Smoke switch Gauge with three buttons. Smokeswitch3.

I made a smoke switch for someone.

User: JSOGaming

In this thread in the fsx forum titled: In-need-of-help-for-a-Panel

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?307559-In-need-of-help-for-a-Panel

It is a small panel with three switches for smoke effects.

Each switch controls one smoke effect.

JSOGaming was already given a smoke switch gauge by someone else.

I had already written the gauge and these posts. I won't rewrite them. I will just post them here.

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Hi, I made a Gauge for you to use.

It's a small Gauge, that you can also install as a small popup panel.

It has three buttons.

One for each smoke.

(I assume left-hand side, right had side, and centre. Red White and Blue. But they can be in any position.)

Installing installs two steps.

I will explain in the following two posts.

Next post is the instructions how to make and install the gauge in the panel.

Third post will be how to adapt your aircraft.cfg file. This is needed to add change your smokes, currently in your [Lights] section), to real smokes, in a [sMOKESYSTEM] section.

To start off though, a little intro.

This is a very "rough and ready" gauge. (It's not very neat.)

I tried making buttons that would turn on and off, but I got stuck fast.

I didn't want o spend days learning new tricks. So I used some techniques I knew already.

That makes the gauge a little less easy to use, but it looks ok, and works.

The (small) problem is, each 'Smoke' has a single On/Off button, but actually the button has not one but two clickspots.

To switch the smoke on, you click on the top area of the button.

To switch it off, you click on the bottom area.

This is what it looks like:

It works just fine, but clicking like that is not the neatest solution.

il88pp.

I created a gauge for you.

Follow these instructions to create a popup panel or gauge to put on an existing 2D panel.

Copyright, il88pp. August 2017.

Create empty folder on desktop.

Name the folder:

Smokeswitch3

Make new textfile in folder. (Right click--select new textfile.)

File must be the .txt filetype.

Rename the .txt file to: Smokeswitch3.txt

Select the whole text in the "Code" box below, right-click and click "Copy".

Open the .txt file with notepad. Right-click in the .txt file and click on "Paste" to paste the text.

Close the file and save.

(L:SMOKE1,Integer)












(L:SMOKE2,Integer)












(L:SMOKE3,Integer)













            (L:GETREADY) !
           if{ 4 (>L:SMOKE1) 4 (>L:SMOKE2) 4 (>L:SMOKE3) 2 (>L:GETREADY) }








1 (>K:SMOKE_ON) 2 (>L:SMOKE1)
Smoke 1 On



1 (>K:SMOKE_OFF) 4 (>L:SMOKE1)
Smoke 1 Off





2 (>K:SMOKE_ON) 2 (>L:SMOKE2)
Smoke 2 On



2 (>K:SMOKE_OFF) 4 (>L:SMOKE2)
Smoke 2 Off





3 (>K:SMOKE_ON) 2 (>L:SMOKE3)
Smoke 3 On



3 (>K:SMOKE_OFF) 4 (>L:SMOKE3)
Smoke 3 Off

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Close the file and save.

Rename the file from: "Smokeswitch.txt" to "Smokeswitch.xml".

(that makes it a gauge.)

(Windows wil give a warning that the file may become unusable. It won't, so click OK.)

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Download the followin three images to your desktop.

Their filenames should be:

redbutton.png

greenbutton.png

smokeswitch3_background.png

If these files do not have those names after downloading, rename the files correctly.

redbutton.png

greenbutton.png

smokeswitch3_background.png

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Then, the three images need to be converted to .bmp files. (bitmap files.)

Open the Images one by one in "Paint" (or any other image editor).

With an image open, click "File"--"Save As"---"24 Bits Bitmap"

(In some Image editors you may need to use "Export as 24 bits Bitmap" instead.)

After converting the three files, move the .bmp bitmap images to the folder you created.

(Same folder the .xml file is in.)

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Installing:

You will need to find a spot on the panel you want to place it on.

I can't help with that. Everyone will want it somewhere else, and in a different plane.

To add the gauge to your panel you will need to add the folder you created ("Smokeswitch3") to

the panel folder of your aircraft.

And in the panel.cfg file you will need to add a line to make the gauge appear.

I can't give coordinates for that, but the gauge line would be:

gaugeXX=Smoketest3!Smoketest3, AA,BB,aa,bb

In that line you wil have to edit the following:

XX--Number of gauge on panel

AA--Horizontal position on panel (higher number is further to right)

BB--Vertical position (higher number is further down)

aa--Width of the gauge

bb--Height of the gauge

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If you want this gauge on a separate 2D panel I can give the full section:

at the top of the panel.cfg in the

[Window Titles]

section, add the line:

WindowXX=Smoke Switch 3sw

And the panel section would be:

[WindowXX]
size_mm=210,127
position=8
BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0
VISIBLE=0
ident=Smokeswitch3

gauge00=Smokeswitch3!Smokeswitch3,            0,0

Change XX in those sections to the correct free Window number in your panel.!!!

(The XX number in the line at the top has to also be the XX number in the section you add.)

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Summary:

Gauge folder you made,

In it 4 files. Three bitmap images, one .xml file,

Folder added to panel folder.

line at the top in [Window Titles] and section added,

or line added in Main panel for example, and location and size for gauge figured out

by you by trying and then adjusting.

I hope you enjoy.

il88pp.

Copyright, il88pp. August 2017.

No Guarantees, use at your own risk.

I have it working in FSX-Acceleration. (Box Edition, FSX-Gold)

It is a very basic Gauge, so it probably works in FSX Basic as well.

It may well also work in FS2004.

One last bit. (I almost forgot.:D)

You need to add a [sMOKESYSTEM] section to make these smokes show when you click your panel.

This [sMOKESYSTEM] section is added to your aircraft.cfg file.

It contains the names of the smoke-effect files, and the location

in which you need them to show up.

I wil explain how to do this for mamber JSOGaming.

(I will add a bit below, info for others that want to use this gauge. So they can do so too.)

JSOGaming,

You posted a part of your aircraft.cfg file.

There I see:

[LIGHTS]

light.0 = 10, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_r ,

light.1 = 8, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_w ,

light.2 = 9, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_b ,

THese are clearly smokeeffects.

I assume that these are a red, white, and blue smoke-effect. Because of: _r, _w, and _r

at the end of their names.

(I do not have these files myself, but it seems a safe bet that's what they are.)

The location for each effect appears is the same:

-16.00, 0.0, 0.0,

(That's, from the aircraft reference point, 16.00 back, 0.00 to the left or right, and 0.00 above.)

In other words, it's somewhere towards the tail, and in the centreline of the aircraft.

I'm pretty sure these effect appear on the tail somewhere.

The number you see before those coordinates, determines which "Lightswitch" turns the effect on or off.

(As you see, each responds to a different switch.)

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What we are going to do is remove them from the [Lights] -section, and move them to the [sMOKESYSTEM] section.

I assumed that this plane does not have a [smokesystem] section yet.

(MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT HAVE A SMOKESYSTEM SECTION YET.)

(I will explain why you need to make sure. Below)

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Before you start, make a backup of your aircraft.cfg file.

(put the backup in the panel forde too, and give it a name like "aircraft-0-original.cfg" or similar.)

----

---

Backup made?? Sure??

Ok,

First, switch the effects thtat are in the [Lights] section OFF.

To do this, do not delete them. Instead, type // (two slashes) in front of the lines. Like so:

[LIGHTS]
//light.0 = 10, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_r ,
//light.1 = 8, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_w ,
//light.2 = 9, -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_b ,

Now the lights are switched off.

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Then, to add the [smokesection] -section.

Below the last light, add:

[smokesystem]
smoke.0= -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_r ,
smoke.1= -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_w ,
smoke.2= -16.00, 0.0, 0.0, fx_smoke_hawk_b ,

The smokes for this gauge must be added as

smoke.0

smoke.1

and

smoke.2

If you give them different numbers it will not work.

So, it's easy to add this if your plane has no smokesystem yet.

Sometimes a plane does have a smokesystem sections, but all smokes switch on and off only by

pressing "I" (the default FSX "Smoke On/Off" command).

In that case you can give the smokes you have already different numbers, and install this gauge

and three new smoke effects as 0, 1, and 2.

If the plane has a smokesystem section, but the smokes in your plane turn on and off automatically, without any

buttons pressed by you, do not install this gauge.

In that situation there is already a gauge installed that is controlling when those smokes go on and off. That

gauge only works if the smoke numbers do not get changed. That means you can't install other smokes and cannot

use my smokeswitch3 gauge in that plane.

Another thing you have to know. The smokeeffects I gave in the Code-Box ("fx_smoke_hawx_b", etc), are the effects that JSOGaming is using.

He has these effects installed.

If you do not have the same plane as he does, you will not have these smoke-effects installed.

You will then have to use different effects in the "smoke.0" "smoke.1" and "smoke.2" lines that you add.

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Sorry JSOGaming for that long break in the explanation. But good news, thats all you need to do done now.

Knocked out the lights, placed them in Smokesystem. Close the aircraft.cfg file and save. Done.

No need to do anyhing with the effects files themselves. They are already where they need to be.

Go fly! Enjoy!

il88pp.

I installed the gauge in a default plane to test.

Result:

PREVIEW 1

PREVIEW 2

Thanks for all the work!

Would be the support of JustFlight also so diligent in the case of JSOGaming . . .

My pleasure.:cool:

It was fun to make, and quick too!

Only 7 hrs to create it and write the instructions. (You were even faster I saw;))

Info I should have added earlier:

I have the Gauge working in FSX-Acceleration. (Box Edition, FSX-Gold)

It is a very basic Gauge, so it probably works in FSX Basic as well.

It may well also work in FS2004.

No Guarantees, use at your own risk.

Only 7 hrs to create it and write the instructions.

Yes, this phenomenon i know also . . . :)

My "magic" was i have a mediafire account and had already such a similar panel!