I'm using Cocos2d 3.0 RC2, and I built a game around using dozens of sprites to create an explosion animation. Each sprite used in the explosion animation undergoes the following:
1)scaling
2)bezier movement
3)tinting
4)fade out
I've noticed that if just 500 sprites or more are being used on the screen, the game drops off from 60fps. However, in the cocos2d particle tests, I see about 1000 or so "particles", moving fluidly at 60fps with tinting, gravitational movement, fading, and scaling.
So the ultimate question is:
1) What's the difference between a "particle" and a "sprite", if they seem to be the same thing?
2) Is the particle system much faster than using lots of individual sprites? If so, why?
Cheers!