JFK has a 2d3d sprite positioning routine in the Code Archives that looks like the one I'll be using, because there won't be much 3D going on using standard sprites will be fine, no need for a single surface thing. I've already got my own particle routine that uses standard sprites so I'll be able to chop that down and use that with JFKs algo for positioning.
I would be nice to use exactly the same particle routine and just have a different draw style but I think if you're using 3D sprites you're going to have many more and overlay more using different blend modes to create nice effects. I think it'll be more work to have one particle routine than 2 and probably won't look as good.
I've already added a usealpha flag for using my alpha particles so to change this to a use3d flag and use a slightly different command set is fine as far as I'm concerned.
I would be nice to use exactly the same particle routine and just have a different draw style but I think if you're using 3D sprites you're going to have many more and overlay more using different blend modes to create nice effects. I think it'll be more work to have one particle routine than 2 and probably won't look as good.
I've already added a usealpha flag for using my alpha particles so to change this to a use3d flag and use a slightly different command set is fine as far as I'm concerned.