[Elmo313]

According to the ORTS manual, special visual effects can be coded in to wagons as well as locomotives. I've been trying this in OR X1.3.1-373-gdf4e92a18 working with one of the CNR steam generator car models from BLW, using the stem heating van from the CTN site as a template. So far the effects are not visible.

Here is what I coded in to the BLW car:

Effects (
SpecialEffects (

Comment(==== Steam Heating Leaks ====)
HeatingHoseFX(
0.0 0.41 6.89
0 -1 0
0.13 )
HeatingHoseFX(
0.0 0.41 -6.89
0 -1 0
0.13 )
Comment ( == Steam Heating Boiler Smoke == )
HeatingSteamBoilerFX (
-0.47 4.37 -2.78
0 1 0
0.2 )
HeatingSteamBoilerFX (
0.47 4.37 2.87
0 1 0
0.2 )
)
)

Is the syntax correct for this? Has this feature been implemented, or is it still under development?

The entire wagon file is included in the zip below, as well as the OR log.

My apologies if this has been brought up in another thread. I did a forum search and could not find a discussion on this subject.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Douglas

Attached File(s)

•  BLW Visual Effects.zip (5.7K)
  Number of downloads: 254

[steamer_ctn]

Firstly I would suggest that you try this demonstration activity.

This activity will serve two purposes for you:
i) Confirm that OR is working ok for this function,

ii) Show you the typical parameters that you will require to set up for it to work correctly.

From memory you will need to tell OR that this is a steam boiler type car - ORTSWagonSpecialType ( HeatingBoiler )

[Elmo313]

 steamer_ctn, on 16 July 2021 - 05:56 PM, said:

Firstly I would suggest that you try this demonstration activity.

This activity will serve two purposes for you:
i) Confirm that OR is working ok for this function,

ii) Show you the typical parameters that you will require to set up for it to work correctly.

From memory you will need to tell OR that this is a steam boiler type car - ORTSWagonSpecialType ( HeatingBoiler )

Thanks Peter. I'll do a test run as suggested.

Would the wagon need a MaxSteamHeatingPressure entry as a steam locomotive does?

[darwins]

 Elmo313, on 16 July 2021 - 08:07 PM, said:

Would the wagon need a MaxSteamHeatingPressure entry as a steam locomotive does?

Yes.

The steam leaks from carriages etc will only be visible if the temperature is low enough to activate heating.

The smoke from the generator van is a light blue-grey so may not be easily visible against some backgrounds.

[steamer_ctn]

 Elmo313, on 16 July 2021 - 08:07 PM, said:

Would the wagon need a MaxSteamHeatingPressure entry as a steam locomotive does?

From memory, only the locomotive based steam heating units require this parameter.

For the wagon based steam heating, I think that the boiler is continually on. (I stand to be corrected on this as I am only going on memory at this stage)

Perhaps you can confirm this as you configure your wagon and test your wagon.

[Weter]

Peter said:

From memory you will need to tell OR that this is a steam boiler type car - ORTSWagonSpecialType ( HeatingBoiler )

Darwin said:

... from carriages etc will only be visible if the temperature is low enough to activate heating.

The smoke from the generator van is a light blue-grey so may not be easily visible against some backgrounds.

Maybe, that is, why I only seen wagon smoke and diesel-generator smoke effects during my experiments.
That time, I thought, the rest ones are out of function actually.

[Elmo313]

 steamer_ctn, on 16 July 2021 - 10:05 PM, said:

From memory, only the locomotive based steam heating units require this parameter.

For the wagon based steam heating, I think that the boiler is continually on. (I stand to be corrected on this as I am only going on memory at this stage)

Perhaps you can confirm this as you configure your wagon and test your wagon.

I've set up one of the BLW CNR passenger trains for the steam heating effects. There isn't a MaxSteamHeatingPressure line in any of the coaches, nor in the steam generator car. They're working fine. Just to find out, I commented that parameter out in one of my steam locos, and the same cars didn't show the effects.

[Elmo313]

 Weter, on 17 July 2021 - 09:47 AM, said:

And?
Without a locomotive with presence of said string, none of carriage boilers will emit any smoke?

As far as I can figure out, a steam locomotive without the MaxSteamHeatingPressure statement will not enable the steam heating hose effect. To be fair, I've only tested it with two locomotives: Paul Charland's DAR D-10 1018, which does not have the parameter, and Harold Clitheroe's CPR Jubilee 4-4-4 which does. I get the effect wit the Jubilee, but not the D-10. When I put the MaxSteamHeatingPressure code in the engine section of the D-10 file, the effect worked.

I've also found that a steam generator equipped diesel will give the effect with just the ORTSWagonSpecialType ( HeatingBoiler ) statement, and nothing else.

Douglas

[charland]

There's a file available over on Trainsim for adding an invisible car at the end of a passenger train that makes steam come out the steam pipe. The file is a steam engine with no power, maybe that's the approach you need.

https://www.trainsim...archid=19445743

Paul :-)

[R H Steele]

 charland, on 17 July 2021 - 10:58 AM, said:

There's a file available over on Trainsim for adding an invisible car at the end of a passenger train that makes steam come out the steam pipe. The file is a steam engine with no power, maybe that's the approach you need.
Paul :-)

Paul, I don't know if it's advisable to use MSTS style "invisio-cars" with OR, you can get into some troublesome situations with them -- OR's code is not receptive when it comes to them. Although, there has been continual discussion about coding their use, no real interest has been generated for various reasons. I think there are better solutions to the problems they solved which appear more suitable for OR. ( another ingenious MSTS hack! -- invisio-cars ) I particularly liked their use in the fictional ADFRR and C&NW routes to introduce flagmen, sounds, and other interesting effects when the player passed them. Something like that would be cool for OR.

AFAIK all the special steam & smoke effects that Peter has coded are working, providing the files are setup correctly and the proper parameters are used. Peter posted a reference to templates and examples from his web site which are quite easy to follow and setup.