jaymar921 · Oct 29, 2026 · Oct 29, 2026 · Oct 29, 2026 · Oct 29, 2026 · Oct 29, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,25 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented here. The format follows
 [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/). Pre-releases (`1.0.0-alpha.N`) mark the phases on the
 way to 1.0.0; see [docs/ROADMAP.md](docs/ROADMAP.md).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+
+- Night glow: rounds trail a tracer, rockets and missiles burn with a glowing motor, burning
+  flares light up around them, and every explosion throws a flash of light and glowing embers.
+  A crashing vehicle goes up in a bigger flash and keeps burning with a glow for several seconds.
+  The glow is faint by day and strongest at night, in caves and under water. Turn it off with
+  `effects.nightGlow` in the new client config, `config/mcheli-client.toml`.
+- Wrecks stay for 30 seconds instead of 25 and keep burning until they disappear: flames, a fire
+  glow and rising embers that die down over the last five seconds. Sunk wrecks do not burn.
+- Screenshots of night glow in `docs/images/phase-6`, shown in the README.
+
+### Changed
+
+- Vehicles no longer flash red when hit.
+- Hits no longer jolt a vehicle that someone is flying or driving, and explosions no longer push
+  it. An empty vehicle still rocks a little from a nearby blast (a quarter of the old push).
+
 ## [1.1.0-beta.1] - 2026-10-29
 
 Phase 5 of the road to 1.1.0: the groundwork that content packs, older Minecraft versions and

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,18 @@ Phase 4 clips (click a picture to open the video):
 
 ## Screenshots
 
+Phase 6 in a development build (`1.1.0-beta.2`): night glow. Tracers, rocket motors, flares and
+explosions light up the dark, and a wreck keeps burning until it disappears.
+
+| | |
+|---|---|
+| ![An SA-2 closing on a helicopter in the night sky, its motor glowing](docs/images/phase-6/sa-2-night-intercept.png) | ![The shot down helicopter exploding on a hilltop at night in a bright flash](docs/images/phase-6/helicopter-crash-night.png) |
+| An SA-2 intercept at night | The helicopter goes up in a flash of light |
+| ![Glowing embers and burning debris arcing over the burning wreck at night](docs/images/phase-6/crash-embers-night.png) | ![A torpedo running towards a patrol boat at dusk](docs/images/phase-6/torpedo-run-dusk.png) |
+| Burning debris arcs over the wreck | A torpedo run at dusk |
+| ![The patrol boat cooking off in a fireball against the sunset](docs/images/phase-6/patrol-boat-cook-off-dusk.png) | ![Glowing debris raining down around the sinking patrol boat](docs/images/phase-6/burning-debris-dusk.png) |
+| The patrol boat cooks off | Glowing debris rains down as it sinks |
+
 Phase 5 in a development build (`1.1.0-beta.1`): a patrol boat hit by a torpedo cooks off and
 sinks.
 
@@ -224,6 +236,12 @@ server runs):
 | `vehicles.disabled` | `[]` | Vehicles that cannot be placed, by name, such as `["ah-64", "f-35b"]` |
 | `weapons.infiniteAmmo` | `false` | Vehicle weapons never run out of ammunition |
 
+Each player also has `config/mcheli-client.toml`, which only changes what that player sees:
+
+| Setting | Default | Meaning |
+|---------|---------|---------|
+| `effects.nightGlow` | `true` | Tracers, rocket motors, flares and explosions glow: faintly by day, brightly at night, in caves and under water |
+
 ## Documentation
 
 * [Changelog](CHANGELOG.md)

diff --git a/common/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/effect/NightGlow.java b/common/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/effect/NightGlow.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package com.jnhprojects.mcheli.effect;
+
+/**
+ * Not in the original: how strongly tracers, rocket motors and fireballs glow, from the light
+ * around them. In daylight the glow is a faint shimmer on top of the model; at night, in a cave or
+ * under water it is what you see from far away. Light levels are Minecraft's 0 to 15 scale.
+ */
+public final class NightGlow {
+    /** The glow left at full daylight, so a tracer still catches the eye against a dark hillside. */
+    public static final float DAYLIGHT = 0.25F;
+
+    private static final int MAX_LIGHT = 15;
+
+    private NightGlow() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param blockLight light from torches, lava and the like at the glowing thing
+     * @param skyLight   sky light at the same spot, before the time of day is applied
+     * @param skyDarken  how far the sky has dimmed: 0 at noon, 11 at midnight, more in a storm
+     * @return the glow strength, {@link #DAYLIGHT} in full light up to 1 in darkness
+     */
+    public static float strength(int blockLight, int skyLight, int skyDarken) {
+        int ambient = Math.clamp(Math.max(blockLight, skyLight - skyDarken), 0, MAX_LIGHT);
+        float dark = 1.0F - (float) ambient / MAX_LIGHT;
+        // Smoothstep, so dusk fades the glow in rather than switching it on at one light level.
+        float eased = dark * dark * (3.0F - 2.0F * dark);
+        return DAYLIGHT + (1.0F - DAYLIGHT) * eased;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/common/src/test/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/effect/NightGlowTest.java b/common/src/test/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/effect/NightGlowTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package com.jnhprojects.mcheli.effect;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+class NightGlowTest {
+    private static final float EPSILON = 1.0E-6F;
+
+    @Test
+    void middayLeavesOnlyTheDaylightShimmer() {
+        assertEquals(NightGlow.DAYLIGHT, NightGlow.strength(0, 15, 0), EPSILON);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void pitchDarkGlowsInFull() {
+        assertEquals(1.0F, NightGlow.strength(0, 0, 0), EPSILON);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void midnightGlowsFarMoreThanNoon() {
+        float midnight = NightGlow.strength(0, 15, 11);
+        assertTrue(midnight > 0.8F, "midnight glow " + midnight);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void aTorchNearbyDimsTheGlowAtNight() {
+        assertTrue(NightGlow.strength(14, 15, 11) < NightGlow.strength(0, 15, 11));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void dimmingIsGradualAndNeverGoesBackUp() {
+        float previous = 0.0F;
+        for (int darken = 0; darken <= 15; darken++) {
+            float s = NightGlow.strength(0, 15, darken);
+            assertTrue(s >= previous, "glow dropped at sky darken " + darken);
+            assertTrue(s - previous < 0.2F || darken == 0, "glow jumped at sky darken " + darken);
+            previous = s;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void outOfRangeLightIsClamped() {
+        assertEquals(NightGlow.DAYLIGHT, NightGlow.strength(40, 40, 0), EPSILON);
+        assertEquals(1.0F, NightGlow.strength(-3, 0, 20), EPSILON);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md b/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -23,14 +23,16 @@ This document explains how MCHeli Rework is organized and why. It reflects the c
  │ entity          AircraftEntity and one subclass per kind       │  (forge-26.3)
  │ item            AircraftItem, VehicleIngredient                │
  │ network         PilotStatePacket, CrewActionPacket, ...        │  Minecraft + Forge
- │ registry        entities, items, components, creative tabs     │
- │ (root)          MCHeli, ServerConfig, McheliCommand, reload    │
+ │ particle        GlowParticleOptions                            │
+ │ registry        entities, items, components, particles, tabs   │
+ │ (root)          MCHeli, configs, McheliCommand, reload         │
  ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
  │ content         Definition, DefinitionReader, ContentRegistry, │  common module
  │                 aircraft/* definitions, recipe conversion      │
  │ model           Mesh, MqoLoader, ObjLoader                     │  pure Java
  │ hud             HudScript, Expression, HudVariable             │
  │ physics         AircraftRotation, GroundImpact                 │
+ │ effect          NightGlow                                      │
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 ```
 
@@ -55,8 +57,10 @@ MCHeli constructor
   ├─ LegacyContent.registerPacks                      that folder as a required resource + data pack
   ├─ ContentRegistry.load(mcheli/imported/assets/mcheli)  parse helicopters, planes, tanks, vehicles
   ├─ registerConfig(SERVER, ServerConfig.SPEC)        serverconfig/mcheli-server.toml
+  ├─ registerConfig(CLIENT, ClientConfig.SPEC)        config/mcheli-client.toml
   ├─ ModDataComponents.register                       mcheli:vehicle
   ├─ ModEntities.register                             one entity type per kind
+  ├─ ModParticles.register                            mcheli:glow
   ├─ ModItems.register(content)                       one item per kind, plus the 1.0.0 items
   ├─ ModCreativeTabs.register
   ├─ ModRecipes.register                              mcheli:vehicle ingredient, recipe book
@@ -309,7 +313,15 @@ only the two option values (a locked entity id and a fire mode) and repeats ever
 Damage enters through `AircraftEntity.hurtServer`, a port of `attackEntityFrom`. Projectile rays
 are clipped against the main hit box and every `BoundingBox` (`clipHitBoxes`); the box struck
 first lends its damage factor to the armour calculation. A vehicle at zero hit points is destroyed:
-it burns, spins down or falls, explodes on impact and despawns after 500 ticks.
+it burns, spins down or falls, explodes on impact and despawns after 600 ticks (30 seconds; the
+original used 500). Until then each client keeps the wreck burning (`wreckFire`): flames, a
+flickering `mcheli:glow` and embers, dying down over the last 100 ticks it has seen, and nothing
+under water.
+
+A hit neither tints the vehicle red nor calls `markHurt`: the vehicle a player drives is simulated
+on their client, and resending the server's motion on every hit snapped it back a step. For the
+same reason `Explosions` does not push a driven vehicle, and pushes an empty one at a quarter of
+the mob knockback.
 
 Impacts are measured from the position each tick, so they work whichever side simulates the
 vehicle. Besides the original's tilt and submersion damage, flying into terrain or another vehicle
@@ -355,6 +367,16 @@ set the packet's `crash` flag for a larger show of our own: the same smoke shell
 above the impact, a cluster of fireballs, a climbing plume of signal smoke and burning fuel,
 capped at size 12 to keep the particle count in check.
 
+**Night glow** is our own. `Glow` holds two additive pipelines that test depth but never write it
+(the lightning blend, so overlapping glows add up and never cut holes in the smoke behind them),
+falling back to the vanilla translucent OIT pipelines when Fabulous graphics are on. It draws
+camera facing halos and tracer ribbons for `ProjectileRenderer` (rounds and rocket motors) and
+`FlareRenderer` (burning flares, including crash debris), and is the layer of the `mcheli:glow`
+particle that `ExplosionEffect` spawns for the flash, the embers and the lingering crash fire.
+How bright a glow gets comes from `effect.NightGlow` in `common`: the block light, sky light and
+the sky darkening at that spot, so it is faint at noon and full at night, in caves and under
+water. `ClientConfig`, a Forge `CLIENT` config, turns it off per player.
+
 **CrewController** also hides the first person hand through `RenderHandEvent` wherever the original
 did: for the pilot, and for anyone looking through a camera or with a weapon selected.
 

diff --git a/docs/DEVELOPMENT.md b/docs/DEVELOPMENT.md
@@ -118,15 +118,16 @@ releases page. See [the release channels](ROADMAP.md#release-channels).
 
 Neither the repository nor the jar may contain EMB4's files. Don't commit anything from the zip
 or from `run/mcheli/imported`. As a guard, the `jar` task excludes everything under
-`assets/mcheli` except `lang` and the four fallback item models of the generic vehicle items.
+`assets/mcheli` except `lang`, the four fallback item models of the generic vehicle items and
+the night glow particle (`particles/glow.json`, `textures/particle/glow.png`, both our own).
 After a build, check every jar with:
 
 ```
 for jar in build/release/*.jar; do unzip -l "$jar" | grep -v "com/"; done
 ```
 
 which should list only the manifest, `mods.toml`, `pack.mcmeta`, the two lang files, the four
-generic item models and the damage type data.
+generic item models, the glow particle and its texture, and the damage type data.
 
 When the conversion changes, change `content.LegacyImporter` and bump its `FORMAT`, so existing
 installs, the dev run and the tests all convert again. Keys the rework adds go into the lang files

diff --git a/docs/ROADMAP.md b/docs/ROADMAP.md
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@ The external content packs from phase 4, in the package format the workshop will
 - [ ] Server limits and an allow list in the config; clients cap the cache size
 - [ ] Pack author guide in `docs/content/packs.md`, with a small example pack in the repo made
       from our own assets (no EMB4 files)
+- [x] Night glow: tracers, rocket motors, flares and explosions glow, faint by day and bright at
+      night; a crash keeps burning with a glow and the wreck burns for 30 seconds. Client config `effects.nightGlow` turns it off.
 - [ ] Crash spin for shot down aircraft: planes and jets roll into a nose-down spiral instead of
       just falling, and helicopters spin faster with some wobble. The spin direction comes from
       the entity id so every client sees the same thing.

diff --git a/docs/TESTING.md b/docs/TESTING.md
@@ -305,6 +305,36 @@ Keep a copy of a 1.0.0 world with vehicles parked in it, items in the hotbar and
 - [ ] `./gradlew build` produces `build/release/mcheli-26.3-1.1.0-beta.1.jar`; it holds no EMB4
       file (DEVELOPMENT.md, "Original content").
 
+## Phase 6 checklist (`1.1.0-beta.2`)
+
+Run each section in single player and again on a dedicated server, unless it says otherwise.
+
+### Night glow
+
+Set the time with `/time set midnight` and compare with `/time set noon`.
+
+- [ ] Machine gun rounds trail a warm tracer at night; at noon only a faint shimmer shows.
+- [ ] Rockets and missiles show a glowing motor behind them for their whole flight.
+- [ ] A flare salvo lights up around each flare; smoke grenades do not glow.
+- [ ] A rocket hit gives a short bright flash and a few embers; the smoke behind stays visible
+      through the flash (no dark square or cut out).
+- [ ] Shooting down a helicopter: a big flash when it hits the ground, then the wreck glows for
+      several seconds and the embers thrown out glow as they fall.
+- [ ] The wreck keeps burning (flames, glow, rising embers) for 30 seconds, dies down over the
+      last five and then disappears. A boat wreck that sank does not glow under water.
+- [ ] In a cave or under a roof at noon, the glow is as bright as at night.
+- [ ] Nothing glows under water (torpedoes, rounds fired into water).
+- [ ] `effects.nightGlow = false` in `config/mcheli-client.toml`: no glow at all, the rest of the
+      effects unchanged. Another player on the same server still sees the glow.
+- [ ] Video settings, graphics set to Fabulous: the glow still draws and nothing crashes.
+
+### Vehicle hits
+
+- [ ] A vehicle hit by rounds or a rocket no longer flashes red.
+- [ ] Flying a plane or helicopter while another player (or a turret) shoots it: no jolt or
+      stutter on each hit; the HP still goes down. Same driving a tank.
+- [ ] A rocket exploding next to an empty parked vehicle rocks it slightly, much less than before.
+
 ## Reporting problems
 
 Attach `logs/latest.log` (and the crash report, if any) with the helicopter name, what you did

diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/burning-debris-dusk.png b/docs/images/phase-6/burning-debris-dusk.png
diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/crash-embers-night.png b/docs/images/phase-6/crash-embers-night.png
diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/helicopter-crash-night.png b/docs/images/phase-6/helicopter-crash-night.png
diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/patrol-boat-cook-off-dusk.png b/docs/images/phase-6/patrol-boat-cook-off-dusk.png
diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/sa-2-night-intercept.png b/docs/images/phase-6/sa-2-night-intercept.png
diff --git a/docs/images/phase-6/torpedo-run-dusk.png b/docs/images/phase-6/torpedo-run-dusk.png
diff --git a/forge-26.3/build.gradle b/forge-26.3/build.gradle
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ tasks.named('jar', Jar) {
     // zip (LegacyContent). The repository no longer holds it, but the jar is packed from
     // build/sourceSets/main, which can still have copies from older builds and from the IDE.
     def shipped = ['assets/mcheli/items/helicopter.json', 'assets/mcheli/items/plane.json',
-                   'assets/mcheli/items/tank.json', 'assets/mcheli/items/vehicle.json']
+                   'assets/mcheli/items/tank.json', 'assets/mcheli/items/vehicle.json',
+                   // Our own: the night glow sprite (generated, no EMB4 content) and its particle definition.
+                   'assets/mcheli/particles/glow.json', 'assets/mcheli/textures/particle/glow.png']
     exclude { FileTreeElement element ->
         String path = element.relativePath.pathString
         !element.directory && path.startsWith('assets/mcheli/') && !path.startsWith('assets/mcheli/lang/') &&

diff --git a/forge-26.3/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/ClientConfig.java b/forge-26.3/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/ClientConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package com.jnhprojects.mcheli;
+
+import net.minecraftforge.common.ForgeConfigSpec;
+
+/**
+ * Per player look and feel, in {@code config/mcheli-client.toml}. Nothing here changes how the
+ * game plays, so each player picks for themselves and the server never sees it.
+ */
+public final class ClientConfig {
+    public static final ForgeConfigSpec SPEC;
+
+    private static final ForgeConfigSpec.BooleanValue NIGHT_GLOW;
+
+    static {
+        ForgeConfigSpec.Builder builder = new ForgeConfigSpec.Builder();
+
+        builder.push("effects");
+        NIGHT_GLOW = builder
+                .comment("Whether tracers, rocket motors, flares and explosions glow. The glow is faint by day",
+                        "and strongest at night, in caves and under water.")
+                .define("nightGlow", true);
+        builder.pop();
+
+        SPEC = builder.build();
+    }
+
+    private ClientConfig() {
+    }
+
+    public static boolean nightGlow() {
+        return SPEC.isLoaded() ? NIGHT_GLOW.get() : NIGHT_GLOW.getDefault();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/forge-26.3/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/MCHeli.java b/forge-26.3/src/main/java/com/jnhprojects/mcheli/MCHeli.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import com.jnhprojects.mcheli.registry.ModDataComponents;
 import com.jnhprojects.mcheli.registry.ModEntities;
 import com.jnhprojects.mcheli.registry.ModItems;
+import com.jnhprojects.mcheli.registry.ModParticles;
 import com.jnhprojects.mcheli.registry.ModRecipes;
 import net.minecraftforge.api.distmarker.Dist;
 import net.minecraftforge.eventbus.api.bus.BusGroup;
@@ -37,8 +38,10 @@ public MCHeli(FMLJavaModLoadingContext context) {
         legacyContent.registerPacks();
         content = loadContent(legacyContent.assets());
         context.registerConfig(ModConfig.Type.SERVER, ServerConfig.SPEC);
+        context.registerConfig(ModConfig.Type.CLIENT, ClientConfig.SPEC);
         ModDataComponents.register(modBus);
         ModEntities.register(modBus);
+        ModParticles.register(modBus);
         ModItems.register(modBus, content);
         ModCreativeTabs.register(modBus);
         ModRecipes.register(modBus);