txesmi for the win!!!

It's a shader world now, no point in living in denial.

@txesmi --> the default.c debug panel shows a ENTITY render time of 0.1 milliseconds is this how we measure the shaders cost? And how expensive is it to make a whole set of wings? Is there a better method for finding the render cost of shaders?

@BlackJack -->

I'm not sure what you would like. The code base is an un-optimized mess, that is only partly realized. Besides clean up, it needs rewriting and redesign ( most of all on the curves methods and implementations). I have rushed to show-and-tell but it's no where no ideal for release. I'd be happy to write a document on the process I used and the greater idea.
In the end txesmi's solution is the correct way and shaders are almost always the better solution when GPU particle systems are not part of an engine (or direct x implementation as dx9), like is the case with 3dgs. The entity vertex animation and the particles are run on the CPU and GPU systems shader cores and now particles have long-ago eclipses CPU systems. I would avoid CPU operations and particles as much as possible.