New Clouds for DCS

Hey Gents,

Trying no to violate policy here on talking about another game, SO, I decided to just dedicate this formally to speaking about new clouds and weather in DCS.

I recently tried a new VR game that was amazing with their new clouds system. It made me realize with all the new modules coming out, I really hope ED has some new weather effects inbound this year.

The experience flying through cumulus, cumulonimbus, altocumulus clouds, ect in VR is one hell of an amazing experience. It would be nice if there was a dedicated team working on weather and natural events that would flesh out the sim more. I am completely on board with new modules, but the weather, especially for us WW2 buffs, would greatly improve the online and even single player experience when flying in VR.

The tech I have scene and used that is out there now would be amazing in DCS. I know they have stated these are things they wish to work on in the future, but I am hoping it is sooner than later. I would be just as happy to get a fleshed out natural environment With realistic clouds and weather as I would a new module.

Love to hear what you gents think on this. Super fired up with where DCS is going and the possibilities that lie ahead.

+1

+2

I would even pay for a "clouds" addon.

+3

Good, layered weather that has impact on sensors such as eyeballs and IR would be well worth as much as a plane or two.

Ed used to speak about new clouds a lot

But they stopped mentioned anything and it isn't mentioned in the new year newsletter.

This is Very disappointing. The weather is really bad in dcs, the worst of all flights aim I would say

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

I recently tried a new VR game that was amazing with their new clouds system.

Can you give a hint which game that was? No name just a pointer.

My guess on the game is a recently released flight "combat" game for Playstation 4 :thumbup:

I think back in 2017 Wag's said they were working on a new weather engine for the 2.5 update. This got me really excited about 2.5 but sadly here we are in 2019 without even a single WIP screenshot of new weather. There has also been no mention of work on a new weather engine so I'm suspecting that work has been shelved for now.

That being said.. I'm not sure why a 3rd party developer or mod team couldn't make some improvements to the look of the current weather. I've played around with adding HD cirrus cloud textures and it's pretty easy to do and looks much better then the stock ones. Modding the cumulus clouds appears to be a little more tricky however.

Here's what it would look like with 2048x2048 cirrus cloud textures...

Can you give a hint which game that was? No name just a pointer.

maybe https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=178659

Care to share that altocirrus mod?

Care to share that altocirrus mod?

I can't, I modded textures from an addon I own for another sim to work in DCS. However, it would not be hard at all for a talented texture artist to make new cirrus clouds for DCS. If I can find the time I'll try to make my own that I could release as a mod.

Maybe we can talk someone who is good with textures into making some for us :music_whistling:

Maybe someone like... oh, I dunno... Mustang??? :helpsmilie:

+1 on new atmospheric effects for DCS. Not saying that i wouldn't be willing to pay for it but i think this is something that shouldn't be an additional (optional) module, thinking multiplayer here.

Hey gents, the name of the weather engine is trueSKY. If DCS can implement something equivalent to this, we will be in heaven. I am typing from the phone but will post a YouTube video of it later. It will literally blow your mind. Makes the current DCS clouds look like cotton swabs. I am just as fired up, if not more fired up, for proper weather as much as I am a new module! Looking forward to showing you gents.

I cannot discuss the other game I played because it’s a violation of the forum rules, I believe 1.15. Someone guessed it though on the prior page. Lol

But will it mean the clouds will stop rotating when you move your head in VR?? :huh: :D

Gents, here is the engine I was talking about. This is not a game, but a weather engine.

This is one of the newest videos demoing the engine. Imagine these clouds rolling over the Caucus map in VR.

i say... ED should really focus on the IMPORTANT things in this world

not....... "clouds" and weather and the natural environment PILOTS deal with the entire time they're in flight

no - they should instead devote precious developer time on.... you guessed it! non-binary intersectional femi-tran-fluid-gender-fee-fee-native-immigration-pan-euro-sensitivity-....-PROFIT?-.....-ism

I literally had no clue what the last post was even getting at?

I prefer the Unigine cloud tech, to me it's more natural and polished

Holly santa clause sh_t OttoPuss, I did not know about that tech. I am down with that for sure. Looks great! Hope we can start to see stuff like this in the future. It brings an entirely new level to flying, even just casually. Flying through the clouds in VR is awesome.

You got me hooked man. I am now a fan of this engine and think DCS needs this! After watching this, it almost looks like they could do global tech with this.

good lord

Check it out DEVS!!!! Crazy way to start new maps.

No offense guys, that is truly awe inspiring... but it's also irrelevant. People always pop in with neat looking advertisements for other engines like it's the holy grail, neglecting the complexity implied.

DCS is using a homemade proprietary engine. It can't just copy paste over, nor is there any guarantee the proposed engines are capable of 'DCS' without substantial further revision. Changing engines would mean taking everything done over the last ten years, except 3d assets, and throwing it in the trash to start over.

These engine demos are not typically 'game ready' anyway, it's like an engine block in a car. Key component yes, but useless without all the myriad boring bits that go with it.

No offense guys, that is truly awe inspiring... but it's also irrelevant. People always pop in with neat looking advertisements for other engines like it's the holy grail, neglecting the complexity implied.

 

DCS is using a homemade proprietary engine. It can't just copy paste over, nor is there any guarantee the proposed engines are capable of 'DCS' without substantial further revision. Changing engines would mean taking everything done over the last ten years, except 3d assets, and throwing it in the trash to start over.

 

These engine demos are not typically 'game ready' anyway, it's like an engine block in a car. Key component yes, but useless without all the myriad boring bits that go with it.

you are not wrong, however there are also lots of middleware solutions, that can be implemented "easily". see speedtree for example, that is used to generate and help with rendering all those trees in dcs already.

i would argue it is more a question of licensing cost versus cost of self development.

you are not wrong, however there are also lots of middleware solutions, that can be implemented "easily". see speedtree for example, that is used to generate and help with rendering all those trees in dcs already.

i would argue it is more a question of licensing cost versus cost of self development.

and ending up where you, in this case(ED) want to get to. That's exactly why they built their own engine to go with their own simulation engine and the big end game design they think is good and where they want to be at.:)