More questions on afterburners and smoke.

[jlvandem]

Does anyone know if it is possible to turn on seperate smoke systems using variables in a xml gauge? Here's my problem. I've found that with an xml gauge you can turn on the wingtip contrails at high g's. I've also found that you can turn on afterburners with an xml gauge. The problem is you can't do them together. The .cfg file reads this when you combine them

[SMOKESYSTEM]
smoke.0=0.00, -21.00, 21.60, fx_contrail_s.fx
smoke.1=0.00, -21.00, -21.60, fx_contrail_s.fx
smoke.2=0.00, 0.00, 0.00, fx_afterburner.fx

so basically I want to know if I can turn on just smoke.2 at a certain time and both smoke.1 and smoke.0 at a certain time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[inbetween]

Negatory on that....

The smokesystem is "all or nothing" with one exception:

Any effect file can be given a "lifetime", so if one of the
effects you have listed "ran out" of time it would go
away while the others continued; until the smoke key
was pressed again, which renews the "timer"...

When controlling effects with XML gauges you have some choices:

If the effect is made up of "type 21" sprites it can be
substituted for an aircraft "light"; to be controlled by
light keys or XML gauge. I made the afterburner for
the FSD T-38 this way, using the "strobe" lights, as
FSD had tied-up the smokesystem within the model
in order to provide wingtip vortices.  I chose the strobe
because it is a on/off and not a togggle:  the XML
gauge tests for afterburner on/off and the strobe
follows the logic, calling the effect file...

If the burner is in fact a light, as above, the jet smoke
can then be added using smokesystem(not the T-38. )

Wing and flap or strake vortices can all be "type 21"
sprites, and be individually controlled thru the "lights".

When lights are used this way you must of course do
some renumbering of light "types", and any swiches on
panels will wiggle on/off as well...

You can search libraries for freeware effects d/ls using
these concepts, looking back at least six months, for
ICFX*.zip

There are eight different ones, plus the T-38 effects:
TBURNv2.zip

Hope this long-windedness makes sense...

JR

[jlvandem]

It makes plenty of sense and I think this is how I'm gonna do it since the F-15 I'm using doesn't have any lights in the first place. Also you mentioned the FSD T-38. Which gauge on that aircraft causes the vortices to come on at high g's? Thanks.

Jlvandem

[inbetween]

Greetings,

I went to FSD for permission to do the afterburner,
which was granted, so I didn't push on the vortex
subject....just worked around it.

I would just "comment out" the gauges one by one
until the vortices went away ?

None of their gauges were XML, so I could not look
into them....

JR

[jlvandem]

Alrite well I can't talk because I need to get to work on the lengthly process of eliminating gauges one by one. And at least I've got my afterburners working now. Thankyou.

jlvandem

[inbetween]

Greetings,

The FSD T-38 uses the "announciator" gauge (both
panels) to control the smokesystem...

There is a MIG-29 jet in the library here that has effects
like you are working on, author Barney Bigard...

JR