Better Explosions

1.2.0

Explosions by type, craters and screen shake. Checked in test runs by day, against a low sun and at night, with real Geran, S-8000 and game explosions.
- Each type has its own explosion: high explosive (dark dirt jets and a column of smoke), thermobaric (big fire lobes), fuel (long fire and black smoke), ammo racks (many flashes and sparks).
- Mortar shells, S-5 and Hydra rockets, mines and small charges now use a small dirt explosion instead of the game's heap of smoke. It takes the colour of the ground.
- The smoke no longer turns black with bright orange outlines against a low sun, and it looks the same from every side.
- The smoke comes out and rises more slowly, and the cloud no longer slides away in the wind as one piece.
- Flying debris is much smaller and falls faster.
- Craters: blasts from 1.5 kg on leave the game's mortar crater, sized for the charge. Grenades, burning vehicles and ammo racks leave none.
- Screen shake: stronger the closer you are and the bigger the charge, it arrives after the flash like the sound. It also works in the Game Master camera.
- Explosions of other mods with their own smoke get no cloud on top. The Kh-55 from RHS Status Quo and the FAB-250 from WCS get a matching explosion when this mod loads after theirs.

1.1.1

Renamed to Better Explosions. New summary and description. No changes to the explosion itself.

1.1.0

The mod is now called New Explosions (it was Explosion Mushroom Cloud).
New explosion: big blasts are now one solid explosion instead of the game's effect with a separate cloud on top. Checked in test runs by day and at night, with real game explosions.
- Fire lobes with dark edges, dark jets of dirt, sparks and debris; within about two seconds they cool and dissolve into brown billows of smoke that rise and drift with the wind.
- All the smoke is one colour, so there is no more separate white and black cloud that do not blend. The white dome is gone.
- This replaces the game's effects of explosions from 10 kg: TNT, fuel, vehicle ammo racks, and the Geran and S-8000 warheads that use them. Mines and small charges are not changed.
- Blasts under a roof or a bridge get the fire but no billows, as before. Made only from the game's own textures.

1.0.7

1.0.7: New preview image with screenshots from the game. No gameplay changes.

1.0.6

Removed the white wave that rolled out over the ground from big explosions. Checked in game at night.
- The cloud no longer throws dust out along the ground. Lit by the explosion flash, that dust showed as an unnatural white shock wave spreading from the blast.
- The rest of the cloud is unchanged: it grows out of the explosion as a dome, rises, drifts with the wind and melts away.

1.0.5

The dome now grows out of the explosion instead of popping up whole. Checked in game frame by frame.
- In 1.0.4 all the smoke left the blast in half a second, so a ready-made dome stood there 0.3 s after the flash. Now the smoke keeps coming out of the blast for 1.5 s, the puffs are born small, fade in and swell, and the dome grows over 3-5 seconds.
- Lighter grey smoke: under an overcast sky the cloud looked almost black.
- About 50 x 42 m after 8 seconds for a Geran-2, about 80 x 70 m for a Geran-4; almost gone after 20-24 seconds.

1.0.4

The cloud is now a dome rising out of the explosion, not smoke from a fire. Checked in game for 15, 110 and 400 kg.
- In half a second all the smoke bursts out of the blast and stands up as a dome. No more smoke keeps pouring from the ground for seconds afterwards (that looked like a fire).
- The whole dome then rises, swells into smoke, drifts with the wind and melts away once it has lifted off; the dust rolls out along the ground and settles.
- Big warheads no longer split into a ball in the sky over a flat layer of smoke: a bigger charge gives the same cloud, only bigger and a little slower.
- About 55 x 45 m after 8 seconds for a Geran-2, about 90 x 75 m for a Geran-4; almost gone after 20-24 seconds.

1.0.3

Smoother cloud that grows out of the explosion. Checked in game with close-up shots.
- No more lumps popping up: the cloud now uses the game's smooth looping smoke instead of the explosion smoke animation, which restarted every few seconds and showed dark blobs.
- The smoke now comes out of the blast point: puffs are born small right at the explosion, visible at once, and swell as they rise, so the cloud grows out of the fireball as one soft grey mass.
- The top billows no longer fly apart as separate balls.
- About 55 m high and 45 m wide after 7 seconds for a Geran-2, about 90 x 75 m for a Geran-4.

1.0.2

Rebuilt the cloud from scratch to look like real strike footage: no more stick with a ball on top. Checked in game this time.
- The explosion throws up grey billows of smoke that slow down in the air, keep drifting up, swell and roll, so the cloud rises and spreads as one lumpy mass like a cauliflower.
- For 8 seconds more smoke keeps rising from the ground, so the cloud stays joined to the ground; then it lifts off, drifts with the wind and fades after 25-35 seconds.
- About 55 m high and 50 m wide after 7 seconds for a Geran-2, about 90 x 80 m for a Geran-4.
- Grey smoke instead of black, a little brown from dust near the ground.
- Nothing is moved by script any more: the cloud is plain particle physics, and the explosion's fire light stays as in Explosion Flash.

1.0.1

Reworked the cloud shape: it was a thick black column with a small blob on top, now it is a mushroom.
- The cap is about 2.5 times wider (55-75 m for a Geran-2) with a round top and a darker rolling underside; it is grey-brown smoke that slowly rolls for about 20 seconds instead of flat black.
- The stem is thin (about 12 m), lighter and see-through.
- The fireball no longer shoots away from the explosion: the cloud starts at rest in the fireball on the ground, speeds up and slows down near the top.
- The fire light of the explosion now rises inside the cap, so it no longer leaves a red spot in the stem.
- The wind no longer tears the cloud apart: it drifts slowly as one.
- The smoke lasts 25-35 seconds; at most 4 clouds at once.

1.0.0