[Rochellecrab]

A small and usefull stock:

stock PrecacheParticleSystem( const String:p_strEffectName[] )
{
	static s_numStringTable = INVALID_STRING_TABLE;

	if ( s_numStringTable == INVALID_STRING_TABLE  )
		s_numStringTable = FindStringTable( "ParticleEffectNames" );

	AddToStringTable( s_numStringTable, p_strEffectName );
}

Call it in the OnMapStart() forward. It will prevent server from lagging when creating new particle systems for the first time.
I tested it in Left 4 Dead 2. I don't know about other mods, but the most possible is that every >= OrangeBox support this.

[Mecha the Slag]

Now we just need a way to precache particle files. Strange how that isn't a feature yet.

[berni]

Originally Posted by Mecha the Slag Now we just need a way to precache particle files. Strange how that isn't a feature yet.

What are particle files ?
I can tell you.. because it's not in Valve's Engine Interface.

[Mecha the Slag]

uhh pretty much every file in tf/particles/

[FlaminSarge]

I thought you could just PrecacheGeneric .pcf files...
I'm doing it in one of my plugins.

[blodia]

you can just add the files you want to particles_manifest and they'll pre load automatically.

[Nail]

2blodia, I've tried, the game only loads standard pcf, the game does not want to read the new pcf, only works if we replace an existing one to new
2FlaminSarge, please give an example of how to do it

[FlaminSarge]

I'm doing this in one plugin:

else if (StrContains(strLine, ".pcf", false) != -1)    PrecacheGeneric(strLine, true);

It's in the TF2 Equipment Manager.