Changing the size of effects

[Tweek]

Wasn't sure where to put this, feel free to move it if it's in the wrong section.

I've had a look through the effects SDKs, and I'm still not sure how to alter the size of an effect. For example, here, I want to make the burner fit inside the tailpipe (it's designed for a TU-22, rather than an F-104, and is available here if you want to take a look at the effect file)



There's a few things relating to scale/size in the SDK readme, and I'm stumped as to which ones are supposed to work, after a little trial and error (I could be doing something wrong, on my part).

Thanks.

[Kaworu]

i have no patience for such things. i couldn't tell you how to do what you want to, but the afterburner looks REALLY good how it is! looks like a explosion coming out of the back end. i wouldn't spend time that could be spent in the sim (or, in my case, loadingthe sim! )

[Tweek]

i have no patience for such things. i couldn't tell you how to do what you want to, but the afterburner looks REALLY good how it is! looks like a explosion coming out of the back end. i wouldn't spend time that could be spent in the sim (or, in my case, loadingthe sim! )

God no! It looks terrible! I don't mind spending time out of the sim, if it means making whats in the sim better!

I would have thought there would just be a simple line/few lines to edit in the effects file to change the size of it, though... :-?

[CAFedm]

I'm no expert in this area, but tried messing around with an effects file and found that you can adjust the size by looking for anything described with "scale". Open up the .fx file with MS Notepad and you will see something similar to below (copied from an addon afterburner effect):

[Particle.0]
Lifetime=0.00, 0.00
Type=19
X Scale=2.00, 2.00          --> Larger the #, larger
Y Scale=2.00, 2.00                the effect will display
Z Scale=0.00, 0.00
X Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00
Y Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00
Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00
Drag=0.00, 0.00
Color Rate=0.00, 0.00
X Offset=0.00, 0.00
Y Offset=0.00, 0.00
Z Offset=0.00, 0.00
Fade In=0.00, 0.00
Fade Out=0.00, 0.00
Rotation=0.00, 0.00
Static=1
Face=1, 1, 1

Of course, there may be multiple entries for "scale" within the same effect - you will have to go by trial & error. Make a backup copy before proceeding!

[Tweek]

Hmm, yes. I did try that, then realised there were multiple entries, all of different sizes! To get it right may take more effort than it's worth...

[CAFedm]

It might seem daunting, but really shouldn't be too much...looks like the effect needs to be about 80% of the original size...simply get the calculator going and reduce all of these values accordingly. That process did work very well for my own project. It would seem to be worth the time spent as the effect is quite neat!

I like that F-104 as well.

[Tweek]

72 particles to go through... wonderful.

I suppose I'll eventually make a start!