How to...?

[BoeingGuy 0]

Add smoke to this model for the forward 3 funnels?http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads-fil...56-details.htmlI've tried and tried and cannot place the smoke correctly. How do I position it accurately? Also, why does it pose such an FPS hit? Zoomed in, I lose about 15-20 FPS.Thanks in advance!

[Lord Farringdon 493]

Hi BoeingGuy,You will need to give more information about what you are trying to do. Are you trying to add and position new (extra) smoke to the model or are you just trying to position the smoke that already exists on the model? Are you trying to do this for a user model (using the aircraft config file) or for an AI model (using the sim config file)? RegardsTerry(-:

[BoeingGuy 0]

Hi Terry,Thanks for the reply, yes I'm trying to add extra smoke that never came with the model (this was not the case in FS9, where I had 2 models and tried to position the smoke, but never mind that) and I sure am trying to do this for a user model. So I need to get a smoke FX effect file from somewhere and somehow, I dunno how, position it on the model using some utility.Thank you!

[Lord Farringdon 493]

Hi BoeingGuy. I live in New Zealand and unless you live in Australia, its the opposite side to the rest of the world,(-: hence my slow reply. There are two elements to providing smoke for your model. First, the effect needs to be added and second it needs to be positioned. There are two different ways to do this. One way requires a lot of file manipulation and allows you to have many different effects including wake, smoke, steam, distress rockets, flares etc. The smoke effects will turn on and off automatically so that smoke is only visible when the vessel is under way. The other method is much more simple and allows you to have just wake and smoke/steam effects with the downside being you have to manually turn the smoke/steam on and off. We will keep this simple and concentrate on the second method only. I will assume you have very little knowledge and will spell each step out but I am sure you have some knowledge of these things but I just don't know what. So please excuse any simplistic explanations. Due to restrictions on characters, when you see a quotation mark like this " it really means a square bracket. The 'aircraft.cfg' file is where you need to work to get your smoke effects working. The file will be contained in your C:....Microsoft Flight Simulator XSimobjectsAirplanes folder under the folder for the Titanic model. (Note: Your hard drive letter might not be C: and your path to Microsoft Flight Simulator X might vary ). Once you find the file, immediately copy it and rename the original file 'aircraft.bak'. Name the copy file 'aircraft.cfg'. Work on this copy file not the .bak file. Now open the file using Notepad. Once you have opened this file you will see that it has a lot of sections in it that relate to aircraft systems and the like. Remember, in FSX your Titanic model is in fact an aircraft. It just looks like a ship, floats on water and won't takeoff if it goes too fast! But it's still an aircraft. The sections in the file are identified by section headings for example "fltsim.0", "General" etc.. Look for a section titled "Effects". What is contained under the "Effect" section will depend on the model's author but it will probably contain at least two entries similar to: wake = fx_wakewater = fx_spray The keywords 'wake' and 'water' provide the ability to add different visual wake and spray effects by adding an effect file name such as in the example above 'fx_wake' and 'fx_spray'. I explained above that there were two methods of applying smoke to your model and the first (more complex method) uses this "Effects" section. The second and simpler method uses the "Smokesystem" section which may not exist in your configuration file since you have no smoke effects at all. So let's start by making changes to your config file. To keep things tidy, copy the following text immediately below your "Effects" section: "SMOKESYSTEM"smoke.0 = 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, fx_engsmoke2smoke.1 = 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, fx_engsmoke2smoke.2 = 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, fx_engsmoke2smoke.3 = 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, fx_engsmoke2You can set multiple smoke points on your model and you can even place other effects besides smoke and steam on these points, but be aware these other effects may not react as intended. The first smoke point must be 'smoke.0' and all other smoke points must be in numerical sequence. At the end of each line you will see 'fx_engsmoke2'. This is the name of the effects file we are going to use for your funnel smoke. Let's make sure this file actually exists before we go too far and get dissapointed. Under your main Microsoft Flight Simulator X folder there will be a subdirectory called 'Effects'. Open it and look for the file 'fx_engsmoke2.fx' I'm pretty sure its a default file but if it does not exist look for 'fx_engsmoke.fx' instead. Notice the many effects files availabe to use. Cool eh? :-cool Having confirmed the file you intend to use actually exists in the Effects folder, you can now return to your config file and the [smokesystem] section. Now ensure the effects file name at the end of each smoke point line is written exactly as the name of the file in the effects folder. The '.fx' extension is not necessary however.OK. Remember I said there were two elements to providing smoke on your model and that the first was to add the effect. That's what we have just done and we now need to test it. So, save the config file, start the simulator and load your ship. You will need to press the 'I' button on your keyboard to activate the smoke. (This assumesthat you or some third party program have not changed the button assignment for smoke system activation). You should see one plume of smoke probably somewhere near the centre of the ship. This is actually four plumes all in the same place!Ok, if that worked your home and hosed because the next task is to simply position the individual smoke points over the funnels on your ship. This will require you to change the values of your smoke points and to open and reopen your simulator on a trial and error basis until you get the values right. We can simplify this a bit by using the 'Aircraft (reload)' assignment to avoid having to shut the simulator down all the time. Let me explain... When you run up FSX, it caches all the model information. If you make a change to a configuration file while FSX is running you have to flush out the cache before the changes will take effect. This means shutting the simulator down and starting it up again. A right royal pain in the posterior!:-grr But fortunately you can assign a keystroke to the 'Aircraft(reload)' event that'll save some time. with the simulator up and running and your ship loaded, navigate to Options/Settings/Controls and select the 'Buttons/Keys' tab. In the event category window, ensure 'All events' is selected and then scroll down to the 'Aircraft (reload)' event and highlight it. The default has no keyboard button assigned. Select the change ssignment button at the bottom of the window and assign a unique keystroke (I use Shift + /). Click OK to close the controls window and save your new keystroke combination. This will mean that when you make a change to your configuration file, and save that change, all you need to do is focus back on the FSX window, type your Aircraft reload button assigment and your modified aircraft configuration file will be re-read so you can immediately see the effect of your changes. (You must press the 'I' button again). The final thing you need to know is how the value lines on each smoke point work. Every FSX model has a reference datum point which is generally around the centre of the model. Not surprisingly, its co-ordinates are 0,0,0. Many objects and effects including lights, jetway exits, ground contact points and centre of gravity points (to name a few) are referenced in feet from the models reference datum point. The same is true for the smoke effects you are now going to manipulate into their correct positions. As you can see from above, each smoke point has three values assigned to it. The first value is always the fore and aft value with a positive figure taking the affect forward of the reference datum and a negative figure moving it behind the reference datum. The second value will move the effect laterally to the right of the datum if is a positive number and to the left of the datum if it is a negative number. Finally, the third figure will move the effect vertically above the datum if it is a positive figure and below the datum if it is negative. I have used 100 feet above the datum to hopefully get the smoke out of the hull so you can see it! Modify one smoke point at a time until its positioned correctly to avoid getting messed up and remember to save the configuation file after each change or else it won't take effect. Then use your aircraft reload button to see what your modifcation did to the smoke. And remember, press 'I'. Good luck BoeingguyTerry (-:

[BoeingGuy 0]

Thank you!How's this?http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186222.jpgAll I have to do is add steam streams to the vents on the side of the 4th funnel and I guess I'm set!Thanks!

[BoeingGuy 0]

And the final results are:Stationary:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186239.jpgIn motion:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186240.jpgAnd after I noticed a few bad positioning points after taking these screens, I repositioned the white steam, so now it is all perfect. Thank you very much!Actually, now there is no more black smoke coming from the funnels. I used the fx_Smokestack.fx for a more realistic tone. And all of a sudden it does not show anymore. Why could this be?

[Lord Farringdon 493]

Fantastic! I love the steam wafts. :-yellow1 . You've done areally great job!! Why only three funnels emmitting smoke? Is that because the fourth funnel was only for show on the real ship? With regards to changing the effects and losing the smoke, make sure the new effect actually exists in the Effects folder, make sure you have spelt it right in the smokesystem section of your aircraft.cfg file and above all, remember to press 'I' to display the smoke effect. If that doesn't work then I suggest you look closer at the smokesystem section to ensure you haven't corrupted it some way when you have been changing the effect.. Once again..Great screeenies BoeingGuy.RegardsTerry (-: