Good news everybody! Pascal who's created the new Particle Engine has been keeping an eye on the Yahoo list, and I mentioned the issues with volumetrics and lights as particles while asking another question. Apparently, volumetrics as particles should make the final release (though he suspects that they won't work as well as we'd hope, due to appearance issues where volumetric clouds overlap). And the inability to use lights as particles is a bug, which he's now looking into. Just thought I'd relay the info. However, bear in mind all the usual cautions regarding development schedules - it'll be lovely if these features do make the release, but I won't be holding it against Eovia if they don't...