Weather mod v7 for DCS

[Slippa]

I’m having a job installing it.

I have it show up as enabled in ovgme but can’t see any presets. I’m sure it’s something I’m not doing properly on installation. Haven’t installed to DCS root folder before now so I dunno? It does look good too.

[bandit648]

On 2/17/2024 at 2:33 PM, Slippa said:

I’m having a job installing it.

I have it show up as enabled in ovgme but can’t see any presets. I’m sure it’s something I’m not doing properly on installation. Haven’t installed to DCS root folder before now so I dunno? It does look good too.

 You need the have OVGME pointed at your DCS install folder. The "bandit648 weather mod" folder should be dropped in your OVGME Configuration mods folder. Here's what my OVGME settings look like:

 

 null 

[bandit648]

I think I've arrived at a good solution for the cirrus layer. I created new cirrus textures that are similar to the originals but higher resolution. I decided not to use the more dramatic cirrus textures as they don't blend as well with the volumetric clouds. I also increased the transition time to 15 minutes. This makes the change a little less jarring then the default 3 minutes.

Here's the default cirrus up close:

Here's one of my updated cirrus textures

 

 

[Slippa]

Nice job on the cirrus.

I'll swap ya a pic

This is how I have my folders set up. I have everything on my D drive so usually drop mods into the Mod Folder (Configuration mods folder) and enable them. I realise this one has to go into the root folder but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Should I create a new configuration in OvGME for this and if so, will I not be able to use it alongside other mods? I haven't used many mods until recently and probably only set up OvGME once, obviously a bit clueless. Cheers for the pointers.

ETA: My DCS installation (Eagle Dynamics/Program Files) is on my C drive.

Edited February 18 by Slippa

[bandit648]

1 minute ago, Slippa said:

Nice job on the cirrus.

I'll swap ya a pic

This is how I have my folders set up. I have everything on my D drive so usually drop mods into the Mod Folder (Configuration mods folder) and enable them. I realise this one has to go into the root folder but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Should I create a new configuration in OvGME for this and if so, will I not be able to use it alongside other mods? I haven't used many mods until recently and probably only set up OvGME once, obviously a bit clueless. Cheers for the pointers.

 

So your OVGME config there is pointed at your saved games folder. Just create a new profile and name it something like "DCS Root". Point the Configuration folder in OVGME to your DCS install location. Create a new Mods folder also and drop the weather mod in there. I have separate profiles for the DCS main install folder and Saved Games in OVGME and it works fine.

With your config now its installing the weather mod in your saved games folder which won't work.

[Slippa]

Right, I think I'm with ya. I didn't realise OvGME had different profiles.

I'll give it a go, cheers.

[WipeUout]

10 hours ago, bandit648 said:

I also increased the transition time to 15 minutes.

@bandit648, first many thanks for this outstanding mod!  Second, is it possible to change the transition time to even greater value such as 60 minutes?  

[bandit648]

4 hours ago, WipeUout said:

@bandit648, first many thanks for this outstanding mod!  Second, is it possible to change the transition time to even greater value such as 60 minutes?  

Yes, but then you get 60 minutes with no cirrus clouds after the first 60 minutes period. Its 60 minutes with clouds, then they fade out and no clouds for 60 minutes before they return again. Hope that makes sense.

I haven't figured out a way to shorten the fade out period. 

[WipeUout]

29 minutes ago, bandit648 said:

Hope that makes sense.

What would be realy nice is the ability to switch off the changing/fading high altitude clouds.  As an example, being able to have a clear sky that does not change would be great as this is often the case in the middle-east.  

[Nick_17]

49 minutes ago, bandit648 said:

Yes, but then you get 60 minutes with no cirrus clouds after the first 60 minutes period. Its 60 minutes with clouds, then they fade out and no clouds for 60 minutes before they return again. Hope that makes sense.

I haven't figured out a way to shorten the fade out period. 

Do they appear right away or just after the first x-min period? So if the period is changed to something like 24 hours, they wouldn't disappear for a whole day?

[bandit648]

1 hour ago, WipeUout said:

What would be realy nice is the ability to switch off the changing/fading high altitude clouds.  As an example, being able to have a clear sky that does not change would be great as this is often the case in the middle-east.  

 I did that before but some people like the cirrus so I enabled it again. I like them also but wish we could choose different cirrus types or clear sky.

44 minutes ago, Nick_17 said:

Do they appear right away or just after the first x-min period? So if the period is changed to something like 24 hours, they wouldn't disappear for a whole day?

They appear at mission start. There are 4 different cirrus cloud textures and they normally appear in pairs during a 24 hour period. They fade in and out based on the parameters in the cirrus.fx shader file. The textures used change based on the date and time. So if I wanted to see a different cirrus texture set I usually change the date. 

One option I was thinking about was to create a standalone cirrus cloud mod each with different textures or a clear sky. Then set the fade period to 24 hours. You would have to decide which one to use before launching DCS and enable in OVGME. This would work but isn't very user friendly since you'd have to use OVGME to configure your cirrus clouds prior to launching DCS.

 

 

[wsd810]

Might be a dumb question, but do any of the presets have thunderstorm characteristics (i.e. lightning) or is that only if you follow the method to create thunderstorms? I am guessing if  you just put "rain" in precipitation you will not get lightning either.

Thanks! Great Work

[bandit648]

7 hours ago, wsd810 said:

Might be a dumb question, but do any of the presets have thunderstorm characteristics (i.e. lightning) or is that only if you follow the method to create thunderstorms? I am guessing if  you just put "rain" in precipitation you will not get lightning either.

Thanks! Great Work

That's right, you have to use the "thunderstorm" precip setting to see lightning and hear thunder. I wish there was a way to change that and make it available on the normal presets but I don't think there is.

Honestly the lightning isn't that great anyway. It spawns all over the place and not just in and around clouds. We'll need to wait on ED to improve that one.

[Valium]

nullThe main problem of this mod is there're too many presets and I can't choose that one null

[bandit648]

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!

 

[swartbyron]

Well done on cracking the cirrus.fx!

The alternating cirrus textures is the one feature in DCS that’s frustrated me for years.

Being able to keep one cloud pattern present for at least 24 hours really enhances the atmosphere and ambiance of every cloud preset and especially impressive at dusk or dawn.

It also adds just a touch of flavour to those sterile blue sky missions some mission makers are to determined to make.

Hope you don’t mind I’m rather attached to the stock Cirrus textures, so I’ve kept them in for now.

Thank you again for your time and effort that you have put in to this.

 

[bandit648]

1 hour ago, swartbyron said:

Well done on cracking the cirrus.fx!

 

The alternating cirrus textures is the one feature in DCS that’s frustrated me for years.

 

Being able to keep one cloud pattern present for at least 24 hours really enhances the atmosphere and ambiance of every cloud preset and especially impressive at dusk or dawn.

 

It also adds just a touch of flavour to those sterile blue sky missions some mission makers are to determined to make.

 

Hope you don’t mind I’m rather attached to the stock Cirrus textures, so I’ve kept them in for now.

 

Thank you again for your time and effort that you have put in to this.

 

 

 

 

 

The cirrus textures are WIP and I'll try improve on those. Its harder then it seems due to the way the textures are tiled across the sky. It makes it difficult to have much variation, such as different cirrus in different sections of the sky. IRL cirrus are pretty random and not uniform across the sky. The thing I hate about the stock textures is how bad they look up close. They look better or worse depending on the lighting but sometimes you can even see the lines from the method used to create a tiled texture.

 

[Linx]

Can your Weather mod also potentially influence the winds in the mission? So that they change direction and strength during the mission?

[bandit648]

13 minutes ago, Linx said:

Can your Weather mod also potentially influence the winds in the mission? So that they change direction and strength during the mission?

We need ED to update the weather engine for any kind of dynamic weather features. Unfortunately I can't do anything about that.

 

[Hammer_251]

  Thank you for this mod bandit648! Much appreciated. It's absolutely fantastic!

  Cheers!!!

[Gideon312]

Can't get it to work with openmodmanager.

Any ideas??

[bandit648]

9 hours ago, Gideon312 said:

Can't get it to work with openmodmanager.

Any ideas??

 

 

 

From your screenshot there it looks like you have mod still zipped. You need to extract the "bandit648 Weather mod v7" folder from the zip file and copy that to your MOD folder. Then import with Open mod manager and it should work.

 

[ienatom]

Hey bandit, fantastic mod!

Do you have any idea if the sea state can also be changed "independently" from the wind speed? I mean, of course the wind directly influences the waves and stuff, but IMHO in DCS you can't anything else than a perfectly flat sea unless you set it to 60kts 

Do you think this can also be done?

[bandit648]

11 hours ago, ienatom said:

Hey bandit, fantastic mod!

Do you have any idea if the sea state can also be changed "independently" from the wind speed? I mean, of course the wind directly influences the waves and stuff, but IMHO in DCS you can't anything else than a perfectly flat sea unless you set it to 60kts 

Do you think this can also be done?

I actually tried to do this already and didn't have any success. I was able to set the base wind speed and the wind at 1600ft independently in the editor but it didn't have any effect in game. If I find some time I'll play with that some more.

[ienatom]

On 3/20/2024 at 10:16 PM, bandit648 said:

I actually tried to do this already and didn't have any success. I was able to set the base wind speed and the wind at 1600ft independently in the editor but it didn't have any effect in game. If I find some time I'll play with that some more.

Great thanks! Have you also investigated how the game handles the waves and the sea state? I mean, of course it's tied to the surface wind speed but I was wondering if this could be set differently and Independently