special effects trigger gauge question

[lionheart]

Hey guys,


Lets say I wish to have a plane that can kick up dust with throttling up. But it can only do this on dirt, (off tarmac or concrete).

I know that with 'effects' files (FX) that helo's over water can kick up mist, tires on the dirt kick up dust, and tires landing on tarmac make smoke puffs as they contact ground. But are these hard coded effects? Is there a way to have a gauge to 'know' you are not on tarmac?

Thats my 10,000.00 dollar question for today.


Bill

 

[lionheart]

I did some digging around in the FS2004 SDK and found 'Surface Type' Parameter and found the 'mother load' list of terrain types....

If I can pull this off, I could have multiple effects for ice, etc. Too bad I cant have 'rain' as well, as I could have some cool rain effects.


Here is the list of terrain types if anyone needs it;

Type of surface (enum:
0 Concrete
1 Grass
2 Water
3 Grass_bumpy
4 Asphalt
5 Short_grass
6 Long_grass
7 Hard_turf
8 Snow
9 Ice
10 Urban
11 Forest
12 Dirt
13 Coral
14 Gravel
15 Oil_treated
16 Steel_mats
17 Bituminus
18 Brick
19 Macadam
20 Planks
21 Sand
22 Shale
23 Tarmac



Now, I wonder how one would write in the parameter for multiple terrain types? (I hope thats possible). I have 11 diff terrains for the same effect. Would that be 11 gauges? eeks!



Bill

 

[n4gix]

No, one gauge with eleven <Element>s!

You can also use:

(A:SURFACE CONDITION,enum) One of:
0: Normal
1: Wet
2: Icy
3: Snow

to trigger any "rain effect" you want...

It's about time you cracked open the SDK!

 

[Au-MaV]

Hi Bill
Posted this over at FFDS forums

<Gauge Name="eat my dust" Version="0.1">
<Update Frequency="6"/>
<Macro Name="Loop">
1 3 5 6 7 10 11 12 14 9 l0 case (A:SURFACE TYPE,number) ==  if{ 1 sp1 }
</Macro>
<Element>
<Select>
<Value>
 c
 :0 @Loop l0 ++ s0 10 &lt; if{ g0 }
 l1
(A:ENG1 COMBUSTION,number) 0 &gt;
(A:RADIO HEIGHT,meters) 2 &lt;
&amp;&amp; &amp;&amp; if{ (A:SMOKE ENABLE,bool) ! if{ (>K:SMOKE_ON) } } els{ (A:SMOKE ENABLE,bool) if{ (>K:SMOKE_OFF) } } }</Value>
</Select>
</Element>
</Gauge>

Basically the macro monitors the surface type

1 3 5 6 7 10 11 12 14 9 l0 case (A:SURFACE TYPE,number) == if{ 1 sp1 }
The green numbers are the surface types,the red number tells the code how many there are in the macro.

The engine combustion and height are there to make sure the dust wont show if motor is off or the aircraft is above 2 meters.
I used the smoke effect but there is no reason you cant use any lighting circuit
cheers
Wozza

 

[Simon853]

I believe the surface type is only valid when the aircraft is on the ground, which is ok for aircraft throttling up, butI have no idea how the system knows what surface type a helicopter is over when it comes into a hover from forward flight, before touching down. (I wonder whether it is a generic effect that is somehow blended by the graphics engine with the properties of the land surface class.)

Si