True Sky Cloud Movement

[ATAG_Snapper]

Team Fusion Simulations have released a video that illustrates the movement of clouds across the sky, along with other effects such as smoke. Please note that this is an ongoing work in progress.

 

 

 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Thank you Riley, this is very reassuring concerning the TrueSKY implementation process.

 

Let's point out how the physics of the wind affects three different elements in the video:

 

1) The clouds

 

2) A plume of thick smoke coming out of a fire

 

3) A Mill's blades

 

All three elements are blown by the wind in the right direction, all three simultaneously in the same consistent environment... so I guess this is correctly implemented physics.

 

Windsocks move a bit more realistically in the Great Battles simulation... but they won't be static any longer in the Dover series, and this is what does really matter here.

 

Thanks Mikmak, thanks Riley, thanks TFS.

 

[No.54_Reddog]

How come there's no cloud shadows in this version? Looks very much like the clouds themselves don't morph or change shape, is that the case or is it just the nature of the short time of film?

 

Either way, they're a massive improvement on the current rotating balls of fluff we have now so I'm definitely not complaining.

 

[Buzzsaw]

1 hour ago, No.54_Reddog said:

How come there's no cloud shadows in this version? Looks very much like the clouds themselves don't morph or change shape, is that the case or is it just the nature of the short time of film?

 

Either way, they're a massive improvement on the current rotating balls of fluff we have now so I'm definitely not complaining.

 

Because when the video was done when we were looking at the bug which causes the shadows to be placed not exactly correctly.

[343KKT_Kintaro]

One French-speaking guy at a French-language forum asked one question about our future wind in IL2CoD: will the mills' blades turn faster with stronger winds and slower with weaker winds? (personnally I see no interest in putting ressources there... but I ask the question just in case).

 

 

[BOO]

7 minutes ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

One French-speaking guy at a French-language forum asked one question about our future wind in IL2CoD: will the mills' blades turn faster with stronger winds and slower with weaker winds? (personnally I see no interest in putting ressources there... but I ask the question just in case).

 

 

The sails of a windmill are adjustable aren’t they? What I mean is they have differing methods of controlling resistance to the wind so that they can turn within a set rate. Turn too fast and they would ruin the flour by heat generated friction not to mention knackering the machinery. 
 

what he should have asked is why England has so many of the damn things. In reality there were only a handful still in existence in Kent in the 1940s certainly with sails. Most were just stumps. I think fewer still in Hampshire and Sussex

 

He may then have also asked where the oasthouses are and if their vents will move in the wind when they are found. 
 

 

[Sleepy_Fly]

I knew asking this question jokingly would wake up something...Jeez...

[Boomerang]

Thanks Riley,

It's amazing how far the sky canopy has come these days, considering the cotton candy we're all to familiar with.

Decisions that implement improvements like the above are very worthy ones. I believe sound is just as important, good sound tends to give me the goose bumps, especially with the flybys .  

[BOO]

On 10/7/2022 at 8:51 PM, Sleepy_Fly said:

I knew asking this question jokingly would wake up something...Jeez...

Question was asked. Question was answered. What’s your problem? 

Edited October 10, 2022 by BOO

[5th_Barone]

14 hours ago, No.54_Reddog said:

Looks very much like the clouds themselves don't morph or change shape, is that the case or is it just the nature of the short time of film?

 

That's a really good question. Any TF that can give us a hint on this?

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Reddog, Barone, regarding clouds which shape would be able to change, this is an interesting question but, as far as I can remember, I only saw a few "time-lapse" videos in YouTube showing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 with its clouds changing progressively. Great Battles and DCS do not give me the impression they include such a feature in their weather engine, this is, clouds which shape changes accordingly to the wind. So, going back to our Cliffs of Dover game, I guess that all depends on what  is really allowed with TrueSKY. Maybe TFS could tell us something about that.

 

 

[Mysticpuma]

1 hour ago, 5th_Barone said:

That's a really good question. Any TF that can give us a hint on this?

Here's the trailer for Blitz, timestamped where the clouds and shadows appear in timelapse. Can't see them morphing (the original clouds), but they still look really good, so even if Truesky doesn't morph, the environment will be so much more beautiful to fly in.

 

https://youtu.be/0gKk5g6Pz3c?t=123

[343KKT_Kintaro]

48 minutes ago, Mysticpuma said:

Here's the trailer for Blitz, timestamped where the clouds and shadows appear in timelapse. Can't see them morphing (the original clouds), but they still look really good, so even if Truesky doesn't morph, the environment will be so much more beautiful to fly in.

 

https://youtu.be/0gKk5g6Pz3c?t=123

 

 

Please Puma read my previous post. These clouds you talk about are our old good 2D clouds... but here we talk about the volumetric clouds in TrueSKY. When TrueSKY is implemented, will we see the shape of the clouds changes while wind blows on them? DCS and Great Battles do not give the impression their clouds are able to change their shape while wind blows. MFS2020 does show clouds which shape changes while wind is blowing, but Microsoft Flight Simulator presents its own weather engine AND IT IS NOT a combat flight simulator. All depends on TrueSKY, this is why, in my opinion, we need first that TFS answers that question.

 

 

[Mysticpuma]

17 minutes ago, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

 

 

Please Puma read my previous post. These clouds you talk about are our old good 2D clouds... but here we talk about the volumetric clouds in TrueSKY. When TrueSKY is implemented, will we see the shape of the clouds changes while wind blows on them? DCS and Great Battles do not give the impression their clouds are able to change their shape while wind blows. MFS2020 does show clouds which shape changes while wind is blowing, but Microsoft Flight Simulator presents its own weather engine AND IT IS NOT a combat flight simulator. All depends on TrueSKY, this is why, in my opinion, we need first that TFS answers that question.

 

 

I was agreeing with you. The clip I posted were the old 2D clouds which didn't have any morphing (as we both said). The point I was making is that without any morphing the Truesky clouds will still look great. I have seen footage which does show morphing of the clouds in time-lapse, whether it will be implemented at release will be down to TFS, maybe it will be nice to have a surprise?

 

Although rain, sleet, snow, etc aren't going to be available at release....I hope we can get storms at some point

 

I think it's fair to say from this video, if TFS can get it working properly, the skies will be amazing:

 

 

 

 

 

[5th_Barone]

On 10/8/2022 at 10:46 AM, 343KKT_Kintaro said:

Reddog, Barone, regarding clouds which shape would be able to change, this is an interesting question but, as far as I can remember, I only saw a few "time-lapse" videos in YouTube showing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 with its clouds changing progressively. Great Battles and DCS do not give me the impression they include such a feature in their weather engine, this is, clouds which shape changes accordingly to the wind. So, going back to our Cliffs of Dover game, I guess that all depends on what  is really allowed with TrueSKY. Maybe TFS could tell us something about that.

 

 

I'm not comparing it with other games out there.

I'm just curious to know if truesky will bring clouds that change shapes with the wind.

TF is working on that so I think they should have an answer.

[343KKT_Kintaro]

1 hour ago, 5th_Barone said:

I'm not comparing it with other games out there.

I'm just curious to know if truesky will bring clouds that change shapes with the wind.

TF is working on that so I think they should have an answer.

 

 

LoL Barone! I had a look at the "Frequently Asked Questions" in Simul (TrueSKY's software developer) and, apparently, shape-changing clouds are considered a problem... but I admit I don't understand the question, nor the provided answer.

 

My Clouds change with only one keyframe

Setting the ‘Noise Period’ value in the cloud layer in the sky sequencer to the minimum possible will stop the clouds from changing shape over time.

 

Source : https://docs.simul.co/faq.html

 

 

[BOO]

Probably best to let TFS answer Barone and Reddog than have 3 pages of speculation based on nothing.  

[No.54_Reddog]

19 minutes ago, BOO said:

Probably best to let TFS answer Barone and Reddog than have 3 pages of speculation based on nothing.  

 

I'm happy enough with the improvements as they are, cloud shape changes just seem the logical next step in the technology. From my own googling I've seen references that TrueSky is capable of it, but I don't know what the performance impacts are etc.

 

And TF's reply regarding the shadows was clear enough, the build demo'd didn't have the shadows enabled. Hopefully they can fix whatever issues they're encountering with the shadows.

 

I do have another question though, do planes generate shadows on the clouds themselves?

[343KKT_Kintaro]

4 hours ago, BOO said:

Probably best to let TFS answer Barone and Reddog than have 3 pages of speculation based on nothing.  

 

 

Easy, BOO, TFS will respond to Barone... as you said, to Reddog... as you said, and to me as well since I brought an element that is related to clouds changing their shapes in TrueSKY, an element I'm saying clearly I don't understand. Precisely, BOO, I simply expected TFS responds... thats all.

 

Let's be friendly, ok?

 

 

[BOO]

my post was probably less than clear - Let TFS answer Barone and Reddog's questions as anything else is speculation- is what I should have said.

 

I do not wish to be abrasive or rude.  Often though (and im as guilty as anyone) threads get overly extended as community menbers fil the silence with noise.  This makes it more difficult for busy devs to find the questions in the first place and worse still can often derail the threads to the point the questions are lost and the devs say "f-it". 

 

I also hope that TFS may answer yours too.

[Trooper117]

Me, when I fly in a combat flight sim game I don't really sit there thinking about the shape of clouds, are they moving like the real thing, have they even got shadows... I'm lost in the moment of staying alert and alive, scanning the sky for enemy aircraft, checking instruments, looking for landmarks and navigating... don't have time to analyse clouds...  

[343KKT_Kintaro]

I upvoted you Trooper because, from my point of view, we need to rank priorities with the limited ressources of a flight sim. You just described a priority that is more important than the ability of the sim to make the clouds change their shape with the wind. But, nevertheless, it is true as well that these things (shape-changing clouds, clouds' shadows cast on the ground or objets' shadows cast on clouds...) add to to the realism of the sim, they add to the "flight sim experience"...

 

[5th_Barone]

We are going away from the question. As always and as Boo was saying.

But to reply... I'm just curious to know if it's something truesky and clod are capable of. Just curiosity.

New clouds were needed both for graphic purposes (the competitors invested a lot in the last year on that) and because it's a important variable in the gameplay (e.g. try to level bomb a target from high alt with an overcast below you).

But if they won't change shape due to the wind in game I'm ok with that. I was just curious to know if the game will have the feature since Reddog brought the question in the post.