Blowing smoke...

[HankySpanky]

With the new 3D weather, specifically stormy, the C36-7 (and some others) exhaust blows in the same direction that the wind is blowing. However, most locos do not do this. So running a consist with several different locos looks a bit silly with one or two locos' exhaust blowing in one direction while the others blow the standard way that we are all familiar with.

Q. So with that, does anyone know how to make the exhaust (on most locos) blow with the wind like the C36-7 does in 3D "stormy" weather?

[mrennie]

With the new 3D weather, specifically stormy, the C36-7 (and some others) exhaust blows in the same direction that the wind is blowing. However, most locos do not do this. So running a consist with several different locos looks a bit silly with one or two locos' exhaust blowing in one direction while the others blow the standard way that we are all familiar with.

Q. So with that, does anyone know how to make the exhaust (on most locos) blow with the wind like the C36-7 does in 3D "stormy" weather?

Open the C36-7's emitter blueprint, look for Emitter component BP > Emitter properties > External forces factor (I'm assuming it's going to have a value > 0). Put that value into the external forces factor of the emitter blueprints of the other locos.

However, keep in mind that the 3D weather wind is horribly bugged - it blows much too fast at ground level, spreading out the particles and blowing them in often strange directions (like straight ahead even when the loco is doing 50mph), so I personally turn off the 3D weather and edit all scenarios to use "0. Default".

[HankySpanky]

Thanks much for the reply!
I've looked at the emitter blueprints of the C-36 as well as the RSC Dash9 and I do not see an External forces factor. This is what I am seeing:

<EmitterComponentBP>
<cEmitterComponentBlueprint>
<_iMaxParticles d:type="sInt32">600</_iMaxParticles>
<_sEmitterProperties>
<sEmitterBPProp>
<_iParticlesToRelease d:type="sInt32">1</_iParticlesToRelease>
<_iParticleEmissionRollOffRate d:type="sInt32">0</_iParticleEmissionRollOffRate>
<_fTimeBeforeRestart d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fTimeBeforeRestart>
<_bRestartEmitting d:type="cDeltaString">eTrue</_bRestartEmitting>
<_vInitVelocity>
<sVector3>
<X d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</X>
<Y d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000001040" d:precision="string">4</Y>
<Z d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F0BF" d:precision="string">-1</Z>
</sVector3>
</_vInitVelocity>
<_vGravity>
<sVector3>
<X d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</X>
<Y d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</Y>
<Z d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F0BF" d:precision="string">-1</Z>
</sVector3>
</_vGravity>
<_v2Spread>
<sVector3>
<X d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</X>
<Y d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</Y>
<Z d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F0BF" d:precision="string">-1</Z>
</sVector3>
</_v2Spread>
<_fEmissionRate d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fEmissionRate>
<_fVelocityVariance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</_fVelocityVariance>
<_fResistanceFactor d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fResistanceFactor>
<_bIntense d:type="cDeltaString">eFalse</_bIntense>
</sEmitterBPProp>
</_sEmitterProperties>
<_sParticleProperties>
<sParticleBPProp>
<_bSwitchColor d:type="cDeltaString">eTrue</_bSwitchColor>
<_bIsMesh d:type="cDeltaString">eFalse</_bIsMesh>
<_HcInitialColor>
<cHcColour>
<Red d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000009695D53F" d:precision="string">0.337255</Red>
<Green d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000009695D53F" d:precision="string">0.337255</Green>
<Blue d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000009695D53F" d:precision="string">0.337255</Blue>
<Alpha d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000A01611B13F" d:precision="string">0.066667</Alpha>
</cHcColour>
</_HcInitialColor>
<_HcMidColor>
<cHcColour>
<Red d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="00000040D4D2D23F" d:precision="string">0.294118</Red>
<Green d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="00000040D4D2D23F" d:precision="string">0.294118</Green>
<Blue d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="00000040D4D2D23F" d:precision="string">0.294118</Blue>
<Alpha d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000A01E14A43F" d:precision="string">0.039216</Alpha>
</cHcColour>
</_HcMidColor>
<_HcFinalColor>
<cHcColour>
<Red d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000201615C53F" d:precision="string">0.164706</Red>
<Green d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000201615C53F" d:precision="string">0.164706</Green>
<Blue d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000201615C53F" d:precision="string">0.164706</Blue>
<Alpha d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000A0FD0F903F" d:precision="string">0.015686</Alpha>
</cHcColour>
</_HcFinalColor>
<_fPercSwitchToMidColor d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000A09999C93F" d:precision="string">0.2</_fPercSwitchToMidColor>
<_fSpin d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fSpin>
<_fSize d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000D03F" d:precision="string">0.25</_fSize>
<_fFinalSize d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F83F" d:precision="string">1.5</_fFinalSize>
<_fLifeCycle d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000040" d:precision="string">2</_fLifeCycle>
<_fParticleTemp d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fParticleTemp>
<_fParticleMass d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fParticleMass>
<_vSpinAxis>
<sVector3>
<X d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</X>
<Y d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</Y>
<Z d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000000F03F" d:precision="string">1</Z>
</sVector3>
</_vSpinAxis>
</sParticleBPProp>
</_sParticleProperties>
<_bRandomizeTexture d:type="cDeltaString">eTrue</_bRandomizeTexture>
<_texID d:type="cDeltaString">RSC\Dash9Pack01\Particles\[00]Smoke</_texID>
<_iRowColumnSize d:type="sInt32">5</_iRowColumnSize>
<_fFrameSwitchTime d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</_fFrameSwitchTime>
</cEmitterComponentBlueprint>
</EmitterComponentBP>

If I only could get my hands on a commands manual that provides the variables info for this stuff, life would be a lot easier. I suppose I could mess around with these but I'm not that desperate (yet). I have to keep reminding myself - It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game...

[mrennie]

Thanks much for the reply!
I've looked at the emitter blueprints of the C-36 as well as the RSC Dash9 and I do not see an External forces factor. This is what I am seeing:

If I only could get my hands on a commands manual that provides the variables info for this stuff, life would be a lot easier. I suppose I could mess around with these but I'm not that desperate (yet). I have to keep reminding myself - It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game, It's only a game...

It's called "External forces factor" in the new blueprints but in the old ones, it's "Resistance factor" (which IMHO made much more sense ... I've no idea why they changed it).

A commands manual? Yes, that would be nice, if such a thing existed I don't think the dev docs say anything useful about emitters either. I learnt about them by making a new emitter blueprint and then spending a lot of time experimenting with the various entries to work out what the more obscurely named ones do.

EDIT: Looking at that blueprint you showed, I see that the Resistance Factor is already 0 (and so, fortunately, is the roll-off rate). What they've done, however, is to give the gravity effect a horizontal (as well as vertical) component. I haven't experimented with that but perhaps it does the job of making the particles fall sideways in the direction of the wind - I'm not entirely sure.