Weather development

[Weasel]

Thanks a lot BN, really looking forward to get more information about dynamic and improved weather soon in a newsletter (and hopefully some screenshots as well) ;)

[Dav IRL]

What kind of enhancements would you like to see? What do you find lacking presently?

 

 

Everything is there to an extent it’s just not fixed in place, there is cloud pop in, clouds that look very simple, I would like to see a weather system where you get a preview of the settings you dial in, where you can add thunder, wind, rain, snow, lightning, different wave types, different moonlights, sizzling heat, damp puddles on the runway, realistic looking clouds that move in different patterns and that have different formations.

 

 

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[Al-Azraq]

Hi all,

 

Apreciate it feels like forever for the clouds, the team are working on it, but it can not be rushed, we have seen what our competitors have done and the bar is high, with that said lets keep the other sim discussion out of the thread.

 

As soon as we are ready we will share more news, I will ask if we can share some screenshots soon.

 

thank you

 

Thanks Bignewy, happy to see that the clouds are in active development. Rain looks fine enough but the clouds are just underwhelming in 2020. I understand that the competitor set the bar really high but they also have a big budget however, I think that the vast majority of DCS pilots are not expecting that level but just having volumetric clouds with different layers and types and synced in multiplayer.

 

Sharing some of the WIP in upcoming newsletters would be great.

[MacEwan]

Are the new weather developments only focusing on clouds or are we looking at a more complete weather system overhaul?

[NineLine]

Are the new weather developments only focusing on clouds or are we looking at a more complete weather system overhaul?

 

Clouds are only a part of the Weather Development.

[MacEwan]

Clouds are only a part of the Weather Development.

 

Great news, thanks NineLine!

[SkHiTech]

Hi all,

 

Apreciate it feels like forever for the clouds, the team are working on it, but it can not be rushed, we have seen what our competitors have done and the bar is high, with that said lets keep the other sim discussion out of the thread.

 

As soon as we are ready we will share more news, I will ask if we can share some screenshots soon.

 

thank you

 

 

Thank you for the update Bignewy!

we can't wait to see some screen :-)

:thumbup:

[Phil C6]

Clouds are only a part of the Weather Development.

 

 

Hi, have you planned to model a really rough sea to the point that the aircraft carriers really move (on X, Y and Z) according to the weather?

That would be a more interesting challenge for the landing on carrier.

And should be interesting to dev a helo SAR module (the helo at the side of the carrier)

 

 

 

Best regards

[Goggles]

Everything is there to an extent it’s just not fixed in place, there is cloud pop in, clouds that look very simple, I would like to see a weather system where you get a preview of the settings you dial in, where you can add thunder, wind, rain, snow, lightning, different wave types, different moonlights, sizzling heat, damp puddles on the runway, realistic looking clouds that move in different patterns and that have different formations.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The question I ask myself is if whether these enhancements add to the tactical aspect of the simulation.

 

Does having pretty clouds add to the challenge of winning an engagement?

 

IMO, having properly modeled low visibility conditions increases the challenge, because if one crashes as a result of not being able to handle the weather, the result is the same as being shot down.

 

As for realism, they should get the runway environment perfected, such as proper markings and runway and approach lighting first, before such things as hovering rescue helicopters.

[NineLine]

Hi, have you planned to model a really rough sea to the point that the aircraft carriers really move (on X, Y and Z) according to the weather?

That would be a more interesting challenge for the landing on carrier.

And should be interesting to dev a helo SAR module (the helo at the side of the carrier)

 

 

 

Best regards

 

We do want much better sea physics for sure, but you have to remember the cost of calculations of all the movements involved with the water, the ships, and the aircraft, then throw in MP, and you have a big mess. We push it as much as we can, as we can for sure.

[Pizzicato]

The question I ask myself is if whether these enhancements add to the tactical aspect of the simulation.

 

Does having pretty clouds add to the challenge of winning an engagement?

 

 

• They define whether or not you can see the ground target(s) you're tasked with attacking.
  
• They allow you (or your enemy) to escape from a dogfight, or turn a disadvantageous position to their example.
  
• They impact various aircraft sensors.
  
• They affect your ability to keep formation with your flight.
  
• They dictate your waypoint routing to and from the target.
  
• They dictate your available altitude to and from the target.
  
• They dictate whether certain aircraft or helicopters can even take off.
  

I'm sure there are many other tactical implications, too, but those are the ones that spring immediately to mind.

[sirrah]

• They define whether or not you can see the ground target(s) you're tasked with attacking.
  
• They allow you (or your enemy) to escape from a dogfight, or turn a disadvantageous position to their example.
  
• They impact various aircraft sensors.
  
• They affect your ability to keep formation with your flight.
  
• They dictate your waypoint routing to and from the target.
  
• They dictate your available altitude to and from the target.
  
• They dictate whether certain aircraft or helicopters can even take off.
  

I'm sure there are many other tactical implications, too, but those are the ones that spring immediately to mind.

 

In addition:

• They won't break immersion (rotating clouds in VR/TrackIR :music_whistling:)
  
• They won't break immersion and make one dizzy (distant clouds dis-/reappearing in left/right eye in VR:music_whistling:)
  
• They would add to tactical choices/options (clear sky at home airfield and overcast or mist at target location)
  

[dawgie79]

Another addition:

Immersion and realism, especially in VR. Imagine flying through various layers of clouds.

 

I for one would very much appreciate some WIP images. :)

[Jester2138]

The question I ask myself is if whether these enhancements add to the tactical aspect of the simulation.

 

The fact that some users don't understand how incredibly relevant weather is to combat aviation is probably the best example of how poor the current weather simulation is.

[M1Combat]

You're missing the point:

 

Compare the visibility of departure airports only, not after flying to the destination airport.

 

For example, put your airplane on the runway at Batumi (near sea level) and set the fog to 300 meters. Notice how far you can see.

 

Now put your airplane on the runway at Tbilisi (about 1500 feet ASL) and set the fog to 300 meters. Notice that you can see multiple times the distance you had at Batumi.

 

I guess I am...

 

I just think that from your perspective the visibility setting should be tied to the takeoff airfield of the player aircraft.

 

From my perspective that doesn't make sense.

 

It makes more sense to set the visibility based on sea level visibility... so if you need 200M vis for whatever airport you're trying to work with... you set the sea level vis to somewhere lower than that so it's correct at your intended target airfield. It's not super difficult to work that out... and then it makes more sense...

 

what if you have a MP mission or a complex SP mission where you have available planes at multiple airports???

 

Where should visibility be set then???

 

At sea level maybe???

[Valinor]

[webweaver40]

I really hope the pic in today's weekend news is a teaser for the Sep patch!

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[OnlyforDCS]

 

Woah! Now that's pretty impressive. Where did you get that pic from?

[Bobik2002]

Woah! Now that's pretty impressive. Where did you get that pic from?

From newsletter

[Cthulhus]

Impressive !

[twistking]

Impressive !

 

impressive indeed. looks like they might be able to trade blows with that civil aviation sim, everybody is talking about.

 

for me it would be fine even if it looked half as good, as long as they can get it working without too big of a performance impact (raymarcher better be it's own thread).

[Gryzor]

A photoshop picture is it. Don´t expect anything else.

[twistking]

nah, i'm pretty sure that's in-engine. these raymarched clouds are becoming the industry standard and the picture matches the wip-screenshot we got in november and that was definitely in-engine.

 

enough other reasons to be sceptical; performance and complexity of underlying weather model etc.

 

can't we get some more information on this very much requested feature other than the single screenshot? last year wags said, that they would aim (no promise obviously) for a end of 2019 release... there should be something more to share 10 month later, shouldn't it?

[RED]

Didn't they say that humidity will be simulated with a new model? Let's see if they can make the laser ranges depends on that.

[Glowing_Amraam]

A photoshop picture is it. Don´t expect anything else.

 

A photoshop picture it is not. :)