More realistic smoke and fire effects mod by Stonehouse.

[Mysticpuma]

This is not my mod and is subjective.

I asked if anyone would be able to make a mod that would reduce the unrealistic smoke effects in BoX to a more 'natural' and authentic version.

This is in game and unmodded and personally it frustrated me because having looked at guncam footage, this is pretty rare to see, a catastrophic black smoke oil fire.

@Stonehouse decided to take on the challenge and reduced the effect significantly enough to make it look realistic while retaining the effect that catastrophic damage had occurred.

This Mod isn't mine and I wish to reiterate that, but the effects are great and it can be downloaded here. All credit to the author.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/p76fbt9g6gjywzy/2076295059_mpeffects.zip/file

 

Original thread here:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/82663-would-anyone-be-able-to-take-a-look-at-aircraft-deep-black-fire-smoke-effect-files-please/

 

[Hopper64]

I can’t remember if this mod includes bullet hit effects on aircraft. Does it? Thanks for posting!

[Cardolan]

How about having these links for mods pinned?

It is a  pain to navigate in two forums in search for download links and as far as I understand, the link to this mod here is only available in this forum.

[AcesDarthBubu]

Thanks for the mod, i like that it solves the issue of smoke column visible over cloud layers. 

[Mysticpuma]

Born out of the frustration of thick, super black, opaque smoke, skip to the 8m 40s mark in this video and it's clear that even when there is catastrophic fire, the super thick black smoke BoX has, is very, very rare:

 

 

Edited December 26, 2025 by Mysticpuma

[Cardolan]

Have been trying this mod and it seems much more realistic than the stock smoke.

However, there is in my opinion one situation where this mod comes lacking: It is when an airplane desintegrates due to enemy firing. As it is right now, the effect is much tonned down and the destroyed plane simply disassembles midair without an explosion of any kind. Just a puff. In this particular case, I think the situation would warrant something more dramatic.

These are just the 2 cents of a very grateful flier to the modder, of course. If this could be improved it would be great, otherwise, thank you for this mod @Stonehouse.

[Stonehouse]

This wasn't something I was actively working on although Mysticpuma had some thoughts about thinner fuel and coolant leaks in the old forum that I said I would investigate when I have time spare.

Problem with your request is there are quite a few different aircraft explosions ranging over everything from bomber fuel tanks to ammo boxes, so it is difficult/impossible at my end to correctly associate the correct efx and epl files with your description.

Have you tried recording a track of the situation you are concerned with and then try running the track with mods off and this mod on to see if there is a difference from the stock effect? If there isn't then it is an enhancement of the stock effect rather than something related directly to this mod as it stands.

If nothing else, the track might give insight into the possible effect animations involved. 

Considering the number of ways an aircraft can explode in the air and that I've no way of being sure which you mean and barring clues you might get from a track you would need to tinker with each explosion type. This would involve a lot of time I don't really have at present. The coolant leaks and fuel leaks are a much easier task which is why I said I would look at it in spare moments.

Adding new units to the Additional warships mod, working on an EMG mod with Kraut1 for Off_Winters Tunisia mod and beta testing for IL2 pretty much takes up all my spare time at present plus just like you guys I do like to actually fly or play a game sometimes.

Anyway, I will keep the suggestion in mind. A track would help make it a little easier though when you have time yourself.

Edited December 28, 2025 by Stonehouse

[Cardolan]

Thank you for the prompt answer.

On second thought, I saw another explosion a few minutes ago and it seemed ok. Not spectacular, but.... ermmm... realistic.

So, probably I posted too fast yesterday.

Thank you again for your range of very good mods!