Cancelled my WoW account. yay!
After spending two nights staring at the code, trying to find a rotation bug, I squashed it and finally got all that stuff working. The line emitter for which this was needed was then quickly finished. This will allow the creation of (for Trapped! anyway) plasma and laser lines. It can also be used to create a line of flames, or rain from the sky. The length of the line can be changed in real-time, as it’s linked to the Y size of the emitter.
I’ll probably tweak it as I go along but it’s working pretty well. I’ve uploaded the new version to the SVN and will update the binary download soon. I also updated the WIKI pages.
So now I have explosions, lines, and fountains. I think I am set, and can move on to the creation of alien effects. Experimentation will be the key for that, so interesting things to try out. What I am aiming for will be a snail-like appearance for the aliens with shells of energy. Aliens in different stages of energy evolution? Might work, and would be an explanation of the different levels of aliens.
If one idea solves two problems, then I’m all for it. I’d like to think about game design as Yoda thinks about the future: ‘always in motion’ 
Hey Wiebo, when are you going to upload the binary – the new features sound great and I want to have a play!!
Matt, hold on, I am streamlining the application (load, save, better shotcuts, etc) but it should be on the project page real soon.