Custom Diesel Exhaust

Now you too can directly contribute to climate change! Press CTRL+F10 in-game to access the UMM Menu, search for 'Custom Diesel Exhaust' and then interact to apply settings. Mod works with all rolling stock defined as type 'diesel locomotive' and has an exhaust function.

This mod is currently not actively developed/supported. It may not be compatible with new mods, loaders, and versions of Railroader. Use at your own risk.

-= User Guide =-

Custom Diesel Exhaust is a Railroader mod that lets you control how diesel locomotive exhaust looks and behaves. Instead of the game's default smoke, you can pick from several presets (Alco-style dark smoke, Winter cold-weather haze, or General's light wispy look - each with optional wide-funnel variants), fine-tune 'General' with sliders, or use 'Advanced' to tune exhaust per notch (Idle + Notch 1–8). You can apply one style to all diesels, to a model series, or to a single locomotive.

NOTE FOR MULTIPLAYER: to ensure all players have the same exhaust experience, the host should distribute their copy of loco-exhaust-settings.xml

-> HOW THE MOD WORKS

The game draws diesel exhaust using a single particle effect per stack. This mod does not add extra stacks or duplicate effects. It only changes the parameters of that effect in real time (colour, size, speed, how long the smoke lasts, how much it billows). So:

• []  No extra performance cost: same number of particles and effects; only the numbers driving them change.[/]

  []  No audio or engine duplication: we never clone or add exhaust sources.[/]

The mod hooks into the game's exhaust update each frame and, for any diesel you've included, replaces the default values with ones from your chosen preset or from your slider settings. Your choices are saved to loco-exhaust-settings.xml in the mod folder and reloaded when you start the game.

-> WHAT THE PRESETS DO

The mod menu shows presets in this order:

General (Small Plume)

• []Default. Mainline GE/EMD, "clean" exhaust. Lighter, wispy haze; less volume, shorter persistence. Fully customizable with sliders (Rate, Lifetime, Color, Turbulence, Velocity, Notch-Up Bloom). Default sliders give a small, clearer plume.[/]

  General (Wide Funnel)

  • []Same as General but for wide exhaust ports. Same sliders and defaults as General (Small Plume), with a wider base and slower billow. Idle and low notches get slightly more lifetime for a fuller look.[/]

    Alco (Large Plume)

    [*]Switchers, narrow stacks, Alco-style look. Darker smoke, stronger rise, no