did you check the aircraft.cfg? It must be a line with this fx_engstrt_Pl8.fx and its position like for example;   fx_engstrt_Pl8.fx 60, -34 ,100,38   ,... something like that

my engstartup effect is in effect section  (not in the light section) how do i change the position  ?

[EFFECTS]
wake=fx_wake
water=fx_spray
dirt=fx_tchdrt
concrete=fx_sparks
touchdown=fx_tchdwn_s, 1
startup   = fx_engstrt_Pl8            

Nick,

I agree that it's more difficult to place a [smokesystem] effect with great accuracy than it is with the [lights], but that's because of the 'feature' of FS9 (and FS2002) where the vertical location parameter has no effect, and you therefore have to use the Y offset value in the .fx file to fine tune the vertical location. 'Tis possible though.

Even though you've got all those nice switches to play with if you use the [lights]!   

microlight wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2007 at 3:25pm:



Yea, I know

Its a pain in the butt to do it that way but it can be done as you said.  


Quote:


Thats the problem, if you want control over the FX they must be moved to the [LIGHTS] section unless you rework the fx file so it keys and plays right using the default FS9 startup system. That system limits you to its location and timing and was designed more for a puff of smoke than anything else. It can be done but also a pain to deal with.

Its much easier to learn how the light and smoke lines function and use an XML gauge to do the work so you can tune it to play exactly as you want. The write up in my Nicks AI Exhaust package comes with a complete tutorial on how to use the lights and smoke system along with how to tune the XML gauge that comes with it so you get the fx displaying at the throttle and or taxi position. Doug and Robs military carrier package have a gauge for that too however I do not recall if it provides taxi control.

I also reworked my XML control for FireFox v2 and as I recall that has a 'staged' exhaust which was specifically desiged to show the engine 'glow' with exhaust at taxi and as you increase the throttle, the afterburner gets brighter and longer dynamically. That is another package you could download and work with because I think it is designed to do what you are trying to accomplish.

Woodylepic wrote on Apr 14^th, 2007 at 5:32pm:



Yes, unless you use a control gauge which switches the light on and off based on the throttle. Many planes do that or use the SMOKESYSTEM (which is tougher to deal with) instead of the lights, either way most of the better ones use an XML gauge to control it. You will loose the function of the light channel being reserved for that exhaust FX but since military jets do not use recognition and other lights a passenger aircraft need, its easy to use a free light switch and never see a problem with the other lights.

That is why I suggested you may wish to look into the packages I posted. They use a XML gauge and a free light switch to turn the FX on and off dynamic and leave you control of the other lights

Here is a clip from my Nicks AI jet Exhaust tutorial...


Lets look at an example. Open the MS_AIRCRAFT.txt file provided in this package. Scroll down to the first aircraft entry which is the Boeing 737-400. Look at the [LIGHTS] heading. You will notice a header that looks like this:

[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing

The first row of information below the [LIGHTS] heading are the *Light Types* available to the aircraft. I also call these *Light Channels* because they can be switched on and off through a switch or XML gauge. What are missing from the above line are all the available light channels. Microsoft left out 5 more available light types in the line above and it should actually read like this:

[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing, 6=taxi, 7=recognition, 8=wing, 9=logo 10= cabin

In order to have the ability to change effects based on throttle conditions it required a *switched* output to work with so one light channel became the switch. This effects package uses light type 7 from the line above. That is why the recognition light is not available when the effects are applied to an aircraft that normally makes use of that light type (see #1 KNOWN_ISSUES.txt). Now that you understand what all the light types are, the following will be a bit easier to explain.

Below the header and the line shown above there are a list of supporting code lines for each light the aircraft uses. To understand how the simulator references line and the other data of the line... below is an example of a single code line which could be found under a typical [LIGHTS] heading in the aircraft.cfg file:


light.10=7, -17.4, -6.3, -6.0, fx_nicksmokeAI__XXXX
                   A      B     C  

This line is decoded as follows:

light.XX=Y, A, B, C, fx_filename_aircraft-type  

**** KEY: ***

light.XX          - is the numerical order of the line in the list, starting with: light.0 = with a maximum of light.18 = allowed.

=Y,                 - is the light type that is being switched on and off (#1 through #10 but for this effect, ALWAYS #7)

A, B, C,          - is the X,Y,Z mathematical location of the center of the effect in reference to the aircraft

fx_filename_aircraft-type            - is the effects file name to be played which is designed for the scale/type of aircraft