Space Engineers

Space Engineers

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Official Modding Guide: Weather Effects
By Jakaria and 2 collaborators
This is the official guide for modding your own weather effect in Space Engineers.

In 1.195, weather was given a large overhaul after the release of scripted weather effects in 1.194. This update includes many changes in how the weather effects work themselves. It is no longer just visual, it can effect your survival experience!
   
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1. Software
Creating weather effects requires a good text editor, I recommend Notepad++
Get Notepad++ [notepad-plus-plus.org]
2. Example Mod
You can download an example mod here, open the WeatherEffects.sbc.
You should see this:
3. Effects
These properties will not affect survival gameplay and should be mostly visual/auditory.
<Id> <TypeId>WeatherEffectDefinition</TypeId> <SubtypeId>MarsStormHeavy</SubtypeId> Name of weather used in command and admin menu </Id> <Name>Sandstorm</Name> Name shown on Weather LCD panel script <Public>true</Public> Should this weather be shown in the command menu? <FogColor> Color of fog <X>0.7725</X> Red (0.0, 1.0) <Y>0.4775</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0) <Z>0.26</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0) </FogColor> <FogDensity>0.04</FogDensity> Density of Fog (0.0, 1.0) <FogMultiplier>1</FogMultiplier> Thickness of Fog (0.0, 1.0) <FogSkyboxMultiplier>1</FogSkyboxMultiplier> How much fog affects the skybox (0.0, 1.0) <FogAtmoMultiplier>1</FogAtmoMultiplier> How much fog affects the atmosphere (0.0, 1.0) <AmbientSound>WM_Sandstorm</AmbientSound> Sound effect to play <AmbientVolume>0.55</AmbientVolume> Volume of sound effect <EffectName>WM_MarsStormHeavy</EffectName> Name of particle affect to create <ParticleRadius>125</ParticleRadius> Radius around camera to create particles <ParticleCount>12</ParticleCount> Amount of particle emitters <ParticleScale>1</ParticleScale> Scale of particles <FoliageWindModifier>3.0</FoliageWindModifier> Multiplier for trees/bushes wind <ParticleAlphaMultiplier>0.35</ParticleAlphaMultiplier> Transparency multiplier of particles <SunColor> Color of sunlight <X>1</X> Red (0.0, 1.0) <Y>1</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0) <Z>1</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0) </SunColor> <SunSpecularColor> Color of sunlight reflections <X>1</X> Red (0.0, 1.0) <Y>1</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0) <Z>1</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0) </SunSpecularColor> <SunIntensity>0.05</SunIntensity> Intensity of sunlight <ShadowFadeout>0.01</ShadowFadeout> Intensity of shadows
4. Survival Values
With the new weather system that was released in 1.195, a large amount of changes of the weather effects themselves came too, most notably for suvival. lightning was opened up to modding with a large amount of values you can change, although it's recommended not to make large alterations. The new modifier/multipliers all serve a large role in how each weather effect acts in survival. WindOutputModifier is a multiplier for wind speed, affecting only wind turbines. SolarOutputModifier is a multiplier for solar panels and oxygen farms. TemperatureModifier affects the character's external suit temperature. OxygenLevelModifier affects character's external suit pressure, wind turbine efficiency, and vents. You can use it to make the air toxic with low oxygen!
<LightningIntervalMin>5</LightningIntervalMin> Minimum length between next lightning created in seconds <LightningIntervalMax>10</LightningIntervalMax> Maximum length between next lightning created in seconds <LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin>1000</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin> Minimum length between next character lightning created in seconds <LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax>3000</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax> Maximumlength between next character lightning created in seconds <LightningGridHitIntervalMin>1000</LightningGridHitIntervalMin> Minimum length between next grid lightning created in seconds <LightningGridHitIntervalMax>2000</LightningGridHitIntervalMax> Minimum length between next grid lightning created in seconds <Lightning> <MaxLife>7</MaxLife> How long lightning lives in ticks (60 ticks per second) <BoltLength>2000</BoltLength> Length/Height of lightning bolt in meters <BoltParts>50</BoltParts> How many parts/seperations of lightning <BoltVariation>70</BoltVariation> Jitteriness of lightning in meters <BoltRadius>40</BoltRadius> Radius of lightning bolt <Damage>80</Damage> How much lightning damages <Sound>WM_Lightning</Sound> Sound effect the lightning makes <Color> Color of lightning <X>100</X> Red <Y>40</Y> Green <Z>5</Z> Blue <W>1000</W> Alpha </Color> <ExplosionRadius>2</ExplosionRadius> Radius/Size of explosion in meters </Lightning> <WindOutputModifier>2.5</WindOutputModifier> Multiplier for wind speed <SolarOutputModifier>0.1</SolarOutputModifier> Multiplier for solar output <TemperatureModifier>2</TemperatureModifier> Multiplier for temperature <OxygenLevelModifier>0.25</OxygenLevelModifier> Multiplier for oxygen pressure
5. Closure
Thanks for reading this guide, I hope it helps you create a good weather effect. If you'd like to create an automatic weather system, see the guide linked below.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2130282389
10 Comments
Hottech92 10 Aug, 2021 @ 11:10am 
Can you make the storm damage other block or all blocks unless specified
ARK7 18 Mar, 2021 @ 7:10am 
Can you have more then one effect on a weather?
ARK7 26 Oct, 2020 @ 9:30am 
thanks
Jakaria  [author] 26 Oct, 2020 @ 9:18am 
fixed
ARK7 26 Oct, 2020 @ 8:34am 
the example mod link is broken
Jakaria  [author] 18 Jul, 2020 @ 7:17am 
yeah, <EffectName>
shard 18 Jul, 2020 @ 12:54am 
Is it possible to create custom particles?
Jakaria  [author] 25 Jun, 2020 @ 8:11pm 
that is not moddable
General Space 25 Jun, 2020 @ 8:10pm 
@Jakaria, thanks for the guide! Where is the code that causes lightning to prioritize decoys and then antennas, and is that part moddable?
Gary 25 Jun, 2020 @ 7:31pm 
Someone needs to mod sulphuric acid rain on the alien planet, that would make it a lot more inhospitable!