[MOD] Realistic Clouds (Updated 2-9-2021)

[rowdyb00t 977]

5 hours ago, Motivated said:

Is there anyway to use this mod without it changing the lighting?

  Unfortunately no.

[DN308 212]

Btw, is there a trick to have some layers ? I mean, above the first lay of clouds, some others i.e 500 or 1000m higher.

And How to make the clouds be 1000-2000m highs ?

[Beebop 679]

You can make changes to cloud heights in the Mission Editor. 

In the Mission Properties dialog is a box titled 'Atmosphere Conditions'. 

In it you can set cloud heights both from ground level and the thickness of the cloud layers

.

From the Multiplayer Server Manual:

Chapter 14: Reference
Clouds Allowed Heights

Height from the bottom to the top of the cumulus clouds
The allowed heights (in meters) vary as follows:

 

Clouds Allowed Heights
01_Light_00 400 to 800
01_Light_01 300 to 500
01_Light_02 300 to 700
01_Light_03 300 to 500
01_Light_04 300 to 600
01_Light_05 400 to 800
01_Light_06 300 to 600
01_Light_07 300 to 700
01_Light_08 400 to 800
01_Light_09 400 to 800
02_Medium_00 500 to 1000
02_Medium_01 500 to 1000
02_Medium_02 500 to 1000
02_Medium_03 300 to 700
02_Medium_04 500 to 1000
02_Medium_05 500 to 1000
02_Medium_06 400 to 850
02_Medium_07 500 to 1000
02_Medium_08 400 to 900
02_Medium_09 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_00 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_01 600 to 1300
03_Heavy_02 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_03 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_04 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_05 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_06 700 to 1400
03_Heavy_07 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_08 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_09 700 to 1500
04_Overcast_00 150 to 300
04_Overcast_01 200 to 500
04_Overcast_02 200 to 500
04_Overcast_03 200 to 600
04_Overcast_04 200 to 600
04_Overcast_05 200 to 500
04_Overcast_06 300 to 600
04_Overcast_07 200 to 600
04_Overcast_08 200 to 500
04_Overcast_09 200 to 600

[DN308 212]

Many thanks 

[Beebop 679]

Je vous en prie

 

 

[rowdyb00t 977]

2 hours ago, Beebop said:

You can make changes to cloud heights in the Mission Editor. 

In the Mission Properties dialog is a box titled 'Atmosphere Conditions'. 

In it you can set cloud heights both from ground level and the thickness of the cloud layers

.

From the Multiplayer Server Manual:

Chapter 14: Reference
Clouds Allowed Heights

Height from the bottom to the top of the cumulus clouds
The allowed heights (in meters) vary as follows:

 

Clouds Allowed Heights
01_Light_00 400 to 800
01_Light_01 300 to 500
01_Light_02 300 to 700
01_Light_03 300 to 500
01_Light_04 300 to 600
01_Light_05 400 to 800
01_Light_06 300 to 600
01_Light_07 300 to 700
01_Light_08 400 to 800
01_Light_09 400 to 800
02_Medium_00 500 to 1000
02_Medium_01 500 to 1000
02_Medium_02 500 to 1000
02_Medium_03 300 to 700
02_Medium_04 500 to 1000
02_Medium_05 500 to 1000
02_Medium_06 400 to 850
02_Medium_07 500 to 1000
02_Medium_08 400 to 900
02_Medium_09 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_00 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_01 600 to 1300
03_Heavy_02 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_03 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_04 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_05 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_06 700 to 1400
03_Heavy_07 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_08 600 to 1200
03_Heavy_09 700 to 1500
04_Overcast_00 150 to 300
04_Overcast_01 200 to 500
04_Overcast_02 200 to 500
04_Overcast_03 200 to 600
04_Overcast_04 200 to 600
04_Overcast_05 200 to 500
04_Overcast_06 300 to 600
04_Overcast_07 200 to 600
04_Overcast_08 200 to 500
04_Overcast_09 200 to 600

   I’ve changed most all of those values in the sky.ini files. Mostly to a higher value, so if you put in say 9999 for cloud height, it will go to the max preset height in those files. 
 

   @DN308

The duel cloud layers are only in the Heavy and Overcast clouds. These have also have a distance that is preset in the sky.ini files. 

[HBG-G_Schwarz 25]

ok i downloaded v12.1 (non grey) and 2k cloud and Cumulonimbus Clouds and the 128 samples

 

is this good becuase an confused by all the Versions

 

am using JSGM

[Beebop 679]

Good choices IMO.

I'm using 12.1_Greysky because I like the slightly different cloud textures.  You might consider downloading them too and seeing which you might like better.

In addition I have Cumulonimbus Clouds as they give some awesome thunderhead-like clouds on certain settings.

JSGME is the way to go as you can try different combos easily until you find what's best for you.  Don't put both 12.1 AND 12.1_Greysky at the same time.  you will confuse your computer and it may have a nervous breakdown trying to reproduce all that weather.😉

I install them in this recommended order, 12.1clouds, then Cumulonimbus.  Other files can be loaded anytime after that.

 

I have a fairly modest system and have found no need for the 2K cloud or 128 samples.  I would say install your 12.1 and Cumulonimbus , make sure your clouds are set to High in the settings, (Extreme causes problems), and see how the system runs.  If you have issues then try first 2K clouds, the the 129 samples.

 

If I've made any errors I apologize and will be corrected shorty.

 

HTH

[HBG-G_Schwarz 25]

17 minutes ago, Beebop said:

Good choices IMO.

I'm using 12.1_Greysky because I like the slightly different cloud textures.  You might consider downloading them too and seeing which you might like better.

In addition I have Cumulonimbus Clouds as they give some awesome thunderhead-like clouds on certain settings.

JSGME is the way to go as you can try different combos easily until you find what's best for you.  Don't put both 12.1 AND 12.1_Greysky at the same time.  you will confuse your computer and it may have a nervous breakdown trying to reproduce all that weather.😉

I install them in this recommended order, 12.1clouds, then Cumulonimbus.  Other files can be loaded anytime after that.

 

I have a fairly modest system and have found no need for the 2K cloud or 128 samples.  I would say install your 12.1 and Cumulonimbus , make sure your clouds are set to High in the settings, (Extreme causes problems), and see how the system runs.  If you have issues then try first 2K clouds, the the 129 samples.

 

If I've made any errors I apologize and will be corrected shorty.

 

HTH

 

 

ok is the 2k better (high res ?) and the 128 ? 

 

also i downloaded the grey one, thought it might work great in winter missions

[rowdyb00t 977]

On 11/24/2020 at 12:45 AM, HBG-G_Schwarz said:

ok is the 2k better (high res ?) and the 128 ? 

 @HBG-G_Schwarz

  

 The 2k cloud maps are actually still rendered in the game at 512x512. Though they do seem to look better (possibly placebo)

  As for the 128 cloud samples, this is in the gpreset download.  When the Devs came out with the new extreme cloud option, they changed the samples to 64. The download simply reverts this to the previous stock samples making the clouds more volumetric. 
 

Here’s some examples of the grey sky

Spoiler

 

Edited January 29 by SYN_Haashashin

[HBG-G_Schwarz 25]

On 11/24/2020 at 2:13 AM, rowdyb00t said:

 @HBG-G_Schwarz

  

 The 2k cloud maps are actually still rendered in the game at 512x512. Though they do seem to look better (possibly placebo)

  As for the 128 cloud samples, this is in the gpreset download.  When the Devs came out with the new extreme cloud option, they changed the samples to 64. The download simply reverts this to the previous stock samples making the clouds more volumetric. 
 

Here’s some examples of the grey sky

Spoiler

 

 

i noticed that Cumulonimbus Clouds only work with 2k enabled in JSGME, tried without it and it never worked at all

Edited January 29 by SYN_Haashashin

[rowdyb00t 977]

38 minutes ago, HBG-G_Schwarz said:

i noticed that Cumulonimbus Clouds only work with 2k enabled in JSGME, tried without it and it never worked at all

  The QMB randomly picks 1 out of 10 different weather options for which ever type you have selected, ie. clear, light, medium, heavy or overcast. There are ten different options in all five of these. So 50 total. As for the the cloud maps, that won’t have an effect on the cumulonimbus because the cloud maps are the same, however the 2k maps have a little more definition. 

[DN308 212]

So,

First, we install (i.e. V12 grey) ;

Then, gpreset ;

Than, better overcast(?) ;

Cumuloninbus?

Finally 128

 

Correct?

Edited November 24, 2020 by DN308

[rowdyb00t 977]

23 minutes ago, DN308 said:

So,

First, we install (i.e. V12 grey) ;

Then, gpreset ;

Than, better overcast(?) ;

Cumuloninbus?

Finally 128

 

Correct?

 V12

cumulonimbus

gpreset

 

The 128 is the cloud samples in the gpreset. 
 

Better overcast is an old mod. New overcast is incorporated in the newer versions

[rowdyb00t 977]

I've been working on some things recently. I found a few issues with lines in the cirrus clouds and have been giving the grey sky clouds a little more shadow and "god rays". They seem a bit dull, however I suppose that grey sky's are a bit dull and gloomy.

Spoiler

Edited January 29 by SYN_Haashashin

[BladeMeister 663]

What setting in game should I use to see the best quality of this mod? Thanks in advance.

 

S!Blade<><

[Beebop 679]

For best results, in your Graphics Settings set 'Cloud quality' to 'High'.

[rowdyb00t 977]

5 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

What setting in game should I use to see the best quality of this mod? Thanks in advance.

 

S!Blade<><

  I built the mod with the setting of the clouds on high. So I’d say this one is the best. To be honest I never tried it on any other setting.

[Beebop 679]

With the latest updates I'm finding I like the look of the stock ground textures.  With the mod (V12.1_greysky and Cumulonimbus) enabled the ground is lighter and kind of washed out even with clear skies chosen.

I still like the cloud mod over the stock clouds so is there a way to get richer ground colors yet retain the better clouds, understanding that when in the lower layer of clouds the ground will be "washed out" looking.  Is it some kind of haze file?  If so can it be disabled without affecting the rest of the files?

 

If not it's still the best mod this game has IMO. 

TIA.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Beebop

[rowdyb00t 977]

@Beebop

   I’ll check it out. I’ve been working on some things lately and I think that since the haze update I need to change the fogcorrection parameters back to stock. Maybe that will make ground textures more clear. 
   One thing you can do before I have an update is open the gpreset.file in luascripts and change the saturation to anything above 1.0 . This will give some more vibrance to the map as well as everything else.  

[Beebop 679]

4 hours ago, rowdyb00t said:

One thing you can do before I have an update is open the gpreset.file in luascripts and change the saturation to anything above 1.0 . This will give some more vibrance to the map as well as everything else.

I tried that.  As long as there was any kind of haze it wasn't too bad but as soon as I cleared the weather up....

With Saturation set to 1.1....  Egads!  😳  SuperTechnicolor Hell!

At .05, w/haze OK.  Without... 😬  Still too garish.

I set it to .01 which was a bit better but with clear skies it looked like some acid trips I took in the 60's.  🤪

So for now I will leave it alone. 

Currently the ground is very dark and richly colored without the mod, so much so that I need to raise my Gamma to .9 or 1.0,  That's fine for the ground but not the best for much of anything else, especially snow maps.

 

As usual getting the balances right is quite difficult as witnessed by all your work, Liz Lemon's work and Happy Haddock's work.

If there is anything you can do, great.  If not it should still be put in the stock game by the Devs in my opinion, it's such a vast improvement over what's currently there.

[Dutch2 360]

A suggestion for @rowdyb00t 

 

Background:

I’m using VR and I do dislike the clouds in BoX, they shimmers, are ugly and eating lot of GPU recourses. I could use your VR cloud mod but that does give me bigger performance problem, so eventually I did change the GPpreset by copy/paste the cloud quality parameters  from GPreset3 (=ultra) to GPreset0 as being explained by @LizLemon  The ingame is also set to the maximum available cloud quality. 

Because I have only a GTX1080 so when it becomes cloudy, I do face an GPU overflow and sure all my settings are being optimized like no shadows, no refections, limited distance rendering, auto reprojection, DRF=0.8 etc, etc. 

 

Suggestion: 

Is it not possible to make an cloud mod the reduces the amounts of clouds and/or size of the clouds, so the low spec VR-flyers can also enjoying scripted campaigns and missions that are full of clouds while still using high quality cloud settings and not being face with those ugly shaped neon blinkering objects, because you are forced to use the lowest quality settings. 

[Beebop 679]

Have you tried Version 9.1 Revised 3 GREY SKY?  (Link in first post)

It might work better for you.

 

[Dutch2 360]

19 minutes ago, Beebop said:

Have you tried Version 9.1 Revised 3 GREY SKY?  (Link in first post)

It might work better for you.

 

 

Yep, still to massive, but be aware I’m more talking about reducing clouds in size/amounts for relieving the GPU load, not about cloud eye-candy improving. For me, the ingame graphics clouds setting shift to max and the modifications in the GPresent are acceptable for the looks of the clouds and I think acceptable for most of the low spec VR users. 

 

 

[rowdyb00t 977]

Hello @Dutch2

   I’m not at home at the moment. But I could tell you a few things to optimize your clouds. First go into your gpreset file and change the cloud samples to 96. Second, change the cloud quality to high in the ingame settings. I built the mod using “high” for the cloud setting. 
   Another thing you might try ( I fly VR as well )

is to use the “balanced” setting. Any graphic tweaks you want can then be made in the gpreset file itself. Let me know if this helps. If not you could download the first 2 underneath the pics on the OP. Version 8 and then Better overcast 

[Dutch2 360]

2 minutes ago, rowdyb00t said:

Hello @Dutch2

   I’m not at home at the moment. But I could tell you a few things to optimize your clouds. First go into your gpreset file and change the cloud samples to 96. Second, change the cloud quality to high in the ingame settings. I built the mod using “high” for the cloud setting. 
   Another thing you might try ( I fly VR as well )

is to use the “balanced” setting. Any graphic tweaks you want can then be made in the gpreset file itself. Let me know if this helps. If not you could download the first 2 underneath the pics on the OP. Version 8 and then Better overcast 

I do know about the Lizlemon adjustments, as I did wrote down, only lower then 128 and lowering the ingame clouds setting to lower then  max.  does bring terrible bad looking clouds, a big shame 1C does use then, but that’s another story. 

Is it not possible as a sample to shrink clouds and/or using transparent cloud .dds that do needs lesser GPU power. 

 

Btw I did found the v8 I’m sure I’m going to try that. 

 

[Beebop 679]

25 minutes ago, Dutch2 said:

Btw I did found the v8 I’m sure I’m going to try that.

And consider using "Better Overcast" as well.  It's a separate JSGME file so if it doesn't work for you you can easily disable it.  I used it all the time until rowdy added it as a standard feature to the mod.

Edited January 5 by Beebop

[rowdyb00t 977]

@Dutch2

  Can you send me the link to Liz’s adjustments?

I have a feeling they are not optimized for VR. Save your gpreset file or move it to your desktop. Then download the gpreset file I have on the OP. Next step, lower all the cloud samples in each preset to 96. Definitly make sure the cloud setting is on high. I find that extreme setting makes the clouds look plastic. 
 

   I messed around with the gpreset settings a year or two ago and I had it all messed up. My frame rates dwindled more and more everyone I messed with it. 

[Dutch2 360]

Here is his topic, I'm only using the 128 at GPreset. Going to shift back to 64 as on ultra.

edit forget this one ---> Cloud_quality to 2 as in ultra

 

Edited January 5 by Dutch2

[rowdyb00t 977]

Chipping away at the next version. Still got a lot to do yet. I've remade all the skydomes to 256 x 2048 ( Original is 64 x 512 ). This smoothed them out tremendously. Also reworked the four grey sky domes, made the lighting start a tad earlier in the mornings and added godrays to the greysky clouds. Still got more to do. If anyone has any suggestions or feedback that would be appreciated 

[Beebop 679]

Looking G O O D! 🏅

 

Request/Question:

Is there a way to get light rain with heavy clouds, say starting around 07-ish?  Something like a spring shower or light summer rain using precipitation level 4 or less?

If I'm asking for the moon or whirled peas it's OK.  If it can't be done it can't be done.

 

I use this mod all the time now and cannot imagine the game without it and am now very disappointed with the stock clouds when it's disabled. 😞

(That's only when checking for update integrity.  I disable all mods before updating then re-enable them one at a time so see what [they] might have broken)

😁

[vonGraf 90]

Are your cloud images in 24bit colour depth, rowdyb00t ?

I'm just trying to understand something better, I have had strange looking sky/clouds recently quite often, especially at dusk/dawn.

Can't remember having this in all the months before.

 

[Beebop 679]

4 hours ago, vonGraf said:

Are your cloud images in 24bit colour depth, rowdyb00t ?

I'm just trying to understand something better, I have had strange looking sky/clouds recently quite often, especially at dusk/dawn.

Can't remember having this in all the months before.

 

Greenhouse gases?  Global warming?  Flashbacks from the 60's?  The good drugs are finally kickin; in?  😁

[blue_max 156]

8 hours ago, rowdyb00t said:

Chipping away at the next version. Still got a lot to do yet. I've remade all the skydomes to 256 x 2048 ( Original is 64 x 512 ). This smoothed them out tremendously. Also reworked the four grey sky domes, made the lighting start a tad earlier in the mornings and added godrays to the greysky clouds. Still got more to do. If anyone has any suggestions or feedback that would be appreciated 

Looks awesome! After turning mods off because Oysters cockpit mod was integrated into the game, this will probably make me turn them mods back on again

[rowdyb00t 977]

7 hours ago, vonGraf said:

Are your cloud images in 24bit colour depth, rowdyb00t ?

I'm just trying to understand something better, I have had strange looking sky/clouds recently quite often, especially at dusk/dawn.

Can't remember having this in all the months before.

 

  The odd colors at dusk/dawn was from the skydomes. This is fixed. The skydomes are saved in B8G8R8X8 (linear, B8G8R8X8) format. There are about 15 different save options, this one worked the best. Each skydome is now 2.7mb. 
 

7 hours ago, Beebop said:

Looking G O O D! 🏅

 

Request/Question:

Is there a way to get light rain with heavy clouds, say starting around 07-ish?  Something like a spring shower or light summer rain using precipitation level 4 or less?

If I'm asking for the moon or whirled peas it's OK.  If it can't be done it can't be done.

 

I use this mod all the time now and cannot imagine the game without it and am now very disappointed with the stock clouds when it's disabled. 😞

(That's only when checking for update integrity.  I disable all mods before updating then re-enable them one at a time so see what [they] might have broken)

😁

 

   Unfortunately I can only get rain and snow with the overcast. I tried it with the other cloud types but it looks awful because the overcast mapping only covers a max distance that isn’t far enough not to see the end of.  

[Beebop 679]

39 minutes ago, rowdyb00t said:

Unfortunately I can only get rain and snow with the overcast. I tried it with the other cloud types but it looks awful because the overcast mapping only covers a max distance that isn’t far enough not to see the end of. 

RATS!

[rowdyb00t 977]

Few more pics. Working on the moonlight a bit. It seemed too weak against the clouds when it was full. 

 

 

 

Also I like this one....

 

 

 

[Deacon352nd 37]

What are the exact settings in atmospheric conditions to get snow?  I’ve tried many and can’t seem to get it right.

[rowdyb00t 977]

3 hours ago, Deacon352nd said:

What are the exact settings in atmospheric conditions to get snow?  I’ve tried many and can’t seem to get it right.

   Set the selector to overcast. The reason your not getting snow is because it’s random. Sometimes you can try 10 times and get nothing. Then on 11 you’ll get it. Works the other way as well. 

[Deacon352nd 37]

What are other settings after I choose overcast and what level of overcast should it bet set for snow?