• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
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    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Chimney flare effect

Hi Bob:


The default installation path for the FSX Special Effects SDK documentation is:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\Creating Special Effects.html



You may be particularly interested in the section:

"How to Place Effects in Flight Simulator"


The steps involved are:

Step 1: Create an XML file for the Effect
Step 2: Create a BGL File for the Effect
Step 3: Move the BGL File into Flight Simulator


FYI: Placement of an effect via XML (not via an AttachPoint in a MDL) can be as simple as this example shown in the FSX SDK:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<FSData version="9.0"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd">
<SceneryObject
lat="47.432" <-- Set to your location
lon="-122.308" <-- Set to your location
alt="0" <-- Set to your location
pitch="0"
bank="0"
heading="0"
altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"
imageComplexity="NORMAL"> <-- Set to "VERY_SPARSE" so it shows regardless of scenery density slider position
<Effect effectName="fx_ForestFire" />
<!-- effectParams="" <-- When used, 'effectParams=' are 'listed' all on 1 line between quotes -->
</SceneryObject>
</FSData>

No extra Effect parameters (effectParams=) statements need be specified in the Effect section of the XML file if you simply want the effect to show at all times.



In a nutshell, the VisualFxTool is only to create/edit copies of Fx files; the placement XML is not created by that tool, so one uses NotePad or another text editor to do that.

1.) Copy the example Effect placement text above into the text editor
2.) Edit the Lon/Lat/Altitude coordinates as needed (most Effects require "heading" to be left at "0")
3.) Drag and drop the the Effect XML placement file (saved with an "XML" ...not "txt" file extension) onto BGLComp


Note: Default installation path for FSX BGL Compiler SDK: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\BGL Compiler SDK\BglComp.exe



PS: If you ever wish to put another copy of BGLComp in a work folder for use locally, be sure to also copy the "BGLComp.xsd" file with it ...or BGLComp won't work. ;)



Hope this helps ! :)

GaryGB
 
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Hi Folks

GaryGB said:
If you ever wish
to put another copy of BGLComp in a work folder for use locally,
be sure to also copy the "BGLComp.xsd" file with it ...
or BGLComp won't work. ;)
Click to expand...
If you set up environment variables,
you'll never need to copy BGLComp or BGLComp.xsd at all.

You can then call BGLComp
from any folder location, on any drive,
using just
Code: 
%bglcompx% inputfile
without ever having to supply a path.



Sane principle applies to all other command-line tools.



Please see - FSDeveloper - Wiki - SDK - Tools - Command Line - Environment Variables (FSX/A)

HTH
ATB
Paul
 
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great! I've used this method before with Opa's beacon tower. Basically I'm trying to learn how to make a very small fire, which I copied from fx_campfire_fx and got rid of the smopke. Thought I did it wrong but with the instructions posted I think it worked. At least I don't see all that smoke. Learnig how to make the fire much smaller.

Reason: I've made a couple of nice pot-bellied stoves. The one I'm working on right now I copied/pasted, poly mode, flipped the polys so it shows on the inside... after I punched a boolean hole in the first part.

I'd like to place a small fire inside the stove. Neat idea if I get it to work. Made a coffee pot and fry pan sitting on top. Anyone for breakfast? Bob (Here I"m doing this stuff when I should be off doing important stuff like my Hunnie-do list!!!!)
 
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