While converting some Gen 1 mods to Gen 2 I found a way to add the afterburner node effect to older planes which don´t have an afterburner node:
1.- Add a fake engine (no power, no fuel consumption, etc.) to the aircraft.
2.- Create a custom Afterburner effect which has a short "particle life time".
3.- Make the fake engine use the custom effect.
So the aircraft_data.ini and effect.ini should look like this:
aircraft_data.ini (engine section):
SystemName[005]=AfterburnerNodeLeft
...
[AfterburnerNodeLeft]
ReferenceName=FakeAfterBurnerNodeLeft
SystemType=JET_ENGINE
InputName=THROTTLE_CONTROL
EngineID=3
HasAfterburner=TRUE
NumAfterburnerStages=1
SLThrustDry=0.0
SLThrustWet=0.0
ThrustAngles=0.00,0.00,0.00
ThrustPosition=-1.4,0.00,0.00
ThrottleRate=0.5
NozzleAnimationID=
ThrottleRate=0.5
NozzleAnimationID=
IdleThrottle=0.10
IdleRPM=0.68
IdleNozzle=0.0
CruiseThrottle=0.37
CruiseRPM=0.82
CruiseNozzle=0.0
MilThrottle=0.65
MilRPM=1.00
MilNozzle=0.0
MaxThrottle=0.78
MaxRPM=1.00
MaxNozzle=0.0
FullABThrottle=1.12
FullABRPM=1.00
FullABNozzle=1.0
TSFCM0=0.0
TSFCM1=0.0
AfterburnerTSFC=0.0
MinFuelFlow=0.0
ExhaustEmitterName=
ExhaustPosition=-1.501,-8.0,-0.277
AfterburnerEmitterName=FakeABNode
AfterburnerEffectSize=0.8
MinExtentPosition=-1.875,-4.166,-0.652
MaxExtentPosition=-0.96,-6.982, 0.156
FireSuppression=TRUE
GasTempMaxRPM=635.0
GasTempIdleRPM=420.0
GasTempChangeRate=5.0
OverheatTemp=750.0
DamageTempDelta=300.0
OilPressMaxRPM=35.0
OilPressIdleRPM=55.0
OilPressChangeRate=0.5
LowOilPress=12.0
LowOilTempDelta=400.0
and the custom effect:
[EmitterType001]
Name=FakeABNode
EmissionType=ORIENTED_EMITTER
UpdateType=NON_MOVING
MaxVisibleDistance=8000.000000
EmissionRate=0.001000
EmissionVolume=0.010000,0.010000,0.010000
EmissionVelocityTableType=CONSTANT
EmissionVelocity=0.000000,0.000000,0.000000
HasLightSource=TRUE
LightColor=0.405,0.396,0.342
LightRange=250.0
LightSrcOffset=0.0,0.0,0.0
SubLightSourceX=TRUE
SubLightSrcDist=5.0
ParticleUpdateType=SIMPLE_POINT
ParticleRenderType=SPRITE
ParticleRandomOrientation=FALSE
ParticleLifeTime=0.00001
ParticleLifeTimeDeviation=0.0000
ParticleWeight=-0.10000
ParticleRandomness=0.010000
ParticleDragFactor=20.000000
ParticleInheritence=0.900000
ParticleColorTableType=TABLE
ParticleColor[01].Time=0.000000
ParticleColor[01].Value=0.450000,0.450000,0.450000,0.050000
ParticleColor[02].Time=0.200000
ParticleColor[02].Value=0.350000,0.350000,0.350000,0.025000
ParticleSizeTableType=TABLE
ParticleSize[01].Time=0.000000
ParticleSize[01].Value=0.520000
ParticleSize[02].Time=0.250000
ParticleSize[02].Value=0.450000
TextureMaterial=FakeAfterburnerNodeMaterial
[FakeAfterburnerNodeMaterial]
EffectShaderName=effectFire.fx
DepthBufferCheck=TRUE
DepthBufferWrite=FALSE
IgnoreRenderOrder=FALSE
AlphaTestEnabled=FALSE
LightEnabled=FALSE
UseLightLevel=FALSE
SpecularEnabled=FALSE
EmissiveEnabled=FALSE
AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000
ZBufferOffset=2.000000
PriorityLevel=3
BlendOp=BLEND_INV_SRC_ALPHA_ADD_SRC
NumTextureStages=1
TextureStage[01].TextureName=fakeburner.tga
TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE
TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE
TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE
This are the results on the MF F-14A
