Engine exhaust flames too wide

[Echo333 0]

Hi guys,

 

I think the current engine exhaust flames are too wide/too soft (when engaging afterburner of course). An afterburner as in Flanker e.g. looks better.

 

How can I adjust it? Is anybody already working on it perhaps? :)

 

Cheers,

Echo

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

Just edit the Enviromentsystem.ini. Entry 72 and 73 are for the two Afterburner Emitter, where the second one is fo the Soviet planes. Change the Particle Size. This is what i have (changed it yesterday cause i had the same feeling about the size):

 

[EmitterType072]

Name=AfterburnerEmitter

EmissionType=ORIENTED_EMITTER

UpdateType=NON_MOVING

MaxVisibleDistance=99999999

EmissionRate=0.002500

EmissionVolume=0.010000,0.010000,0.010000

EmissionVelocityTableType=CONSTANT

EmissionVelocity=0.000000,-120.000000,0.000000

HasLightSource=TRUE

LightColor=0.405,0.396,0.342

LightRange=2.0

LightSrcOffset=0.0,0.0,0.0

ParticleUpdateType=SIMPLE_POINT

ParticleRenderType=SPRITE

ParticleRandomOrientation=TRUE

ParticleLifeTime=0.040000

ParticleLifeTimeDeviation=0.035000

ParticleWeight=-0.10000

ParticleRandomness=0.010000

ParticleDragFactor=20.000000

ParticleInheritence=0.900000

ParticleColorTableType=TABLE

ParticleColor[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleColor[01].Value=0.450000,0.450000,0.450000,0.400000

ParticleColor[02].Time=0.200000

ParticleColor[02].Value=0.350000,0.350000,0.350000,0.300000

ParticleColor[03].Time=0.700000

ParticleColor[03].Value=0.160000,0.150000,0.100000,0.150000

ParticleColor[04].Time=1.000000

ParticleColor[04].Value=0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000

ParticleSizeTableType=TABLE

ParticleSize[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleSize[01].Value=0.450000

ParticleSize[02].Time=0.100000

ParticleSize[02].Value=0.400000

ParticleSize[03].Time=0.600000

ParticleSize[03].Value=0.300000

ParticleSize[04].Time=0.800000

ParticleSize[04].Value=0.180000

ParticleSize[05].Time=1.000000

ParticleSize[05].Value=0.000000

ParticleSizeDeviation=0.030000

TextureMaterial=AfterburnerMaterial

 

 

It looks much more realistic now (IMO). I have also changed the light range. The default number is so high, that the AB illuminates the whole landscape as if you are a meteor. I have some footage about USN planes which operate during the night. The ABs of the Tomacats and Hormets aren't even bright enough to illuminate the flight deck right below the plane.

[Echo333 0]

:D

Thanx,

 

The afterburner looks pretty cool now!!

 

In what way should I amend no. 73 in the particles.ini?

 

Cheers,

Paul

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

Good question. I thought that the second emitter is for the russian planes but i was wrong. The russian planes use the first emitter as well. My changed emitter looks good on US planes but can look weird on russian planes where the engine and the AB sit farther in the fuselage and can hardly be seen on planes like the Tu-22. Maybe you can fix that when you change the data.ini of the russian planes. Adding a 2 right behind the afterburner emitter in the engine section might work.

[Echo333 0]

Hi there,

 

Your post is a great help.

 

Can you give us an idea what the entries for ParticleColor and ParticleSize mean, i.e. which entries trigger which effect; length of exhaust, etc?

 

(this would avoid us inventing the wheel for a number of times:wink: )

 

Thanks,

Echo

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

The lenght of any emitter can be increased/decreased with the Particlelifetime=xx. The Particel Color changes the color of course and the size changes what, right, the size ;). I'll check later today, if i can get the second AB emitter to work with the russian planes only, so i can change the AB on the US planes without screwing up the russian ones.

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

Ok pal. I finally sorted every weird problem out. The two afterburner emitter were mixed on both sides. Some russian planes used the first one, others the second one. I changed all data.ini so that the russian planes use the first emitter and the US planes the second one. I have used the numbers for the US AB for the russian one just to see how it looks and it is very good actually. When you use the same numbers for both emitters, you don't have to change the data.inis of course but when you have limited both emitters for one side only, you can make changes to one without messing up the other. These are the numbers i use now:

 

[EmitterType072]

Name=AfterburnerEmitter

EmissionType=ORIENTED_EMITTER

UpdateType=NON_MOVING

MaxVisibleDistance=99999999

EmissionRate=0.002500

EmissionVolume=0.010000,0.010000,0.010000

EmissionVelocityTableType=CONSTANT

EmissionVelocity=0.000000,-120.000000,0.000000

HasLightSource=TRUE

LightColor=0.405,0.396,0.342

LightRange=2.0

LightSrcOffset=0.0,0.0,0.0

SubLightSourceX=TRUE

SubLightSrcDist=5.0

ParticleUpdateType=SIMPLE_POINT

ParticleRenderType=SPRITE

ParticleRandomOrientation=TRUE

ParticleLifeTime=0.040000

ParticleLifeTimeDeviation=0.035000

ParticleWeight=-0.10000

ParticleRandomness=0.010000

ParticleDragFactor=20.000000

ParticleInheritence=0.900000

ParticleColorTableType=TABLE

ParticleColor[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleColor[01].Value=0.450000,0.450000,0.450000,0.400000

ParticleColor[02].Time=0.200000

ParticleColor[02].Value=0.350000,0.350000,0.350000,0.300000

ParticleColor[03].Time=0.700000

ParticleColor[03].Value=0.160000,0.150000,0.100000,0.150000

ParticleColor[04].Time=1.000000

ParticleColor[04].Value=0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000

ParticleSizeTableType=TABLE

ParticleSize[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleSize[01].Value=0.520000

ParticleSize[02].Time=0.200000

ParticleSize[02].Value=0.450000

ParticleSize[03].Time=0.600000

ParticleSize[03].Value=0.260000

ParticleSize[04].Time=0.800000

ParticleSize[04].Value=0.200000

ParticleSize[05].Time=1.000000

ParticleSize[05].Value=0.000000

ParticleSizeDeviation=0.000000

TextureMaterial=AfterburnerMaterial

 

[EmitterType073]

Name=AfterburnerEmitter2

EmissionType=ORIENTED_EMITTER

UpdateType=NON_MOVING

MaxVisibleDistance=99999999

EmissionRate=0.002500

EmissionVolume=0.010000,0.010000,0.010000

EmissionVelocityTableType=CONSTANT

EmissionVelocity=0.000000,-120.000000,0.000000

HasLightSource=TRUE

LightColor=0.405,0.396,0.342

LightRange=2.0

LightSrcOffset=0.0,0.0,0.0

SubLightSourceX=TRUE

SubLightSrcDist=5.0

ParticleUpdateType=SIMPLE_POINT

ParticleRenderType=SPRITE

ParticleRandomOrientation=TRUE

ParticleLifeTime=0.040000

ParticleLifeTimeDeviation=0.035000

ParticleWeight=-0.10000

ParticleRandomness=0.010000

ParticleDragFactor=20.000000

ParticleInheritence=0.900000

ParticleColorTableType=TABLE

ParticleColor[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleColor[01].Value=0.450000,0.450000,0.450000,0.400000

ParticleColor[02].Time=0.200000

ParticleColor[02].Value=0.350000,0.350000,0.350000,0.300000

ParticleColor[03].Time=0.700000

ParticleColor[03].Value=0.160000,0.150000,0.100000,0.150000

ParticleColor[04].Time=1.000000

ParticleColor[04].Value=0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000

ParticleSizeTableType=TABLE

ParticleSize[01].Time=0.000000

ParticleSize[01].Value=0.520000

ParticleSize[02].Time=0.200000

ParticleSize[02].Value=0.450000

ParticleSize[03].Time=0.600000

ParticleSize[03].Value=0.260000

ParticleSize[04].Time=0.800000

ParticleSize[04].Value=0.200000

ParticleSize[05].Time=1.000000

ParticleSize[05].Value=0.000000

ParticleSizeDeviation=0.000000

TextureMaterial=AfterburnerMaterial

 

I have added the SubLightSourceX=TRUE and SubLightSrcDist=5.0 lines to the first emitter as well cause it looks a bit better i think. Planes like the TU-22 wont have this big flame anymore cause the engine sits very far within the plane so the AB is hardly visible. The ABs have a nice shape now. The Phantom looks much better with the new AB shape. Can't believe how much of an immersion killer the default AB shape was ;).

[195th_Sith 0]

I dont know if I understand completely.. I added those entries to the enviorment file, but I did not see them already in there? In fact I didnt see anything similar at all in that file. It was extracted in the Flight folder. Is this correct? I just added those entries to the bottom of the file.

 

Any help is welcome. Thanks.

 

S!

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

Nope. All emitters have their own number. As you can see in my post, the afterburner emitters have the number 72 and 73. When you copy these lines into the particlesystem.ini, you have to put them into the correct order i.e. put them in the place where the "old" 72 and 73 emitters are.

 

PS: The enviroment.ini is the wrong place of course ;). All effects are in the particlesystem.ini which is also located in the flight folder. If you haven't extract the file already, you have to do so in order to copy the lines into it.

Good luck and enjoy the "new" AB ;). Btw, you can also thumble around with the shape. Just change the particlesize numbers at the end of the two emitter entries.

[Hawker 0]

Here's John's MOD in the game... nice work!

[VF-2 John Banks 0]

:) I saw that the AB can be slightly too thick within the engine on planes like the F-100 and F-4. I have changed the fist two numbers from 52 and 45 to 51 and 44. I have also set the drag factor from 20.00000 to 0.0000. I always wondered why the AB starts to bend when you move the plane. I never saw that in real life or an a video tape. No matter how fast you move the plane around, the AB always stays straight. When you set the drag factor to 0.0, this effect is almost not noticable anymore. I think this is the only effect the dragfactor has. Haven't noticed any side effects yet.

[Echo333 0]

Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

 

Echo