Is it possible to add high-g vapor effects to the F-18?

[GR27]

I like to fly with the F-18 but it would be nice to have high-g vapor effects just like FS-KBT F-18E




Does any one know how to add this effects and what to add to the aircraft.cfg to have this effects correctly on the F-18?
Thank you.

[Razgriz]

Its possible and can easily be accomplished if you have the effect and the gauge (that triggers it when lets say 5+ G's).  You just need coords for it which I don't know how to get.

[Hodge001]

Its possible and can easily be accomplished if you have the effect and the gauge (that triggers it when lets say 5+ G's).  You just need coords for it which I don't know how to get.

Hi Razgriz

Having followed the posts regarding both the Sonic Boom Effect and now the High G Vapor Effect, I decided to have another play around, and have come up with the effect I think you’re after.

Instructions for adding the wing root vortex effect from the Team FS KBT FA18 to the FSX Acceleration F-18

1.   First download the Team FS KBT FA18 (obviously).
2.   Place the dfa18_fx.cab file from the download into the panel folder of the FSX F-18.
3.   Open the FSX F-18 panel.cfg (use wordpad or notepad) and add the following to the Vcockpit01 section

gaugexx=dfa18_fx!augmentor_80,
gaugexx=dfa18_fx!wing_vapor,

Where XX is the next available gauge number

4.   Open the FSX F-18 aircraft.cfg file and add the following to the lights section

light.X=9, -23.0, -1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2
light.X=9, -23.0, 1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2
light.X=8, -13.5, 0, 1.25, fx_vapor_fa18   // Wing Vapor

Again where X is the next available light number

That’s it

Except that the effect will only be triggered if the following conditions are met

1.   The aircraft must be travelling at over 230Kts
2.   You must be pulling 5G or more.
3.   The temperature must be less than 12o C

I must admit that I’m not quite sure what the augmentor2 effect is but as the original calls for it I’ve included it here.

I’ll also admit that I actually don’t fly the F-18 all that often, but I do like to tinker…

Jim H

P.S

Apologies for the quality of the screenies, but I had turned down FSX for another project i'm working on...

Plus I'm rubbish at screenshots....


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[Hodge001]

Hi Razgriz

Apologies to all, but I forget to include the instructions for the actual visual effects

You will need the file fsxf18fx.zip (I got it from simviations web site, the same place as the full FS-KBT F-18E which you need for the cab file)

Unzip the file to a temporary location and place the contents of the effect folder into the effects folder of FSX.

Sorry about that.

Jim H

[Intrepid]

WoW!! Jim
Remarkable
Tinker isn't the word(s) I would use
Create,,Work magic,,IMPRESS OTHERS,,etc,,,
Randy

[Razgriz]

I knew this was possible and easy, and I made a Sonic Boom for the F/A-18 the 3rd day of Acceleration.  Looking at this and actually seeing the high G's is AMAZING.  Wow, very nice!


http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/syb.cgi?section=military&file=fa-18e_sh.zip

[Hodge001]

Hi

I hope the mod is working for you all, and thanks for the comments, I just though that if some of you want to adjust the effect for other aircraft, or indeed this one I should probably tell you the number to adjust, so here goes.

For any effect within FSX you will have a string in the aircraft config file like say

light.X=8, -13.5, 0, 1.25, fx_vapor_fa18   // Wing Vapor

The number –13.5 in the example moves the effect forwards and backwards along the aircraft – back + forwards.

The Number 0 moves the effect left or right of the centreline of the aircraft – left + right (in this case both vapor trials are part of the same effect so it stays on the centreline.

The number 1.25 moves the effect up or down relative to the centreline – down + up.

The numbers roughly equate to feet.

Hope it helps.

Jim H

P.S

Although I would like to take the credit for these effects they were produced by some extremely talented designers, who should get all the credit, I just played around with the numbers.

[Razgriz]

I cannot seem to get mine to work.  I'm not sure why.

[Hodge001]

Hi Razgriz

Sorry to here your having probs, it’s got to be a minor hiccup.

Other than the amendments to the aircraft and the panel cfg files, the only files you need to add are these 5 effects files from the fsxf18fx.ZIP file

fx_augmentors.fx
fx_contrail_s_short.fx
fx_flame2_mid.fx
fx_smoke_eng_f18a.fx
fx_vapor_f18a.fx

Into the FSX effects folder

And the dfa18_fx.cab from the fa_f18e_sh.ZIP file in to your F-18 panel folder (do not unzip / unrar the contents in to the panel folder it must be the complete file)

Add to your F-18 Aircraft.cfg (Change the X entries to the next available number in that section for example if you F-18’s last light entry is 6 then the additions would be numbered as below)

[liGHTS]

light.7=9, -23.0, -1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2  // Root Vortex
light.8=9, -23.0, 1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2   // Root Vortex
light.9=8, -13.5, 0, 1.25, fx_vapor_fa18

Add to your F-18 Panel.cfg (same as above if your F-18’s last Vcockpit01 gauge entry is 13 then the numbers would be as below)

[Vcockpit01]

gauge14=dfa18_fx!augmentor_80,
gauge15=dfa18_fx!wing_vapor,

That should be it.

If you still have a problem get back in touch, I’ll try to assist if I can.

Jim H

[Intrepid]

Jim  I figured out what the augmentor effect does it adds an orange -yellow glow to the afterburner fire
and if you reposition it properly (from the location -23 to a -53) like shown here,the effect of a hotter
afterburner and tail-feathers is achieved

light.7= 9, -53.0, -1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2
light.8= 9, -53.0, 1.65, -0.8, fx_augmentor2

Thanks for your tutoring 
 Randy

[Hodge001]

Hi Randy

Thanks for the information and tip, I take you have got the effect working OK.

Jim H

[GR27]

Thank you Jim for your help, but there are no effects in fsxf18fx.ZIP only some text files and aircraft.cfg files, but there are 3 effects in fa18e_sh.zip:
fx_augmentor2.fx
fx_flame2_mid.fx
fx_vapor_fa18.fx
Is it OK to use them, will it work or i need all 5 effects files for this to work? And where can i get it?
Thank you.

[Hodge001]

Hi GR27

Sorry my mistake you are correct the Zip file name is fa-18e_sh, but it should have 5 effects files in it.

fx_augmentors.fx
fx_contrail_s_short.fx
fx_flame2_mid.fx
fx_smoke_eng_f18a.fx
fx_vapor_f18a.fx

Anyway the 2 files we need are the one you have mentioned i.e.

fx_augmentor2.fx
 
fx_vapor_fa18.fx

I think that the other files are more to do with the engine effects, as Randy mentioned, so we may not even need the fx_agmentor1.fx file, I just put it in during testing the effect and didn’t removed it.

But to answer your question yes those are OK

Jim H

[Intrepid]

Hi Randy

Thanks for the information and tip, I take you have got the effect working OK.

Jim H

Yes I got it to work perfect
Thank you so much for your help
Those little "Effects" really help make an already awesome sim even more  incredible
 

[GR27]

Hi GR27

Sorry my mistake you are correct the Zip file name is fa-18e_sh, but it should have 5 effects files in it.

fx_augmentors.fx
fx_contrail_s_short.fx
fx_flame2_mid.fx
fx_smoke_eng_f18a.fx
fx_vapor_f18a.fx

Anyway the 2 files we need are the one you have mentioned i.e.

fx_augmentor2.fx
 
fx_vapor_fa18.fx

I think that the other files are more to do with the engine effects, as Randy mentioned, so we may not even need the fx_agmentor1.fx file, I just put it in during testing the effect and didn’t removed it.

But to answer your question yes those are OK

Jim H

I did all the above but no go, i don't have the vapor effects, i put the CAB file in the panel file (i did not unzip / unrar it), i edit the aircraft.cfg and panel.cfg as you explain but no go, instead i have an "extra" after burner, when i use after burner the effect is shown also in front of the engines where the air comes inside, i probably did something wrong but i don't know what?
Thank you.