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Weapons Effects editing (Read 4110 times)
Mar 16th, 2007 at 4:30pm

burninator   Offline
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I downloaded and installed this effects package:

http://www.netwings.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcd.cgi?az=redirect&link_id=000000930&ur...

The effects package I downloaded added these great splashes when machine gun rounds hit the water instead of the little puffs that are usually there.

Then I downloaded this great b-25 model that has the 75mm cannon in the nose.  But, when I fire the cannon at the water (or ground) I get the same small little puffs that the machine guns used to make - no big splashes like a 75mm cannon should make.  So, it seems like there has to be a dp for water or something...I don't know...where I can tell the game to use a bigger spash for the 75mm cannon (like the ones for rockets or bombs).  Does anyone know how to change that?  For aircraft, you edit the damage profile to change the effect of that part of the aircraft getting damaged (I think, I haven't been able to figure that out exactly), but I don't know how to it for a specific weapon for water and dirt.

To keep it simple, let's say I want my rockets to cause tiny little 'puffs' (like machine guns) when they hit water instead of big splashes and expolsions.  How would I do that?  Can I do the same for my cannon?  I think I found the splash fx in the effects folder, but I don't know how to associate it with the cannon...

Thanks.

*edit* - I tried to find the dp for the cannon so I could edit it, but I couldn't find it.  Where would I find the DP's for all the weapons?
 
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Reply #1 - Mar 16th, 2007 at 8:33pm

H   Offline
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My expertise with CFS2 is fairly weak aside from its CFS1 realtionship. However you are speaking of visual effects thus, I'd expect, they'd be something to do with the fx files (effects) and the targets (objects, etc.) being hit rather than just the weapon, itself.



Cool
 
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Reply #2 - Mar 16th, 2007 at 9:09pm

burninator   Offline
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So does that mean there's a dp for water in the objects dp folder?
 
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Reply #3 - Mar 16th, 2007 at 9:34pm

burninator   Offline
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Ok, I could not find a dp for water or dirt, so I don't think that's it.

In the effects folder there are several fx_bltwtr (bullet water), fx_wtrsplsh (water splash), etc effects.  I think the effects upgrade I downloaded changed whatever fx file is activated whenever a 50 cal round hits water.  So how do I figure out which fx file my 50 cal rounds are activating?  If I do that, I can just do the same for the 75mm cannon and have it activate the same effect...

I wish this was explained somewhere.

Thanks for any help.
 
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Reply #4 - Mar 17th, 2007 at 10:00pm

H   Offline
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I've never looked around for an fx editor (not something done with Notepad/Wordpad). Are you versed in C++ ?
The original CFS2 fx files should date in 2000; if the created date is more recent, you've probably had them replaced. For instance, my fx_wtrexpl_l.fx  (I translate that one as "water exlosion_large") was created on 8/22/02, file size 10.2kb .



Cool
 
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Reply #5 - Mar 18th, 2007 at 10:24pm

burninator   Offline
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So, I found the fx_bltsplsh_l, _m, and _s (bullett splash large, medium, and small).  I copied all the content of the 'torpedo explosion medium' effect and pasted it into all three files.  After that, both my 50 cal gun and my 75mm cannon both left torpedo explosions in the water instead of the bullet splash.

So, we've established that both the 50 cal gun and the 75mm cannon both use one or more of the 3 bullet spash effects.

Then I restored all three bullett splash files to their original state.  I then replaced each one with the torpedo exposion one at a time and tried firing the guns again.  The result was as follows for all three.  50 cal guns leave torpedo explosions only, and the 75mm cannon would randomly leave either a small bullett splash or a torpedo explosion.  I thought this was very confusing.  This makes me think that there is another more complex element to each weapon, possibly each weapon has some combination of effects associated with it.  Simply changing the bullet splash effect won't help me in this case, since it will also effect what happens when rounds hit the water.

So the question is, where is the association between a weapon (50 cal, aircraft cannons, etc.) and it's effect at?  Is it written into the game code? 

What tells the game to leave a large splash when a rocket or bomb hits the water?  If I could figure this out and find it, I could copy the effect info and paste it into the 75mm cannon file (i also need to find the cannon's file).

I feel like I'm getting closer to my answer, but I still need some help.  I know there are people out there that know the answer to this, but I guess they don't read this forum.

Does have any contacts that may be able to help me.

Thanks!!!

Smiley
 
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Reply #6 - Mar 18th, 2007 at 11:01pm

H   Offline
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Now I'm unclear about your intent; you seem to be asking about info in the particular aircraft's .dp file. Whether CFS1 or CFS2, the damaging potential for each weapon is within the gunstation strings of the .dp (you could make a machine gun blow the opponent out of air with one burst -- but, mind you, not realistic nor, if not mutual, fair). Therewithin is also the Effects directives (fx files accessed for that plane's profile).



Cool
 
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Reply #7 - Mar 18th, 2007 at 11:59pm

burninator   Offline
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Thanks for the reply.  Sorry if I'm being unclear.

So you're saying that the piece of information I'm looking for is in the aircraft dp file...that makes sense.  I looked through it, but couldn't find anything related to effects for the gun.  If it's in the gun station line, I have no idea what the numbers in station line mean.

Here is the 75mm cannon:

; 75mm Cannon
gunstation.9=1,46,2,5.44,602,4,1,1500,6,100,1d1*2203,-0.24,-0.34,2.4,-0.50859,0,
0,0,0,0,0,302.32

And I think this is related too:

[guns.9]
gun.0=21,0,0,4,0,0,1,21

Are the fx directives in here?  Which sets of numbers are they? 

Thanks again for your help!!!
 
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Reply #8 - Mar 19th, 2007 at 1:57am

H   Offline
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burninator wrote on Mar 18th, 2007 at 11:59pm:
So you're saying that the piece of information I'm looking for is in the aircraft dp file...that makes sense.  Are the fx directives in here?  Which sets of numbers are they?
That's not actually what I'm saying but there are some good .dp write-ups available (check with Hagar and/or Web Search for Damage Profile Tutorials). I'm not explaining all here...


burninator wrote on Mar 18th, 2007 at 11:59pm:
I looked through it, but couldn't find anything related to effects for the gun.  If it's in the gun station line, I have no idea what the numbers in station line mean. Here is the 75mm cannon:

; 75mm Cannon
gunstation.9=
1
,46,2,5.44,602,4,1,1500,
6
,100,
1d1*2203
,-0.24,-0.34,2.4,-0.50859,0,0,0,0,0,0,302.32

[guns.9]
gun.0=21,0,0,4,0,0,1,21
1
=
indicates the weapon type (0 = m.guns, 1 = cannon, 2 = rockets, 3 = bombs)

We'll skip the muzzle velocity, tracer percentage, etc....

1d1*2203
=
The 1d1 is the damage per hit; the 2203 indicates a damage power in the range of a rocket (m.guns are usually below 15, cannon over 20, bombs over 5000)
Edit: The
6
(two digits before the damage/hit) refers to the sound file activated when the weapon is fired.



Cool
 
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Reply #9 - Mar 19th, 2007 at 11:35am

burninator   Offline
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So, does the damage power dictate which effect is used?  If you're saying 2203 is in the range of a rocket, then I would expect to get the rocket splash when the cannon hits the water.

I'll check out some of those tutorials...

Thanks.

*edit* - I replaced the 1d1*2203 with corresponding part from the rocket dp in the objects dp.  All it did was screw up the cannon fireing sound, so I'm not sure what happened there...

*edit...again* - I just looked through all the dp tutorials I could find, and while i can alter the amount of damage that a weapon gives, I don't see anything about changing the effects.  I think that when you enter that first number in the dp to tell the game what kind of weapon it is, the game uses that to determine what the appropriate effect is.  This means that I would have to change my cannon to a rocket to get a rocket splash effect, but then it would be a rocket and not a cannon.  I'm beginning to think that I may be stuck with my wimpy little splash for the 75mm cannon.

Any other advice or help will be appreciated!
« Last Edit: Mar 19th, 2007 at 3:56pm by burninator »  
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