Setup and First Spawn

Let's get you up and running! This guide will take you from zero to seeing your first bullets flying across the screen.

1) Install the package

First things first, let's get Bulletfury into your project. You can add the Git URL directly through the Unity Package Manager:

  1. Open the Package Manager (Window > Package Manager).
  2. Click the + button in the top left and select Add package from git URL...
  3. Enter the URL for the Bulletfury repository: https://github.com/WayfarerGames/bulletfury.git
  4. Click Add.

Just a reminder: Bulletfury needs Unity 6+ and URP. It also relies on a few Unity packages like Burst and Mathematics, but those should install automatically.

2) Import the Sample Scene

Before building your own spawner, the best way to understand Bulletfury is to look at the included examples!

  1. Open the Package Manager (Window > Package Manager).
  2. Find Bulletfury in the list of installed packages (make sure you're looking at "Packages: In Project").
  3. Go to the Samples tab.
  4. Click Import next to the Demo Scene.
  5. Open the newly imported scene (usually under Assets/Samples/Bulletfury/) and press Play to see it in action!

3) Create a spawner object

Now for the fun part!

  1. Create an empty GameObject in your scene.
  2. Add the BulletSpawner component to it.
  3. You'll see a few sections in the inspector:
  4. RenderData: How your bullets look.
  5. Bullet Settings: Basic bullet properties like speed and lifetime.
  6. Spawn Shape Data: Where bullets come from (circle, line, point, etc.).
  7. Burst Data: How many bullets fire at once.

4) Make it visible

Before we can see anything, we need to tell Bulletfury how to draw the bullets.

In RenderData:

  • Assign your Main Camera.
  • Assign a Texture2D for your bullet sprite. (Crucial! If you don't set this, nothing will show up.)
  • Set the sorting Layer and Priority if you need them to appear on top of other things.

Note: In the Inspector's RenderData section, you'll see a green circle in the bullet preview. This green circle shows the size of the bullet's collision area relative to the bullet sprite itself. Bulletfury collisions work natively with Unity's 2D colliders.

5) Configure the basics

Let's set up a simple stream of bullets.

In Bullet Settings:

  • Set FireMode to Automatic so it starts firing right away.
  • Check PlayOnEnable.
  • Set FireRate to 0.1 (that's 10 shots per second).
  • Set Lifetime to 1.5 seconds.
  • Set Speed to 5.

In Spawn Shape Data (let's keep it simple for now):

  • numPoints: 1
  • numPerSide: 1
  • radius: 0
  • spawnDir: Direction

What does spawnDir do? This setting controls the initial direction your bullets will travel:

  • Direction: Bullets fly straight up (relative to the spawner's rotation).
  • Spherised: Bullets fly directly outward from the center point.
  • Shape: Bullets fly perpendicular to the edge of the shape they spawned on.
  • Point: Bullets fly outward towards the closest corner/point of the shape.
  • Randomised: Bullets fly in a random direction within the defined directionArc.

In Burst Data:

  • burstCount: 1
  • delay: 0

6) Fire

Hit Play Mode. If everything is set up right, you should see a stream of bullets shooting out!

Scene View Tool: For rapid iteration without entering Play Mode, check the bottom left of your Scene window when the spawner is selected. You'll find a little widget to play, pause, and stop the selected spawner. This widget also displays the current and maximum bullet count, which is incredibly useful for testing performance and tuning density.

Exploring Modules

You might be wondering where settings like "acceleration", "homing", or "color changes" are. In Bulletfury, a lot of behavior is intentionally "hidden" behind Modules. Instead of one massive inspector with a hundred settings you aren't using, you snap on only the behaviors you need.

We highly encourage you to check out the Free Modules page and experiment with adding them to your spawner to see what they do!

Advanced Spawn Settings

While the basics will get you started, the Spawn Shape Data has a lot of hidden power for making complex patterns without any extra modules:

  • arc: Only spawn bullets along a specific angle (e.g. 180 for a half-circle).
  • randomise / onEdge: Places bullets randomly within the shape or strictly on its outline.
  • Grouping (numPerGroup, groupRadius, groupDirection): Instead of single bullets, spawn them in clusters! Great for making thick walls of bullets.
  • removeFromEdgePercent: Creates gaps at the corners of your shapes.

Manual spawning

Want to control when bullets fire? Set FireMode to Manual and use a script like this:

using Bulletfury;
using UnityEngine;

public class ManualFireExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private BulletSpawner spawner;

    private void Update()
    {
        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space))
        {
            // Fire!
            spawner.Spawn(transform.position, transform.up, Time.deltaTime);
        }
    }
}

Here are the main methods you'll use:

  • Spawn(Transform obj, float deltaTime): Uses the transform's position and rotation.
  • Spawn(Vector3 position, Vector3 up, float deltaTime): Uses a specific position and direction.
  • SpawnImmediate(...): Fires instantly, ignoring the fire rate.

Controlling the simulation

You can also control the spawner at runtime:

  • Play() / Stop(): Start or stop the automatic firing.
  • SetSimulationPaused(bool paused): Pause all bullets in mid-air.
  • ClearBullets(): Remove all active bullets.
  • ActivateWaitingBullets(): Release bullets that are waiting (great for complex patterns).

Troubleshooting

If things aren't working, check these common issues:

  • No bullets visible?
  • Did you assign a texture in RenderData?

  • Is the spawner object active?

  • Bullets not firing in manual mode?

  • Are you calling Spawn()?

  • Check if FireRate or Delay is preventing shots.

  • Bullets vanish immediately?

  • Check Lifetime in Bullet Settings.
  • Check if they're hitting something immediately (collision settings).