Combined Effects.xml Uploaded

[Daiwilletti]

I've uploaded an effects.xml file which works in my MAW, ETO and Bob installs. It will be found under CFS3 other - Effects when admins accept it. It has most if not all of the new effects associated with all the loverly new aircraft recently created for CFS3 including Typhoons, Spitfires and FW 190s.

The effects.xml is in alphabetic order to make finding entries easier. There are very few if any duplicate entries.

I'll be interested to hear if it makes a difference, I've been using most of this stuff for a while so I have nothing to compare it with.

[alcanallen]

Well done that man,iv`e downloaded and installed the xml in one of my ETO`s and it looks good,did you work on the gun smoke as it appears a lot nicer now.
alcanallen

[Led Zeppelin]

Thanks, downloading now

[Daiwilletti]

Well done that man,iv`e downloaded and installed the xml in one of my ETO`s and it looks good,did you work on the gun smoke as it appears a lot nicer now.
alcanallen

Well lets hope its all good. The file is 4.2 Mb so way bigger than other effects.xml. When I was merging the files I kept coming across sections of old effects that had gone from "newer" versions. I have tried to retain everything so long as it has a different name, so maybe some of the older standard effects can look a bit better.

[MajorMagee]

This breaks the altitude dependent contrail effect for use with AnKor's Shaders.

Here's the section that needs to be replaced.

<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"/>

also post #723 in this thread http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...Shaders/page29 has instructions for fixing the alpha transparency for the wingtip G Trail effect, and provides a way to make it altitude dependent.

<fx_N_gtrail ClassName="GroupEffect" Effect0="N_track_contrail_s"/>
<N_track_contrail_s ClassName="TrackEffect" FlatTrack="0" Lifetime="0" InitialDelay="0" ParticleLifetime="0.15" FadeInTime="0.02" FadeOutTime="0.12" PosX="0" PosY="0" PosZ="0" CountSegments="5" SegmentLength="2" Width="0.25" WidthGrow="1.2" InitialAlpha="0.00" InitialColor="250 250 255" Alpha="0.55" Color="250 250 255" FinalAlpha="0.00" FinalColor="250 250 255" BlendMode="QuadSprite" Texture="tr_condenstrail_basis3.dds" ZBias=".03"/>

[Daiwilletti]

Thanks very much, Majormagee.

Just to clarify:

1. You recommend deleting the high_contrail entries, and
2. You recommend replacing the N_track_contrail_s entry (incidentally it is duplicated in the version I uploaded!) with the one you provide, which refers to a different texture?

If so, I can upload the amended version shortly.

NBB if anybody actually reads this thread, I forgot to spell out something in the installation instructions for the combined effects.xml:

It is not a good idea to keep the original effects.xml in a renamed form in the root folder of you install. When replacing the effects.xml with the combined effects.xml, REMOVE the original and back it up in a place outside the CFS3 install you are using. Otherwise, CFS3.exe will likely just mush up the effects and choose at random, it will be harder to observe any differences.

[MajorMagee]

Both are replacement entries that require the tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds, tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds and tr_condenstrail_basis3.dds files from AnKor's Shader upload to work.

I also see that the Lippisch P13 effects need to be added, so I'm going through a similar compare and merge exercise right now for Jets, PTO, DPC Korea, and Firepower to find all the other effects that could be incorporated into this master effects file. It's going to take me a while...

[mongoose]

I have a whole load of entries for Dan's TIs and Markers but not sure if they are worth adding if no one has the actually items. let me know and I can send to either of you; assuming that's OK with Dan. To work with Ankor all the needed dds files have to be tied to TextureMagic.ini anyway.

[Daiwilletti]

@MM, thanks got it. Will "effect" the changes.

@ James, I think it is worth doing.

I will hold off a little while before uploading additions in the effects.xml. I forsee it being a bit of a work in progress; a bit like the shaders!

[Daiwilletti]

A modified effects.xml has been uploaded, to recognise the changes identified by Majormagee with vapour trails.

[Daiwilletti]

Majormagee has been working hard on a super combined effects.xml, including effects from Pacific theatres. Mine only combined European theatres. Also I've picked up one or two important omissions from my combined effects.xml. So I suggest people keep an eye out for the next version, rather than continue to upload this one.

Thanks for you hard work, Majormagee

[MajorMagee]

I believe we just rooted out a long standing issue with the bullet impact sound being heard from very far away without any distance attenuation.

[MajorMagee]

While we were working on this we noticed that the oil_slick1 texture did not blend in very naturally. Since it's used for quite a number of effects it prompted us to modify it to make it more transparent, a little lighter, and with less contrast. Here's the result:

At Sea





On Land

[Bravo/4]

Yea much better!

[mongoose]

This brought me back to thinking of how far out one can see smoke as in thread http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ay-after-raids which brought me back to http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...-is-this/page5 which I will bump now. As the insane ring tweak is beyond my current understanding, I wondered how far out those tweaks enable one to see smoke now? Also are there smoke effects which sort of spread out the smoke or make it angle up rather than going straight up?

[MajorMagee]

Yes, there are parameters that can make the smoke spread as it rises, and drift with the wind.

In one case the drag parameter has been unintentionally set way too high and the smoke would race off in a lateral direction like it was in a hurricane. That's the sort of error we've been taking the time to sort out.

[Daiwilletti]

The combined effects.xml file has now been replaced with a combined effects package (see new thread)

[alcanallen]

Morning! wonderful addition to our CFS3 experience,you have really changed a lot in the sim,great work guys,much appreciated by all i`m sure.
alcanallen.

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

Thanks kindly major,you're hard work making our sim so much better is always greatly appreciated..

cheers!,Jason..

[mongoose]

OK, I am checking what may seem to be missing, or actually, unless somehow re named. This may end up as several post!

1.<START_GECKO_SPITFIRE_VIII_EFFECTS_JUNE_26_2016/>

<SPITFIRE_VIII_ENGINE_EFFECTS/>

and

<START_GECKO_FW_190A_EFFECTS_SEPTEMBER_1_2017/>

<FW_190A_ENGINE_EFFECTS/>

and

<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_WEAPON_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_DX9_EFFECTS/>
and

<START_GECKO_TYPHOON_EFFECTS_DECEMBER_23_2016/>

<TYPHOON_ENGINE_EFFECTS/>
<TYPHOON_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS/>
<TYPHOON_DAMAGE_EFFECTS/>
<TYPHOON_WEAPON_EFFECTS/>
<TYPHOON_DX9_EFFECTS/>

and

<START_GECKO_SPITFIRE_VIII_EFFECTS_JUNE_26_2016/>

<SPITFIRE_VIII_ENGINE_EFFECTS/>

etc.


are all these in??

[MajorMagee]

Yes, they're in there, but these descriptive headers were removed as part of the alphabetic sorting process as they no longer were connected to anything meaningful. Something similar happened to the connections between FX entries and the individual Particle Effect lines that they use.

At first I was bothered that this might hurt maintainability because you have to hunt down where the components pieces of an effect reside in the list versus them already all being in once section. Then I realized that since everything is alphabetical you can find them quicker than before because you don't have to guess where they might be in the list. For some entries it's the same difference, but for others that reuse existing effect components from other effects, or ones that inadvertently reused names creating conflicts or unexpected results, it actually simplifies the maintenance issues quite a bit.

In the end the most useful thing about alphabetical sorting was that it placed all of the different lines for the same effect next to each other as we tried to merge all of the different versions of the effect files. This made it easy to test each one and then set the best one as the default, while preserving the other ones for reuse if desired. It also makes it easier to test and repair an effect line that was being called by a specific aircraft of weapon system xml.

The challenge in the future will be if developer teams choose to keep setting up new effects in the old format. To keep things simple they will ask the user to drop blocks of new lines in that are out of order, and may or may not include inappropriate references to what's in the rest of the list.

My recommendation would be that in the future any new code be structured using a contiguous naming system, and then the block can be inserted in just one place. For example:

<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component1/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component1_Sub 1/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component1_Sub 2/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component1_Sub 3/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component2/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_Component3/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT2/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT2_Component1/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT2_Component2/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT2_Component3/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT3/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT3_Component1/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT3_Component2/>
<FW_190A_AIRCRAFT_EFFECTS_EFFECT3_Component3/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT1/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT1_component1/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT2/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT2_component1/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT3/>
<FW_190A_DAMAGE_EFFECTS_EFFECT3_component1/>
<FW_190A_DX9_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_DX9_EFFECTS_EFFECT1/>
<FW_190A_DX9_EFFECTS_EFFECT2/>
<FW_190A_DX9_EFFECTS_EFFECT3/>
<FW_190A_WEAPON_EFFECTS/>
<FW_190A_WEAPON_EFFECTS_EFFECT1/>
<FW_190A_WEAPON_EFFECTS_EFFECT2/>
<FW_190A_WEAPON_EFFECTS_EFFECT3/>

Certainly it will take some foresight to do this in a way that works for both readability and maintainability, but it does let us continue to add to the master effects file without devolving back to the mixed up effect structures we've had to contend with in the past.

[mongoose]

1. You two have certainly done a really impressive job and your idea for new effect's notation is a good point. So what I hate to do now is introduce a whole series of new effects which maybe not many people have; although I am sure Dan won't mind if I upload the files and stuff that go with them, as they are mostly his.

Anyway I attach them here FYI and if you want to add them I could upload the things they go with after asking Dan where necessary.

[MajorMagee]

I can probably work through integrating in the new effects, but the file you attached is empty.

Once we get past that, we'll have two choices for these:

1. Leave them as they are and put the pieces in wherever the fit alphabetically.
2. Leave the high level naming for the new effects alone so they can be used without needing to edit the aircraft files that use them, but rename the subcomponents to keep them grouped together in the list. (This only works if those subcomponents are not reused by other effects)

Which approach do you think we should use?

[mongoose]

Trying again!

I like your contiguous naming system idea

[Daiwilletti]

Thanks for the TOW effects, Mongoose. I'm surprised we didn't have the flak search illumination strings...

Despite the master effects file, there is still plenty of scope for personalisation of the look and feel of a specific install. For example, I have added a whole lot of tracer effects to my gun xdp files, based on some old clip I saw. I read about some British tank rounds having tracer, for example, so I've gone nuts adding tracer to guns and flak guns, makes quite a spectacular show.

One thing I'm finding with my new WQHD monitor, is that the increased resolution seems to make some things like tracer sharper but smaller. At the moment I'm on the hunt through old tracer smoke textures, to see if I can't get a more defined tracer smoke. 8x 50 cal in a P47 would surely leave a stain across the sky....