Developer Diary 294 - Discussion

[Gambit21]

Looking much better.

Now some partial cloud cover pre-sets would be nice (part of the map clear, part of the map socked-in etc) 

 

Han said that a challenge with this, is that realistic looking borders were not easy (I’m guessing because they are procedurally generated) - but I’m betting that this will now be worked out soon.

 

Not to minimize or gloss-over what has been achieved though. Localized rain showers are huge. Well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spaz-505]

Awesome!.. thank you for sharing the screenshots and update on the status!!!  Me and my two comrades that have been flying together and beta testing flightsims since the 90s were just discussing this very topic after the release of the recent patch.  The clouds look amazing!!!...looking forward to seeing them in the sim!.. and very excited to apply this to my existing missions!!!  As always, thanks to the entire team for continue development and support to this great flight simulator!!!

[Trooper117]

Very atmospheric!!!...  

[56RAF_phoenix56]

That's excellent news, it will change gameplay as well as look good.

Can I suggest that the bottoms of the clouds should be very flat looking? Inversion layer and all that stuff.

The very first GB clouds had that feature.

 

56RAF_phoenix56

[Ouky1991]

That looks great, can't wait. Hopefuly some water rendering improvements are planed as well, but these clouds look really nice.

[40plus]

2 hours ago, IRRE_Axurit said:

Very very good job, this simulator will really have a different aspect with its clouds.
I hope there will be some big, powerful thunderstorm clouds that are best avoided.

 

 

 

 

Yes that would be a fantastic addition. I imagine such a formation would just lead to the demands for localised wind conditions in addition to rain.

[DFLion]

Well done Jason and team,

The new cloud formations will make a great flight sim even greater. I very much like the rain showers and the overall cloud cover from high above, the sunlight effects also look very good. Keep up the good work we all appreciate it.

DFLion

[Avimimus]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

Not to minimize or gloss-over what has been achieved though. Localized rain showers are huge. Well done.

 

Yeah, as I looked the photos again - I can't help but think how gorgeous it is...

[migmadmarine]

2 hours ago, II/JG17_HerrMurf said:

 

Is this air to air or just air to ground? AAA still sees through clouds as of last week - ground to air. Icons can still be seen through clouds on Normal servers.

Good point, I am not sure. Would be easy enough to test by loading an overcast or heavy clouds setting in QMB with AAA enabled, but I am currently at work. 

[Spaz-505]

3 hours ago, kendo said:

35. Restored the cloud cover target obscuring for AI fighter pilots;

This was something I had forgot to put into my post, the impact weather has on the AI... specifically obscured targets ground and air.  Which patch was this specific item restored?.. I have reviewed back to Aug 2020 and did not see it listed in the patch.  Have not observed this to be functioning for AI.  I'll do some more testing, possibly did not realize it.

[dannybooze]

Looks awesome! great battles keeps getting better with time!

[Strewth]

WOW!!!!

This is just getting better all the time.

Recently I appear to have improved my graphics settings and FPS to pleasing levels.

These latest couple of updates are just adding to my contentment in the game. I quite often just go for a spin now because of the graphics improvements and just fly around enjoying the flight. These cloud features will just add to the chill out factor if nothing else.

Thanks again to all contributing. It really is appreciated.

Cheers.

[S10JlAbraxis]

Amazing, Great Battles just keeps getting better and better!  

[Vig]

Thank you, Sergey and Isay, that is an enormous immersion booster! 

[Dagwoodyt]

40 minutes ago, Vig said:

Thank you, Sergey and Isay, that is an enormous immersion booster! 

+1

Great, Thanks!

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Clouds not needed. Clouds are a unnecessary waste of resources. How much better performance you can get if you renounce clouds?

Best regards,
Moltke (Bomber Pilot)
 

[Gallowglass]

Stupendous !! and no chem trails !! WTG!

[PhilthySpud]

9 hours ago, II/JG17_HerrMurf said:

AAA can "see" through clouds and fire on an aircraft that should be obscured by the cloud. 

Have you not heard of radar-controlled flak?

 

Fantastic update - really looking forward to the new clouds. 

[VilsonFarias]

Impressive! That would add a new feeling to the game. I just loved it.

[migmadmarine]

6 hours ago, DP_Spaz said:

This was something I had forgot to put into my post, the impact weather has on the AI... specifically obscured targets ground and air.  Which patch was this specific item restored?.. I have reviewed back to Aug 2020 and did not see it listed in the patch.  Have not observed this to be functioning for AI.  I'll do some more testing, possibly did not realize it.

This was in the patch Tuesday.

[Guest deleted@1562]

Absolutely stunning pictures! Looking eagely forward to the next patch ?

[=gRiJ=Roman-]

Now the Hiryu can be hidden under cloud cover again in Midway and survive ... the first attack at least ?

[Pict]

Stunning, great improvment and to do it without the need for extra computer resources is above and beyond what the larger majority of developers appear to be capable of 

 

Where is @Asgar when there's a wip 410 clearly hidden behind these beutiful clouds? 

 

[IckyATLAS]

It is an improvement on what we have already no doubt and thanks for the hard collaborative work.

For what I see we stay with two layers max and with a limited vertical extension of the bottom layer or top layer. Se my post on that.

I applaud the localized rain showers with light rays between the clouds. I hope that if we fly inside one (and not in the cloud) we will get sprayed by rain. By the way this new cloud technology would be perfect for a pacific scenario where this kind of phenomena is very typical.

So I hope that thunderstorm clouds which go uninterruptedly for as an example 500 mt to 6'000 mt is doable and with max turbulence and rain when one flies inside and a lot of just turbulence in the vicinity.

Having very crisp borders of the clouds is not essential in my point of view as long as when illuminated directly by the sun the contrast between the bright white and blue is very high, or at least much more then it is at present. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Juri_JS]

The new clouds look great. Although I guess all old missions/campaigns have to be reworked - right?

[IckyATLAS]

2 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

The new clouds look great. Although I guess all old missions/campaigns have to be reworked - right?

There is no free lunch ?

[Marvel]

Many thanks, devs for this fantastic improvement!!!

 

M

[jollyjack]

23 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

The new clouds look great. Although I guess all old missions/campaigns have to be reworked - right?

you mean editing atmosphere settings manually?

[Juri_JS]

14 minutes ago, jollyjack said:

you mean editing atmosphere settings manually?

Yes.

[jollyjack]

[Soilworker]

Looking fantastic! Can't wait to see them in action! 

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

6 hours ago, PhilthySpud said:

Have you not heard of radar-controlled flak?

 

Fantastic update - really looking forward to the new clouds. 

 

In Moscow, in 1941?

 

[Vortice]

Now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone. So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.

[kendo]

11 hours ago, DP_Spaz said:

This was something I had forgot to put into my post, the impact weather has on the AI... specifically obscured targets ground and air.  Which patch was this specific item restored?.. I have reviewed back to Aug 2020 and did not see it listed in the patch.  Have not observed this to be functioning for AI.  I'll do some more testing, possibly did not realize it.

 

As migmadmarine said, this is from the 4.604 update notes on Tuesday

[rocho]

To all the team, particularly those involved in this awesome improvement, my applause and praise.

Keep up the good work!

[Mysticpuma]

21 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

 

Everyone should be able to see that. It's pretty clear.

 

The overcast cloud technology is different from the rest of the cloud technology that's currently in the sim. It does stand out as being not quite as good as the rest. I'm betting that the new system will entirely replace everything including overcast. Here's hoping anyways!

 

It's only obvious with an aircraft in front, fully zoomed in, at low light and the result is as I have linked to. 

 

My question was simply has the new tech eradicated this effect? 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Mysticpuma

[AlexandreCosta]

Really nice work! Congratulations to everyone involved.

[Rjel]

Pretty amazing week from "our" team. Big update patch. An incredible bit of art work by the boss. And now this DD. I've never found the existing cloud tech so bad as to make the sim any less enjoyable. Honestly I've thought over the last couple of years they looked pretty good but the new versions will definitely bring the BoX series to the next level.

 

 

[Georgio]

Superb work, hopefully they will look even more amazing in VR...?

[Spaz-505]

8 hours ago, migmadmarine said:

This was in the patch Tuesday.

Ok thanks!.. I didn't see it in Tuesday's patch... maybe I didn't look hard enough lol