Cloud Shadows?

[A380 0]

Could we deduce from this pic of the MS Flight Home Page background, that Flight may actually have cloud shadows?

[dmaher 0]

Unfortunately not - this is an old web-image.We've seen lots of more recent in-game pictures.But it is safe to say they are well aware of the need for shadows.Cloud shadows is a very performance intensive feature.So I suspect they’ll include them once they’ve found we have enough PC performance.I’m still hopeful, but they’ve been intentionally silent on this feature – for good reason.They can't show an in-game cloud shadow and then not deliver it.By the same token they can’t deliver cloud shadows if they severely affect FPS.

[ckukmale 30]

I remember reading that FSX had a cloud shadow option during the beta phase too but that was removed due to peformance issues, Surely all these years later now that the hardware is even more faster and graphics cards having better performance they could have at least have it there as an option for those people running high end PCs today. Just my two cents.

[alainneedle1 97]

I remember reading that FSX had a cloud shadow option during the beta phase too but that was removed due to peformance issues, Surely all these years later now that the hardware is even more faster and graphics cards having better performance they could have at least have it there as an option for those people running high end PCs today. Just my two cents.

They did, here is a pic.....

[dmaher 0]

...they could have at least have it there as an option for those people running high end PCs today.

Logically ;) ...but we all tend to configure FS well past the sweet spot.We generally want everything on max sliders...Maybe they could have kept the shadow feature, but FSX FPS complaints would have been even more severe.Lot's of users say, "I want to run max sliders on today's hardware"That's reasonable - but it means putting more restrictive limits on what the "max" is.

[poplar 39]

Exact same chat already been had here about this background image / cloud shadows - http://forum.avsim.n...-cloud-shadows/ Personally though I think that because they are showing a thick layer of 'overcast haze' here that beneath or in that haze it'll be shadowed or at least duller if that makes sense:

[michaelb15 0]

I dont understand why cloud shadows are such a huge problem. even the very first lockon had formidable cloud shadows, and just as good gfx as FSX, with BETTER peformance.. so.. it brings up the question what is LOckOn doing so right that Microsoft is screwing up on.

I dont understand why cloud shadows are such a huge problem. even the very first lockon had formidable cloud shadows, and just as good gfx as FSX, with BETTER peformance.. so.. it brings up the question what is LOckOn doing so right that Microsoft is screwing up on.

oh yea... Not to mention heat blur.. we wont even go there

[michaelb15 0]

I dont understand why cloud shadows are such a huge problem. even the very first lockon had formidable cloud shadows, and just as good gfx as FSX, with BETTER peformance.. so.. it brings up the question what is LOckOn doing so right that Microsoft is screwing up on. oh yea... Not to mention heat blur.. we wont even go there

heres the proof.. its the only ss I could find with a good example, and its lockon FC2 which is the same game engine as FC1 and Lock On :MAC http://samlaunch.com/category/lockon-modern-air-combat/

[dmaher 0]

""...it brings up the question what is LOckOn doing so right that Microsoft is screwing up on."" It's not a matter of screwing up.It's a matter of balancing features.Each game has different features and priorities - and that's how the performance budget is divided. Change the draw distance…Remove near overcast options...Change to texture scenery…Remove world accurate GIS data...Reduce objects...redue the mix and you can find the performance to have shadows. Combat sims and aviation sims have different priorities.

[Fsau 0]

I dont understand why cloud shadows are such a huge problem. even the very first lockon had formidable cloud shadows, and just as good gfx as FSX, with BETTER peformance.. so.. it brings up the question what is LOckOn doing so right that Microsoft is screwing up on.

Are lockon's clouds dynamic though? In other words is the weather reprogrammed or real time? It's easy to create cloud shadows if you know where the clouds are going to be.Having said that, with tech where it is now, I can't imagine Flight not integrating dynamic cloud shadows.

[michaelb15 0]

Are lockon's clouds dynamic though? In other words is the weather reprogrammed or real time? It's easy to create cloud shadows if you know where the clouds are going to be.Having said that, with tech where it is now, I can't imagine Flight not integrating dynamic cloud shadows.

I know the clouds move through the sky, but I never watched long enough to see weather they were fully dynamic or not. but that being said, the clouds are no worse then the weather themes in FSX, and there isnt cloud shadows in the weather themes.

[A380 0]

I dont understand why cloud shadows are such a huge problem.

Me neither. I mean we already have cloud reflections on water.All that needs doing is telling the reflection to become a shadow over land doesn't it? Incidentally, has anyone ever tried adding CLOUD_SHADOWS=1 to the FSX .cfg? If the option was there in the Alpha/Beta then maybe the code is still in there somewhere waiting to be activated.

[Chock 17,769]

Incidentally, has anyone ever tried adding CLOUD_SHADOWS=1 to the FSX .cfg? If the option was there in the Alpha/Beta then maybe the code is still in there somewhere waiting to be activated.

We'll let you try it and report back. Might try ENGINE_HEAT_BLUR=1 too whilst you are at it LOL Al

[payt 2]

Not to mention REAL_WORLD_SCENERY=128 (it's a gradual one: the higher, the more real it gets, default is 1) Here's a screenshot made in the 128 setting (and yes, those are cloud shadows :) ) http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/42210/cloud_shadows.jpg

[alainneedle1 97]

Tested 3 years ago.... REAL_WORLD_SHIPS_AND_FERRIES=256 with AUTOGEN_DENSITY=50 ....bad FPS.