Set an effect to align with world only on two axes

[Marcman52]

Hi, I'm editing the Fatman Extreme mod which has a limitation; namely the fact that the megaton explosion effect only really works if you fire the weapon Northwards. I noticed that, by unchecking "align with world", the effect will always face your direction. However, its rotation relative to the world in the X and Y axes seems to be dependent on the normal vector to a specific point on the ground. In other words, if the projectile hits a 45 degree incline, the effect will play out perpendicular relative ONLY to the incline and the result of this is a wonky mushroom cloud:

 

 

 

 

 

So it seems I either have to align the effect with the world and all three axes or not at all. Ideally, I'd like to deselect align with the z-axis (which I believe is up) so that the rotation through the centre of the explosion will align with the player, but will maintain a nice flat rotation relative to the ground.

 

Given my complete inexperience with the geck, I may actually be able to do this but I can't find it. If this way isn't possible, I may have two other options:

 

• Creating a script to rotate the projectile just before it smacks the ground, then editing the impactdata to align the direction vector of the explosion to that of the projectile somehow.
• Editing the explosion effect itself into a set of 2D assets, just like the regular fatman, so that it will naturally face the player at all times. This would very likely have the effect of looking horrendous, so this is an 'if all else fails' sort of workaround.

I have no idea how to accomplish either point. I have no Gamebryo scripting knowledge and, more importantly, I have no idea how I would go about assigning a script to a projectile. The script itself would have to detect the projectile's proximity to the ground and execute its rotation then. It wouldn't be noticeable to the player as the detonation will occur far away.

 

Oh, and as a side problem, I've tried extending the range of the Fatman Extreme but to no avail. There seems to be a cut off point at which the explosion doesn't occur, despite setting the ranges of nearly everything to do with the projectile to well over a few hundred thousand units. If anyone could help with this it would be great, thanks.

 

Sorry for the long post. I've tried Google but the documentation on my specific issue seems to not be there. I've probably been searching for the wrong thing.