[markus_GE]

Actually I like the new smoke appearance as it was introduced a few weeks ago. But sometimes I ge to think the old implementation was better:



Taken in X.1587; Best to be watched in full screen mode so you can also read the hud (throttle up and down)

At both the beginning and end of the video look at the small patches of smoke just shortly appearing and immediately disappearing agai. It´s the first time I experienced this (my other locos I have up to now used in OR work fine), but I think it´s strange.
I haven´t tried to do anything about it, as I´don´t know what I could/should try changing in the OR settings and have no experience with the smoke section of the MSTS .eng files.

Bug or not? Maybe the .eng? Or do American locos in realyity also like to produce smoke rings? ;D


Cheers, Markus

PS: the smoke section of the .eng:

    Exhaust1
    (
     0.05 4.84 -3.51
     0 1 0
     0.34
    )
    

[Csantucci]

markus1996, on 04 May 2013 - 05:51 AM, said:

At both the beginning and end of the video look at the small patches of smoke just shortly appearing and immediately disappearing again.

Does this happen when the loco is at maximum speed? If yes, try release 1593.

[markus_GE]

I didn´t have the time to try it yet, but will do so still today (in both versions)

[markus_GE]

Nope, it just happens at a stand. At speed, everything´s as it should be.(1587 )

[markus_GE]

In the latest release puvlished today, It also occurs at speed when running with dynamics applied.

[BB25187]

Hello,

markus1996, on 04 May 2013 - 12:05 PM, said:

In the latest release puvlished today, It also occurs at speed when running with dynamics applied.

Even if the causes are slightly different (the code has been modified in the meantime), the phenomenon you observe is similar to the one I evoked a while ago. Fortunately, this can be resolved by adjusting the value of the MSTS "DieselSmokeEffectInitialSmokeRate" parameter. It controls the density of the emission when engine is idle or at start of an activity. From what I experimented, this value must usually be equal to or greater than 1.0 to avoid the problem you observe. Remember the other MSTS parameters you may want to tune to adjust the smoke effects (values may not be relevant in your case):

    DieselSmokeEffectInitialMagnitude ( 1.0 )
    DieselSmokeEffectInitialSmokeRate ( 2.0 )
    DieselSmokeEffectMaxMagnitude ( 1.8 )
    DieselSmokeEffectMaxSmokeRate ( 2.5 )

The magnitude parameters control the size of the plume. This magnitude can be lowered while keeping the density greater than 1.0 to represent the idle/start modes.
Besides this, I think that the three density parameters which were formerly introduced in the OR_diesel section do not have effect anymore. They are no longer needed since the MSTS parameters mentioned above are now taken into account. In the opposite, color parameters are still useful.

    OR_Diesel(
        ExhaustColor            (33777777)
        ExhaustTransientColor   (22303030)
        IdleExhaust             (4)        --> No longer needed / taken into account
        MaxExhaust              (6)        --> No longer needed / taken into account
        ExhaustDynamics         (3)        --> No longer needed / taken into account
    )

Finally, in a few cases, it may be necessary to check/revisit the RPM parameters in the ENG file.

I will post a video later on to illustrate what we can get when tuning all those parameters (on my side, I added a parameter to tune the smoke color during deceleration stage, which is really white by default).

Regards

[BB25187]

Hi,

Here is the video to illustrate (several formats available, including full HD):

http://www.dailymoti...9lpjWp8NbC42YGX

Regards

[rdamurphy]

Or uses a completely different method to create the smoke effect than MSTS, meaning, of course, that some of the older settings in the .eng files don't make sense. I built the code based on the three default diesels (GP38, SD40-2, and Dash9). I believe that to get the most realistic appearance, some tweaking may be necessary for SOME third party locomotives. I've noticed that some of the payware locomotives I have are absolutely spot-on with the new code, while some other locomotives have some extremely odd values in their .eng files, including one that defined the exhaust nozzle as being almost 4 1/2 feet across!

Honestly, I don't think it's possible to adjust the code so that every single MSTS locomotive works perfectly, there's just way too many of them...

Robert

[copperpen]

I set up two locomotives with the same diesel smoke parameters. I even gave them the same exhaust orifice setting. They showed markedly different smoke when compared. One showed the standard OR thin plume, the other showed big fluffy greyish clouds. I would have expected them to show the same smoke characteristics.

[rdamurphy]

copperpen, on 05 May 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

I set up two locomotives with the same diesel smoke parameters. I even gave them the same exhaust orifice setting. They showed markedly different smoke when compared. One showed the standard OR thin plume, the other showed big fluffy greyish clouds. I would have expected them to show the same smoke characteristics.

Interesting. Can you send me the .eng files, or post them here? I'd love to take a look at that...

Robert