Two hundred fireflies drift on layered wind. Move your cursor to stir them — they gather, scatter, and pulse in slow synchrony like a breathing forest.
Three live parameters drive the particle system. Wind pushes the swarm, glow sets lantern intensity, and synchrony controls how fireflies align their flashes.
Three depth planes drift at different speeds with blurred far-field dots and crisp near-field lanterns for real depth.
Each insect carries a phase oscillator. High sync pulls phases together; low sync lets the meadow shimmer chaotically.
Foreground blades are drawn procedurally on canvas and sway with the same wind vector that moves the swarm.
Every lantern below is drawn, not imaged. The list records the decisions behind the glow.
Far flies are smaller, dimmer and slower. Near flies carry a halo three times their core.
Flash timing is a coupled oscillator. Raise sync and the meadow breathes as one lung.
One vector moves grass, haze and wings together, so gusts read as weather, not jitter.
Keyboard: press B to startle, C to calm, 1–3 for drift, orbit and skittish.
Reduced motion is respected: with the OS flag set, drift freezes to a still frame you can tune by slider.
Double-click the file. No server, no fonts, no network. All light is computed per frame.
Lime sits opposite the night green in lightness, so flashes register without harsh white.