What's Subframe?

Subframe is a general name for technology that abuses particle update order.

Particle Order

Every frame in The Powder Toy, all the particles are updated one after another according to their ID.

When you hover over a particle with debug mode ("D" key to toggle) the ID is visible next to the X and Y values.

Every time you load a save all the particles are ordered from left to right and top to bottom. That means they will also be updated in that order. You should always assume that the order of your contraptions can break when reloading the save.

Solid Spark

Solid sparks are used to activate powered materials every frame. It can bypass the spark cooldown (which is why spark blinks).

How to build it:

A solid spark is made using at least 3 particles:

1. Any element that can be sparked (like )

2. with the CTYPE of the element above (if you place this while unpaused, it automatically sets the CTYPE, assuming there are no other elements nearby)

3. or with CTYPE of

Their IDs have to be in that order to work

ID of 1 < ID of 2 < ID of 3

How it works:

In the first frame nothing happens and at the end the 1st particle gets sparked by the 3rd particle.

In the second frame:

1st particle (now being a SPRK) life decreases (from 4 to 3) and now can trigger elements like , etc.

2nd particle replaces the sparked 1st particle, so its not sparked anymore.

Now that the 1st particle isn't sparked the 3rd particle can spark it again (thus avoiding the spark cooldown and blinking).

So the 1st particle gets sparked, the spark is replaced, and gets sparked again.