MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
I'll work up a new set of contrail effects to go with this, and include it in the next package.
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The Staff of SOH
AnKor's Shaders
- Thread starter MajorMagee
- Start date
I have
been waiting for this ... the night raids will never be the same again!
been waiting for this ... the night raids will never be the same again!
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
We've run into a bit of a snag, but nothing we can't work out eventually.
Flamingskull5000
SOH-CM-2025
In a perfect world, when this package has all the kinks worked out, it would have an auto-installer so dummies like myself could install it........just saying.
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
Okay , we have it working as a Track rather than a Particle Effect now, but I ran out of time to put the package together and get it uploaded tonight.
The contrails start to become visible at 7,500 m and are full strength by 8,000 m and above. The altitude is a parameter in the TextureMagic.ini so you may change it as you like, but the default is accurate for the typical conditions over Europe in WW2.
The contrails start to become visible at 7,500 m and are full strength by 8,000 m and above. The altitude is a parameter in the TextureMagic.ini so you may change it as you like, but the default is accurate for the typical conditions over Europe in WW2.
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
I just uploaded a new version:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=13&linkid=22449
This incredible addition to CFS3 was begun by Andrey Korchinskiy in December of 2013 and was originally intended to become part of WOFF so that it could access DX9 functionality. Since then it has grown to be so much more. It's major features are:
External Views
Aircraft Self Shadowing
Anti-alias Aircraft Shadows On The Ground
Tree and Building Shadows
Dynamic Lighting
Environmental Reflections
Horizon Line Haze Blending
Eliminated In Cloud Square Border
Bump Mapping
Ability To Add Shading Textures To Aircraft That Don't Reference Them In Their Model File
Realistic Water Rendering
Cloud and Terrain Shadows
Adjustable Field Of View Angle
Adjustable Night Sprite Effects Levels
Searchlights
Self-Illuminating Secenery Objects
Altitude Controlled Track Effects
Tree Rendering with Alpha Transparency Effects
Cockpit Views
Dynamic Reticles Variable Range Settings
Mouse View
Mouse Scroll Zoom
Cockpit Lighting
Luminous Gages
Improved TrackIR Image Rendering
Performance Enhancements
Multi-Processor CPU Management
Modern Rendering Optimizations
Cfs3config.exe No Longer Needed Everytime Video Drivers Update
Auto Generates Mip Maps
These files are installed into the CFS3 main directory the same way as AnKor's previous versions.
This package includes some of my personal modifications, including new water files in the Effects folder, and a couple of adjusted .fx files (the originals are included with - Copy added to the names) in the Shader30 folder. These adjusted .fx files include several new variables near their tops that will let you fine tune the look of some of the effects. The suggested values are listed in the comments for the variable.
The foamamount value in SeaWater.fx is dependent on the water files you're using and is the cut-off brightness that switches the rendering animation from water to foam. Using a different set of water files than the ones I've included will most likely require you to change this value.
The TextureMagic.ini file has the list of my animated gunsite files already included too. The bottom of this file is where you can make edits to customize what will be included or not in the new auto-adjustment of special effect brightness at night to fit your particular installation.
I've also edited several settings in the d3d8.ini like the FOV that you may want to change to fit your particular set-up better since I'm running at an extra wide 3440 x 1440 resolution.
*** Warning ***
You must turn off Dual Pass Render, and turn on the High Resolution Z Buffer, and Disable Shadows. in cfs3confing.exe.
Z Bias Resolution should be typically be limited to 15. Higher values can lead to some rendering problems on some systems.
Z Bias Flat effects should be set to 25 to reduce flickering of the bomb crater decals.
The CFS3 Default Water Detail Texture Size is 5 and the SeaWater.fx settings in this package are preset to match. Using a different texture size will change the appearance of the wave dimensions unless you adjust the values in SeaWater.fx to match.
Feb 2017 Changes:
Head Shake calculated from the cockpit and gunner station locations. As the aircraft maneuvers your view is shifted in response to the g-forces being experienced. d3d8.ini contains new parameters to control the intesiity of this effect, and it can now be switched completely off as well.
Mouse Look activates in the cockpit when you move the mouse allowing you to dynamically change your view direction. If you stop moving the mouse it will rotate back to the default forward view direction after a preset time. Mouse look can be switched on/off in-game by clicking RIGHT mouse button and it starts OFF by default. So to use mouse look you will need to right-click the mouse once. This can also be temporarily disabled in game by going to an external view or holding down the "Alt" key in the cockpit.
Mouse Scroll Wheel Zoom works like using the [ and ] keys. The step size and smoothness of the transition between levels is set in the d3d8.ini.
This version also fixes the old "sky-colored triangles at edges of the screen" issue caused by head rotation when using TrackIR.
Improved CPU utilization.
Altitude Controled Track Effects are now available so contrails only show up at their appropriate altitudes.
Self-Illumination capability has been expanded to allow even black surfaces to display a light map. This will let you have lights shown on parts of scenery objects like building windows.
A comprehensive set of user instructions and developer notes with example images are included in this package.
MajorMagee
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=13&linkid=22449
This incredible addition to CFS3 was begun by Andrey Korchinskiy in December of 2013 and was originally intended to become part of WOFF so that it could access DX9 functionality. Since then it has grown to be so much more. It's major features are:
External Views
Aircraft Self Shadowing
Anti-alias Aircraft Shadows On The Ground
Tree and Building Shadows
Dynamic Lighting
Environmental Reflections
Horizon Line Haze Blending
Eliminated In Cloud Square Border
Bump Mapping
Ability To Add Shading Textures To Aircraft That Don't Reference Them In Their Model File
Realistic Water Rendering
Cloud and Terrain Shadows
Adjustable Field Of View Angle
Adjustable Night Sprite Effects Levels
Searchlights
Self-Illuminating Secenery Objects
Altitude Controlled Track Effects
Tree Rendering with Alpha Transparency Effects
Cockpit Views
Dynamic Reticles Variable Range Settings
Mouse View
Mouse Scroll Zoom
Cockpit Lighting
Luminous Gages
Improved TrackIR Image Rendering
Performance Enhancements
Multi-Processor CPU Management
Modern Rendering Optimizations
Cfs3config.exe No Longer Needed Everytime Video Drivers Update
Auto Generates Mip Maps
These files are installed into the CFS3 main directory the same way as AnKor's previous versions.
This package includes some of my personal modifications, including new water files in the Effects folder, and a couple of adjusted .fx files (the originals are included with - Copy added to the names) in the Shader30 folder. These adjusted .fx files include several new variables near their tops that will let you fine tune the look of some of the effects. The suggested values are listed in the comments for the variable.
The foamamount value in SeaWater.fx is dependent on the water files you're using and is the cut-off brightness that switches the rendering animation from water to foam. Using a different set of water files than the ones I've included will most likely require you to change this value.
The TextureMagic.ini file has the list of my animated gunsite files already included too. The bottom of this file is where you can make edits to customize what will be included or not in the new auto-adjustment of special effect brightness at night to fit your particular installation.
I've also edited several settings in the d3d8.ini like the FOV that you may want to change to fit your particular set-up better since I'm running at an extra wide 3440 x 1440 resolution.
*** Warning ***
You must turn off Dual Pass Render, and turn on the High Resolution Z Buffer, and Disable Shadows. in cfs3confing.exe.
Z Bias Resolution should be typically be limited to 15. Higher values can lead to some rendering problems on some systems.
Z Bias Flat effects should be set to 25 to reduce flickering of the bomb crater decals.
The CFS3 Default Water Detail Texture Size is 5 and the SeaWater.fx settings in this package are preset to match. Using a different texture size will change the appearance of the wave dimensions unless you adjust the values in SeaWater.fx to match.
Feb 2017 Changes:
Head Shake calculated from the cockpit and gunner station locations. As the aircraft maneuvers your view is shifted in response to the g-forces being experienced. d3d8.ini contains new parameters to control the intesiity of this effect, and it can now be switched completely off as well.
Mouse Look activates in the cockpit when you move the mouse allowing you to dynamically change your view direction. If you stop moving the mouse it will rotate back to the default forward view direction after a preset time. Mouse look can be switched on/off in-game by clicking RIGHT mouse button and it starts OFF by default. So to use mouse look you will need to right-click the mouse once. This can also be temporarily disabled in game by going to an external view or holding down the "Alt" key in the cockpit.
Mouse Scroll Wheel Zoom works like using the [ and ] keys. The step size and smoothness of the transition between levels is set in the d3d8.ini.
This version also fixes the old "sky-colored triangles at edges of the screen" issue caused by head rotation when using TrackIR.
Improved CPU utilization.
Altitude Controled Track Effects are now available so contrails only show up at their appropriate altitudes.
Self-Illumination capability has been expanded to allow even black surfaces to display a light map. This will let you have lights shown on parts of scenery objects like building windows.
A comprehensive set of user instructions and developer notes with example images are included in this package.
MajorMagee
Frosty
SOH-CM-2025
I tried the new contrail effects but in my install they are 'on' from the moment the engine starts, in other words; not altitude related... What could have gone wrong? I have added the indicated strings to the effects.xml, I copied the folders and other files into ETO v1.50 and added the strings to my aircraft .xpd (and deleted the .bdp).
BTW, what is the second number in the .ini-file 7500|500 again? (And my contrails look different from the ones in your screenie: Mine seem bigger and 'intermittent', like a string of dashes)
An interesting tidbit I came across: I have tried to implement the dynamic reticle in a model that I am building and that gives a weird effect in some situations. When I select a target with the Tactical display open, everything is fine. But when I close the Tactical display with the target still selected, the reticle also disappears. When I close the display after deselecting the target, the reticle stays 'on'. How are those things related?
BTW, what is the second number in the .ini-file 7500|500 again? (And my contrails look different from the ones in your screenie: Mine seem bigger and 'intermittent', like a string of dashes)
An interesting tidbit I came across: I have tried to implement the dynamic reticle in a model that I am building and that gives a weird effect in some situations. When I select a target with the Tactical display open, everything is fine. But when I close the Tactical display with the target still selected, the reticle also disappears. When I close the display after deselecting the target, the reticle stays 'on'. How are those things related?
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
Perhaps I botched the instructions. I thought I copied everything directly from my working ETO install.
Is there an entry in the TexturMagic.ini [HighAltSprite] section for the dds that matches the one you're trying to use for the contrail effect?
The second number is the distance that will be used to transition from no contrails (7,500 m) to full intensity contrails (8,000 m).
I've never seen any connection between the reticle and the tactical display before.
Is there an entry in the TexturMagic.ini [HighAltSprite] section for the dds that matches the one you're trying to use for the contrail effect?
The second number is the distance that will be used to transition from no contrails (7,500 m) to full intensity contrails (8,000 m).
I've never seen any connection between the reticle and the tactical display before.
Last edited:
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
You need to be using the new February dated dll, and generic.fx files.
TextureMagic.ini has
[HighAltSprite]
tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=7500|500
tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds=7500|500
effects.xml has
<high_contrail_1 ClassName="TrackEffect" FlatTrack="0" Lifetime="0" InitialDelay="0" ParticleLifetime="30" FadeInTime="5" FadeOutTime="25" PosX="0" PosY="-0.5" PosZ="0" CountSegments="2000" SegmentLength="12" Width="3.6" WidthGrow="1" InitialAlpha="0.0" InitialColor="255 255 255" Alpha="0.33" Color="255 255 255" FinalAlpha="0.0" FinalColor="222 222 255" BlendMode="QuadSprite" Texture="tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds" ZBias=".03"/>
<high_contrail_2 ClassName="TrackEffect" FlatTrack="0" Lifetime="0" InitialDelay="0" ParticleLifetime="30" FadeInTime="5" FadeOutTime="25" PosX="0" PosY="0.5" PosZ="0" CountSegments="2743" SegmentLength="8.75" Width="3.6" WidthGrow="1" InitialAlpha="0.0" InitialColor="255 255 255" Alpha="0.33" Color="255 255 255" FinalAlpha="0.0" FinalColor="222 222 255" BlendMode="QuadSprite" Texture="tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds" ZBias=".03"/>
<fx_high_contrail ClassName="GroupEffect" Effect0="high_contrail_1" Effect1="high_contrail_2" Effect2=""/>
the ETO_P_51d_100_45 aircraft xdp has these lines in the effects section
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" PosX="0.52" PosZ="2.2" PosY="0.0"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" PosX="-0.52" PosZ="2.2" PosY="0.0"/>
the effects\fxtextures folder has
tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds and tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds
TextureMagic.ini has
[HighAltSprite]
tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=7500|500
tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds=7500|500
effects.xml has
<high_contrail_1 ClassName="TrackEffect" FlatTrack="0" Lifetime="0" InitialDelay="0" ParticleLifetime="30" FadeInTime="5" FadeOutTime="25" PosX="0" PosY="-0.5" PosZ="0" CountSegments="2000" SegmentLength="12" Width="3.6" WidthGrow="1" InitialAlpha="0.0" InitialColor="255 255 255" Alpha="0.33" Color="255 255 255" FinalAlpha="0.0" FinalColor="222 222 255" BlendMode="QuadSprite" Texture="tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds" ZBias=".03"/>
<high_contrail_2 ClassName="TrackEffect" FlatTrack="0" Lifetime="0" InitialDelay="0" ParticleLifetime="30" FadeInTime="5" FadeOutTime="25" PosX="0" PosY="0.5" PosZ="0" CountSegments="2743" SegmentLength="8.75" Width="3.6" WidthGrow="1" InitialAlpha="0.0" InitialColor="255 255 255" Alpha="0.33" Color="255 255 255" FinalAlpha="0.0" FinalColor="222 222 255" BlendMode="QuadSprite" Texture="tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds" ZBias=".03"/>
<fx_high_contrail ClassName="GroupEffect" Effect0="high_contrail_1" Effect1="high_contrail_2" Effect2=""/>
the ETO_P_51d_100_45 aircraft xdp has these lines in the effects section
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" PosX="0.52" PosZ="2.2" PosY="0.0"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" PosX="-0.52" PosZ="2.2" PosY="0.0"/>
the effects\fxtextures folder has
tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds and tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
I was able to see the link between the reticle and the tactical display once, but then was unable to replicate it again after many tries. I'm not sure what the special circumstances were the one time it happened.
I also tried taking off and climbing to 30,000 ft, and saw no contrails displayed until I passed through 25,000 ft. Diving and climbing through the threshold repeatedly worked as it should have. The intermittent puffs make me wonder if there is something conflicting in the effects.xml. I tried to use new names for the effects and dds files, but maybe something is duplicated in your install. Can you do a word search to see if the names are reused by another effect?
I also tried taking off and climbing to 30,000 ft, and saw no contrails displayed until I passed through 25,000 ft. Diving and climbing through the threshold repeatedly worked as it should have. The intermittent puffs make me wonder if there is something conflicting in the effects.xml. I tried to use new names for the effects and dds files, but maybe something is duplicated in your install. Can you do a word search to see if the names are reused by another effect?
mongoose
SOH-CM-2025
Interesting re contrails in WW II
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.2392/pdf
There was some altitude variation related to current weather so contrails could appear even at about 6000 m. I imagine this would be true especially in some winter conditions.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.2392/pdf
There was some altitude variation related to current weather so contrails could appear even at about 6000 m. I imagine this would be true especially in some winter conditions.
Bravo/4
Charter Member
Andy where are these files located for download? I thought I had the latest, but looking at it I don't?
Frosty
SOH-CM-2025
Yep, did all that / got all that (downloaded the files using the link you provided) and my aircraft shows exactly the contrail as per John's screenies above. Only mine go back to ground level. So there's gotta be something else. I 'll do the word search when I get back from work.
@John: Do your contrails disappear below 7500m?
