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#4493064 - 10/15/19 10:08 PM WOFF Exhaust Smoke  
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Mike Dora Offline
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First of all, my compliments to the whole WOFF dev team. WOFF PE is a masterpiece. It is by far the most immersive sim I have ever experienced (My first flight simulator experience was the Vulcan simulator at Waddington back in Dec 74, very early in my RAF career. It was somewhat crude and clumsy (as was my attempt to "fly" it!), but an awfully long time ago.. ; )

I have only one comment, intended of course as constructive criticism. I'm not convinced by the plumes of exhaust smoke trailing behind each ac.

Not only do these exhaust plumes not appear in period photographs, but also I am privileged to be volunteer ground crew at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome here in Dutchess County NY, and none of our ac trail such smoke when they are airborne. This includes all of the original WW1 engines (the 1918 Mercedes in the Fok DVII, the Hispano-Suiza in the Jenny, the Gnome in the Fok DVIII (160hp, and incredibly noisy), and the Le Rhone in the Pup). True, they sometimes start with a great cloud of smoke, but once they settle down their exhaust outputs are quite clear.

So can I make a plea please for the deletion of this unrealistic exhaust smoke? In addition to further enhancing WOFF PE's extreme realism, such a deletion would likely also deliver a further slight frame rate improvement.

Cheers

Mike

#4493069 - 10/15/19 10:33 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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DukeIronHand Offline
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Interesting. And a simple fix for someone much smarter then me.
I would imagine some minor editing of the Effects.xml would be the ticket.

What type of fuel and oil are they using in this day and age? Just to be contrary to stimulate thought I would think the oil and gas of 1914-18 is not as clean and refined as the modern stuff? Burning cleaner in this day and age making less smoke/exhaust?

But yes. A simple .xml edit I’m thinking.

#4493104 - 10/16/19 03:23 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: DukeIronHand]  
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Originally Posted by DukeIronHand

Just to be contrary to stimulate thought I would think the oil and gas of 1914-18 is not as clean and refined as the modern stuff?


Anywhere from about 50 to low 70s octane in WWI, although octane ratings were not applied until the 1920s. Then again, such dirty fuel is fine for most of the low-compression engines used back then, especially the rotaries. By 1918, the Germans were on occasion spiking their fuel with benzole/benzene (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzole), such as for the BMW-powered Fokk. D.VII, also possibly other higher-compression experiments (later Mercedes inlines, Daimler engines, etc.) - gives less engine knock and better overall performance...max hp usage.

Von S smile2


~ For my various FM/AI/FPS/DM Mods. for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, and tips for FlightGear, recommended is to check over my CombatAce profile (https://combatace.com/profile/86760-vons/) and to click on the "About Me" tab while there. ~
#4493106 - 10/16/19 04:03 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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I have to agree with you... and I am an aircraft mechanic. You only get exhaust trails at low altitude if you are burning heavy amounts of oil. Any kind of gas simply won't do it unless it's EXTREMELY rich, and even then it won't show for long. Normal gas exhaust just dissipates too fast in the atmosphere to stay in a cloud.

PS... I don't call myself the 'Black Baron of Boistrancourt' because I don't know where Rhinebeck is... LOL... I LOVE THAT PLACE!!! I know I missed the last show for the year (its this weekend, but my daughter is up from college) , but if you're there next year, I'd love to come up from Long Island, shake a had and get up-close and personal with some of the planes if I could.

Last edited by OvStachel; 10/16/19 04:08 AM.

The Black Baron of Boistrancourt returns!!

I'd rather die fighting, than live for nothing. - Gen. G.S. Patton
#4493107 - 10/16/19 04:20 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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I've been to Rhinebeck several times and I've seen (or not seen rather) the same. Though I will say Rhinebeck operates during good weather in the summer and early fall. Would something like an early rotary not show at least some exhaust in very low temperatures? I honestly don't know the answer - I've never seen someone flying a vintage rotary aircraft in 0-degree weather. But these guys did fly some in the winter. Food for thought I guess. I'd like to get up there this weekend for the last show of the year. We'll see what turns up.

#4493109 - 10/16/19 06:14 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: VonS]  
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Originally Posted by VonS
Originally Posted by DukeIronHand

Just to be contrary to stimulate thought I would think the oil and gas of 1914-18 is not as clean and refined as the modern stuff?


Anywhere from about 50 to low 70s octane in WWI, although octane ratings were not applied until the 1920s. Then again, such dirty fuel is fine for most of the low-compression engines used back then, especially the rotaries. By 1918, the Germans were on occasion spiking their fuel with benzole/benzene (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzole), such as for the BMW-powered Fokk. D.VII, also possibly other higher-compression experiments (later Mercedes inlines, Daimler engines, etc.) - gives less engine knock and better overall performance...max hp usage.

Von S smile2


Knew we’d have the knowledge in here. Thanks VonS.
Now. Who’s gonna take a crack at the OP’s request...

#4493354 - 10/17/19 08:51 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Mike Dora Offline
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Hi all, to follow up, how can one delete the exhaust smoke please? Mike

PS for OvStachel, I’m afraid I’ll also miss the final show of the season at Rhinebeck this Sunday. Pity, the bombing of the Baron’s sausage factory with pumpkins* in the penultimate act of the show can be pretty funny!

*well it is Fall after all 😉

#4493359 - 10/17/19 09:30 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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If no one pipes up open up the effects.xml.
It’s a massive and sometimes confusing jumble of numbers. Find the entries that sound logical (“engine exhaust”) and experiment a bit.
Just got done with a campaign flight and shut down before I saw this or I’d take a peek myself.
Might be an easy edit or it may not. Back up your original first and remember what you do in case the next patch adds a new effects file.

#4493363 - 10/17/19 10:13 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Mike Dora Offline
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Tried that Duke, with the precautions you describe. Deleted in toto the “effects.xml” entries for rotary engine smoke and inline engine smoke.

Trouble is, when I run WOFF these entries reappear in the “effects.xml” file, and my Camels, Albatri etc start chuffing clouds of black smoke as before. Don’t know enough about the inner workings of WOFF to get beyond this conundrum.

Mike

#4493366 - 10/17/19 10:36 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Interesting. I was unaware that WOFF rewrites/recreates the Effect.xml every startup. I know it does with some files - or it used to - but not that one.
Hope the modders are paying attention since a lot of mods back in the day altered this file.
Guess you could make your changes to it and try “write protecting” it in the file properties? Don’t know if that would work but may be worth a try.

#4493383 - 10/18/19 02:05 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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orbyxP Offline
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I'm guessing that the code must be deleted in two places. Also, I'm guessing that these are the lines to be removed. So far, it is working for me.

Go to: <Drive>:\OBDSoftware\WOFF\WOFFScenery\Effects\Effects
open effects.xml with notepad
find and delete lines

<rotary_exhaust_smoke ClassName="ParticleEffect" EmitterShape="sphere" EmitterRadius="0" EmitterLifetime="0" EmitterPosX="0" EmitterPosY="0" EmitterPosZ="0" ZBias="0" EmissionAngleHoriz="180" EmissionAngleVert="90" EmissionSpread="0" EmissionRate="100" EmissionRateVar="0" InitialDelay="0" InitialCount="0" MinDistance="10" MaxDistance="3500" StopMethod="1" ZSort="0" UprightSprite="0" RandomStartRotation="1" RandomRotationDirection="1" Lifetime=".25" LifetimeVar="0" Speed="5" SpeedVar="0" MaxSpeed="1000" MaxSpeedVar="0.0" Accel="0" AccelVar="0.0" AccelTime="0.0" Gravity="0" Drag="0" DragDelay="0.0" InheritVelocity="0" Size="1" SizeVar="0" MaxSize="10" MaxSizeVar="0" GrowRate="2" GrowRateVar="0" RotationRate="30" RotationRateVar="15" FadeInTime="0" InitialColor="0 0 0" InitialAlpha="0" Color="0 0 0" Alpha="25" FadeOutTime=".2" FinalColor="0 0 0" FinalAlpha="0" Texture="off_light_smoke.dds" BlendMode="QuadSprite"/>


<inline_exhaust_smoke ClassName="ParticleEffect" EmitterShape="sphere" EmitterRadius="0" EmitterLifetime="0" EmitterPosX="0" EmitterPosY="0" EmitterPosZ="0" ZBias="0" EmissionAngleHoriz="180" EmissionAngleVert="90" EmissionSpread="0" EmissionRate="100" EmissionRateVar="0" InitialDelay="0" InitialCount="0" MinDistance="10" MaxDistance="3500" StopMethod="1" ZSort="0" UprightSprite="0" RandomStartRotation="1" RandomRotationDirection="1" Lifetime=".25" LifetimeVar="0" Speed="5" SpeedVar="0" MaxSpeed="1000" MaxSpeedVar="0.0" Accel="0" AccelVar="0.0" AccelTime="0.0" Gravity="0" Drag="0" DragDelay="0.0" InheritVelocity="0" Size="1" SizeVar="0" MaxSize="10" MaxSizeVar="0" GrowRate="2" GrowRateVar="0" RotationRate="30" RotationRateVar="15" FadeInTime="0" InitialColor="0 0 0" InitialAlpha="0" Color="0 0 0" Alpha="15" FadeOutTime=".2" FinalColor="0 0 0" FinalAlpha="0" Texture="off_light_smoke.dds" BlendMode="QuadSprite"/>

Go to: <Drive>:\OBDSoftware\WOFF\OBDWW1 Over Flanders Fields
find the effects.xml file and do the same as above.

#4493409 - 10/18/19 06:07 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Thanks orbyxP.
Clearly you have the effects.xml by the tail. May give its try just to see what happens. Who knows? Maybe I’ll like it.
Got the above cut & pasted for my Library of WOFF Knowledge.

EDIT: OP please note that the effects file is in two places. Change both and that should fix your “changes being changed” problem. Forgot about that.
Since I've been playing this game for 10+ years(?) I have forgotten more about it then I currently remember I think..

Last edited by DukeIronHand; 10/18/19 06:57 AM.
#4493416 - 10/18/19 08:30 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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It is sufficient to modify only file(s) located at WOFF Scenery folder. The second file is overwirtten upon each WOFF start.

#4493417 - 10/18/19 08:31 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: JJJ65]  
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..

#4493419 - 10/18/19 09:06 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Creaghorn Offline
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Remember that on rotary engines, the pilot is exposed to it all the time. That's part of the charm of flying rotaries. Also when blipping you can see some clouds spraying out and you are supposed to. Don't know if those are the correct lines, but killing that would take that charme away.
I like this sort of subtle fume, like with trucks or old cars etc. Also I don't want the look to be too sterile and clean ingame. Think of BBC Wings how they looked like after every flight.

#4493421 - 10/18/19 09:11 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Kind of agree here. Adds to the...ambiance of the whole thing.
If I thought was adding significant FPS I might keep it but chasing game performance in the ever changing campaign mode is like chasing your tail.
For anyone else the above “fix” post works just fine.

#4493424 - 10/18/19 09:27 AM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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I tried this exhaust thing some years ago in woff3 for the very same reason and didn't see any performance boost.

#4493450 - 10/18/19 12:43 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: orbyxP]  
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Mike Dora Offline
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Thanks OrbyxP & JJ, this has resolved the issue for me. Now I have things looking “right” to my eyes.

I know this is very much a case of personal taste, but having all the ac trailing visible exhaust smoke was a minor detractor for me. Have seen worse though, some sims even have ac like Spitfires puffing out plumes of black smoke!

Cheers

Mike

#4493451 - 10/18/19 12:47 PM Re: WOFF Exhaust Smoke [Re: Mike Dora]  
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Yep. I may end up keeping the “smokeless flight.” Gonna keep using it for a few days and keep my notes and how to do it again. Eventually the .xml file will be tweaked by OBD in a patch I’m guessing. Vital part of the game engine I’m thinking.


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