WIP trueSky and 4K Supermarine Spitfire!

[ATAG_Pattle]

Firstly, thankyou for such an overwhelmingly positive response to the first 4K Bf 109E-7 Trop  screenshot we recently posted here. Over the coming week we will be releasing more screenshots of 4K aircraft, including the Hurricane, Tomahawk, Kittyhawk and more Bf109 images.

 

First, one of the most famous aircraft of all time. The Supermarine Spitfire.

 

For Higher Res images, check out the link. 

 

https://ibb.co/album/n7Jt1S

 

Some of these screenshots will also include WIP trueSky. A very exciting development for the Cliffs of Dover Blitz/Desert Wings Tobruk universe.

 

Implementation of trueSKY is a massive undertaking for our very small team involved. Whilst it has taken a good deal longer than anticipated to release, we remain committed to trueSKY and look forward to sharing further WIP images in future updates.

 

You can see already, that the ability to have 4K graphics, along with the move to trueSKY, and VR will add in incredible amount of immersion to Cliffs of Dover Blitz, and Desert Wings Tobruk.

 

Please note, with 4k, players will have the option to use 4k, or continue with 2K, depending no doubt, on their machine capabilities and personal preferences.

 

We are always keen to get our communities thoughts and opinions on our work, so tell us what you think of these images.

 

Regards,

 

TFS Team

[LuftManu]

You guys got my full atention again.

This new pace of news is what Blitz/DW needed.

Kind regards,

Manu

[354thFG_Panda_]

WOOOAH

[354thFG_Leifr]

The aircraft textures look sublime, so crisp and beautiful!

I have to ask though... the clouds look pretty terrible and currently seem to be a major step back from what Cliffs is already capable of doing. Will this be improved upon as TrueSky is refined?

[OBT-Lionel]

Great job !

[Cybermat47]

55 minutes ago, Leifr said:

The aircraft textures look sublime, so crisp and beautiful!

I have to ask though... the clouds look pretty terrible and currently seem to be a major step back from what Cliffs is already capable of doing. Will this be improved upon as TrueSky is refined?

Yes, the clouds will look much better when TrueSky is released. But for now, it is certainly a work in progress.

 

That being said, our internal development build of TrueSky has already seen some massive improvements to lighting at dawn and dusk. 

[354thFG_Panda_]

I really like how you have tinted the clouds. Like in some games you will have the clouds completely white and it can make them look very cold but here they seem to naturally fit the environment and atmosphere pretty well. If you guys could create a lot of variation and detail it would be spectacular to fly through all these formations!!! 

Edited August 1, 2021 by LR.TheRedPanda

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

Images 2 and 5 are those featuring TrueSky I believe? ? Looks great and thanks for the updates!

[ATAG_Pattle]

46 minutes ago, =AW=drewm3i-VR said:

Images 2 and 5 are those featuring TrueSky I believe? ? Looks great and thanks for the updates!

Pics 1,2 and 5 are trueSKY. 

 

Cheers. 

3 hours ago, LR.TheRedPanda said:

I really like how you have tinted the clouds. Like in some games you will have the clouds completely white and it can make them look very cold but here they seem to naturally fit the environment and atmosphere pretty well. If you guys could create a lot of variation and detail it would be spectacular to fly through all these formations!!! 

What trueSKY offers with weather, not just clouds is massive.  It is very complex, and when we get it to our expectations, we believe it will be incredibly immersive. 

 

 

[FTC_Karaya]

This is the most exciting update in a long long while! ?

[Mysticpuma]

2 hours ago, ATAG_Pattle said:

Pics 1,2 and 5 are trueSKY. 

 

Cheers. 

What trueSKY offers with weather, not just clouds is massive.  It is very complex, and when we get it to our expectations, we believe it will be incredibly immersive. 

 

 

Hi Pattle, are TFS able to use the water simulation included with Truesky, if so is this going to be included with the graphics update when Truesky releases? 

Appreciate it may not be possible at the same time and the work you are doing is great, just wondering if the water simulation is also a possibility? 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

2 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

Hi Pattle, are TFS able to use the water simulation included with Truesky, if so is this going to be included with the graphics update when Truesky releases? 

Appreciate it may not be possible at the same time and the work you are doing is great, just wondering if the water simulation is also a possibility? 

Not that clod's wave simulation is bad compared to GB, but if it would be amazing if it included TrueSky.

[Buffo002]

14 hours ago, Leifr said:

The aircraft textures look sublime, so crisp and beautiful!

I have to ask though... the clouds look pretty terrible and currently seem to be a major step back from what Cliffs is already capable of doing. Will this be improved upon as TrueSky is refined?

I'm sorry, but when you play CoD what the old clouds in CoD look like cotton candy scoops, that's not it. They remind me of the clouds in the old Il-2 1946. But the new ones that the TF team has published now look very good and it's not finished yet ... just give them time, so when they publish a picture with something new, they emphasize that it's not done and that it is evolving and in addition a picture or video from youtube and live in the game, the display of graphics is a big difference ... and even if the first version comes out, it will definitely be gradually improved by various addons (patches)  

[Mysticpuma]

Truesky is a monumental step forward in comparison to the current weather CloD uses. 

There are so many benefits the team create from moving to it not least that it utilises the graphics card compared to the CPU to generate the skies. 

CloD currently doesn't have rain, snow, thunder, all of these out of reach currently without CloD grinding to a halt, Truesky allows all of these along with new lighting and atmospherics, also as I mentioned above, Truesky also brings a completely new toolset in fluid simulation which will (once utilised) be another gamechanger, especially if Carriers come to the game..... with submarines lurking below. 

Finally everyone raved about the new clouds and weather in DCS, CloD will soon have its own skyscapes to fly through, multiple cloud layers to fly through akin to this video from DCS. 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Mysticpuma

[Avimimus]

15 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

Hi Pattle, are TFS able to use the water simulation included with Truesky, if so is this going to be included with the graphics update when Truesky releases? 

Appreciate it may not be possible at the same time and the work you are doing is great, just wondering if the water simulation is also a possibility? 

 

In the opposite direction of questioning - will it be possible to choose to keep the original waves? I found the water textures in Cliffs were always some of the most lovely in the industry and have aged well (in some ways I prefer them strongly to those in BoX)... I wouldn't want them replaced simply because the sky was being upgraded.

 

I'm still a bit annoyed that TF forced us to replace the channel map textures btw. I find some of the fields appear super-saturated (almost bright green) on my monitor (and there is nothing I can do about it in post without stripping all of the aircraft/objects of their saturation)

 

[Canvas25]

8 hours ago, Avimimus said:

In the opposite direction of questioning - will it be possible to choose to keep the original waves? I found the water textures in Cliffs were always some of the most lovely in the industry and have aged well (in some ways I prefer them strongly to those in BoX)... I wouldn't want them replaced simply because the sky was being upgraded.

 

100% agreed here.

[Jaws2002]

WOW. I only stumbled over this now. I didn't realize you guys got the license for TrueSky.

 

This is great news, but it breaks my heart to see the gray filter that CLOD got from Ilya, back in that destructive patch, back in the beginning, is plastered over this powerful lighting engine.

  Please, for the love of God, get someone to recalibrate the colors in this game and remove that awful gray filter. 

 

The world is not a gray dust bin. Just look at the colors in that DCS video and the gray, murky mess in CLOD. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Jaws2002

[philiped]

4 hours ago, Jaws2002 said:

WOW. I only stumbled over this now. I didn't realize you guys got the license for TrueSky.

 

This is great news, but it breaks my heart to see the gray filter that CLOD got from Ilya, back in that destructive patch, back in the beginning, is plastered over this powerful lighting engine.

  Please, for the love of God, get someone to recalibrate the colors in this game and remove that awful gray filter. 

 

The world is not a gray dust bin. Just look at the colors in that DCS video and the gray, murky mess in CLOD. 

 

I have not posted on this forum for years, but decided to reactivate my account to say how much I agree with this comment. I'm surprised I haven't seen it mentioned more often.

It is tremendous to see the team putting so much effort into improving all aspects of the sim, and the visuals continue to impress, even after a decade. But that grey filter just looks ghastly. It makes the colours look so muted. The world is bright and colourful, and if the team can bring the lighting back to what it should be, this new TrueSky update will do absolute wonders for the visuals. 

As you say, one of the merits of DCS's graphics are how realistically vibrant the colours are.

[Jaws2002]

And you know, the sadest part about this is that Cliffs of Dover, at release, had amazing sky and lighting. Back then it was years ahead of DCS, FSX and all other flight Sims. Oleg Maddox was not only a game designer, but also a professional photographer, so he calibrated the lighting perfectly. 

Sure, some fields on the BOB map were too bright, but that was just local texture, that could be fixed.

  Then Luthier got with his dirty boots in the code, chopped all that beauty and replaced it with that ugly, gray murky mess. 

 This was CLOD in 2012.

 

 

I loved CLOD at release. Yes. It was buggy, but it had a very solid foundation, amazing lighting engine, for the time, the best cockpits, and the best shadows in flight sims.

 It broke my heart when they messed up the lighting and colors. 

 When Team Fusion took over I was really excited. I thought they would restore that amazing beauty to the game, but it turs out that, whoever is in charge of the graphics and lighting is more  interested to make the game look like a black and white, grainy, 80 years old, gun camera video, than real world.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Jaws2002

[Tropmeistars]

Hello,

 

Then this WIP VR will be officially released?

Is there an official date?

 

Becouse i have only cliffs of dover and thats why i cant get acces to the VR beta.

I like that you guys made clickable cockpits and VR implementation that would be something great.

 

 

[354thFG_Leifr]

Wow!

[Buffo002]

On 12/10/2021 at 12:09 AM, Jaws2002 said:

And you know, the sadest part about this is that Cliffs of Dover, at release, had amazing sky and lighting. Back then it was years ahead of DCS, FSX and all other flight Sims. Oleg Maddox was not only a game designer, but also a professional photographer, so he calibrated the lighting perfectly. 

Sure, some fields on the BOB map were too bright, but that was just local texture, that could be fixed.

  Then Luthier got with his dirty boots in the code, chopped all that beauty and replaced it with that ugly, gray murky mess. 

 This was CLOD in 2012.

 

 

I loved CLOD at release. Yes. It was buggy, but it had a very solid foundation, amazing lighting engine, for the time, the best cockpits, and the best shadows in flight sims.

 It broke my heart when they messed up the lighting and colors. 

 When Team Fusion took over I was really excited. I thought they would restore that amazing beauty to the game, but it turs out that, whoever is in charge of the graphics and lighting is more  interested to make the game look like a black and white, grainy, 80 years old, gun camera video, than real world.

 

Here I was waiting for the diggers to call again. CoD when it came out (even before TFS) had almost no weather, just a few islands of clouds, so it was like it was always clear, that's why the colors were bright, no fog, nothing. And when it's foggy or cloudy, the colors can't be bright, sure they're bright if it's clear or almost clear, but what if it's foggy or very cloudy, and as far as I know a lot of people wanted to see how the weather work continues, so the developers put pictures and videos where it is foggy or cloudy and not clear. And as far as is known, the weather in CoD is still under development, so don't make hasty criticisms, when it's in the game, it will only be seen with different settings and it will definitely be worked on, keep comparing something that is being done with a simulator where slags have been used for years is nonsense. Wait for it to come out and then draw conclusions.

Request for TFS. Please post pictures in truesky, where it is completely clear or semi-clear, so that those who criticize here can see how it will probably look without fog and clouds. (colors)

[Peachy9]

Unmodified screenshots from Dec 2018 and 2019- lighting/shadows looks pretty good to me

 

[Jaws2002]

5 hours ago, Peachy9 said:

Unmodified screenshots from Dec 2018 and 2019- lighting/shadows looks pretty good to me

 

 

Go outside at sunset, in a clear day,

and look in the direction of the sun. Do you think you are going to see that gray murky mess you see in this screenshot?

 

This look only happened in extreme smog, not all the time. This is how all the sunsets look in CLOD.  This never happens in a day with clear sky like in this screenshot.  When you look into the sun, you get flooded with light. This is the type of image you get from a really crappy camera, with garbage sensor, not from the human eye.

 

6 hours ago, Buffo002 said:

And as far as is known, the weather in CoD is still under development, so don't make hasty criticisms, when it's in the game, it will only be seen with different settings and it will definitely be worked on, keep comparing something that is being done with a simulator where slags have been used for years is nonsense. Wait for it to come out and then draw conclusions.

 

 CLOD was released and i paid for it 2011.  Calling out it's messed up lighting engine, eleven years after release is not "hasty criticism". 

 The sad part is that it's advanced lighting engine was ruined intentionally after release, and it's been the same ever since.

Here's  a screenshot i took back in 2012. Looks pretty close to new games, with very advanced lighting engine, like DCS and FS2020.

 

These are development updates that showcased the advanced lighting engine, before CLOD was even released. it was revolutionary back then. It was all turned into a desaturated, gray murky mess, because people in charge of the lighting engine look at black and white ww2 photos, instead of looking out the window..

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Jaws2002

[Jaws2002]

 

6 hours ago, Buffo002 said:

CoD when it came out (even before TFS) had almost no weather, just a few islands of clouds, so it was like it was always clear, that's why the colors were bright, no fog, nothing

The weather was there, just nobody used it because it had a big performance impact. Everyone used the clear sky for performance reasons, but then complained that the game is too bright and the "English fog' is missing.  

Most of the tools to get weather were available in the Mission builder. It was a bit buggy at the start, but was there. 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Jaws2002

[Buffo002]

Views of the sun. Look towards the sun and what do you see? The gray background is a view against the sun, because in reality the sun will make you half blind, that's why the background is gray, if you haven't noticed, most of those gray views are against the sun (real) or in bad weather, and I say criticize when it's in the game and from images, videos and WIP work.  

Now I started the game, opened the free flight, took a break. Then he shot a view facing the sun (grey background, because in reality it's a blind look at the sun) then he shot 2 views in different directions from the sun and there is no gray background. Gray background, it's against the sun, bad weather, dawn, etc. weather ... when you already understand it and it's not done yet.  

[Jaws2002]

45 minutes ago, Buffo002 said:

Views of the sun. Look towards the sun and what do you see? The gray background is a view against the sun, because in reality the sun will make you half blind, that's why the background is gray, if you haven't noticed, most of those gray views are against the sun (real) or in bad weather, and I say criticize when it's in the game and from images, videos and WIP work.  

 

 

Crappy camera sensors make everything gray and dark, not the human eye.  In CLOD, at sunset and sunrise, you can't read the gauges in the cockpit, it's so dark.  

The game has a gray desaturation/darken filter over everything during the day. I didn't try it recently, but I know the lighting worked differently during the night, but during the night the colors and light intensity are all out of wack now.

Take a flight at high altitude, (above 6000m) at around 7:45 on the BOB map. You'll see how the lighting engine changes sharply and the crappy filter is abruptly removed. Back in the day, the night colors were still original, but when they introduced night fighters the night colors were completely messed up. Everything is glowing magenta. 

Look at these  screenshots i just took. You can do it as well to see the difference. It's in the high altitude dogfight mission.

One shot at 19:30 in game time and the other at 20:00 in game time. Tell me with a straight face that in real life you'll see such a drastic difference.

 

19:30

 

20:00

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Jaws2002

[Jaws2002]

I know that gray effect you are talking about. When you look into the sun, the eye is reducing the apeture, to prevent the flood of light from burning your retina, but the effect is a lot more subtle than what we have in game. 

What we have in game is a version of that ugly "HDR" post effect that was popular around 2005-2010, because it had almost no performance hit. 

Even DCS got it back then, but was quickly trashed and replaced with a proper lighting engine.

 

[Dagwoodyt]

All is shadow-boxing until release of the "Visual Update". I can fly BoX in VR SP without icons. In 2D Blitz I am forced to use labels because sun glare makes labels effectively mandatory. I am waiting to see what happens whenever the update drops. Screenshots are meaningless. Only the beta testers know what is happening and they cannot speak. Take a break ?

[Jaws2002]

25 minutes ago, Dagwoodyt said:

Take a break ?

 I did take a six- seven years break. 

I hope they restore it's original natural  beauty, but I won't hold my breath.

[Buffo002]

The weather settings since release (in game , which is public) haven't changed at all, there are only 3 settings even in the mission builder because I've been composing some missions as well.
1 Clear,

2 then some smaller clouds,

3 larger clouds.
But it was not a cloudy sky, fogs (it was a kind of haze early in the morning at most) no storm clouds, no rain and no storm at all, TFS then added some denser distant clouds, so don't tell me that the weather was being set there, there was only clear sky and more or less clouds from which it did not rain ... and if you had a break of 7 years, then try it now if you have it and criticize something when it comes out and criticize something that is still being worked on and it is WIP is not mormal, and it's clear that even if it comes out, it will keep getting better in the future. I personally miss a lot since the beginning of the release in static campaigns of a pilot's log for each separate campaign, statistics of the number of kills, types, destroyed ground targets, etc. and I don't shout here and I don't insult someone like a little kid.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Buffo002

[OBT-Eazy]

18 hours ago, Jaws2002 said:

 

Even DCS got it back then, but was quickly trashed and replaced with a proper lighting engine.

 

 

Yeah, sure...  8 and half months to fix the problem. 
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/283182-channel-map-and-distance-shading-internal-vs-external/

Not related to the lighting engine, I agree but don't take DCS as the pinnacle of simulator.

Edited July 25, 2022 by OBT-Eazy

[OBT-Lionel]

"8 and half months to fix the problem."

 

Easy,   they did it quickly! ?

[Art-J]

Jaws, posting all these romantic dawn/dusk screens of early CloD tells only part of the story. No matter what simulator, people play most of the missions set to mid-day hours, and this is where original CloD was overvibrant, oversaturated, narcotic mess. One can see DCS Normandy map, summer textures as a modern example of similar, My-Little-Pony-style colour frenzy.

 

If that's the CloD's "original, natural beauty" you mean, then I'd rather take toned down noon colours thank you very much, even if having muddy dawn/dusk and mediocre sun-blinding is the price to pay. Obviously, it would be awesome to have the gfx engine doing a good job all around the clock, but I don't know if CloD's one is even capable of that.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Art-J

[OBT-Eazy]

6 minutes ago, OBT-Lionel said:

"8 and half months to fix the problem."

 

Easy,   they did it quickly! ?

 

That's true!
Quicker than usual!

[BladeMeister]

8 months is definitely quick for ED changing or fixing anything in DCS. Hell DCS customers have been waiting I don't how long, at least 10+ years, for bomb fusing. But now thanks to the Mosie we got it for the War Birds. Coming soon for the modern aircraft, well you know, relatively soon anyway. Maybe 5 more years? Go TFS I want my TruSky!!!

 

S!Blade<><

[Dagwoodyt]

Quite heavily invested into DCS Maybe? ?

Edited July 25, 2022 by Dagwoodyt

[OBT-Eazy]

25 minutes ago, Dagwoodyt said:

Quite heavily invested into DCS Maybe? ?

Absolutely!
And I still bite my fingers and my credit card.  

[Buffo002]

As far as I know, TFS with VR took the most time. The basic CoD by Oleg M. was all planes and cockpits in 2D, so after the release of Tobruk, TFS decided to completely redo the original aircraft types from the first release in 4K and 3D cockpits and even new terrain adjustments, sounds, etc.. And that's what held it all up. Otherwise, truesky would have been available a long time ago ... I personally don't use VR, but I can understand that it takes a long time to convert all the original machines to 4K and VR + overall working VR with truesky ... and that's what a lot of people don't realize and TFS made it clear that when all the modifications are done, they will release it only after that, and it's been talked about and talked about, but some people probably don't listen and just dig... It's interesting that I subscribed to the Battle of Normandy package from BoS a long time ago - Premium Edition. And this is a paid package not free like CoD and until now Battle of Normandy - Premium Edition is not complete even without a map and is anyone insulting them or complaining?

And it's been a long time since I subscribed. (IL-2 BoNormandy)

Edited July 26, 2022 by Buffo002

[Dagwoodyt]

EA is EA ?