HotRockets! Particle FX Replacement + Tutorial

[Mecripp]

AH ( ! does the same, but if it can't find it it adds it ) thought that was % that does that.

[Flashblade]

Depends where in the config they are coming up. Allow me to explain.

@Flashblade you are of course correct, I don't use the launch smoke personally so I never really looked at it or looked closely at the changes Gfurst suggested, thank you for fixing that.

There is no need really, if I fix it for myself I might as well provide that fix for the entire community, a benefit for everybody

[Akira_R]

AH ( ! does the same, but if it can't find it it adds it ) thought that was % that does that.

Actually this is wrong, you are mixing up two different scenerios for the @, !, % functions. % never gets used in HAS statements, only @ and ! do

@PART[thingum]:HAS[@thing]
{
     (stuff)
}

checks if part thingum has thing, if it does it does stuff

@PART[thingum]:HAS[!thing]
{
     (stuff)
}

checks if part thingum has thing, if it doesn't it does stuff

but inside the actual MM config they do different stuff

@PART[thingum]
{
     [B]@MODULE[something]
     {
          (stuff)
     }[/B]
}

@ looks for the MODULE something, if it is there it does stuff, if not then it doesn't do anything

@PART[thingum]
{
     [B]!MODULE[something]
[/B]     [B]{}[/B]
}

! looks for MODULE something and deletes it

@PART[thingum]
{
    [B] %MODULE[something]
     {
          (stuff)
     }[/B]
}

% looks to see if MODULE something is there, if it is it edits it with stuff, if it's not then it adds it with stuff.

[Flashblade]

After some in-depth testing I noticed that the launch_hotrocket.cfg with my fixes delivers inconsistent results. The Mainsail doesn't get launch smoke, the NASA engines and booster neither and I tested a huge number of KW Rocketry engines and a booster which makes me arrive at the conclusion that the effect doesn't get applied to any of the KW stuff either. The thing I can't figure out is why that is.

Edit: Should have read more old posts. I have already found the reason so ignore this

Edited February 12, 2015 by Flashblade

[Subcidal]

After some in-depth testing I noticed that the launch_hotrocket.cfg with my fixes delivers inconsistent results. The Mainsail doesn't get launch smoke, the NASA engines and booster neither and I tested a huge number of KW Rocketry engines and a booster which makes me arrive at the conclusion that the effect doesn't get applied to any of the KW stuff either. The thing I can't figure out is why that is.

Edit: Should have read more old posts. I have already found the reason so ignore this

Well, What was the reason? If you changed the .cfg i'd like a copy if you wouldn't mind. Haven't been testing it much, just popping in fixes as they come.

[Akira_R]

Well, What was the reason? If you changed the .cfg i'd like a copy if you wouldn't mind. Haven't been testing it much, just popping in fixes as they come.

It was fixed in this post. The issue is that KW uses a different transform name for the thrust and effects.

I you just make a new cfg file with that in it it will work, or you can add it to the bottom of your current launch smoke file.

[Flashblade]

It was fixed in this post. The issue is that KW uses a different transform name for the thrust and effects.

I you just make a new cfg file with that in it it will work, or you can add it to the bottom of your current launch smoke file.

Basically that yes although that still doesn't explain the lack of launch smoke on the NASA stuff and the Mainsail, but I am still using the configs which come with the mod itself so lets see if your updated configs actually solve the issue.

[Akira_R]

Most likely it is due the NASA engines having a different naming set up in regards to the effects due to them already using ModuleEngineFX stock, so the launch smoke config is looking for nodes that aren't there, I doubt any of my updated configs will solve anything, it requires an addition to the launch smoke config just like the KW needed.

[Sampa]

Hey, just curious, has this ever made it to releases? (I think it may have and I am just blind)

[Akira_R]

Well no "release" thread was ever made, and the original author hasn't been around in awhile.

That being said the plugin that this is built around is released (SmokeScreen)

This is really just a collection of MM configs and particle effects that make use of said SmokeScreen plugin in order to change the effects of a number of rocket engines.

[Sampa]

Ah, ok! Thanks for getting back to me so quickly

[Flashblade]

Most likely it is due the NASA engines having a different naming set up in regards to the effects due to them already using ModuleEngineFX stock, so the launch smoke config is looking for nodes that aren't there, I doubt any of my updated configs will solve anything, it requires an addition to the launch smoke config just like the KW needed.

@Akira_R Thanks for nudging me in the right direction, I figured it out . So now for convenience I will provide all the configs I edited for functionality:

//created by MP_Nazari
//edited by Flashblade
@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleEnginesFX]:HAS[@PROPELLANT[Oxidizer]]]:FINAL
{

@EFFECTS
{

@powersmoke
{


// launchpad smoke
MODEL_MULTI_PARTICLE_PERSIST
{
name = smokelaunch
modelName = MP_Nazari/FX/smokelaunch
transformName = thrustTransform
emission = 0.0 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.05 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.2 0.5 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 1.0 1.8 // Curve for emission like stock
energy = 0.0 0.2 // Same for energy
energy = 1.0 1.1 // Same for energy
speed = 0.0 0.2 // And speed
speed = 1.0 0.15 // And speed
grow = 0.0 0.0
grow = 1.0 0.75
size = 0.0 1.0 // Rescale the particles to +0%
size = 1.0 1.5 // Rescale the particles to +0%

renderMode = "Billboard" // Render mode : Billboard / SortedBillboard / HorizontalBillboard / VerticalBillboard / Stretch

collide = true // Collision active or not
collideRatio = 0.12 // how the particles react on collision. 1 is a mirror bounce, 0 is go parallel to the hit surface
fixedScale = 1.0 // Fixed rescale of the particle emitter (for when you rescale the model)

sizeClamp = 50 // Limits particle size. Default to 50

// ***************
// From here the value are not the default anymore.
// ***************


angle = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the angle between the emitter transform and camera is lower than 45°
angle = 45.0 1.0
angle = 50.0 1.0
distance = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the distance to camera is higher than 110
distance = 100.0 1.0
distance = 550.0 0.0

emission // Modulate emission from mach and density curve. You can add other section for size, energy, speed, grow, offset and scale
{
mach = 0.0 1.25
mach = 0.05 0.0 // don't display until mach .8
mach = 1.0 0.0
}
logGrow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
Grow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
//additional settings

initialDensity = 2.25
physical = true
stickiness = 0.8
dragCoefficient = 1
logarithmicGrowth = 3
fixedEmissions = true
randomInitalVelocityOffsetMaxRadius = 16.5

}

}


}

//created by MP_Nazari
//edited by Flashblade
@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleEnginesFX]:HAS[@PROPELLANT[SolidFuel]]]:FINAL
{

@EFFECTS
{

@powersmoke
{


// launchpad smoke
MODEL_MULTI_PARTICLE_PERSIST
{
name = smokelaunch
modelName = MP_Nazari/FX/smokelaunch
transformName = thrustTransform
emission = 0.0 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.05 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.2 0.5 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 1.0 1.8 // Curve for emission like stock
energy = 0.0 0.2 // Same for energy
energy = 1.0 1.1 // Same for energy
speed = 0.0 0.2 // And speed
speed = 1.0 0.15 // And speed
grow = 0.0 0.0
grow = 1.0 0.75
size = 0.0 1.0 // Rescale the particles to +0%
size = 1.0 1.5 // Rescale the particles to +0%

renderMode = "Billboard" // Render mode : Billboard / SortedBillboard / HorizontalBillboard / VerticalBillboard / Stretch

collide = true // Collision active or not
collideRatio = 0.12 // how the particles react on collision. 1 is a mirror bounce, 0 is go parallel to the hit surface
fixedScale = 1.0 // Fixed rescale of the particle emitter (for when you rescale the model)

sizeClamp = 50 // Limits particle size. Default to 50

// ***************
// From here the value are not the default anymore.
// ***************


angle = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the angle between the emitter transform and camera is lower than 45°
angle = 45.0 1.0
angle = 50.0 1.0
distance = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the distance to camera is higher than 110
distance = 100.0 1.0
distance = 550.0 0.0

emission // Modulate emission from mach and density curve. You can add other section for size, energy, speed, grow, offset and scale
{
mach = 0.0 1.25
mach = 0.05 0.0 // don't display until mach .8
mach = 1.0 0.0
}
logGrow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
Grow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
//additional settings

initialDensity = 2.25
physical = true
stickiness = 0.8
dragCoefficient = 1
logarithmicGrowth = 3
fixedEmissions = true
randomInitalVelocityOffsetMaxRadius = 16.5

}

}


}

//created by MP_Nazari
//edited by Flashblade
@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleEnginesFX]]:FINAL
{

@EFFECTS
{

@running_closed
{


// launchpad smoke
MODEL_MULTI_PARTICLE_PERSIST
{
name = smokelaunch
modelName = MP_Nazari/FX/smokelaunch
transformName = thrustTransform
emission = 0.0 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.05 0.0 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 0.2 0.5 // Curve for emission like stock
emission = 1.0 1.8 // Curve for emission like stock
energy = 0.0 0.2 // Same for energy
energy = 1.0 1.1 // Same for energy
speed = 0.0 0.2 // And speed
speed = 1.0 0.15 // And speed
grow = 0.0 0.0
grow = 1.0 0.75
size = 0.0 1.0 // Rescale the particles to +0%
size = 1.0 1.5 // Rescale the particles to +0%

renderMode = "Billboard" // Render mode : Billboard / SortedBillboard / HorizontalBillboard / VerticalBillboard / Stretch

collide = true // Collision active or not
collideRatio = 0.12 // how the particles react on collision. 1 is a mirror bounce, 0 is go parallel to the hit surface
fixedScale = 1.0 // Fixed rescale of the particle emitter (for when you rescale the model)

sizeClamp = 50 // Limits particle size. Default to 50

// ***************
// From here the value are not the default anymore.
// ***************


angle = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the angle between the emitter transform and camera is lower than 45°
angle = 45.0 1.0
angle = 50.0 1.0
distance = 0.0 1.0 // Display if the distance to camera is higher than 110
distance = 100.0 1.0
distance = 550.0 0.0

emission // Modulate emission from mach and density curve. You can add other section for size, energy, speed, grow, offset and scale
{
mach = 0.0 1.25
mach = 0.05 0.0 // don't display until mach .8
mach = 1.0 0.0
}
logGrow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
Grow
{
power = 0 0
power = 1 2
}
//additional settings

initialDensity = 2.25
physical = true
stickiness = 0.8
dragCoefficient = 1
logarithmicGrowth = 3
fixedEmissions = true
randomInitalVelocityOffsetMaxRadius = 16.5

}

}


}

All that remains is to fix that stubborn Mainsail

BTW. Akira_R something is REALLY wrong with the NASA 4 engine cluster. When I increase thrust to 100 my screen first goes completely light blue and than completely white and framerate is crawling.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Flashblade

[Akira_R]

@Akira_R Thanks for nudging me in the right direction, I figured it out . So now for convenience I will provide all the configs I edited for functionality:

-snip-

All that remains is to fix that stubborn Mainsail

BTW. Akira_R something is REALLY wrong with the NASA 4 engine cluster. When I increase thrust to 100 my screen first goes completely light blue and than completely white and framerate is crawling.

Yeah the curves for the NASA engines are really screwy, one of the numbers is making the effects expand like crazy and output insane amounts of particles, thus leading to the mentioned drop in frame rate and the all blue, basically you are inside a blue fireball lol. I believe it has to do with a change I made to re-enable the effects changing with the throttle. Basically when FPSlacker originally went in and added the atmo expansion to them and the squad engines the throttle stopped affecting the effects (I have no idea which word I am supposed to use....). I figured out why and went in and changed it so the throttle would do it's thing but either I miss typed something or the numbers FPSlacker used to get the atmo expansion will work on their own, but when you try and combine the two sets of curves scary things start happening, I suspect it is the later lol.

I normally don't play with them so I didn't notice until a couple weeks ago when I started doing some custom edits for a youtuber and found that I had to completely rebuild them

I had to take a break from that stuff for awhile because it was starting to feel too much like work and work at my actual job has picked up a lot.

All work and no crashing space plans into the VAB makes Jeb a dull kerbal lol.

I'm going to be getting back to that stuff soon in the next couple weeks. Once I get the NASA ones finished I'll post them up here.

After that I think I'm going to go back over the squad and KW configs and add in some improvements I have figured out over the last month or so, and then finally do what I have been threatening to do for the last 5 months and actually take over this mod and re-release it, get everything back in one place! No more ok go here and download this fix, and then that fix and then change this like this lol.

Of course I will be looking for contributors because there is a lot involved with this mod, the configs take a lot of time to build. So, for instance, if you don't mind me using your above fixes then you would get listed as a contributor.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Akira_R

[Flashblade]

Of course I will be looking for contributors because there is a lot involved with this mod, the configs take a lot of time to build. So, for instance, if you don't mind me using your above fixes then you would get listed as a contributor.

Of course you are welcome to use them, after all the best thing for everybody involved is to get all of this packaged up nicely again instead of hunting for configs in a forum thread. Maybe I can contribute more to this project down the line as well. I read some more old posts and you mentioned that you were in the process of creating configs for Vens stock part revamp. I am using that mod and maybe that is why the Mainsail refuses to play ball, everything else seems to be working a okay though at least when we are talking about the stock engines and not the new variants

[leops1984]

Recently NathanKell posted a gallery which had some fairly impressive rocket plume expansion. So... I decided to go back and see if the same effects could be done without Realism Overhaul. So based on the configurations in RO and Akira_R's existing configurations I put the following configuration together:

http://pastebin.com/BJKPiDZv

The test engine is the KW Rocketry 1.25m Wildcat V (since that's what my launch vehicle uses). And these are the results:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

I'm trying to go for a semi-realistic look here... I'm of mixed minds if this is better/more realistic than the existing configurations by Akira_R. Suggestions are welcome.

Edited February 13, 2015 by leops1984

[Retsof]

Two questions: One, is there anything for the realfuels stockalike engine pack? Two, since the front post hasn't been updated in a while, is there somewhere to find the cool stuff here without having to dig through the thread?

[jefferyharrell]

Of course you are welcome to use them, after all the best thing for everybody involved is to get all of this packaged up nicely again instead of hunting for configs in a forum thread.

Speaking as somebody who's spent more time than he'd care to admit hunting for configs in the forum thread, I'd like very much for the best of them to get packaged up all neat and tidy. There's so much great work here that hardly anybody will ever see.

[TheHybrid]

Is there anywhere I can find a more in depth tutorial for making the effects? I've been searching through the thread, but, there are a lot of pages, and well, so little time.

[Akira_R]

Of course you are welcome to use them, after all the best thing for everybody involved is to get all of this packaged up nicely again instead of hunting for configs in a forum thread. Maybe I can contribute more to this project down the line as well. I read some more old posts and you mentioned that you were in the process of creating configs for Vens stock part revamp. I am using that mod and maybe that is why the Mainsail refuses to play ball, everything else seems to be working a okay though at least when we are talking about the stock engines and not the new variants

Yes I was planning on doing it, Ven asked me to, however due to me getting swamped with work and stuff I haven't gotten around to it, Sage did though, and he has done an absolutely incredible job with it. However you do have to download Realism Overhaul and get Real Plume from that download, it comes with a bunch of new particle effects that look absolutely amazing and he is using them for his set up. This is what I am trying to get all of the HR configs to look like but it is a lot of work, and I need to get permission from the RO guys if I want to include their particle effects in the download.

Regarding your second post about launch smoke, honestly I'm unsure of how I am going to want to handle this going forward. Mostly because I don't use it, and I know there are some people that don't want it, so being able to easily disable it is a must, so having a separate config for it would be ideal, either one like what we have now but tweaked a bit so it is more specific in what engines it targets, or just strait up adding it only to specific engines.

Recently NathanKell posted a gallery which had some fairly impressive rocket plume expansion. So... I decided to go back and see if the same effects could be done without Realism Overhaul. So based on the configurations in RO and Akira_R's existing configurations I put the following configuration together:

http://pastebin.com/BJKPiDZv

The test engine is the KW Rocketry 1.25m Wildcat V (since that's what my launch vehicle uses). And these are the results:

http://imgur.com/a/zdvLF

I'm trying to go for a semi-realistic look here... I'm of mixed minds if this is better/more realistic than the existing configurations by Akira_R. Suggestions are welcome.

This is exactly the direction that I am trying to take HR, your low to mid atmo stuff looks fantastic, I feel you need to keep the emission up a little longer in the upper atmo though, but that is my personal preference.

Two questions: One, is there anything for the realfuels stockalike engine pack? Two, since the front post hasn't been updated in a while, is there somewhere to find the cool stuff here without having to dig through the thread?

One: not that I am aware of, sorry.

Two: not right now unfortunately, I am currently working on a complete overhaul of HR and once I finish it I will be starting a new thread up, but don't hold your breath, it is going to take a while before I am ready for release.

Speaking as somebody who's spent more time than he'd care to admit hunting for configs in the forum thread, I'd like very much for the best of them to get packaged up all neat and tidy. There's so much great work here that hardly anybody will ever see.

Yeah it is being worked on, see above

Is there anywhere I can find a more in depth tutorial for making the effects? I've been searching through the thread, but, there are a lot of pages, and well, so little time.

For making the unity particle effects themselves the OP is a great tutorial, for the configs look at the SmokeScreen thread, that's about the best tutorial there is on the subject at the moment. Make sure you understand MM pretty well and general config file set up and between that and looking at our configs it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. You can always post questions in here and someone should be able to answer them.

[leops1984]

Regarding your second post about launch smoke, honestly I'm unsure of how I am going to want to handle this going forward. Mostly because I don't use it, and I know there are some people that don't want it, so being able to easily disable it is a must, so having a separate config for it would be ideal, either one like what we have now but tweaked a bit so it is more specific in what engines it targets, or just strait up adding it only to specific engines.

I would ask in the ModuleManager thread if there's a way to target specific parts without using wildcards. Right now, the best "workaround" would be a separate configuration file with each engine having its own section, but that gets tiring quickly even if the exact same configuration is used.

This is exactly the direction that I am trying to take HR, your low to mid atmo stuff looks fantastic, I feel you need to keep the emission up a little longer in the upper atmo though, but that is my personal preference.

Some of that is a limitation of the KWflamesmall animation... it gets faint real quick.

KWflamelarge seems to work a bit better, though. I expanded my experiments to the Griffon G8D (four-nozzle 2.5m KW engine).

Javascript is disabled. View full album

It's a relatively "heavy" load (the NRAP payload is set to 15 tons). The last picture is just over 15km in altitude, first stage separation was soon after that. (For comparison, the first test I posted went up to around 30km).

The configuration is below (it also tweaks the Wildcat configuration a bit too). Akira_R, if you're doing something like this already, I don't want to step on your toes - you're welcome to use what I have. They're more tinkering/experiments than anything else.

http://pastebin.com/XYSPxDHS

Edited February 17, 2015 by leops1984

[sarbian]

Two: not right now unfortunately, I am currently working on a complete overhaul of HR and once I finish it I will be starting a new thread up, but don't hold your breath, it is going to take a while before I am ready for release.

Great

[jazzman13]

Two: not right now unfortunately, I am currently working on a complete overhaul of HR and once I finish it I will be starting a new thread up, but don't hold your breath, it is going to take a while before I am ready for release.

Take your time, dude.

[Akira_R]

I would ask in the ModuleManager thread if there's a way to target specific parts without using wildcards. Right now, the best "workaround" would be a separate configuration file with each engine having its own section, but that gets tiring quickly even if the exact same configuration is used.

Some of that is a limitation of the KWflamesmall animation... it gets faint real quick.

KWflamelarge seems to work a bit better, though. I expanded my experiments to the Griffon G8D (four-nozzle 2.5m KW engine).

http://imgur.com/a/BCR8d

It's a relatively "heavy" load (the NRAP payload is set to 15 tons). The last picture is just over 15km in altitude, first stage separation was soon after that. (For comparison, the first test I posted went up to around 30km).

The configuration is below (it also tweaks the Wildcat configuration a bit too). Akira_R, if you're doing something like this already, I don't want to step on your toes - you're welcome to use what I have. They're more tinkering/experiments than anything else.

http://pastebin.com/XYSPxDHS

Please don't worry about stepping on toes, the great thing about the KSP modding community is the fact that it is a community and collaboration runs rampant lol

If any thing it means less work that I will have to do which means the sooner it will get released.

Also there is no way that I will be able to provide support for the plethora of engines that people use out there. As this project was started due to my desire to beautify my personal game, at first release I will only be supporting mods that I make use of, starting with Stock, NASA, KW, and Aerojet Kerbodyne as these contain my main launcher, upper stage and OMS engines. After that I would most likely do AIES and KOSMOS, although I only use a few engines they provide, or possibly look into doing certain USI or KSP-I engines, but that is way off in the future. So if people want other mods supported the best way is to start configs for them, which I will either use as is or adapt.

That being said I have a certain set of standards that I want to follow throughout all the configs.

What this means is that if some one gives me permission to use configs they have written I may include them as is if they meet my personal standards, if not I will tweak them until they do, however the person who originally wrote the config is of course still going to receive all credit due to them, and if they are unwilling to allow me to tweak the config any way I want then unfortunately I wont be able to include it.

Tentative outline of standards will be as follows:

• All engines must provide effect changes based on atmo density and throttled power of the engine
  
• Atmo expansion effects must match the intended use of the engine to a reasonable degree.
  
• 
  
  • This means that engines intended for heavy lift first stage engines with low expansion ratio bells will exhibit little to no over expansion at sea level and increasing under expansion as atmo pressure drops and extreme under expansion in vacuum
    
  • Engines intended for use in vacuum as OMS type engines with large expansion ratio bells will show severe over expansion at sea level with flow separation from nozzle walls, and almost no under expansion once in vacuum
    
  • Engines that fall in between these two that are meant for upper stages of larger rockets, orbital insertion and engines intended for extreme operating ranges will logically fall in between with slight over expansion exhibited at sea level and slight under expansion seen in vacuum, exhibiting ideal expansion characteristics in the upper atmosphere
    

  [*]exhaust effects must always originate within the bell as much as possible, no gaps between engine bell and exhaust

  [*]little to no clipping of exhaust effects through the engine bell

  [*]smoke trail that expands with the exhaust effects and never becomes detached

That is it for now, like I said tentative outline for the standards I am looking for.

Now regarding your comment on limitations of the effects animation itself, this is where most of my problems crop up, and where most of my time gets spent trying to fix things lol. Changing animations and even combining multiple animations (have to be careful not to let the particle count get to high) can be useful in achieving the right look, one of the reasons I hope to get permission to use the effects included in Real Plumes as some of them are fantastic and I have seen interesting use of say using two different particle effects to work around some of the issues.

This also brings up issues of continuity in regards to animation styles used and how to handle that but this post is long enough as it is lol, so I'll get into that later

[leops1984]

exhaust effects must always originate within the bell as much as possible, no gaps between engine bell and exhaust

There is actually one exception to this... if any of the engines are modeled as liquid hydrogen/oxygen engines (I don't know if any are right now), there can be a bit of a gap.

http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/2017/why-do-the-exhaust-flames-from-cryogenic-stage-engines-appear-to-be-separated-fr

http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/7751/are-rocket-exhaust-flames-ever-opaque

[HafCoJoe]

I may have found a bug with the

48-7S. Not sure if it's just me, but the engine flame is stuck permanently. I'm sure we're all familiar with this. Anyone have a hot-fix? The radial mount works normally.

Also I'm almost done fixing the Kerbodyne KR-2L engine exhaust.

Nvm about the engine glitch, I fixed it by duplicating it's twin and renaming the title.

Here's a version of nasa Rockets that has a fixed quad engine, and a partially fixed KR-2L (The engine effects are either off when the throttle is at zero, or at max everything upwards. At least the flame is in the right place!)

nasa_rockets.cfg (dropbox)

Edited February 18, 2015 by Avera9eJoe