Tutorial: Customize FWsim with these secret configuration options

FWsim has some hidden options that are not accessible in the application. In order to edit them, you need to open a special configuration file.

Warning: These options are only meant for advanced users. If you make a mistake while configuring them, FWsim might stop working. Use these options at your own risk.

How to edit the configuration file

  1. Make sure FWsim is closed.
  2. In Windows Explorer, navigate to “My Documents\FW-Sim”.
  3. Right-click the file “user”
  4. Select “Open With” and then “Notepad”
  5. Make the changes you want
  6. Click File -> Save
  7. Close Notepad
  8. Re-Start FWsim

List of interesting options

Create videos without sound effects

Unfortunately, this option was removed in FWsim 3.0.

Find the line

<VideoExport_SoundEffectsEnabled>true</VideoExport_SoundEffectsEnabled>

Change it to:

<VideoExport_SoundEffectsEnabled>false</VideoExport_SoundEffectsEnabled>

All videos will now be exported with music, but without sound effects.

Create videos with different frame rate

Usually, FWsim exports videos with 30 frames per second. If you want to get a more smooth look, you might want to change this to 60. If you want to integrate the fireworks into other video material, make sure you match the framerate of the other video.

Find the line

  <FramerateOverride>0</FramerateOverride>

If this is set to 0, the default (30) will be used. If it’s set to any other value, that value will be used.

Fractional values are possible, for example 29.97.

Enable Real-Time Shadows

Usually, FWsim only displays building shadows when exporting a video, but not during realtime playback. There is a hidden option to enable shadows in playback mode. To accomplish that, set both "ShadowsAlwaysEnabled" and "ShadowsEnabled" to true. After making these changes, the respective lines in the user.xml file will look like this:
<ShadowsEnabled>true</ShadowsEnabled>

and

 <ShadowsAlwaysEnabled>true</ShadowsAlwaysEnabled>

Change how much fireworks light up the environment

The option “LightOnEnvironmentFactor” controls how much fireworks light up the environment. It is usually set to 1. If you want less light, change it to some value between 0 and 1. For example:

<GraphicsModSettings>
<LightOnEnvironmentFactor>0.4</LightOnEnvironmentFactor>
</GraphicsModSettings>

Change brightness of ground in effect editor

Find this line and change the number:

<AmbientLightInEffectEditor>0.4</AmbientLightInEffectEditor>

The default value is 0.4. A value of 0.1 will mean the ground is much darker in the effect editor.

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Thanks! :stuck_out_tongue:

So perfect! :+1: :fireworks: