Starkiller (unstable=5)

Introduction

The Starkiller effect (unstable=5) is inspired by the compressed-crystal lightsaber from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It creates a chain of symmetrical energy bumps that repeat along the blade and scroll continuously. Each bump rises smoothly from the blade color to the effect color and back down again, like pulses of energy being squeezed along the blade.

Like Chainsaw, Starkiller is a pattern-based effect, not a heat-based one. But where Chainsaw uses continuous waveforms like sawtooth, sine, or square signals, Starkiller uses bump shapes: rounded hills, pointed peaks, or flat-topped blocks. That gives it a more organic, compressed-energy quality.

Chainsaw vs. Starkiller

Enabling Starkiller

In your blade profile, set:

unstable=5

How Starkiller Works

Each frame, Starkiller does these main steps:

1. Calculate tooth size from sparkd. Higher values create smaller, denser bumps.
2. Calculate speed from sparkf. During clash the speed doubles, and during lockup it triples.
3. Select the bump shape from lcool: Gaussian, Triangle, or Square.
4. Advance the pattern with a scrolling position that wraps after one full cycle.
5. Generate the bumps for each pixel using the current shape and scrolling offset.
6. Apply amplitude and offset with mapb and mapc.
7. Blend color between the blade base color and ecolor.
8. Apply audio overlay if audio mapping is enabled.

Parameter Mapping

lcool — Bump Shape

Default: 20

In Starkiller, lcool selects the bump shape instead of controlling cooling.

Note: At lcool=210, the shape mapping goes beyond the available options and the bumps disappear. Stay at 209 or below.

Tip: Gaussian is the classic compressed-energy look. Triangle gives more aggressive crystal peaks. Square is great for bold blocky energy bands.

hcool — Not Used

The hcool parameter has no visible effect on Starkiller. You can leave it at the default.

sparkd — Tooth Size / Density

Default: 10

This controls the size of each bump in pixels. It is inverted: higher values create smaller, more densely packed bumps.

Tip: For a classic compressed-energy look with visible pulses, keep sparkd between 10 and 40.

sparkf — Speed Multiplier

Default: 120

This controls how fast the bump pattern scrolls along the blade. The base speed is multiplied by a factor derived from sparkf.

Important: During clash the speed doubles. During lockup it triples.

drift — Scroll Direction

Default: 0

This flips the direction the bumps travel.

drift=0    # one direction
drift=1    # opposite direction

Color & Modulation Controls

Starkiller uses a direct blend system. Each pixel is blended between the blade base color and the effect color based on the bump value.

ecolor — Effect Color

This is the color at the peak of each bump. Between bumps, the blade returns toward the base blade color.

ecolor=1023,1023,1023,0   # white
ecolor=800,200,200,0      # red crystal glow
ecolor=400,600,1023,0     # pale blue Force energy

On CFX, color channel values can go up to 1023.

mapb — Amplitude / Modulation Depth

Default: 50

This scales the bump height, which controls how strongly the peaks blend toward the effect color.

mapc — Offset / Baseline Blend

Default: 50

This adds a constant blend toward the effect color across the whole blade. It shifts the baseline upward.

Tip: High mapb with low mapc gives dramatic pulses on a clean base. Lower mapb with higher mapc gives subtle pulses on a more saturated blade.

mapping_color — Not Used

mapping_color has no visible effect on Starkiller because this mode does not use the heat-map style rendering path.

Audio Reactivity

mapping_unstable — Reactivity Source

Default: 1

mapping_unstable=0 — None

The pattern stays fully static apart from its normal scrolling. Speed and density never react to sound.

mapping_unstable=1 — Audio

Starkiller uses a per-pixel volume overlay. Louder sounds push the whole blade farther toward ecolor, making the blade pulse brighter and more energized.

Unlike Chainsaw, Starkiller does not use audio to change the pattern speed or density. The scroll speed stays fixed except for the built-in clash and lockup boosts.

Note: During lockup, the audio overlay gets an extra boost, so the blade can feel more energized even though the core pattern parameters stay unchanged.

Refresh Rate

refreshfx — Effect Refresh Interval

Default: 12 ms

This controls how often the pattern advances. Since Starkiller scrolls by a certain amount each frame, refresh rate directly changes the visible motion speed.

Putting It All Together: Recipes

Recipe 1: Compressed Crystal Classic

The signature Starkiller look with smooth Gaussian energy pulses.

unstable=5
lcool=30
sparkd=20
sparkf=80
drift=0
mapb=200
mapc=30
mapping_unstable=1
ecolor=1023,1023,1023,0

Recipe 2: Cracked Crystal — Sharp Peaks

Triangle bumps for aggressive, pointed energy spikes.

unstable=5
lcool=90
sparkd=35
sparkf=120
drift=0
mapb=220
mapc=20
mapping_unstable=1
ecolor=1023,320,320,0

Recipe 3: Energy Blocks

Square bumps create hard alternating bands of color.

unstable=5
lcool=160
sparkd=30
sparkf=50
drift=0
mapb=255
mapc=0
mapping_unstable=0
ecolor=0,720,1023,0

Recipe 4: Subtle Pulse

Low-amplitude bumps on a tinted base for a faint elegant effect.

unstable=5
lcool=20
sparkd=15
sparkf=60
drift=0
mapb=80
mapc=100
mapping_unstable=1
ecolor=800,800,1023,0
refreshfx=20

Recipe 5: Dense Vibration

Lots of tiny Gaussian bumps packed tightly together for a vibrating buzzing look.

unstable=5
lcool=10
sparkd=70
sparkf=100
drift=0
mapb=180
mapc=40
mapping_unstable=1
ecolor=1023,800,200,0
refreshfx=10

Recipe 6: Wide Slow Roller

One or two enormous bumps slowly rolling along the blade.

unstable=5
lcool=40
sparkd=5
sparkf=20
drift=0
mapb=220
mapc=10
mapping_unstable=1
ecolor=1023,1023,1023,0
refreshfx=15

Quick Reference Card

Tuning Tips

1. Start with sparkd. It has the biggest effect on the pattern character because it controls bump size.
2. Remember that density is inverted. Low sparkd gives big wide bumps. High sparkd gives tiny dense bumps.
3. Speed and density interact. Very small bumps combined with high speed can start to look noisy.
4. Gaussian is the most classic shape. Triangle is sharper and more aggressive. Square creates a very different blocky look.
5. Starkiller has no audio speed boost. The blade can pulse brighter with sound, but the scrolling pattern itself does not speed up because of volume.
6. Lockup speed boost is strong. Keep resting speed moderate if you want clash and lockup to feel impactful without turning into blur.
7. Big bumps plus slow speed can look dramatic and heavy. That is one of Starkiller’s nicest looks.

Crystal Focus X firmware guide · Unstable Effects Collection · Part 5 — Starkiller (unstable=5)