Beams - s&box Rendering Documentation

Beams

Beam effects create animated lines between points - useful for lasers, lightning, energy beams, and trails.

BeamEffect Component

Create beams using the BeamEffect component:

var beam = new GameObject();
var effect = beam.Components.Create<BeamEffect>();

// Set start and end points
effect.StartPosition = gunTipPosition;
effect.EndPosition = hitPosition;

// Configure appearance
effect.Color = Color.Cyan;
effect.Width = 5f;

Follow Points

Beams can automatically follow moving objects:

// Set transform references
effect.StartTransform = gunTip;
effect.EndTransform = target;

// Beam updates automatically as transforms move

Properties

• Color — Beam color (can be animated)
• Width — Beam thickness
• Texture — Scrollable texture for energy effects
• Scroll Speed — Animation rate for texture
• LifeTime — How long the beam exists

Use Cases

• Weapon lasers and tracers
• Lightning effects
• Energy weapons
• Teleportation beams
• Grappling hooks
• UI targeting lines

Performance

Beams are lightweight effects that render efficiently. They use the same rendering path as particles.

Combining with Code

// Create a laser that fades out
public void FireLaser( Vector3 start, Vector3 end )
{
    var beam = new GameObject();
    var effect = beam.Components.Create<BeamEffect>();
    effect.StartPosition = start;
    effect.EndPosition = end;
    effect.Color = Color.Red;
    effect.LifeTime = 0.1f; // Disappears after 100ms
}

Beams are perfect for real-time visual effects that need to stretch between two points.