FINALLY, I can practice night flying!!! I have got PITCH BLACK SKIES and CLOUDS for AWESOME more realistic night time flying. I also got the VC lighting down to a science. Pics below:Pics below are from gray and rainy theme 1 with VC Lighting On & The Other With VC Light Off.Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

errrrr..... what are you so excited about?

Because everyone that flies for real like myself knows that night flying is funny in the way you can see clouds and in real life it's not like that especially overcast. Basically the lighting is wrong and I fixed it which I THOUGHT people would love to have but apparantly you're not interested. That's all. I had to shake myself up after reliving one of my past real life flights and eerily resembled the cold dark void I had experienced with lights below diming out and no sky above to see!! AWESOME! :-jumpy Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

Carmine., whatever it is can i have some!CheersDan:-laugh1

>errrrr..... what are you so excited about?Was wondering that myself.

:-badteeth When I finish tweaking and give the package out you will definitely have some! :-lol Especially if you are a real pilot.Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

I thinks its a spot the difference competition

No spot the difference just creating "REALISTIC" night time flying with cloud cover.I guess for some reason I will have to RE-Explain:AT NIGHT, FS2004 is UNREALISTIC when it comes to clouds & lighting in NIGHT flying. There is WAY TOO MUCH LIGHT. I have SOLVED that issue.NOW, when you fly at night you won't SEE the clouds but you will see lights below start disappearing which is the cloud between you and the ground (if you're over a city that is) also there is no visible horizon or stars above to see with overcast which is solved with my fixes. If there is less than overcast than of course you will still see the stars above. BASICALLY THIS: WE CAN FINALLY HAVE PITCH BLACK NIGHT FLYING PEOPLE!!This is something I have wanted for a LONG time and no one ever got as far as I am aware.I am a VFR rated pilot for the last 12 years and last year I was flying back from Daytona and there was of course LOT'S of Summer Clouds so flying back at 2AM I figured I could just stay below the cloud deck and be alright. Well that was fine until I saw the lights ahead in Ft. Lauderdale ahead starting to dim and I was at 2500 Ft. Before I knew it, I was DEEP in cloud cover and dropped the throttle and descended below. WHILE IN THE CLOUD, it was PITCH BLACK and the strobe lights made an unsettling look to the prop which froze in the lighting. I have never experienced this before since I am not IFR rated and during night flights in CT where I got my ticket I never encountered that situation with my instructor or on flights of my own. Needless to say, I KNOW what going into a cloud is like and you CAN'T experience that in Flight Sim UNTIL NOW!Also, the VC lighting in most FS planes are horrible. The lighting is RED in the cockpit because your eye is most sensitive to that color and it doesn't interfere with your night vision. White light should be avoided unless unavoidable of course then you close one eye if confronted with it to maintain night visibility. The gauges in the 172 which I happen to be current on are ALSO backlit with adjustable level white. Bottom line is this, if you want to fly around at night and SEE everything then my fixes are not for you. If you want to experience a more realistic encounter with black skies then I will be putting together this package as soon as I finish up and you can check it out yourself.Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

I am ready to try your package. The fact that I can see horizon and clouds at night always disturbed me. But If there is enough Moon then some reflection from clouds happen but probably we are not there yet with FS9 to have such subtle effects. I am also on a lookout for realistic runway lights - small, sharp and not overpowering. Real pilot too. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2, Omega 2.7.90 (4xAA 16xAF)

nothin for nothin here, but it sounds to me like some of you may be flying in the simulator with your monitors brightness setting turned up way too high. I have NEVER been able to see clouds or the horizon at night in fs2004 UNLESS i turned up my brightness almost all the way....make sure the gamma settings for your graphics card are reset to default values then turn down your monitors brightness by 30% and you wont see squat at night :-)Dave

Carmine,Nice Job. I am interested. Even when the weather is nice it can be very dark. I to have flown at night but not into clouds at night. That happened during the day with an instructor. I did some flying in the country and it was very hard to see the horizon. So never mind the flames. I'll download it if you post it.x:-) .

Hi Dave,I have calibrated monitors and it has nothing to do with monitor brightness it is inherent in Flight Sim like the Pink Stratus used to have. I have 3 21" Cornerstone p1500 monitors and since I do photo work I have to make sure they're calibrated. I HIGHLY recommend EVERYONE do it to get the proper Gamma, Brightness, Contrast, Colors. I use the Pantone Colorvision Spyder --> www.pantone.comI will be posting "BETTER" photos as soon as I finish something up. :-)Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

Steve,Be ready to change your shorts when you get into the soup at night!! FUN!Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

Hey Michal, I have assomplished that as well which is what basically led me on this journey! :-) Just stand by and I will get it to you..Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

I had tried that but my monitor and gamma don't seem to go low enough.Runway lights dimmed a little would be nice though. Even high intensity runway lights are fairly dim.----------------------------------------------------------------John S. MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private 130+ hrs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach