This would have been fantastic to have implemented. What happened / why was it scrapped?
I would say it’s essential. Luckily on last project the emitter was off screen so I could gradually scale it up to make the particles appear to trail off.
You can use the particle info node for various workarounds. But nothing quite beats this. Its a real shame its not in yet.
Last I heard, the particle code is a mess and is not very attractive for additional development. One of the issues is that the hair code is enjoined into the system and is in need of being separated out.
The core team is aware that it’s due for a rewrite (and Lukas Tonne will, hopefully, get back to the node-based particle system that he started working on before other tasks became a higher priority).
To note, it’s possible this node-based system will more or less completely replace the old system, Lukas is already writing a new system for hair that will be its own thing, so that part is being taken care of.
Right now it seems like particles would be easier to direct with python than with an actual particle system if it was not for the performance implications.
A node based particle system will be very welcome. Kinda hope it’s more of a node based data/object director instead. Something that is not just for particles but for any kind of instanced or automatically managed object.
The real hope is for nested particle systems of course. Both dynamic and static.