New water release?

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

I'm truly eager to enjoy the new water rendering for DCS, the one showed in all Marianas screens and latest videos which I thought would be released with the Marianas map.

 

 

 

 

However that wasn't the case so I would love to know if this is something planned for a short term release or if this will still need a lot of time?. Not asking for a date, just if we can expect it anytime soon...maybe @BIGNEWY?

 

thanks!

Edited July 9, 2021 by Ala12Rv-watermanpc

[Gryzor]

Yes please ED give us a clue WHEN...

[Worrazen]

I haven't heard or missed the water being mentioned as an upgrade. Where?

[twistking]

15 minutes ago, Worrazen said:

I haven't heard or missed the water being mentioned as an upgrade. Where?

not mentioned in text, but pictured in the promotional images. see first post of this very thread.

[rayrayblues]

The water in the videos looks pretty much like what we have in game.

The differences seem to be in the lighting and camera angles.

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

17 minutes ago, rayrayblues said:

The water in the videos looks pretty much like what we have in game.

The differences seem to be in the lighting and camera angles.

 

No. Take a second look at it. It's VERY different, particularly the sun reflection over the water, among other things. 

[rayrayblues]

The water in the videos looks pretty much like what we have in game.

The differences seem to be in the lighting and camera angles.

Edited July 9, 2021 by rayrayblues

[rayrayblues]

It's a matter of personal taste. I think the the water looks pretty good as it is. 

The surf around coastlines could be much better and ships wakes could use quite a bit more foam,

but other than that;  what's not to like?? These pictures were taken between 06:45 and 06:55 on today's date 07/09/2021.

The ones in the video were taken a little later in the morning and so are a bit wider. I think my reflections are very close to his.

Like I said, time of day, lighting and camera angles etc.

 

The biggest complaint that I have heard so far is difficulty telling where the water is from the sky when flying down low.

There is an easy fix for that:   Check your altimeter,  DUH.  Just like any other time you can't see, like at night, in clouds, rain and snow, etc,

check your instruments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by rayrayblues

[Gun Jam]

My main complaint with the water is not its color.

1) as seen in last photo its way too reflective. I dont recall observing this amount of reflection in anything other than lakes with calm surface. Even irrigation canals have little to no reflection.

 

2) The water is a single dead sheet of color that has a basic gradient applied to it. It is void of all texture, movement or any signs of life. It is horrible. The only time this is not the case is when looking into the sun or below like 800 feet. The carrier wake looks worse than it ever has because its the only object visible in an otherwise totally dead environment.    

Edited July 9, 2021 by Gun Jam

[rayrayblues]

I do agree that it does need more texture, but not as much as we had in 2.5.6 where you could see white caps all the time, even from ~30,000 ft.

I kinda' like the cloud reflections, but you are right. It's not realistic for the open ocean, however, at 06:45 in the morning, the ocean is quite clam and can reflect like that.

During the mid day, wind picks up and the surface isn't so smooth any more. 

The bow waves from ships are overdone and the foam is underdone.

I would really be be happy to see foamier ship wakes and surf and breakers where the shore becomes more shallow. It is the gradual shallowing

of the water approaching the shore that pushes up the waves and they get whitecaps at the very least.

 

They are getting close though and the water is much better than when 2.7.0 came out so I guess we can at least agree that cloud reflections, as nice as they look,

are overdone, the surface should have a bit more texture and waves, and the ships wakes and shoreline surf need more foam.

BTW the wind speed in these photos is 12 Kn. There should be more waves off shore and definitely more surf on shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gun Jam]

Yes! In 2.5 the texture was a bit over done as what should be considered finer detail like white caps  were way too visible and it gave an odd sense of height.  2.7 is the total opposite there is no texture at any altitude. When hauling out of the carrier the ocean looks great and then when passing about 800 feet it just turns off and its quite obvious. 

 

Im sure at some point we will get a good balance.

 

[twistking]

maybe @Glowing_Amraam can clarify if the promotional screens from the first post are from the public build or from a more advanced internal build...

[rayrayblues]

33 minutes ago, Gun Jam said:

Yes! In 2.5 the texture was a bit over done as what should be considered finer detail like white caps  were way too visible and it gave an odd sense of height.  2.7 is the total opposite there is no texture at any altitude. When hauling out of the carrier the ocean looks great and then when passing about 800 feet it just turns off and its quite obvious. 

 

Im sure at some point we will get a good balance.

 

 

I hope they reach that point soon now that we have a new map that is mostly water.

[Ala12Rv-watermanpc]

14 hours ago, rayrayblues said:

It's a matter of personal taste. I think the the water looks pretty good as it is. 

The surf around coastlines could be much better and ships wakes could use quite a bit more foam,

but other than that;  what's not to like?? These pictures were taken between 06:45 and 06:55 on today's date 07/09/2021.

The ones in the video were taken a little later in the morning and so are a bit wider. I think my reflections are very close to his.

Like I said, time of day, lighting and camera angles etc.

 

The biggest complaint that I have heard so far is difficulty telling where the water is from the sky when flying down low.

There is an easy fix for that:   Check your altimeter,  DUH.  Just like any other time you can't see, like at night, in clouds, rain and snow, etc,

check your instruments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This wasn't suppossed to be a disscussion post, just one to try to get some insight to "when" could the new water be released but ok, guess I must clarify that YES, there is an improved water in the works.

 

Things I can CLEARLY see in the latest screens and videos that look different:

 

-White caps look smaller, more detailed and are visible further away

-Reflections are more diffuse and blurred, overall much better look with a more smoothed depiction

-Water's surface has blotches (maybe due to winds/temperature/etc), which contributes to add a nice feeling of distance and realism

-Sun glitter is totally different and physically correct for the very first time in DCS, at both, low and high altitude

-Shadows over water seem to be improved, they are visible over the sun's reflection

-Water color looks better (overall clearer), mostly I guess due to the improved reflectivity which better captures the mix between sky color and clouds reflections color

 

So NO, it is not a matter of "personal taste", is a matter of realism, and whilst they have improved the water since 2.7 version (prior versions have MUCH worse water, take a look here:

 

there is a lot of room for improvements, and they are, no doubt, working on them.

 

I'm not willing to do much work demonstrating this with tons of pictures, but I will post the most obvious things:

 

sun glitter/reflection:

 

Actual

 

improved

 

 

Actual

improved

 

Water's surface blotches and reflections

 

Actual

improved

 

White caps:

 

Clouds shadowing over water:

 

 

Water color:

 

 

Hope it is clearer now that OBVIOUSLY there is an improved water in the works.

 

11 hours ago, twistking said:

maybe @Glowing_Amraam can clarify if the promotional screens from the first post are from the public build or from a more advanced internal build...

 

 

I think that with the above explanation you can bet on an improved internal version 

 

The point of the post is knowing, if possible, if we are getting this "soon", but guess we can't.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Ala12Rv-watermanpc

[NineLine]

We have water improvements coming soon, thanks.