the editor, as a normal effect: every time you use it it will reload.

For exampe, if you create a skinpaint that uses that effect, when you click the skinpaint again the effect will reload and show the new saved changes.