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[WxTech]

In the various classes for vehicles and stationary objects, liveTime durations for the 'long lasting' smoke and fire after destruction are randomly set between a low and a high limit. All are fairly similar, with the short times ranging between 14 and 17 seconds, and the long times ranging between 22 and 27 seconds.

In the stock Explosions.class, for these objects a global factor of 4 is applied, thus increasing these durations to a range of 56 to 108 seconds. I gather this is considered pretty short by many players, and so in my current effects pack I have this global factor set to 9. Moreover, I apply an individual, additional factor so as to get a larger variety of effect live times.

For 'House' objects, which are all those in static.ini, the stock effect live time durations for the long lasting elements are randomized between 300 and 600 seconds. I apply different ranges of time for the different Body types, which generally factors in the size as well. I have set durations which comport sensibly with the times for the vehicles, ranging from similar durations to as long as twice as long.

My new idea I wanted to run by you, dear reader, is this.

Would a conf.ini control by which to set your own desired global smoke/fire live time factor for vehicles and static objects be of interest? If the [Mods] section entry is missing, a default factor would be used; I'm thinking the stock value of 4 would be generally agreeable. But the player could set a very short value of 1, or go to as high as 20. This would result in smoke/fire lasting from as briefly as about 15-80 seconds at the short end to 5-25 minutes at the long end. Again, currently I use a factor of 9.

Does this have merit?

[Chrival]

I think this feature could be interesting. May be an option in the FMB, while building the mission, instead of the conf.ini would be more versatile. Or maybe both. Don't no if it's feasible. Anyway, thanks for all your work.

[WxTech]

In order to apply some effect duration setting in the FMB would require to integrate that somehow during run time as the object is handled in either Explosions.class or the parent class calling Explosions.class (such as House.class for 'house' type objects as defined in static.ini.) It seems to me that no benefit obtains from such an approach; indeed, it adds complexity. Where, for instance, would the desired value be written so as to be recalled during play? If not conf.ini, then some new, custom file?

It took just a few minutes to incorporate my scheme via inclusion of a handful of lines of code in the two relevant methods in Explosions.class. Those methods being runByName(), which handles vehicles and static objects, and HouseExplode(), which handles 'house' type objects in static.ini.

When setting a value of "1", the REALLY brief effect durations for the vehicles and other static objects sure do jump out with their rapid disappearance! The stock multiplication factor of 4 sure is the useful minimum. Again, I've been using 9, and figure that offering a maximum of 20 should satisfy the most demanding players. Unless in certain situations, such as for making movies, even longer durations are desirable? It would be no problem to allow an arbitrarily large value...

[WxTech]

I decided to raise the upper limit for the time factor to 100, This would have fire/smoke going on for as long as 25 to 125 minutes. 

Additionally, I supply separate controls for vehicles/stationary objects versus 'house' type objects (buildings and structures,for the most part). I have the supplied base effect duration times for both to be reasonably balanced, meaning that in general setting both factors the same in conf.ini is good practice. But the option to handle these different object types with differing effect durations is there if desired.

[Chrival]

I decided to raise the upper limit for the time factor to 100, This would have fire/smoke going on for as long as 25 to 125 minutes. 

Great 

[genXgamer]

Then I will be using the 100 setting.
I have complained in the past about stationary aircraft and hangar fire/smoke disappearing after 10 minutes, this should satisfy me.
Saying that I've been using triggers to provide the fire/smoke in my missions.

[WxTech]

Shane,
How would a trigger initiate a fire/smoke column normally associated with a destroyed object? Am I right to presume from this that an object can be made to be destroyed without involving an actual 'physical' destructor? Or am I misinterpreting you?

There does exist a range of stationary fire and smoke objects, which exist for the entirety of a mission. Are these insufficient to your needs?

I'm asking so as to get an idea of the range of possibilities for use of effects that I might not even have thought of. 

[gunny0134]

I decided to raise the upper limit for the time factor to 100, This would have fire/smoke going on for as long as 25 to 125 minutes. 

Very nice !!

It's a great news for movie makers...

[Dimlee]

If not in FMB, could it be done as a new object in C&C? With an option to write the duration number in Mod section.

And yes, it's a useful feature. The user could decide what to choose: the longer time for the realism or the shorter time in case of FPS drop, stuttering, etc.

[WxTech]

Bear in mind that when the live time get rather lengthy, one must be wary of letting lots of objects to continue to be destroyed because the total number of effect particles can become large, with the potential of wholesale disappearance of some fraction of the effects.

I do employ a bit of a 'safety margin' by randomly not invoking these long-lasting fire/smoke effects in about 1/3 of instances (mostly for buildings and the like). Of course, when playing back a track there will not be a good likelihood of the same destroyed objects having or not having a fire/smoke column. Any randomness utilized during play applies also on track playback.

[WxTech]

If not in FMB, could it be done as a new object in C&C? With an option to write the duration number in Mod section.

And yes, it's a useful feature. The user could decide what to choose: the longer time for the realism or the shorter time in case of FPS drop, stuttering, etc.

I don't see, at first blush, how any one C&C object could apply. Explosions.class is handling tanks, cars, fuel cars, artillery, searchlights, stationary planes and other stationary objects all individually. And for 'house' type objects there is separate treatment for the various Body types (WoodSmall, Rockville, Flesh, etc.) And in the end, the simplicity of a single global factor (applied against the already differing ranges of effect live times for all these different object 'types') does not argue against manually supplying it in conf.ini.

In short, to me it seems that a more 'sophisticated' scheme would have merit only when devising a treatment for the numerous individual object 'types.'

If I'm missing the gist of the idea, how about a short description of a scenario? 

[genXgamer]

Triggers can't destroy an object, well they can if you get creative like Morris's solution for my question "How to make AA gunners ceasefire?"