Friday 2010-12-10 Dev. video update and Discussion

[Spinnetti]

So, some may know already, but "proper" color of flame is not just what you like, but depends on many factors including Fuel type and Mixture, and mixture varies by type and amount of boost. Actual flame color is relative to combustion temperature and oxygen concentration. Generally speaking, the leaner the mixture, the "bluer" the flame, and the richer, the more yellow it is. At full boost, you tend to run richer to avoid burning a piston, and it should be more yellow. At cruise, it should be leaner, and thus bluer. For game purposes, I would probably have a couple settings - yellower for start up and full power, and bluer for all other settings - Important to note, but generally the only time you see any flame at all is on a missfire. If the engine is running in tune, there should be little missfires, and thus not much flame (although even a 2% missfire rate is still about 11 missfires/sec on a 16 cyl at 2000 rpm if I did the math right). The flame occurs when the unburned mixture hits the hot exhaust and combusts in the exhaust stack.... This is the general truth, but I'm sure experts could refine the exact details.