Is something wrong with ground level fog?

[Trubert]

Question about what I see in fog, specifically at ground level. Apologies if this is already addressed in other posts; I saw only posts about clouds (which look fine to me).

Whenever I'm at low level in fog, I think particularly at night or if the sun is at a low angle, I get really weird ghostly-pale effects for buildings. Often this looks much lighter than ambient lighting should allow.

A couple of screenshots attached. Both are from the MiG-21bis instant action mission for PRMG landing at Nalchik (not my finest landing, but I was in a hurry!). One is through the canopy and toward the sun; the other is with canopy lifted and away from the sun to eliminate possible lighting effects. The effects are the same for the PRMG landing mission in other regions (I think it's Syria that has a PRMG landing instant action, but might be Persian Gulf). They don't seem sensitive to changing system settings like lens flare or anisotropy, but I realise there are thousands of possible combinations of settings. I get the same effect in VR or on screen; screen is of course a little sharper (but the weird lighting is still there).

I'm using the latest regular 2.7 release via Steam, not the open beta.

My question is whether this is a bug; whether it's something I can fix by editing settings, or whether it's just a quirk of the current weather system that will be fixed in future updates.

Thanks in advance!

[chaos]

Known issue. The fog-graphics are from waaay back and are due for an overhaul. One of the most anticipated features in my mind but apparently it is not ready yet. 

[Trubert]

Thanks chaos - I did wonder if that was the case reading around. Here's hoping for a fix soon, it's needed.

[Goggles]

Yes, it's been years like this. Curiously, this was not a problem in version 1.5. 

My hunch is that the developers are tinkering with the 'fog' function of the graphics engine, which may be completely acceptable for shoot-em-up games, but is probably unsuited to accurately convey weather in aviation. 

Version 1.5  renders proper visibility at sea level: a setting of 240 meters in fog does not show any objects beyond that point, so that with this setting while on the runway, you can see 4 runway lights, but little more beyond that. However, it shows more visibility as the altitude increases, which is not usual. A visibility of 240 meters in fog displays up to that distance in Batumi at sea level, but in Tblisi at 1500 feet above sea level, you can clearly see all the way down the runway and objects such as trees and buildings way past that. If I want a visibility of 600 meters in Tblisi, I have to set in the fog settings to something like 60 meters. Version 2.7 seems to show the appropriate number of runway lights, given the set visibility, but then incorrectly shows topographical features on the horizon, miles away.

Version 1.5 also renders cloud base quite realistically. If you set a ceiling of 400 meters, you will lose the ground at slightly above that in the climb. I also liked the scud type cloud base, giving a very realistic scud run at low level in a helicopter. However, that height is above sea level. So taking off from Tblisi with a cloud height of 400 meters, you are already in  the clouds because Tblisi is at an elevation of 500 meters above sea level (which is possible, as it becomes an obscuration, or cloud reaching the ground).

If I want to shoot an instrument approach and break out at minimums (or lower), I still fly version 1.5. Version 2.7 is more of a fair weather simulator, which is a shame, given the extremely complex modelling and fidelity of the aircraft, and their ability to realistically conduct instrument approaches. 

As for version 2.7, most canned cloud selections give you VFR clouds. And even if you set a given cloud height, say 800 meters, you climb past that and never enter cloud, so the cloud height setting is meaningless.

I would like clouds selection 0 to allow the user to be able to select a solid overcast cloud base down to 0 feet if desired. Within the fog layer set, the visibility set should be constant within the layer (thickness), regarless of the height.

 

[Zodiacc]

If you want fog, your best bet is broken 7 preset ( which you can set layer altitude "0" ) feels like fog.Especially airports with higher elevation.