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Light Halo Component

The Light Halo component creates a beautiful animated light effect that pulses and moves around sprites. It’s perfect for adding atmospheric lighting effects, magical auras, or ambient glow to characters and objects in your game.

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Overview

The Light Halo component uses a radial gradient with blur effects to simulate realistic light diffusion. It features:
  • Organic pulsing animation - Uses multiple sine waves for natural breathing effects
  • Opacity variations - Smooth fade in/out with subtle flicker (candle-like effect)
  • Customizable appearance - Configurable size, color, opacity, and animation speeds
  • Reactive props - Supports both static and dynamic configuration based on sprite state

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Basic Usage

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Import the Component

First, import the LightHalo component from the prebuilt components: 
import { RpgClient, defineModule } from '@rpgjs/client';
import LightHalo from '@rpgjs/client';

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Simple Configuration with Defaults

Use the component with default settings (warm yellow-white light): 
export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [LightHalo]
  }
})
This will create a light halo behind all sprites with:
  • Base radius: 30 pixels
  • Warm yellow-white color (0xffffaa)
  • Smooth pulsing and fading animations

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Configuration Options

All props are optional and have sensible defaults. You can customize any aspect of the light halo:

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Available Props

PropTypeDefaultDescription
baseRadiusnumber30Base radius of the light halo in pixels
radiusVariationnumber10Pulse variation range (halo pulses between baseRadius ± radiusVariation)
baseOpacitynumber0.6Base opacity of the light halo (0 to 1)
opacityVariationnumber0.3Opacity fade range (halo fades between baseOpacity ± opacityVariation)
sizeSpeednumber0.002Animation speed for size pulsing (higher = faster)
opacitySpeednumber0.003Animation speed for opacity fading (higher = faster)
lightColornumber0xffffaaColor of the light halo (hex value, warm yellow-white by default)

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Static Props Configuration

Configure the component with static values for all sprites: 
import { RpgClient, defineModule } from '@rpgjs/client';
import LightHalo from '@rpgjs/client/src/components/prebuilt/light-halo.ce';

export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: {
        baseRadius: 50,
        radiusVariation: 15,
        baseOpacity: 0.8,
        opacityVariation: 0.2,
        lightColor: 0xffaaaa,  // Reddish light
        sizeSpeed: 0.003,
        opacitySpeed: 0.004
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Dynamic Props Configuration

Use a function to compute props based on sprite state. The function receives the sprite object as a parameter and can access reactive properties: 
import { RpgClient, defineModule } from '@rpgjs/client';
import { RpgClientObject } from '@rpgjs/client';
import LightHalo from '@rpgjs/client/src/components/prebuilt/light-halo.ce';

export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: (object: RpgClientObject) => {
        const level = object.param.level();
        
        // Increase radius and change color based on level
        return {
          baseRadius: 30 + (level * 2),
          radiusVariation: 10 + (level * 0.5),
          lightColor: level > 10 ? 0xffaa00 : 0xffffaa,  // Orange for high level, yellow for low
          baseOpacity: 0.6 + (level * 0.01)
        };
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Color Examples

Here are some common color values you can use: 
// Warm candlelight
lightColor: 0xffffaa

// Cool blue light (magical)
lightColor: 0xaaaaff

// Reddish fire glow
lightColor: 0xffaaaa

// Green toxic glow
lightColor: 0xaaffaa

// Purple mystical aura
lightColor: 0xffaaff

// White pure light
lightColor: 0xffffff

// Orange intense flame
lightColor: 0xffaa00

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Examples

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Example 1: Subtle Ambient Light

A gentle, barely visible light for atmospheric effect: 
export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: {
        baseRadius: 20,
        radiusVariation: 5,
        baseOpacity: 0.3,
        opacityVariation: 0.1,
        sizeSpeed: 0.001,
        opacitySpeed: 0.002
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Example 2: Intense Magical Aura

A vibrant, pulsing magical aura: 
export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: {
        baseRadius: 60,
        radiusVariation: 20,
        baseOpacity: 0.8,
        opacityVariation: 0.4,
        lightColor: 0xaaaaff,  // Cool blue
        sizeSpeed: 0.004,
        opacitySpeed: 0.005
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Example 3: Level-Based Dynamic Light

Light intensity increases with character level: 
export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: (object: RpgClientObject) => {
        const level = object.param.level();
        const maxLevel = 50;
        
        // Scale from 20px to 80px based on level
        const progress = level / maxLevel;
        const baseRadius = 20 + (progress * 60);
        
        // Change color as level increases
        let lightColor;
        if (level < 10) lightColor = 0xffffaa;      // Yellow
        else if (level < 25) lightColor = 0xffaa00; // Orange
        else if (level < 40) lightColor = 0xffaaaa; // Red
        else lightColor = 0xffaaff;                  // Purple
        
        return {
          baseRadius,
          radiusVariation: baseRadius * 0.3,
          baseOpacity: 0.5 + (progress * 0.3),
          lightColor
        };
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Example 4: Conditional Light Based on State

Only show light when sprite has a certain state: 
export default defineModule<RpgClient>({
  sprite: {
    componentsBehind: [{
      component: LightHalo,
      props: (object: RpgClientObject) => {
        // Only show light if sprite has "magical" state
        const hasMagic = object.states?.some(state => state.name === 'magical');
        
        if (!hasMagic) {
          return {
            baseRadius: 0,  // Hide by setting radius to 0
            baseOpacity: 0
          };
        }
        
        return {
          baseRadius: 40,
          lightColor: 0xaaaaff,
          baseOpacity: 0.7
        };
      }
    }]
  }
})

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Positioning

The Light Halo is automatically centered on the sprite by default. It uses the sprite’s hitbox to calculate the center position:
  • X Position: hitbox.w / 2 (center horizontally)
  • Y Position: hitbox.h / 2 (center vertically)
The component is rendered behind the sprite (using componentsBehind), so it appears as a background glow effect.

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Performance Considerations

  • The component uses efficient blur filters that are created once and reused
  • Animation calculations are optimized using computed signals
  • The drawing function only renders when opacity and radius are greater than 0
For best performance when using multiple light halos:
  • Use lower radiusVariation values for subtler effects
  • Reduce baseOpacity if you don’t need bright lights
  • Consider using dynamic props to conditionally disable lights when not needed

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Technical Details

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Animation Algorithm

The component uses a sophisticated animation system:
  • Size Animation: Combines two sine waves with different frequencies for organic, less predictable pulsing
  • Opacity Animation: Main breathing cycle with a subtle high-frequency flicker for realistic candle-like effects
  • Blur Effect: Uses PixiJS BlurFilter with additive blend mode for realistic light diffusion

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Reactive System

All props are reactive signals, meaning:
  • Static props are automatically converted to signals
  • Dynamic props (functions) can access reactive sprite properties
  • Changes to props automatically update the visual effect in real-time

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See Also