Weather mod v17 for DCS

[bandit648]

Howdy folks,

I created a new weather mod to give us a little more variety in what we have currently. Hopefully you enjoy this while we wait for ED to give us a proper update to the weather system.

This Weather mod includes the following features:

38 new weather presets for scattered showers, overcast/rain, stratus clouds, cumulus clouds, altostratus and altocumulus clouds.
Cloud base altitude and thickness limits increased for all presets
Fog visibility and thickness limits increased so you can create hazy atmosphere affects
Six new density settings tweaked for scattered and isolated thunderstorms
Rain and Thunderstorms precipitation now available for all cloud density settings

Installation:

Recommended: Use OvGME or other mod manager and install to DCS root directory.
Make a backup if installing manually!

To create thunderstorms:

1.) Select NOTHING from the Clouds Preset menu
2.) Configure the base altitude as desired
3.) Adjust the thickness to something between 15000-30000ft
4.) You can choose any density setting but I added six new ones. Density 11 - 16 are tweaked for thunderstorms
5.) Choose Thunderstorm or Rain from the Precptns option
6.) I recommend adding a lot of wind and turbulence as well
7.) Experiment with settings to get the look you want and enjoy!

Download: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3335023/

7/1/2025 - Updated to version 17

-NEW:  Modded cirrus shader to use a texture array. This increased the number of unique cirrus cloud types from 4 to 16. You will notice many new variations of cirrus while flying your missions now. All cirrus textures were created by me from hi resolution photos of real cirrus clouds.

-Tweaked several cloud presets, improving the look of Low level stratus, Altostratus and Altocumulus cloud presets

- Included 4 new presets for heavy broken cumulus clouds. These are the Scattered Showers presets with no rain.

 

3/28/2025 - Updated to version 16

-Updated files for compatibility with DCS version DCS 2.9.14.8394

-Updated cirrus shader for a much more natural random look. Cirrus clouds will no longer cover the entire sky over the map and will appear in random patches.

-Changed cirrus cloud fade interval to 30 minutes. The cirrus layer will fade in/out over a 30 minute period. Previously this was set very high to 24 hours so the cirrus clouds were basically static.

-Added [Bandit648] tag to Scattered Thunderstorms 1 and Scattered Thunderstorms 2 cloud presets.

12/24/2024 - Updated to version 15

-Updated files for compatibilty wit DCS version 2.9.11.4686

12/17/2024 - Updated to version 14

-Added new cirrus cloud texture

-Added two new cloud presets for Scattered Thunderstorms *note: thunder and lightning are not currently working on these presets

-Updated METAR codes for all of the mod cloud presets

 

12/04/2024 - Updated to version 13

-Updated for compatibility with DCS 2.9.10.3948

 

10/30/2024 - Updated to version 12

-Minor update of files for compatibility with DCS 2.9.9.2280

 

10/11/2024 - Updated to version 11

- Updated cloud preset thumbnails. The Mod thumbnails are now outlined in yellow for better visibility. Thanks to forum user ggrewe for help with this.
- Fixed issue with cloud presets being out of order

 

7/11/2024 - Updated to version 10

- Updated for DCS 2.9.6 compatibility.
- Cirrus cloud textures updated

 

6/17/2024 - Update to version 9

- New cirrus cloud textures added!

5/23/2024 - Update to version 8

- compatibility for latest DCS version 2.9.5.55300
- updated cirrus layer

 

2/24/2024 - Update to version 7

- NEW cirrus cloud textures
- Cirrus clouds now move and can be seen moving
- Cirrus clouds don't fade in and out any longer. They don't change for 24 hours
- Tuning and tweaks to several presets
- Updated config files for compatibility with DCS 2.9.3.51704

**The cirrus cloud behavior and appearance are drastically changed in this update. There are 4 cirrus cloud textures and they usually are blended with each other, creating a variety of different looking skies. After loading a mission, if you want to change the look of the cirrus clouds simply re-load the mission by pressing SHIFT-R. Sometimes changing the date and/or time in the mission editor changes up the cirrus also.

If you want to turn off cirrus clouds completely you can edit \Bazar\shaders\enlight\cirrus.fx in the MOD folder. Change line 36 in that file to:

static const float cirrusThickness = 0;

Make sure to disable/re-enable the mod in OVGME after making the change.

If you think the new cirrus sucks and you want to go back to default delete the following files from the MOD folder and disable/re-enable in OVGME:

\Bazar\shaders\enlight\cirrus.fx
\Bazar\Effects\EffectTextures.zip

Enjoy!

 

1/27/2024 - Updated to version 6

- Fixed small issues in several presets
- Reworked "Scattered Showers 5" preset. Looks much better now
- Minor adjustments to "Low Level Stratus 5" and "Nimbostratus with heavy rain". Clouds have a slightly softer look now.
 

1/24/2024 - Updated to version 5

- High level cirro clouds are back with cirrostratus and cirrocumulus presets!
- 10 new cloud presets added
- Many tweaks and adjustments to existing presets

 

1/11/2024 - Updated to version 4

- 2 new stratus cloud presets added
- 3 new altostratus cloud presets added
- 3 new altocumulus clouds presets added
- Re-enabled default cirrus layer and lowered opacity. 
 

1/9/2024 - Weather mod v3 update changes:

- 5 new presets added
- 2 new cloud types, cirrus and altostratus
- Improved stratus cloud presets
- Added preview thumbnails for all weather mod presets
- Disabled default cirrus layer
- Adjusted base altitude settings for all mod presets

1/6/2024 - Weather mod v2 update changes:

-Reverted "Broken 2" preset back to default setting
-Added 13 new presets!

 

New presets include new overcast/rainy, scattered cumulus and low level stratus clouds.

Make sure to adjust your cloud base height as needed with the new presets. The Scattered cumulus look best at low to mid level (2000 - 15000ft). Their base height dramatically changes the look. Status should be se t with base height very low (0 - 3000ft).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1 by bandit648
updated to version 17

[EvilBert VR]

Just brilliant!!!! Thanks a lot sir!
In case you are a pro in regards of weather settings:
How can I adjust weather settings for like having fog in a certain area? I.e.: airfield in fog or valleys in haze.

Thanks and keep up that excellent work!

Cheers

[bandit648]

3 minutes ago, EvilBert VR said:

Just brilliant!!!! Thanks a lot sir!
In case you are a pro in regards of weather settings:
How can I adjust weather settings for like having fog in a certain area? I.e.: airfield in fog or valleys in haze.

Thanks and keep up that excellent work!

Cheers

You can't really set fog to localized areas. But, you can experiment with the thickness and visibility settings of fog to get the look you want. Another option is to use a scattered cloud density setting like 3 - 6. Then set the base altitude very low and make the thickness very thin. This creates patchy fog effect that's not bad.

[EvilBert VR]

2 minutes ago, bandit648 said:

You can't really set fog to localized areas. But, you can experiment with the thickness and visibility settings of fog to get the look you want. Another option is to use a scattered cloud density setting like 3 - 6. Then set the base altitude very low and make the thickness very thin. This creates patchy fog effect that's not bad.

Thanks!
Do you have a setting example I can start with?

[bandit648]

On 12/14/2023 at 9:02 AM, EvilBert VR said:

Thanks!
Do you have a setting example I can start with?

This is in the vicinity of Tbilisi. You will have to set the cloud settings accordingly based on the terrain elevation.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2024 by bandit648

[EvilBert VR]

Nice!
Thanks a lot! I will give it a try!

[Hiob]

@bandit648 Very cool!

Does every client need the mod installed or only the mission creator?

[bandit648]

9 minutes ago, Hiob said:

@bandit648 Very cool!

Does every client need the mod installed or only the mission creator?

I don't play multiplayer so haven't tested that. Let us know the results. The mod does not pass IC.

[Hiob]

9 minutes ago, bandit648 said:

I don't play multiplayer so haven't tested that. Let us know the results. The mod does not pass IC.

Will do! 

[Thudster]

The Final Countdown weather setting?

 

[REDEYE_CVW-66]

This is incredible. This should be baked into the main game. Excellent presets, and I have been waiting for the ability to create haze for a very long time. Thanks for sharing this, and hope the devs take note.

[Hiob]

I‘m having troubles getting your new presets applied. I used an existing mission which had a rain preset selected and instead choose one of your new presets. But when I run the mission (SP), it doesn’t look different. 

Am I missing something?

[bandit648]

13 minutes ago, Hiob said:

I‘m having troubles getting your new presets applied. I used an existing mission which had a rain preset selected and instead choose one of your new presets. But when I run the mission (SP), it doesn’t look different. 

Am I missing something?

I just tested and can't reproduce that issue. Installation issue? What happens if you try a new mission apply the preset?

 

[bandit648]

40 minutes ago, REDEYE_CVW-66 said:

This is incredible. This should be baked into the main game. Excellent presets, and I have been waiting for the ability to create haze for a very long time. Thanks for sharing this, and hope the devs take note.

Funny story, I started working on this a year ago and then gave up since I figured ED would be releasing a weather update soon anyway. Since it now appears weather is on back burner for some time I decided to finish and release the mod. It would have taken one of the ED developers a few hours maybe to give us some new presets and options.

I still can't believe they simply didn't release any new presets after the moving clouds update. They even showed a bunch of videos of isolated storms but then didn't give us any new presets.  

[REDEYE_CVW-66]

Mind boggling... 

Let's hope this wakes them up, and thanks for helping out in the meantime.

Just had a flight over England in hazy conditions with low clouds and it is the best it has ever looked.

[GGTharos]

@BIGNEWY I believe this would be a 'low hanging fruit' to get into the game ASAP.

[Hiob]

17 minutes ago, bandit648 said:

I just tested and can't reproduce that issue. Installation issue? What happens if you try a new mission apply the preset?

 

I will do further testing on the weekend. Unfortunately I‘m running out of time now.

Seems to work for the other guys, so I probably did something wrong.

Looks promising though! 

[RaisedByWolves]

Where to install if not using ovgme? Maybe I missed it.

[BIGNEWY]

10 hours ago, GGTharos said:

@BIGNEWY I believe this would be a 'low hanging fruit' to get into the game ASAP.

Hi, it has caught our eye, but I can not promise anything at the moment, teams are extremely busy on tasks

thanks

[razo+r]

10 hours ago, Hiob said:

I will do further testing on the weekend. Unfortunately I‘m running out of time now.

Seems to work for the other guys, so I probably did something wrong.

Looks promising though! 

Presets are stored on the clients game, the mission only tells which preset to use. So if you have a different preset than other clients, you will see different clouds, they are not synched. All need to have the mod if you want everyone to see the same thing. 

(sorry, I quoted the wrong text from you. I ment to quote you when you asked about MP) 

Edited December 15, 2023 by razo+r

[Hiob]

44 minutes ago, razo+r said:

Presets are stored on the clients game, the mission only tells which preset to use. So if you have a different preset than other clients, you will see different clouds, they are not synched. All need to have the mod if you want everyone to see the same thing. 

(sorry, I quoted the wrong text from you. I ment to quote you when you asked about MP) 

 

No problem. Got it. Does make sense!

[Tusk.V]

Love this mod but it tanks my VR performance. I can stay locked at 72fps on Hornet Syria Free Flight but I get drops into the 50s when I enable this mod. Not giving up on it yet though! Great work!

[bandit648]

1 hour ago, Tusk.V said:

Love this mod but it tanks my VR performance. I can stay locked at 72fps on Hornet Syria Free Flight but I get drops into the 50s when I enable this mod. Not giving up on it yet though! Great work!

Did you modify the weather for that mission to use one of my presets? If not my mod isn't doing anything to affect performance. Heavy weather settings will always cost some performance unfortunately.

I think Syria has seen some reduced performance since the last update or two. I've noticed it especially when on the Supercarrier. 

 

[Tusk.V]

4 hours ago, bandit648 said:

Did you modify the weather for that mission to use one of my presets? If not my mod isn't doing anything to affect performance. Heavy weather settings will always cost some performance unfortunately.

I think Syria has seen some reduced performance since the last update or two. I've noticed it especially when on the Supercarrier. 

 

No I didn't change it. I'll keep testing it some to see. I disabled last night and it immediately went back to locked at 72fps (my Crystal is at 72hz).

[Tusk.V]

Definitely drops my FPS on Hornet Free Flight. I would say on average probably 4-5 frames.

The clouds are different in that flight even though I didn't change anything. If you look towards the mountains on the left, by default the clouds are quite a ways above them. With you mod, the peaks are covered up and it starts raining when you get closer.

I really want to use this but can't give up the performance. For now....

Edited December 18, 2023 by Tusk.V