Particle system

Introduced in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for the fictional "Genesis effect",[1] other examples include replicating the phenomena of fire, explosions, smoke, moving water (such as a waterfall), sparks, falling leaves, rock falls, clouds, fog, snow, dust, meteor tails, stars and galaxies, or abstract visual effects like glowing trails, magic spells, etc.

After the update is complete, each particle is rendered, usually in the form of a textured billboarded quad (i.e. a quadrilateral that is always facing the viewer).

Conversely, in motion graphics particles tend to be full but small-scale and easy-to-render 3D models, to ensure fidelity even at high resolution.

[3] In 1983, Reeves defined only animated points, creating moving particulate simulations — sparks, rain, fire, etc.

The strands can be controlled with the same velocity vectors, force fields, spawning rates, and deflection parameters that animated particles obey.

Both GameMaker Studio and Unity provide a two-dimensional particle system often used by indie, hobbyist, or student game developers, though it cannot be imported into other engines.

Many other solutions also exist, and particle systems are frequently written from scratch if non-standard effects or behaviors are desired.