Figma capabilities list?

Ask the community
#1

Hi all, as a newb, instead of searching for dozens and dozens of features that I can’t know for sure Figma has, may I please ask for a reply of Yes, No? And where a sort of add-on/library can be used to ADD the feature, that is a good answer too.

Does figma:

have support collisions?
have physics? (gravity, friction, forces)
have a global events system?
Have texture mapping for shapes? (that BENDS the texture when the shape changes)
have animatable object properties?
have a glow property?
have a light system? (like a point light that illuminates objects within a radius)
have math functions?
have file read/write (ascii)?
string functions?
Keyboard inputs (for users… ie live text fields, etc)
support audio?
map video to a polygon (also distortable when resized or shape is changed)
(related, video controls… start/stop/pause/skip)
Copy/paste functions in PRESENTATION mode?
Drag/Drop functions in PRESENTATION mode?
Animated properties? (like a stroke around an object, or pulsating shadow)
Bevel effects
Object edge feathering
Alpha channels (especially for images)
Gradient fills
A scripting language
3d Object support

That’s probably enough for now :slight_smile:

I know that there are often ways to create features and do things not typically located in the manual.

Thank you SO much…

R

#2

Honestly, your post looks like spam. All of these things are completely unrelated to Figma. You would see them in a game engine or a 3D editor, but not in a UI design tool. Figma doesn’t have any of these things because it’s not a 3D editor.

You make things like this in Figma Starter Design System | Figma Community

image
image2720×1090 212 KB

Nothing even close to what you are asking.

#3

I appreciate your concern about spam, rest assured… it is not.

For example, why would there be a shadow property, but not a glow property?
Do UIs not have glowing objects at times?

The iphone for many years, had safari where open tabs could be searched by “looking down” at them… presented in a sort of top down view, which is in actuality a texture mapped shape, distorted to give it an appearance of depth.

Audio… there is no question that UI’s use audio (and haptics).

“Physics”… often used in 2D applications for example, scrolling mimics physics… you can flick through many pages of photos with a single push… so “mass” and “friction” describe those kind of actions very well.

Figma uses events, though they (at first glance), appear to be very constrained.
Naturally, a good designer would want to know if there was an events system that was able to be used globally.

Bevel effects? The most common UI feature ever.

Alpha channels? Cleary useful in UI work.
Ditto Gradient fills with multiple nodes

So, you’re not being especially accurate when you say this list has nothing to do with UI development…

I work smart, not hard.

Why spend the entire 4-day thanksgiving holiday searching to see which of these features are available (explicitly, as work-arounds, or as add-ons)… when I might find out in only a few minutes?

I value my time… 10 minutes vs 32 hours is a no brainer.

If Communities aren’t here to help people get answers far, far faster than if they had to struggle with them alone… then why have Communities at all?

So, rest assured… it’s not spam (to what end, I would wonder???)

It’s a serious list, and I’m still hoping for someone to help with it.

Thanks for your consideration/time.

#4

Let me ask you a theoretical question:
Figma does UI’s… correct? Ignoring that I just played a very accurate game of Asteroids made in Figma…

Figma itself has a UI, does it not?

Can you use Figma to make a convincing, interactive UI that behaves like Figma?

If not… why not? what is missing?

Regards,

R

#5

Glow = white shadow. Same thing about bevels: they are achieved with inner shadows of different colors.

Regarding your question, I already said that Figma doesn’t have any of the features you mentioned. Some are possible (e.g. glow) but likely not in a way you imagine. The “glow” will not illuminate any objects below the one you are adding a light shadow to because in most UIs there is no such thing as a light system. Everything you make in Figma is just a flat vector object, sometimes with raster “textures” (images) and effects (blur, shadow). There are no Photoshop-like image distortions in Figma either (there are some plugins for primitive warping, but nothing close to “texture mapping” that you asked about).

It was not made in Figma, it was made FOR Figma. The plugin was coded from scratch and was running in the background. You were interacting with the plugin, not Figma. The plugin was just moving objects on the Figma canvas. Why this distinction is important: it would take you the same amount of effort to write a plugin as to make a real Asteroids game outside of Figma using something like HTML Canvas for example. So there is no real point in making a plugin like this for Figma other than for fun.

Not possible even in the slightest. The output of Figma is a static screen that you can add little interactions and primitive A-B state animations to. There is no timeline to make complex animations, no state saving mechanics, no freeform drag & drop. Some features you asked about would make it possible to recreate Figma in Figma but again none of the features you mentioned are available in Figma.

#6

I tried using shadows as a glow, and it wasn’t convincing… partly because shadows are behind the object… but it was at least possible.

So that’s a “yes, with a work-around”
Texture warping is a qualified “yes” with a plugin.

I read that alpha channels are supported with masks… so that is a possible yes? I am not clear about the limitations.

Gradient fills seem possible if done on another tool and imported as an image.

As work-around for many things, UI objects created elsewhere and imported as an image could likely do many of the things I am looking for, but set up as images in variants… but that does seem painful.

I was looking for a working slider… and in the community, someone said they were not possible… but another user had a link to a youtube tutorial where a very functional slider was indeed quite possible (it just took some creative understanding of the existing tool set). It was because of this that I held out hope that many of the things on my list might actually be possible, though not obviously intended.

Thank you for your answer about Figma not being close to being able to mock up Figma.

I think that’s a good benchmark with respect to how far Figma has come, and how far it has to go.

Philosophically, a UI mock up tool is not complete unless it can mock-up itself, practically by definition.

Still, I’m impressed with the tool due to it’s innovative qualities, but still seems to have a long way to go.

I think I will need to pass on Figma at this point, if plugins and work-arounds are not possible (I’m used to using such techniques to push tools WAY past their general capabilities) to fill the gaps… then I need to go back to looking.

Thanks for the insights into the asteroids demo…

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