B-17 smoke system for display

[Gypsy Baron]

I just stumbled across this thread and I have to say I really want that smoke too. I saw Sally B performing at Duxford and I thought that flyby with the smoke was pretty cool.

I'll give it a try too if that's ok!? Thank you for sharing it!

Let me know if it works OK for you.

Paul

[Piper_EEWL]

I will.

Thanks

[Tomas Linnet]

Hi Paul.

Just testing the smoke system.
As soon as I toggle the phone switch, I get the 91st BG Norden Bombsight. Is there another variable you can use?

[Gypsy Baron]

Hi Paul.

Just testing the smoke system.
As soon as I toggle the phone switch, I get the 91st BG Norden Bombsight. Is there another variable you can use?

Ah, I didn't count on you having the Norden. For the time being you can disable the
Norden Launch code, which I had to do to test the smoke on my system.

Comment out the "gauge01=Norden_Mod_V3!Norden Launch, 2,2,2,2" entry
in [Window09] for now.

If you have this entry in your radio 2D panel, [Window05]

gauge02=Norden_Mod_V3!Norden Icon, 112,8,15,15 // Icon to launch the Norden

If you don't have that entry, add it.

You can launch the Norden by hovering the mouse just to the left of the + sign
on the bar to the left of "Transparency". You should get a tooltip "Toggle Norden Bombsight"

I'll see what else is available to toggle smoke.

Paul

EDIT: HOLD OFF ON THIS....See my next post
I THINK the "L:BomberCallSwitch" switch can be used. That is just above the "Phnoe Call" switch.

To use that, open the "B17G_Display_Smoke.xml" file in Notepad and substitue "Bomber" for
"Phone" in the 6 instances of "L:PhoneCallSwitch and L:PhoneCallSwitchLast"

Save the file (insure it is saved as a .xml file and not .xml.txt)

I'll have to look into the code to see what the BomberCallSwitch is used for but I think
we can use it OK. You will need to declare that L:Var in an MCRO file so you can assign
a switch via FSUIPC4.

[Gypsy Baron]

Turns out that the BomberCallSwitch is the "drop payload" switch which is in the Shift-3 menu
on the left just under "Crew". If the bomb bay doors are not open, the actual drop won't
take place.

However, if you were actually dropping the payload the smoke woyld get triggered as well.

I think there is a way around that by qualifying the Smoke XML code elements with
a couple of <Visable> statements that would prohibit the smoke happening when the
bay doors were open.

I'll have to test that to insure there are no other hidden surprises. I'll get back to you
once I have had a chance to do that.

In the meantime, use the workaround I detailed in the last post, commenting out the
Norden Launch Gauge and continue to use the PhoneCallSwitch for now.

Paul

[Gypsy Baron]

Well, the Visible statements didn't work so I think what we shall use is
the Gear Horn switch on the right side of that same panel.

So, change the XML code to read:

(L:GearHornSwitch) and (L:GearHornSwitchLast)

Then add the L:GearHornSwitch=TOGGLE to an MCRO file.

Paul ( I never use the Gear Horn switch )

[Tomas Linnet]

Hi

Thank you, I'll have look later today.

[Tomas Linnet]

Paul

No luck so far.
As I understand I can just flick the switch in the VC, right??

I tried to change this line:
gauge24=B17G_Display_Smoke!B17G_Display_Smoke, 24, 24, 24, 24
to
gauge24=B17G_Display_Smoke!B17G_Display_Smoke, 25, 25, 25, 25
as this seemed logical to me, but still no smoke.

I don't think I have the Norden V3 installed, I'll have a look later.
Here is what my Panel look file now. I did try with both gauge 24 lines as shown above(with a FSX restart in between.):

gauge00=WoP3_b17!code_r, 1,1,1,1
gauge01=WoP3_b17!code_s, 2,2,2,2
gauge02=WoP3_b17_a!damage, 3,3,3,3
gauge03=WoP3_B17s!l2a, 4,4,4,4
gauge04=WoP3_B17s!storage, 5,5,5,5
gauge05=WoP3_B17s!events, 6,6,6,6
gauge06=WoP3_B17s!random, 7,7,7,7
gauge07=A2A_B17Sound!sound, 8,8,8,8
gauge08=WoP3_b17_a!status1, 9,9,9,9
gauge09=WoP3_b17_a!status2, 10,10,10,10
gauge10=WoP3_b17_a!status3, 11,11,11,11
gauge11=WoP3_b17_a!status4, 12,12,12,12
gauge12=WoP3_b17_a!status5, 13,13,13,13
gauge13=WoP3_b17_a!status6, 14,14,14,14
gauge14=WoP3_b17_a!status7, 15,15,15,15
gauge15=WoP3_b17_a!status8, 16,16,16,16
gauge16=WoP3_b17_a!status9, 17,17,17,17
gauge17=WoP3_b17_a!status10, 18,18,18,18
gauge18=WoP3_b17_a!status11, 19,19,19,19
gauge19=WoP3_b17_a!status12, 20,20,20,20
gauge20=WoP3_b17_a!status13, 21,21,21,21
gauge21=WoP3_b17_a!status14, 22,22,22,22
gauge22=WoP3_b17_a!status15, 23,23,23,23
gauge23=WoP3_b17_a!status16, 24,24,24,24
gauge24=B17G_Display_Smoke!B17G_Display_Smoke, 25, 25, 25, 25


Piper

did you get it up and running?

[Piper_EEWL]

I didn't have sufficient time to try it yet. Sorry guys

[Tomas Linnet]

Piper, no worries

[Gypsy Baron]

Tomas, verify that your B17G_Display_Smoke.xml file looks like this now:

Code: Select all

<Gauge Name="B-17G Display Smoke" Version="1.0">
<!--  Created on 09/05/14  Paul 'Gypsy Baron' Strogen-->

   <Element>
	<Select>
        <Value>(L:GearHornSwitch) 1 == (L:GearHornSwitchLast) 0 == &&
            if{ 6 (>K:SMOKE_SET) 7 (>K:SMOKE_SET) 1 (>L:GearHornSwitchLast) }  
        </Value>   	
	</Select>                                          
   </Element>
   
   <Element>  
	<Select>
        <Value>(L:GearHornSwitch) 0 == (L:GearHornSwitchLast) 1 == &&
           if{ 0 (>K:SMOKE_OFF) 0 (>L:GearHornSwitchLast) }
        </Value>   	
	</Select>                                          
   </Element>

</Gauge>

Insure that the file name is "B17G_Display_Smoke.xml" and is inside the "B17G_Display_Smoke"
folder in your WoP2_B17g panel folder.

The panel.cfg entry you have for gauge24 is OK.

Your aircraft.cfg should look like this:

Code: Select all

[smokesystem]
smoke.0 = 8.20, -21.500, 1.500, fx_WOP2_b17_navwhi
smoke.1 = 8.20, -21.500, 1.500, fx_WOP2_b17_smoke_puff
smoke.2 = 3.80, -10.500, 0.100, fx_WOP2_b17_smoke_puff
smoke.3 = 4.10, 10.900, 0.100, fx_WOP2_b17_smoke_puff
smoke.4 = 8.80, 22.000, 1.500, fx_WOP2_b17_smoke_puff

//======  Added Display Smoke Here  =========

smoke.5 = -2.50, -10.500, 0.100, zlin50_d-smoke
smoke.6 = -2.00, -21.500, 0.500, zlin50_d-smoke

Insure you have the file "zlin50_d-smoke.fx" in your FSX Effects folder and
a file named "fx_1.bmp" in the Effects\texture folder. It is a default FSX file I believe.

You should be able to just hit the gear horn switch to activate/de-activate the smoke.
As I mentioned before, you must have at least one engine running for the smoke
system to work.

If you add the L:Var "L:GearHornSwitch = TOGGLE" to an FSUIPC4 MCRO file,
named say 'A2A_B17g.MCRO' and put it in your Modules folder then that variable
will appear in the list of assignable controls.

Sample:

Code: Select all

[MACROS]
1=L:GearHornSwitch = TOGGLE

The above configuration is working fine here on my laptop.

Paul

[Gypsy Baron]

I didn't have sufficient time to try it yet. Sorry guys

If you don't have my 91st BG Norden installed, the original configuration
from the download link I posted should work for you, using the Phone Call
switch.

I used that switch to launch my Norden sight and apparently Tomas has, or had, that
installed. Thus when he tried the original version it didn't work as advertised.

The revised XML file uses the Gear Horn switch as the activate/de-activate control
to avoid a conflict with those that have my Norden.

Paul

[Tomas Linnet]

Paul

Thank you for posting your config files. I'll double check later.

[Tomas Linnet]

Paul

Succes!, looks like I need a pair of glasses after turning 40..... I didn't put the B17G_Display_Smoke folder in the WoP2_B17g panel folder. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience!
However there is some kind of problem, the smoke is on for 7 or 8 seconds, then it's off for some time and then comes back again.

[Gypsy Baron]

Well, we are almost 'there' now.

I'm in London at the moment but heading home on Thursday morning.

Once I am home (and caught up on 2 months worth of mail !) I'll be able
to take another look at this. I can't think of anything, offhand, that would
cause that cyclic behavior.

Just FYI, I saw Sally B and the smoke on Sunday at Duxford so at least I
now know what we are looking for

Paul