Exhaust effect for radials

65olschool · Feb 19, 2022

I mentioned in the screenshots thread that my latest project was to treak the effects section on some aircraft to correct the exhaust positions and add some panel lights and landing lights to aircraft which didnt have them already and I was asked how to do it well the below image sort of shows my method using absolute positioning. I just drop in the number of exhaust trails i need going off the real aircraft and what the modeller and the skinner have given me to work with.

ie below is a oldie but a goodie A-26, now the skin shows 14 exhaust per engine so I drop 28 effects lines in the xdp and tweaking them using PosX="xx" PosZ="xx" PosY="xx" adjusting each value so I have them in the right position.

Next I wasn't really happy with the existing exhaust flames for radials in general.

Original exhaust

So I tweaked, pushed, pulled and rolled the normal one to come up with this

New exhaust

If anybody wants it here are the steps.

Make a backup copy of your existing effects.xml file and rename it to whatever you prefer so you can go back to it if something goes awry modding your working version.
Then just add the below lines to your effects file.

<exhaust_blue_flame_radial ClassName="ParticleEffect" EmitterShape="Point" EmitterRadius="0" EmitterLifetime="3600" EmitterPosX="0" EmitterPosY="0" EmitterPosZ="0" ZBias="0.0" EmissionAngleHoriz="180" EmissionAngleVert="90" EmissionSpread=".01" EmissionRate="300" EmissionRateVar="100" InitialDelay="3.5" InitialCount="0" MinDistance="30" MaxDistance="2500" StopMethod="0" ZSort="0" UprightSprite="0" RandomStartRotation="1" RandomRotationDirection="1" Lifetime=".005" LifetimeVar="0" Speed="9" SpeedVar="3" MaxSpeed="600" MaxSpeedVar="0.0" Accel="0" AccelVar="0.0" AccelTime="0.0" Gravity="0" Drag="0" DragDelay="0.0" InheritVelocity=".96" Size=".26" SizeVar=".08" MaxSize=".00001" MaxSizeVar="0" GrowRate=".005" GrowRateVar="0" RotationRate="200" RotationRateVar="100" FadeInTime=".05" InitialColor="255 255 255" InitialAlpha="180" Color="255 255 255" Alpha="120" FadeOutTime=".1" FinalColor="255 255 255" FinalAlpha="0" Texture="JetExhaustBlue.dds" BlendMode="Add"/>

Next make a backup copy of the xdp on the plane you wish to use the effect on and rename the copy to whatever.

Go to the bottom of the xdp file looking for the effects section and find the section relating to the exhaust during flight, your looking for an -
- Effect Type="track" EffectName="fighter_exhaust_blue_flame" or "bomber_exhaust_blue_flame" see below for example, yours may have less or more entries.

Last thing you have to do is change the "fighter_exhaust_blue_flame" or "bomber_exhaust_blue_flame" to the new effect "exhaust_blue_flame_radial"

<Effects>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="ac_Light_cabin_red_small" PosX="-0.2" PosZ="3.5" PosY="0.45" MinVel="0.20" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="ac_Light_cabin_red_small" PosX="0.1" PosZ="3.5" PosY="0.45" MinVel="0.20" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_ac_Light_landing" PosX="-5.9" PosZ="0.75" PosY="0.45" MinVel="1" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_ac_Light_landing_effect" PosX="-5.9" PosZ="0.75" PosY="5.37" MinVel="1" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_ac_Light_landing" PosX="5.9" PosZ="0.75" PosY="0.45" MinVel="1" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_ac_Light_landing_effect" PosX="5.9" PosZ="0.75" PosY="5.37" MinVel="1" MaxVel="60"></Effect>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" MinVel="80" MaxVel="100" PosX="-10.3" PosY="0.7" PosZ="-1.5"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" MinVel="80" MaxVel="100" PosX="10.3" PosY="0.7" PosZ="-1.5"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine1" EffectName="fx_engstrt_jet" PosX="3.75" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine0" EffectName="fx_engstrt_jet" PosX="-3.8" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine1" EffectName="fx_smoke_touchdown" PosX="3.75" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine0" EffectName="fx_smoke_touchdown" PosX="-3.8" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine1" EffectName="fx_engstrt" PosX="3.75" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="StartEngine0" EffectName="fx_engstrt" PosX="-3.8" PosZ="1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="3.65" PosZ="1.1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="-3.7" PosZ="1.1" PosY="-0.3"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="3.65" PosZ="1.15" PosY="-0.325"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="-3.7" PosZ="1.15" PosY="-0.325"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="3.65" PosZ="1.1" PosY="-0.35"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="exhaust_blue_flame_radial" PosX="-3.7" PosZ="1.1" PosY="-0.35"/>
</Effects>

When done delete the bdp then load the game and marvel at your skill for tweaking the game (or throw your hands up at how stupid you could be for messing with what was a good thing LOL)

Of course if it fails and you need to go back, you did read the earlier steps about making backups didnt you.

Final note - some aircraft had flame dampers or ring collectors for a reason, resist the urge to put a flame on those aircraft.

Mick

sixstrings5859 · Feb 20, 2022

Thanks for sharing Mick. Useful information ! Regards,Scott

Exhaust effect for radials

65olschool

SOH-CM-2025

sixstrings5859

Charter Member