[2.5] Horizon rendering issue

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

Hi, let me "introduce" a bit this issue...since the release of the so expected 2.5 version, something I noticed was that the "line of the horizon" wasnt as smooth or softly faded as it was in 2.2...

 

I noticed this because its something I have always been "fussy" as you are constantly looking at it and in real life I have always loved how smooth and incredibly well blended the terrain and the sky are most of the time giving a very NATURAL look to the world instead of feeling artificial and "computer graphics", so while its something many of you might not even notice/care, I actually do.

 

Thing is, after this last week enjoying the new 2.5, yesterday by chance, while testing a Harrier skin, I noticed that the horizon looked VERY smooth just like it used to look in 2.2 :huh:...well, I started to think I was just crazy but after all this last week getting used to the new look why would this time give me that impression, I thought?¿?¿?...then I decided to take some screens, just in case...and so I did...after a while testing several times of day and seasons, I started to be more and more certain about that it looked different and BETTER. Tried several missions and planes, as well as altitudes and definitely it looked better or as good as 2.2, a very nicely smoothed horizon rendering!!! it looked BEAUTIFUL at any time of day!!!

 

then, I decided to exit DCS and start it again to see if thing remained the same and...NO!!!!

 

The nice and smooth horizon was again more harsh, just like all the rest of the week...I tried the same mission of the Harrier skin (which I decided to save) and many other combinations trying to replicate what I did, in order to make it happen again, but sadly, no luck :cry: ...good thing is I took some new screens, as close to the first ones as possible, and BANG!!!, I was right!!!!!, for some reason, the rendering of the horizon was different in that particular time (thanks God I took the screens, otherwise now I would think Im crazy :P)...

 

Though compression to jpg is atrocious (it was much, MUCH more noticeable in game, I swear) here are the pictures were you can how the horizon looks much smoother/more blended in one than the other:

 

smooth:

 

not so smooth:

 

smooth:

 

not so smooth:

 

smooth:

 

not so smooth:

 

As you can see (I think it looks easier in resized mode btw), the upper images have a clearly smoother horizon line (you actually struggle to really see any line at all) while the others you can see the "line" that separates the land from the sky.

 

Of course, the mission is the same, same time of day,same spot, same altitude, same weather, same FoV (default), same everything as you can see in the info bar (well, distance to plane can be slightly different but it doesnt matter) and for some reason, the horizon looks different.

 

Once again, though difference might seem little, thats not the case when running DCS, thats why I inmediately noticed it after all this week... this is due to the compression of the pictures and then compression of jpg, please take this into consideration.

 

I have tried dozens of combinations and loaded the mission dozens of times trying to make it look like that particular time but couldnt replicate it, maybe because the time that happened I had been flying a bigger mission for a long time before which I couldnt do after, will try later.

 

I know some of you might think this is not very important, but the thing is I consider it a BUG, as I cant find a reason for this change so it should not happen then!...at the same time it makes me wonder if the reason why it looks different from 2.2 is due to a bug instead of an intended change and so I decided to post this thread.

 

Well, many will find this quite "crazy", but as I said, I think its a bug after all, and as such, I dont know what else can be wrong so here I report it...also, I usually look at how sims render the horizon because once you are flying, its makes a BIG difference on how NATURAL you perceive the environement.

 

Finally, hope you guys see the difference (tell me Im not crazy please :P) as well as the ED team...not a priority maybe, but something to be addressed after all.

 

Many thanks!!:thumbup:

 

Edit: forgot to mention that I repaired a couple of times, deleted the old metashaders folder, also refreshed the options file and have no mods installed other than skins. Also, my 2.5 comes from my 1.5.8 beta which was also a vanilla install.

Edited February 7, 2018 by watermanpc

[Esac_mirmidon]

I dont call this a bug, is a visual change.

 

Some would not like it, others should, but is not a bug per se.

 

Sometimes personal preference regarding visuals are very " personal ". For me how it looks now is good enough. If ED cand change it to the forme one, is also OK, but for me is not a problem. Only my personal oppinion of course.

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

Sorry buddy, but this is NOT a matter of personal preference...it is a bug as long as I have no control over it...let me explain it with an example: imagine now you load a mission and suddenly the mountains are pure red colour when other times they are green (or the correct colour in general)...you would consider that a bug right?...the thing is now I cant be sure if ED wants the horizon to look one way or the other...

 

Maybe Im not the only one who has experienced this or maybe I have experienced it several times without noticing it, I dont know but I guess this can have something to do with the water, or the haze in the world or the MEs fog (which is also buggy) so maybe all these things are related...this could help to identify a bigger issue is what I want to say also...

 

Anyway, I want to make clear that Im not posting this because "I like one look more than other" by any means but because this shouldnt have happened, it should look one way or the other but not both without any control...

 

Hope its clear now.

 

Thanks!

[Esac_mirmidon]

I disagree, but is fair to ask for it here if you feel the need.

 

No problem.

[bkthunder]

Could it have anything to do with this bug here??

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=201838

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

Could it have anything to do with this bug here??

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=201838

 

Good point!, I guess it could be...

 

Thats the main reason I decided to post this...if something changes when it shouldnt, then maybe something else is wrong. Also, I assume that, since the more smoothed horizon needs more work in order to be done, that is how it should look by "default" so maybe something is preventing it to be shown correctly.

 

As I said, not a priority though, I guess the "grphics" guys dont work in the sim core so anyway maybe this could be a thing to work for them.

 

Many thanks for the hard work ED!!:thumbup: