Dynamic effects plus units mod

[Stonehouse]

I'd like to thank templargfx for granting us permission to create a new thread and for his original mod which this one is based on. The work dramatically improves battlefield immersion and templargfx should be credited for the original concept and effort.

 

(for reference only the original thread is found here Random Dynamic 'Battle' Smoke and Ground Units - Mods - IL-2 Sturmovik Forum (il2sturmovik.com) )

 

This mod will randomly create smoke columns, fire and explosions and various units like AAA and searchlights around the player hosting the mod. You can configure by type how far away from the player things spawn and the probability of doing so. You can also pick and choose what things will spawn. By way of a bonus this mod includes the functionality of the draw distance mod for smoke so you should no longer need that one if you use this. I've used this mod for both locally hosted and dedicated server MP missions without issue so you should have the same experience as long as you respect the comments in the first bullet point below. I have a separate JSGME mod profile setup for clients and host/offline play for the group I fly with to ensure clients don't accidentally load this mod for MP sessions. JSGME mod profiles are held as MEP files and can be loaded under tasks in JSGME.

 

As people have requested I'll update this first post with updates when they arrive. Last update was Aug 4 2022

 

Notes below are included in the 7zip file as a htm file. Hopefully it is readable for you, if not let me know.

 

For people wondering what smoke effects look like for example, see some sample pics below. There are lots of other pictures in the original mod thread should you want to see other examples.

 

Some general notes:

• If you use this mod in MP ONLY THE HOST SHOULD HAVE IT ENABLED.  This is because it has been set up to pass network traffic and if everyone is running it then each instance of the emitter will create explosions and fires and transmit details to everyone else. If more than one person in the mission is running the mod this will quickly drown the mission in smoke etc and bring it to it's knees. The benefit of enabling network traffic and have only the host generate effects is that everyone in the mission will see the same thing. If network traffic is disabled then each player could run the mod but people would only see their own created effects. ie so saying west of the large smoke would mean something different to each player. 
•  Changing the frequency of each effect being generated is done by changing the line starting with "P=" in file staticexplosions.txt. This is essentially a probability of the effect being triggered or the unit being spawned. Note that this value is checked extremely frequently by the game and so values should be kept quite (surprisingly) small to avoid too many instances of an effect or unit being triggered. Especially true for units as they don't despawn and so the number of units will accumulate over time. If you fiddle with the values and increase the chance of triggering too much don't be surprised that it causes you problems.
•  All effects are based on the location of the player running the mod. So the min and max distance is based on this players location. Keep this in mind or else expect to have explosions etc be triggered so close that things like taking off becomes pretty difficult. eg spawning an enemy flak gun on your own airfield will ruin your day. The line to tweak in file staticexplosions.txt for this is the one starting with "Range=" and the first value is the minimum distance from the player running the mod and the second is the max distance. The game will trigger the effect at a random distance between these two values.
•  Personally I usually only have the smoke and fire effects turned on and set up to be quite a distance out so they add atmosphere only. I've uploaded the mod with this configuration. However I have also supplied a example staticexplosions.txt with everything turned on. The file is called staticexplosions.txt.alleffects. If you wish to turn off a specific effect then you need to comment out the lines for the effect in file staticexplosions.txt. This is done by putting "//" without the quotes at the start of each relevant line. An effect block starts with the line [Emitter] and ends with the line [end]. To remove an effect put // at the start of each line relevant to the effect in question. To swithc on an effect or unit remove the comment markers from the lines for the block defining the effect. For example if I want to disable the effect which either creates a 52K mobile AA turret at a ground location or a destroyer at a water location I would change the lines below:

[Emitter]
	P=0.002
	Object="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Vehicles\52k.txt"
	WaterObject="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Ships\destroyertype7.txt"
	Alt=0
	Range=4500,35000
[end]

to

//[Emitter]
//	P=0.002
//	Object="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Vehicles\52k.txt"
//	WaterObject="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\Ships\destroyertype7.txt"
//	Alt=0
//	Range=4500,35000
//[end]

• Note that Alt = 0 should always be left that way as this is equivalent to sea or ground level. While I haven't tried I assume a +ve value will create the effect midair or perhaps cause an error. Not sure.
• If you wish to keep the ground effect but not have a water effect then replace the line starting with "WaterObject=" with the line below, so for example in the above effect block for the 52K AAA and destroyer if I wanted the 52K AAA but not the destroyer I would replace the line with destroyertype7.txt in it with the line below:

WaterObject="LuaScripts\WorldObjects\TemplarGFX\templar_no_water.txt"

• Attachment is set up to use with JSGME. Easiest method of installation is to copy/move the 7zip file to your JSGME mods folder and do an "Unzip here".
• I suggest using a real editor like notepad++ to edit staticexplosions.txt 

 

General comment, flying missions over the Southern England look a bit strange if there is too much smoke. So, if you are planning a mission in a period of the war where the Luftwaffe still ventured in numbers over the UK you might want to either disable this mod or reduce the probability of smoke effects spawning quite a bit.

 

 

 

Dynamic Effects plus Units.zip

6.002 compatible

 

 

Changelog

24 Feb 2024 resync to 5.202

23 Sep 2023 resync to 5.106

31 Mar 2023 resync 5.101 and add FDT to ships

26 December 2022 resync to 5.004 files

12 October 2022 - resync to match 5.002 files. Added new ships.

8 September 2022 - resync to match 5.001 files. Added ships from BoN.

4 August 2022 - general cleanup of files in the mod, some additional effects added to those which can be spawned.

13 May 2022 - switched 7zip file to zip file, no change in content.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14 by Stonehouse
see changelog

[DragonDaddy]

Thank you for keeping this mod alive and updated. Your explanation of how it can be user-modified is a big plus. 

[templargfx]

Thanks for keeping this alive, your a legend!

[artao]

Thank you ?

[-=[]=-little-Guardian]

   +1

 

Thanks for keeping this Mod alive, it is such an improvement . . .  much appreciated!

[Einhander62000]

Hi! This mod work in career mod?

 

 

[Stonehouse]

Yes it does. I do suggest that you don't spawn units though and limit things to just the effects.

[Stonehouse]

Did a quick health check on this mod this morning after the patch delivered the Mosquito. Did not see any issues.

[Stonehouse]

Did a quick health check on this one today. No issues I could see.

[Stonehouse]

No specific issues post patch but a heads up that I will upload a cleaned up/revised version shortly.

[Stonehouse]

Updated version available in first post. I wasn't able to test exhaustively but I did not see any issues during the tests I did carry out. As usual if there is an issue let me know.

[sonicviz]

Ty

[metalvenom]

This looks neat. is it possible for me to add tanks into the mix too? I love the tank crew side of IL2 but it really lacks a dynamic gameplay where we can just spawn in and drive around with battle around us. not looking for a structured mission. just a dynamic battlefield we can search and destroy with.

excellent work here!

[Stonehouse]

It hadn't occurred to me to use it as a random battle generator but I guess you could. You'd have to update staticexplosions.txt to mention the vehicle text file you want. So \luascripts\worldobjects\vehicles\pziii-h.txt for the object line to spawn a Panzer IIIH for example. 

 

I think you may find your game bogs down though it you start spawning lots of AI units. They are much more expensive frame rate wise than smoke. Once spawned they don't despawn unless you destroy them so eventually you could end up with a lot of AI especially if you set the probability high.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Stonehouse

[metalvenom]

Yeah some tweaking may result in not bogging down to fast. but seeing as the game lacks any kind of a random battle generator on the fly. could be a nice gap fill until a more dedicated one is made.

 

but thank you for the info. I'll have a look into it. thanks

Edited August 30, 2022 by metalvenom

[Stonehouse]

This one is going to need an update as well. Hope to get it to you soon

[Stonehouse]

First post updated

[Stonehouse]

First post updated. Please note that unless you like war-torn England you really need to reduce probabilities of spawning smoke etc. a lot in staticexplosions.txt for Normandy use. I haven't done so in the download because the mod can be used for different maps, and I don't want to have a different almost identical mod for Normandy. I possibly will eventually include the file I use on my groups dedicated server for Normandy so people can swap the versions of the file if they don't want to do edits. It is to personal taste though.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Stonehouse

[Youtch]

Out of curiosity which MP server are you running?

[Stonehouse]

Just a standard Il2 dedicated server. Usually either an EMG dogfight mission run as co-op or PWCG coop campaign. It's not running 24/7. I just start it up when we want to fly.

[Stonehouse]

No apparent issues or changes post 5.003

[Stonehouse]

I may not get to checking this mod v's 5.004 files until after Christmas - I don't expect this to be the case but if you have issues like errors popping up please let me know and I'll try to do a quick fix.

[Stonehouse]

New version available in first post. Had to resync some of the ships to current game version.

[Stonehouse]

no apparent changes required post 5.004b

[sonicviz]

Not available? 

[Stonehouse]

5 hours ago, sonicviz said:

Not available? 

 

Downloads fine for me and the zip opens ok as well. What do you see at your end?

[sonicviz]

hmm, looks ok now, was showing unavailable. 

 

Never mind, onward and upwards! Thanks.

[Stonehouse]

FYI while this mod is likely fine, I have not checked it yet against the new patch files. Will try to get time over the next day or so. 

[Stonehouse]

First post updated with new version

[Stonehouse]

Don't believe 5.1.01b required any changes for this mod

[Stonehouse]

Changes to ship files in 5.102 so this will need an update I think. WIP

Edited April 27, 2023 by Stonehouse

[Stonehouse]

Don't believe 5.1.0.3 required any changes for this mod

[Stonehouse]

Believe no changes required for this mod post 5.104

[Stonehouse]

Believe no changes required for this mod post 5.105

[Stonehouse]

Reviewing (when I have spare time) for post 5.106 changes but believe it is fine to use as is.

[Stonehouse]

On 9/21/2023 at 11:27 AM, Stonehouse said:

Reviewing (when I have spare time) for post 5.106 changes but believe it is fine to use as is.

On review it turns out I was incorrect. Several edits were required to resync the mod to version 5.106. See first post for updated version

[Stonehouse]

Don't believe this needs to be updated and I believe it will be fine post 5.107.

[Stonehouse]

Haven't had time to properly check the actual files yet but I believe this mod is fine post 5.108

[Stonehouse]

Likely fine post 5.201 but I do need to check as there have been some bot file changes.

[Stonehouse]

On 12/20/2023 at 10:34 AM, Stonehouse said:

Likely fine post 5.201 but I do need to check as there have been some bot file changes.

Reviewed and best I can tell this one is confirmed as fine post 5.201.