Frequently Asked Questions

Does FWsim work on Mac?

No, only on Windows. However, you can install Windows on your Mac computer and then run FWsim on that.

Can you recommend an iPhone or Android app, to create fireworks on your smartphone?

For Android, you can try Fireworks Deluxe. It’s a live wallpaper, and has the best graphics of any apps out there. Highly recommended!

How much does it cost?

You can try the full version of FWsim for one hour. If you want to continue using it, it costs €24.95 / $24.95.
FWsim comes with an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee!

Where are my own firework effects stored?

In My Documents\FW-Sim. There are subfolders for every author name.

How can I delete effects that I downloaded from the Internet or created myself?

Please make sure FWsim is closed. Then, go to My Documents\FW-Sim. You will find subfolders for every author name. You will also find one folder with downloaded effects. If you don’t need effects anymore, simply delete them or move them to a different folder outside of My Documents\FW-Sim.

Then, re-start FWsim and your effects will be gone.

FWsim runs slowly. What can I do?

FWsim should run very well on current PCs, even with huge fireworks. If you do experience bad performance, please try the following:

How does the “Music Synchronization” work?

See Music Synchronization.

Where can I download ShowSim?

ShowSim is a different fireworks software. ShowSim and FWsim sometimes get confused.

How do I build half/half shells?


A half/half-shell in FWsim. In the effect editor, click “File” -> “New”. Select “Peony”. Add a second set of Stars to the explosion node. Give each of the stars a different color. Set the distribution on both stars to “Hemisphere”. Then, click one of the stars and check “Rotate”, enter “180”. Be sure to rotate only one of the stars, and not the other. Your effect tree should look like this:

Shell
    Explosion
        Stars (Green, Rotate by 180°)
        Stars (Red, no rotation)

To make the shell look a bit more clean and perfect, reduce the “speed variance” and increase the star count in both “Star” nodes.

How do you build a multibreak shell in FWsim?

Create one shell, and attach several explosions to it. Each explosion can occur at different times, and release different stars. The shell flies until the last explosion.

How can I reduce the brightness of my environment when it gets illuminated by fireworks?

There is a configuration option, hidden in a file, which you can use to adjust how much light shines from fireworks on buildings and on the ground. To change this option, please follow these steps:

  1. Make sure FWsim is closed
  2. Open explorer and go to “My Documents\FW-Sim”
  3. Right-click the file “user.xml” and select “Open With” and “Notepad”.
  4. Find the line which says “1”
  5. Set the number to a value between 0 and 1. 0 means, no light shines on buildings and the ground. 0.5 means, only half the amount of light. Please make sure you use the English decimal separator “.”, even when your computer is set to a language that uses different decimal separators.

How can I use my iTunes music in FWsim?

Right-click the file in iTunes, then select “Information”. A window pops up and at the bottom you will find the exact filename of the music file. In FWsim, simply click the “Music” button on the lower right, navigate to the path that iTunes displayed and select the correct file.

How can I use .skp files with FWsim?

.SKP is a file format used by SketchUp Make, a 3d modelling software. These files cannot be directly imported into FWsim.

If you downloaded the 3D model from Google Warehouse, please download it again from there. After clicking the “Download” button, select the “SketchUp” format.

Otherwise, please follow these instructions:

  1. Install SketchUp Make, if you have not already. (download on SketchUp.com - you can stay anonymous by entering a fictional e-mail address)
  2. Launch SketchUp Make.
  3. Under “Template Selection”, choose “Simple Template - Meters”.
  4. Click “File” -> “Open” and select your .skp file.
  5. Select “File” -> “Export” -> “Export 3D Model”.
  6. Create a new empty folder.
  7. Navigate to that empty folder, and select a filename. Make sure the “Collada File (.dae)” option is selected. Hit “Export”, and close SketchUp.
  8. In Windows Explorer, right-click the folder you just created. Select “Send To” -> “ZIP-compressed archive”.
  9. In FWsim, open the World editor (“Tools” -> “World Editor”).
  10. Click “Add”, and then “Import”. Select the ZIP file you just created.