HotRockets! Particle FX Replacement + Tutorial

[The Space Man]

Great engine fx from this mod http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/16866-Horizon-Aeronautics-Development-Thread

[leops1984]

Here are some (very) basic KW config files, with working SmokeScreen settings

https://spideroak.com/share/NRXXEZLNL5UXA43VNVPWI33MN5ZA/ksp/d%3A/document/Cloud%20Documents/Share/ksp/kw-hotrockets.zip

The settings are basically copied over from the comparable stock engines - if somebody wants to modify these to fit the KW engines better, go right ahead. I also included a configuration file for the engine in the SDHI mod for people using that.

[Penguinhero]

can anyone tell me why my poodle effect doesn't show up?

[smunisto]

The Poodle has a strange effect, I noticed it too. It's like a sprinkler.

TheSpaceMan are these the aforementioned KW Rocketry configs?

Edited March 9, 2014 by smunisto

[Guiltyspark]

can anyone tell me why my poodle effect doesn't show up?

The Poodle has a strange effect, I noticed it too. It's like a sprinkler.

Same issue here. I think the effect was changed... Or our graphics cards can't handle it.

Great engine fx from this mod

Those are KW engines with effects, but the mod you linked is a whole different parts pack...

Also, more stress testing of KW effects shows emission curve isn't optimized. Note the individual particles of KW's engines vs. stock engines.

Will try to fix this Fixed it by changing the first emission value to 0.05 to match stock Hotrocket values. Still will produce the particle effect at extremely low thrust . Only complete fix I can think off is upping the particle count and lowering particle size...

Edited March 9, 2014 by Guiltyspark
To avoid triple-posting.

[The Space Man]

Same issue here. I think the effect was changed... Or our graphics cards can't handle it.

Those are KW engines with effects, but the mod you linked is a whole different parts pack...

Also, more stress testing of KW effects shows emission curve isn't optimized. Note the individual particles of KW's engines vs. stock engines.

http://i.imgur.com/PUtsVd6.png

Will try to fix this Fixed it by changing the first emission value to 0.05 to match stock Hotrocket values. Still will produce the particle effect at extremely low thrust . Only complete fix I can think off is upping the particle count and lowering particle size...

Yeah it is a parts pack but it also has great engine fx.

[Guiltyspark]

Yeah it is a parts pack but it also has great engine fx.

Fair enough. Not HotRocket style, but still good lookin'.

Also, can anyone tell me if this is the piece of code that makes stock engines' nozzles glow red when they heat up?

 // HEAT ANIMATION
MODULE
{
	name = ModuleAnimateHeat
	ThermalAnim = EmissiveAnimation
}

[Proot]

What do you guys think of this for the SRB smoke?

http://youtu.be/qxq9knHMZkI

Looks amazing, may I know the growing settings for that smoke?

[Raptor831]

Great engine fx from this mod http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/16866-Horizon-Aeronautics-Development-Thread

Can we see the configs for that? I've been trying to get the effects near the engine bells for days and haven't been able to! Though, it's possible the positioning is FX dependent...

[Nazari1382]

I'm working on KW support and others, that includes custom effect models for the engines.

[Raptor831]

I'm working on KW support and others, that includes custom effect models for the engines.

That would be amazing, Nazari! It's such a bummer to have awesome effects on the stock engines and then have the stock effects on all the others I have. I really have too many mods...

[Guiltyspark]

I'm working on KW support and others, that includes custom effect models for the engines.

Awesome! Now instead of me doing a shabby job, a can do it properly.

Also do you know why the poodle effect is displaying this way?

[erkha343]

It seems that if you install hot rockets it will disable with the Atmospheric Sound Enhancement mod, is there any way around this?

I want the nice particle effects, but not at the cost of the other plugin...

[erona]

You can download the adjusted config and my smoke model here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6861684/Smoketrails.zip

It only affects the small and large stock SRB.

[Guest]

Awesome! Now instead of me doing a shabby job, a can do it properly.

Also do you know why the poodle effect is displaying this way?

http://i.imgur.com/mQkR04g.png

It might be supposed to be that way. Small orbital engines generally do look like that (well, their flames are, in most cases, invisible. So that's still generous, actually).

[mushroomman]

Awesome! Now instead of me doing a shabby job, a can do it properly.

Also do you know why the poodle effect is displaying this way?

http://i.imgur.com/mQkR04g.png

It's supposed to look like rocket exhaust in a vacuum (because that's the main use for that engine). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture to show this.

[Mecripp]

It's supposed to look like rocket exhaust in a vacuum (because that's the main use for that engine). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture to show this.

Like this Mushroomman http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/65754-HotRockets%21-Particle-FX-Replacement-Tutorial?p=945706&viewfull=1#post945706

[leops1984]

I'm working on KW support and others, that includes custom effect models for the engines.

Wonderful news - I admit to basically not knowing what the heck I'm doing! The parts deserve better than what I can do.

[Guiltyspark]

The Deadly Reentry config is outdated (current DRE has 903 lines in the config while the fix has 866 lines). I read through the configs and saw the only change was "ModuleEngine" --> "ModuleEngineFX" so I...

EDIT: NathanKell (who is awesome) updated DRE to have back-up compatibility with HotRockets so a custom config fix might not be necessary anymore.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Guiltyspark
NathanKell is awesome.

[Guiltyspark]

Hey Nazari,

I'm addicted to HotRockets, but I have a few suggestions on how to make this amazing mod even better. I noticed that the engine flames do not give off any light (no light is cast onto rest of ship even though the flame is very bright). Adding this (if its possible with the current engine) would be great.

Also, I think some people were complaining about the little amount of variation the flames have relative to throttle percentage. Could you relate particle velocity to I_sp or exhaust velocity in general? Throttling down would also curtail the flames (assuming particles have fixed lifetime), making them seem shorter, without individual particles being visible. (This is beginning to sound like it would be easier with a plugin relating throttle/I_sp directly to exhaust velocity. Maybe a feature for the next release of SmokeScreen?)

(Sorry for double posting, but this is completely unrelated to the other post...)

[pizzaoverhead]

Could you relate particle velocity to I_sp or exhaust velocity in general?

The rocket exhaust is always going to be supersonic. The particles are already too slow to give this effect well. I don't think slowing them down further would help.

[Guiltyspark]

The rocket exhaust is always going to be supersonic. The particles are already too slow to give this effect well. I don't think slowing them down further would help.

That's easy to solve though. For the effect at full thrust, speed the particles up (two or three times relative to current speeds) and reduce particle lifetime (about a third of the current lifetime). Then slow it down (to about current speeds) when at lower throttle. Higher I_sp engines would have faster moving particles than lower I_sp engines as well.

Getting particle velocity to be dynamic and performance drops from making a bunch of particles in short period of time might end up being the two problems that kill this idea though.

(By the way, amazing RCS sound effects and lights pizza )

Edited March 12, 2014 by Guiltyspark
Grammar

[Beetlecat]

The Deadly Reentry config is outdated (current DRE has 903 lines in the config while the fix has 866 lines). I read through the configs and saw the only change was "ModuleEngine" --> "ModuleEngineFX" so I...

EDIT: NathanKell (who is awesome) updated DRE to have back-up compatibility with HotRockets so a custom config fix might not be necessary anymore.

I'm still getting engine overheats if I don't swap out the deadly reentry .cfg for the patched one from HotRockets.

[NathanKell]

Probably because HotRockets does its change *after* DRE? H>D, after all.

So my provisional fix doesn't work, bummer.

And thanks, Guiltyspark

EDIT: Yup, it's because the DRE fix in the OP uses :Final calls on the engine changes, which I'm for good reason less than happy doing (it means it will override any other changes). Better might be if I put the DRE patch in a folder called zFix but left it non-final, such that others could still use :Final patches and override DRE but it would still execute after the HotRockets folder.

Edited March 13, 2014 by NathanKell

[NathanKell]

So, I'm finally back(ish) and actually looking through stuff now.

So I have a request for Nazari, Nothke, and anyone else writing ModuleEnginesFX conversions: please, please, instead of nuking the old ModuleEngines node and rewriting it, use this form. We'll take the Skipper as the example.

@PART[engineLargeSkipper]:Final //Rockomax "Skipper"
{
    !fx_exhaustFlame_blue
    !fx_exhaustLight_blue
    !fx_smokeTrail_light
    !fx_exhaustSparks_flameout
    !sound_vent_medium
    !sound_rocket_hard
    !sound_vent_soft
    !sound_explosion_low

    // snip EFFECTS node

    // DO NOT DO THIS - !MODULE[ModuleEngines]{}

    @MODULE[ModuleEngines] // do THIS instead
    {
        @name = ModuleEnginesFX // and this
        runningEffectName = powersmoke
        directThrottleEffectName = powerflame
        !fxOffset // you should include this, if you want to be sure it doesn't exist.

        // you don't need the rest, since you're modifying the original node, not replacing it
    }
}

This will make it compatible with DRE, and with other things that change the engine's stats.

Let me explain. Since ModuleEngines and ModuleEnginesFX take almost the same parameters, instead of replacing the whole module, you just change the name line to refer to the new module, and add the lines that the old module lacks (and do a remove for fxOffset, in case it exists and you want to clear it out). Further, this will occur on the :Final pass, which means it will occur *after* all other changes are made (like DRE's change to heatProduction).

Edited March 13, 2014 by NathanKell