[HelpFind]NO engine smoke/space dust

The place to discuss scripting and game modifications for X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

Moderators: Moderators for English X Forum, Scripting / Modding Moderators

Mannschaft
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:36
x3ap

[HelpFind]NO engine smoke/space dust

Post by Mannschaft » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:46

Hi im very new around here and currently on my first adventure in my first X game and loving it. I installed XRM and various other scripts and finally have the game personalized a bit towards how I want my sandbox to be.

There is however one massive thing seriously bothering me and thats engine trail smoke. I hate it. Ion trails I can understand but the engine smoke ruins the game for me not only aestheticly but graphicly. For instance when I engage my SETA drive for some reason the engine smoke shoots out the front of the ship and is visible from the cockpit and slows everything down. Since XRM removed the fog in sectors this is a large performance hit on my laptop (stuck with it until I build my supercomputer in JAN). Even ignoring that I just down right hate the smoke and kind of dont like the space dust either.

To get to the point I would like someone to point me in the direction of a no engine trails and no smoke mod. I have searched everywhere and just cannot find it with one exception. The XTC mod has a set of options that allow me to get rid of smoke and dust but after having tested both XTC and XRM I just prefer XRM 100% as it doesnt disable the plot and adds more ships and isnt incomplete like XTC 1.2a. I did a test install of XTC into a folder by itself to try and see if I could find the scripts or dat/cat files that ONLY remove the smoke and dust but have not been successful.

So can someone please show me where to get a mod that does this, make me a mod that does this (I cant be the only one that hates the smoke can I?) or tell me what files from XTC 1.2a do what I need without having to install the whole mod. As I am new to this universe it is very important that I be able to play through the storyline.

Thanks in advance!

Teh Mannschaftz

User avatar
joelR
Posts: 2008
Joined: Mon, 9. Jul 07, 23:33
x3tc

Re: [HelpFind]NO engine smoke/space dust

Post by joelR » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 06:06

Mannschaft wrote:Hi im very new around here and currently on my first adventure in my first X game and loving it. I installed XRM and various other scripts and finally have the game personalized a bit towards how I want my sandbox to be.

There is however one massive thing seriously bothering me and thats engine trail smoke. I hate it. Ion trails I can understand but the engine smoke ruins the game for me not only aestheticly but graphicly. For instance when I engage my SETA drive for some reason the engine smoke shoots out the front of the ship and is visible from the cockpit and slows everything down. Since XRM removed the fog in sectors this is a large performance hit on my laptop (stuck with it until I build my supercomputer in JAN). Even ignoring that I just down right hate the smoke and kind of dont like the space dust either.

To get to the point I would like someone to point me in the direction of a no engine trails and no smoke mod. I have searched everywhere and just cannot find it with one exception. The XTC mod has a set of options that allow me to get rid of smoke and dust but after having tested both XTC and XRM I just prefer XRM 100% as it doesnt disable the plot and adds more ships and isnt incomplete like XTC 1.2a. I did a test install of XTC into a folder by itself to try and see if I could find the scripts or dat/cat files that ONLY remove the smoke and dust but have not been successful.

So can someone please show me where to get a mod that does this, make me a mod that does this (I cant be the only one that hates the smoke can I?) or tell me what files from XTC 1.2a do what I need without having to install the whole mod. As I am new to this universe it is very important that I be able to play through the storyline.

Thanks in advance!

Teh Mannschaftz
Open the .cat in question and find the particles3.pck file and delete it. Use the X3 mod manager to do this. You will also be deleting certain weapon effects and trails, keep this in mind.

Alternatively, if youre seeing them in front of your ship during SETA you can mostly stop that by setting SETA to around 4 or 5. Its an issue with vanilla as well.

I wouldnt recommend deleting the dust. I did it once as an experiment and promptly went back to using it. It gives a sense of motion.

joelR

Mannschaft
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:36
x3ap

Post by Mannschaft » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 06:10

Which .cat containts the particles file I have to delete? Is it one of the stock 1-13 cats or one of the cats added by the XTC mod?

And yeah i'll probably be keeping the dust. The performance hit if any is neglegible.

User avatar
joelR
Posts: 2008
Joined: Mon, 9. Jul 07, 23:33
x3tc

Post by joelR » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 06:52

Mannschaft wrote:Which .cat containts the particles file I have to delete? Is it one of the stock 1-13 cats or one of the cats added by the XTC mod?

And yeah i'll probably be keeping the dust. The performance hit if any is neglegible.
I dont know anything about XTC. Youll have to ask in that thread what file to delete.

Mannschaft
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:36
x3ap

Post by Mannschaft » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 08:17

Well I asked the XTC ppl and apparently trails are custom removed on a per ship basis so even if I got the files I needed from the XTC mod they wouldnt work with the XRM mod. In short I either need to figure out how to turn the trails off for every ship in the game in the XRM mod or pray to god that they get the same great idea to offer me this option in their next iteration.

:(

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 21:43

Mannschaft wrote:.. or pray to god that they get the same great idea to offer me this option in their next iteration.
May I suggest that you "pray to god" by posting your feedback to the authors of XRM in the thread of the XRM? :)

Firewrath
Posts: 121
Joined: Fri, 3. Aug 07, 05:49
x3tc

Post by Firewrath » Fri, 7. Oct 11, 11:20

(A Quick note: Doing this will most likely mark your game as MODIFIED. Im not sure and cant test it, but normally any changes like this will do that.)

Ok. So. Since this was asked in the XRM thread and Paulwheeler was kind enough to provide some instructions which Jack08 used to show off, ;)
I thought I'd post a simple step-by-step.

So credit goes to:
Paulwheeler - For these instructions.
Jack08 - For this Python script.

Now, Why do this?
Well for Me. This gave me a FPS boost in combat. Normally in any fight with over 4-5 ships, id start to lag, After applying this Ive been in fights with around 20 ships without much issue. (Id normally avoid such fights cause I'd get lag killed. :P ...now they just blow me up with missiles. >.>)
Though note, your mileage will definitely vary. If you have a decently powerful system you probable wont notice much of a change at all.



Instructions:
Step #1:
Get the X3 Editor 2 from Here.

Step #1.1:
If you dont have Python, get Portable Python from Here.
(Make sure you get version '2.7.2.1' as version '3.2.1.1' generates an error on running the script.)

Note: The following steps will be done with Portable Python, if you already have Python, then you should already know how to run a script. :P

Step #2:
After installing the X3Editor2 run the 'X3 Editor 2.exe' and click on 'Plugins' at the top.

Step #3:
At the top under the menu you'll see two 'Open' buttons. Click the second one. The one with the cat face.

Step #4: (Jack08 gave an alternative 'Step #4' in the post below these instructions.)
Navigate to the .cat file you want to open. For X3TC without any mods you might have to check a few of them. Start with the Highest numbered cat files first. (For XRM you want to open the cat file that came with 'XRM###_PART_2'. For other mods that make custom changes to ships, you might have to do a bit of searching or ask in their thread which .cat this file is in.)

Step #5:
Search the 'types' folder for 'TShips.pck'. Once you find it, click on it One time to select it. Then at the top of the window, under the menu, click the 'Extract Files' button.

Step #6:
Click 'Browse' and select where you want to place the TShips file. Staying in the Extract Files screen, make Sure the box next to 'Decompress compressed files' is Checked. Then hit 'Ok'.
you should now have a file called 'TShips.txt' in the folder you selected.

Step #7:
Save Jack08's Python code as 'ParseTFile.py'.
This should be saved in the same folder as your 'TShips.txt' file.

Code: Select all

TFILE = "TShips.txt"
TFILEOUT = "TShips.txt.out"

######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) #############

import time

F = open(TFILE, "r")
Lines = []


data = F.readline()
while data != "":
    Lines.append(data)
    data = F.readline()

ProcessedLines = []
for Line in Lines:
    if "//" not in Line:
        ProcessedLines.append(Line)


SizeData = 0
Data = []
for Line in ProcessedLines:
    Split = Line.split(";")
    Split.pop()
    if(len(Split) == 2):
        SizeData = Split
    else:
        Data.append(Split)

######### Modify Code ( Modify Here ) #############
for Entry in Data:
    Entry[49] = "0" # WipeTrails


######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) #############
F.close()
F = open(TFILEOUT, "w")
SizeData = (SizeData[0]+';'+SizeData[1]+';\n')
F.write("//Generated by ParseTFile.py by Jack08\n")
F.write(SizeData)

for Bullet in Data:
    String = ""
    for element in Bullet:
        String += (element+";")
    String += "\n"
    F.write(String)

F.close()
raw_input("Output file \""+TFILEOUT+"\" Written\nProcess Completed\nPress Enter to Exit")
######### PROCESSING CODE ( End ) #############
Step #8:
Extract Portable Python to a folder of your choice.
Then run 'PyScripter-Portable.exe' and in the menu click 'File' - 'Open' or the Open button. Navigate to where you saved 'ParseTFile.py' and click 'Open'.
Now click the 'Run' menu and then 'Run'.
(You can also press the button with the little green arrow on it, or hit 'CTRL-F9'.)
This should have popped up a window saying 'Press Enter to continue' and generated a file called 'TShips.txt.out' in the same folder as your 'Tships.txt' file.

Step #9:
Navigate to your X3TC install folder, normally:
'C:\Program Files\EGOSOFT\X3 Terran Conflict'

Create a new folder called 'types' in your 'X3 Terran Conflict' folder.
(It should look like so: 'C:\Program Files\EGOSOFT\X3 Terran Conflict\types')'
Place the 'TShips.txt.out' file there and rename it to 'TShips.txt'.

Step #10:
Thats it. Youre done. When you run X3TC all the ship trails should be gone from the game now.

For an unmodded version of X3TC youll have to check and make sure any new patches dont contain the 'TShips.pck' in the new .cat file. If they do, youll have to redo this to stay current with any changes the patch made to the file.
Youll also have to redo this if you use any mod that has custom ships every time they do a new release of the cat containing the 'TShips.pck' file.

Sooo. That should be it. If anyone finds any errors or mistakes Ive made, just let me know and i'll try to fix them when i can, though i warn my net access tends to be IFy, so it might take a little bit for me to get to.
Last edited by Firewrath on Sat, 5. Nov 11, 05:40, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Jack08
Posts: 2993
Joined: Sun, 25. Dec 05, 10:42
x3tc

Post by Jack08 » Fri, 7. Oct 11, 11:30

Step #4:
Navigate to the .cat file you want to open. For X3TC without any mods you might have to check a few of them. Start with the Highest numbered cat files first. (For XRM you want to open the cat file that came with 'XRM###_PART_2'. For other mods that make custom changes to ships, you might have to do a bit of searching or ask in their thread which .cat this file is in.)
As an alternative from this step, providing you have the mods installed already and the mod you want to modify has the highest tships on the stack

in x3 editor 2 you can hit file -> Open from VFS, and then select types, tships
it will automaticly find the highest tships on the stack and open it
Ok. So. Since this was asked in the XRM thread and Paulwheeler was kind enough to provide some instructions which Jack08 used to show off, Wink
In my defence ive had this python script lying around for over a year now :P simply repurposed it to wipe the trails :D
[ external image ]
"One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible."
―Farengar Secret-Fire

ThanatosDMC
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue, 8. Jan 13, 07:10

Post by ThanatosDMC » Tue, 8. Jan 13, 07:20

Thank you so much! This helped a lot. I like the XRM mod a lot especially how it affected combat but after a while it crashes in the middle of combat and it was really annoying.

But getting rid of the trails got rid of the crashes from 1.28. Fresh install of X3TC and AP and I just have the XRM mod installed. My fps is solid again like in Vanilla X3AP.

I wish someone would make a script for other users so they could easily turn off those engine trails. It makes combat even more satisfying since there's 50+ ships killing each other with missiles, particles, and laser beams.

i7-2630qm
gtx 560m 1.5gb ddr5
12gb ddr3 ram

Binesi
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon, 15. Mar 10, 14:50
x3ap

Post by Binesi » Wed, 30. Jan 13, 06:09

Perfect! I just found this thread linked in the XRM thread. I really like XRM but those engine trails are an eyesore. Having them slow down combat too is just double frustrating.

Anyway, I was going to waste a lot of time editing them out by hand and this saved me the trouble. Thanks!

User avatar
Jack08
Posts: 2993
Joined: Sun, 25. Dec 05, 10:42
x3tc

Post by Jack08 » Wed, 30. Jan 13, 08:04

ThanatosDMC wrote:Thank you so much! This helped a lot. I like the XRM mod a lot especially how it affected combat but after a while it crashes in the middle of combat and it was really annoying.

But getting rid of the trails got rid of the crashes from 1.28. Fresh install of X3TC and AP and I just have the XRM mod installed. My fps is solid again like in Vanilla X3AP.

I wish someone would make a script for other users so they could easily turn off those engine trails. It makes combat even more satisfying since there's 50+ ships killing each other with missiles, particles, and laser beams.

i7-2630qm
gtx 560m 1.5gb ddr5
12gb ddr3 ram

Should have sent me a PM i would have seen your request sooner! Ive had all of these lying around for a very, very long time. I was going to write them into a user-friendly program at one point but i put all my effort into my own mod instead - which has the capability to turn this stuff on and off at will :)

NOTE: See my post below for easy to use .exe versions of these scripts

ParseMissiles.py
Required File: TMissiles.txt

Code: Select all


TFILE = "TMissiles.txt" 
TFILEOUT = "TMissiles.txt.out" 

######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) ############# 

import time 

F = open(TFILE, "r") 
Lines = [] 


data = F.readline() 
while data != "": 
    Lines.append(data) 
    data = F.readline() 

ProcessedLines = [] 
for Line in Lines: 
    if "//" not in Line: 
        ProcessedLines.append(Line) 


SizeData = 0 
Data = [] 
for Line in ProcessedLines: 
    Split = Line.split(";") 
    Split.pop() 
    if(len(Split) == 2): 
        SizeData = Split 
    else: 
        Data.append(Split) 

######### Modify Code ( Modify Here ) ############# 
for Entry in Data: 
    Entry[15] = "0" # TrailEffect
    Entry[16] = "0" # Glow Effect

######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) ############# 
F.close() 
F = open(TFILEOUT, "w") 
SizeData = (SizeData[0]+';'+SizeData[1]+';\n') 
F.write("//Generated by ParseTFile.py by Jack08\n") 
F.write(SizeData) 

for Bullet in Data: 
    String = "" 
    for element in Bullet: 
        String += (element+";") 
    String += "\n" 
    F.write(String) 

F.close() 
raw_input("Output file ""+TFILEOUT+"" Written\nProcess Completed\nPress Enter to Exit") 
######### PROCESSING CODE ( End ) ############# 
ParseTBullets.py
Required File: TBullets.txt

Code: Select all


TFILE = "TBullets.txt" 
TFILEOUT = "TBullets.txt.out" 

######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) ############# 

import time 

F = open(TFILE, "r") 
Lines = [] 


data = F.readline() 
while data != "": 
    Lines.append(data) 
    data = F.readline() 

ProcessedLines = [] 
for Line in Lines: 
    if "//" not in Line: 
        ProcessedLines.append(Line) 


SizeData = 0 
Data = [] 
for Line in ProcessedLines: 
    Split = Line.split(";") 
    Split.pop() 
    if(len(Split) == 2): 
        SizeData = Split 
    else: 
        Data.append(Split) 

######### Modify Code ( Modify Here ) ############# 
for Entry in Data: 
    Entry[19] = "0" # Trail
    Entry[23] = "0" # ETrail


######### PROCESSING CODE ( Do Not Modify ) ############# 
F.close() 
F = open(TFILEOUT, "w") 
SizeData = (SizeData[0]+';'+SizeData[1]+';\n') 
F.write("//Generated by ParseTFile.py by Jack08\n") 
F.write(SizeData) 

for Bullet in Data: 
    String = "" 
    for element in Bullet: 
        String += (element+";") 
    String += "\n" 
    F.write(String) 

F.close() 
raw_input("Output file ""+TFILEOUT+"" Written\nProcess Completed\nPress Enter to Exit") 
######### PROCESSING CODE ( End ) ############# 
Last edited by Jack08 on Sat, 9. Feb 13, 20:15, edited 1 time in total.
[ external image ]
"One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible."
―Farengar Secret-Fire

User avatar
jack775544
Posts: 1277
Joined: Tue, 13. Dec 11, 08:27
x4

Post by jack775544 » Wed, 30. Jan 13, 10:08

Jack08 wrote:i put all my effort into my own mod instead
We don't mind you slaving over X-Timelines :D
1940s - Various "computers" are "programmed" using direct wiring and switches. Engineers do this in order to avoid the tabs vs spaces debate.

greypanther
Posts: 7307
Joined: Wed, 24. Nov 10, 20:54
x3ap

Post by greypanther » Sat, 9. Feb 13, 19:36

Sorry to ask this, but I find the instructions OK to follow, however I find the whole thing just very daunting, as I am sure many others will to. Could this be made into a little script and made idiot proof for well, idiots like me? :oops:
( Please someone? )

User avatar
Jack08
Posts: 2993
Joined: Sun, 25. Dec 05, 10:42
x3tc

Post by Jack08 » Sat, 9. Feb 13, 20:14

  • Step 1: Download the parse tools HERE
  • Step 2: Extract them (anywhere you like)
  • Step 3: Grab a related TFile (Either TShips, TMissiles or TBullets) and place it (or all of them) in the ParseTools folder.
  • Step 4: Run the relevent EXE's, ParseTShips.exe for TShips, ParseTMissiles.exe for TMissiles, ParseTBullets.exe for TBullets
  • Step 5: Move the new .out files to your Types folder
  • Step 6: Rename the .out files to .txt files
  • Step 7: ???
  • Step 8: Profit.
[ external image ]
"One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible."
―Farengar Secret-Fire

greypanther
Posts: 7307
Joined: Wed, 24. Nov 10, 20:54
x3ap

Post by greypanther » Sat, 9. Feb 13, 23:15

Sorry jack08, I knew I was being cheeky, but I just have no confidence to even do, what to you, is an extremely simple bit of alteration. :oops:

I know I must learn to, but I just lack the time needed to sit down and learn it, as well as lacking the confidence.

Thank you anyway. :)

User avatar
Quinch
Posts: 362
Joined: Thu, 10. Jun 04, 01:09
xr

Post by Quinch » Sun, 10. Feb 13, 07:14

Quick question - I tried the basic approach, deleting {well, renaming} the particles3.pck files from the catalogues, both addon and game root, with no change.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33551029/addon-cat1.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33551029/addon-cat7.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33551029/root-cat3.jpg
I wasn't banished to the moon yesterday.

jambock1978
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat, 27. Apr 13, 04:27

Post by jambock1978 » Wed, 22. May 13, 01:14

Hmmm... I have a little problem, now i have a lot of zzPlaceholder ships... It seems that its because i have more than one mod that change/Add ships... What can i do to solve it? Any way to merge 2 Tships.txt?

Mannschaft
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:36
x3ap

Post by Mannschaft » Sun, 1. Sep 13, 23:10

Firewrath wrote: Sooo. That should be it. If anyone finds any errors or mistakes Ive made, just let me know and i'll try to fix them when i can, though i warn my net access tends to be IFy, so it might take a little bit for me to get to.

I left the forums shortly after I made this post so I never got to try out your fix. Now that I'm playing Albion Prelude I decided to give it a shot. I can't freaking thank you enough. This works perfectly! My Shamshir no longer has 6 ugly trails of smoke coming out of the engines! God she's beautiful now.

To get this to work with Albion Prelude I simply took the output file and placed it into the x3/addons/types folder instead of x3/types. I don't think that alone worked but there was a TShips.pck file in that folder already. I renamed it to TShips.pck.bak (in effect deleting it without deleting it) and loaded the game again and BAM! no smoke in space.

I can't thank you enough and the others that helped as well (Jack for the python doohickey etc...).

Much love.

*Edit* Renaming that .pck file removes several ships from the game including the Kyoto. Leaving it in makes the engine smoke come back. Havn't figured out a workaround.
DOWN WITH THE ALBINO SKUNK!!!!

User avatar
anachron13
Posts: 144
Joined: Tue, 2. Nov 10, 23:41
x3tc

Post by anachron13 » Mon, 2. Sep 13, 09:10

Hello,

The pck file is just a compressed txt file. Open it with x3 editor 2, save it as a txt file, run the python script and you should have all your ships.

Mannschaft
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue, 4. Oct 11, 05:36
x3ap

Post by Mannschaft » Wed, 4. Sep 13, 06:09

Yeah I just can't get it to work. I screwed with some files and had to delete my install and unzip my backup install (any time I mod a game, I zip up the entire vanilla install for reasons like this). Now there is no longer a TShip.pck in the addon/types folder. Just a Twares.pck. Anyway, putting the modified text file in there breaks something. My Albion Pride will be permanently damaged and go really really really slow. Not sure where the TShips.pck came from in the first place if it's not in my vanilla install but the best I had so far was no smoke but I lost some ships including any that were added by AP.

I noticed that smoke has been replaced by ion trails in Rebirth. /sigh.
DOWN WITH THE ALBINO SKUNK!!!!

Post Reply

Return to “X³: Terran Conflict / Albion Prelude - Scripts and Modding”