You need to edit the appropriate .fx file (in the 'effects' folder), which you can do in Notepad.
There are three sections for each element of the effect, [Emitter.X], [Particle.X] and [ParticleAttributes.X]. Under [Particle.X] (where X is the number of the element starting at 0), the first entry is Lifetime, which is the lifetime of the generated particle in seconds. There are two figures which represent the starting length and the finishing length of the effect - they are normally the same. You can make the second value higher than the first to add a little variability in the smoke generation, but DON'T make the first value higher than the second of the sim will crash on loading. Amend these figures until you get a length that you're happy with, and don't forget to change it for all of the elements in the effect.
As always, make a backup of the file before you start, especially if you haven't edited this kind of file before.
Good luck! Post a picture of your skywriting.
by Flying Buckeye » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:04 pm 
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