B17 Contrails

[mongoose]

I seem not to see these on my B17G, even though I have the effects

<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng0_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng1_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng2_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng3_exh"/>

and I have checked that they are in the effects.xml

Ideas?

[MrZippy]

Proper altitude and temp for contrails to show?

[mongoose]

Well at 20K so I imagine temp in -ve values.

There is the aircraft contrails_B-17 with its own model contrails_B-17.m3d add xdp file with dds �hg3_b17g_main_002_t.dds, but I thought other ac could work with contrails as I knoe fighters do. Maybe EffectName="fx_vapor_trail"??

[AZGunslngr]

I can only speak from a Luftwaffe experience on CFS3, on my bombers and JU-88's I have these in their XDP Effects, and they look awesome. But not sure how they'll look on Allied AC.


<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" PosX="9.9" PosY="1.0" PosZ="-0.9" MinVel="100" MaxVel="115"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" PosX="-9.9" PosY="1.0" PosZ="-0.9" MinVel="100" MaxVel="115"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="bomber_exhaust_smoke" PosX="2.9" PosY="-0.05" PosZ="-.1" MinVel="5" MaxVel="500"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="bomber_exhaust_smoke" PosX="-2.9" PosY="-0.05" PosZ="-.1" MinVel="5" MaxVel="500"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng0_exh_r" />
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng1_exh_r" />

[gecko]

I think 20,000ft may only sometimes be high enough for contrails to generate in the real world.

You are welcome to use fx_vapor_trail from the SJ Spitfires. This one not a particle effect and is more FPS friendly than some that are out there. Note that there is a HighAltSprite section of the textureMagic.ini in the shaders30 folder under which you need to add a line with the name of the texture used by the effect, e.g. "tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=6300|300" in which 6300 is the altitude in meters at which the contrail begins to appear, and 300 is the number of additional meters above that altitude that it takes before the contrail is seen at full strength.

[mongoose]

I can only speak from a Luftwaffe experience on CFS3, on my bombers and JU-88's I have these in their XDP Effects, and they look awesome. But not sure how they'll look on Allied AC.


<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" PosX="9.9" PosY="1.0" PosZ="-0.9" MinVel="100" MaxVel="115"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_N_gtrail" PosX="-9.9" PosY="1.0" PosZ="-0.9" MinVel="100" MaxVel="115"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="bomber_exhaust_smoke" PosX="2.9" PosY="-0.05" PosZ="-.1" MinVel="5" MaxVel="500"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="bomber_exhaust_smoke" PosX="-2.9" PosY="-0.05" PosZ="-.1" MinVel="5" MaxVel="500"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng0_exh_r" />
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng1_exh_r" />

Well, as you no doubt saw my B17 has
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng0_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng1_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng2_exh"/>
<Effect Type="Track" EffectName="fx_high_contrail" Location="emitter_eng3_exh"/>

so I'm not sure sure what the problem is

[mongoose]

I think 20,000ft may only sometimes be high enough for contrails to generate in the real world.

You are welcome to use fx_vapor_trail from the SJ Spitfires. This one not a particle effect and is more FPS friendly than some that are out there. Note that there is a HighAltSprite section of the textureMagic.ini in the shaders30 folder under which you need to add a line with the name of the texture used by the effect, e.g. "tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=6300|300" in which 6300 is the altitude in meters at which the contrail begins to appear, and 300 is the number of additional meters above that altitude that it takes before the contrail is seen at full strength.

Thanks Dan; I may experiment a bit with those, and maybe check my textureMagic.ini . I forgot about that!

[mongoose]

Re the texturemagic.ini remind me what the numbers refer to in

[HighAltSprite]
tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=7500|500
tr_condenstrail_basis2.dds=7500|500
tr_condenstrail_basis3.dds= 2500|-1500
vortice_low.dds=1400|-300
vortice.dds=1400|-300

Are these metre values (7500)? and what is the 500 a value of?

[gecko]

I think 20,000ft may only sometimes be high enough for contrails to generate in the real world.

You are welcome to use fx_vapor_trail from the SJ Spitfires. This one not a particle effect and is more FPS friendly than some that are out there. Note that there is a HighAltSprite section of the textureMagic.ini in the shaders30 folder under which you need to add a line with the name of the texture used by the effect, e.g. "tr_condenstrail_basis1.dds=6300|300" in which 6300 is the altitude in meters at which the contrail begins to appear, and 300 is the number of additional meters above that altitude that it takes before the contrail is seen at full strength.

See my previous response.

[MajorMagee]

7,500 is 24,600 ft
500 is 1,650 ft

So you will first start seeing a wisp of contrails at 24,600 ft, and full strength ones at 26,250 ft and above.

2,500 is 8,200 ft
-1,500 is 5,000 ft

So you will see as wisp of a wingtip vortex at 8,200 ft, and full strength ones at 3,300 ft and below.

1,400 is 4,600 ft
-300 is 1,000 ft

So you will see a hint of the helo ground effect dust at 4,600 ft, and full strength at 3,600 ft and below.
(This starts too high in many cases, but was needed for compatibility with airfields at these higher altitudes.)

[mongoose]

Thanks Andy.
@ Dan. I note that in fact I have 2 entries of fx_vapor_trail in my effects file, as I assume your effects were amalgamated into Andy and Daiwilletti's combined effects file?

[gecko]

If they were I'm not aware of it. Also possible the same name was used by two different authors. Are the entries identical?

[mongoose]

I'll check. Meanwhile I have the B17 contrails working by adjusting the fx_high_contrail texturemagic values to 20K +. I intent to use your fx_vapor_trail for the LW, RAF, and USAAF fighters.

[gecko]

Great, looking forward to seeing your project shape up!

[mongoose]

Yes well, it would be nice if I could coax CFS3 and the mb/xml to really do justice to the B17 formations. So far that's almost undo-able unless maybe if I spent an inordinate number of hours to maybe paste together a whole series of mini sections showing 200+ aircraft's positions within a small distance; say between each way-point. It would make it look pretty and more historically accurate, but probably not worth the extreme amount of time required, given there are other things to do!