   Shaders/ParticleSystems/Effects
  I thought I would pasted this here since it's related to graphics I suppose. I am somewhat new to game development(Working on my own 2d game) and was wondering how the following effects were done.http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/games/2004/gunbound2.jpghttp://www.gameogre.com/reviewdirectory/upload/GunBound.jpghttp://www.freemmorpglist.com/pics/foto_gunbound.jpghttp://images.mmosite.com/feature/gunbound/picture/big/GunBound001.jpgI was told the fire one was done with a particle system, is that done with direct3d(What I am using right now along with c++), and what about the others?  Are there any tutorials/articles on the subject out there? Any info is much appreciated.Thanks.   
  If that game uses Direct3D 9 you can use Directx Explorer to find out how exactly those effects are rendered.Those beams are probably just textured quads rendered with additive or alpha blending.   