Particle Systems in 2d above all sprites (Custom Axis sorting order)

I'm using a Custom Axis for the Transparency Sort Mode and it's set to 0,1,0 so sprites in my top down game gets sorted by the pivot point in the Y axis.

However particle systems seem to ignore this, and is sorted by Z-axis instead.

See the GIF below, where the particle system show in front of a rock, even if it's higher up in Y axis and should be behind the rock. In the GIF I change the Z-axis on the particles, which also makes it come behind the background, which is incorrect.

Does the Particle System Renderer module not obey the Transparency Sort Mode?

How are we supposed to use particles in a top down game like this?

I think my question is somewhat similar to this one, but I couldn't find any solution to my problem:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/particle-systems-with-sprites-order-in-layer.464533/

 

I see! How would I do to make them come behind certain objects in a 2d game then?

 

Yeah the particles are supposed to come between the background and a sprite. I got a tip to check the particles in 3D mode to see how it looks.

Also I will disable noise/movement in the Z-axis and hopefully it will work

 

I have the same problem please share how you solved it.

 

Ohh it was a long time ago and I’m not sure I solved it, but I think the reason was the particles spawned in a random Z (depth) position. Check in 3D view from the side if thats the case. Let me know if it works!

 

Hello, I am also experiencing this issue with an isometric grid based game:

The particles are appearing in front of sprites that they shouldn't.

Is there like an option to sort by Y each particle?

 

There doesn’t seem to be, they seem to be sorted in it’s own sorting group. If you figure it out, please share

 

I'm having the same problem if you know how to fix it.

edit:

i sort of got it working but is there a way to set the sorting/pivot point to the position of the emitter/game object?

 

Hi, I'm not sure if you already got the answer after all this time but I just wanted to post something that I do and might be a solution for this problem because I found this thread after somebody asked me about the same exact problem.

For 2.5 or for using Particles interacting with Sprites that have a 3D-like perspective you should use a custom material instead of the Default-Sprite one because Sprites and Paticles have their own sort order, and in the case of Particle Systems, they are sorted by System and not by individual particle (as I understand).

So I create a material for my Sprite using the Standard Shader if you want to receive lighting, or if you want it to be Unlit you could use a self illuminated shader like the Legacy ones:

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing this. It looks great! So if I understand you correctly, when using your own material the particles sort correctly? Is that the same material and shader on the particles and the sprite?

 

Hi guys, is there now a way to sort each individual particle based on the y axis? Cant find anything about it till today.. . The following post couldnt fix my issue.

Thanks for any help.

 

I know this is a bit of an older topic but I ran into the same thing today and figured out a solution. I wanted some water to drip from the ceiling of my top-down RPG and wanted the water drips to sort on top of things when higher up but behind when they got close to the ground. I solved this by having my particle system emit from a line and positioned it where I want the drops to start. This particle system is inside of another object that has its pivot set to the spot where I want the particle system to actually sort. I then added a Sorting Group component to the parent object and that forced unity to use the parent ground pivot for sorting against my 2d sprites.