P3DV2.2 Beta 2 info/video

[Guest]

 

 

Does the sun effect in the VC get dimished or shadowed-out when there are clouds passing between the VC and the sun?

 

Yes, you can see that effect in some of my other cloud videos.  They also adjust light intensity on the aircraft exterior and all world objects/terrain.

 

I've never used "Observer" view (something I wasn't tasked to test) before ... so this was an interesting test ... one can set FOV horizontal and vertical ... only downside to Observer view is that terrain textures used are based on LOD_RADIUS from aircraft not from the Observer's location ... so one may not always get the best texture resolution.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[Novation 534]

... only downside to Observer view is that terrain textures used are based on LOD_RADIUS from aircraft not from the Observer's location ... so one may not always get the best texture resolution.

 

Ah, I thought they looked unusually low, so that would be why. Those shadows interacting with the bright reflection on the water is very convincing.

[MikeT707 1,181]

Great idea for a video Rob.   :wink:

Thanks for posting it.  Loving the cloud shadows.

[DocBird 79]

Look were we have come to!

 

This is really outstanding, isn't it?

[Guest]

Great idea for a video Rob.

 

Idea!  Ha ... ya mean work request ... some guy call Mike making do stuff instead of working on my race car

 

 

Would love to see a full overcast in the daytime please

 

Haven't forgotten you Corey, made a recording for you with overcast ... it's uploading now ... will post later today.

 

 

 

Look were we have come to!

 

Considering I didn't put a heck of a lot of effort into this video ... I probably could have picked a better location, not used observer view, and a host of special positioning/conditions to make it be all it can be and then some.  But I also try to produce my videos "as is", something that anyone can accomplish and no special skills needed ... and of course the real reason, I just don't have the time to make them "perfect"

 

Cheers, Rob.

[Flyer10 31]

Well the Cloud shadows and the water are super but I have to say the clouds themselves are not great.

The clouds do not look realistic at all and behave nothing like real clouds. Sure they move with the wind

but that's as far as it goes. I think I an even seeing low level stratus cloud at the same level a cumulus

clouds and I have never seen that in reality. It looks entirely spooky. Not that I am complaining

its nothing new same in FSX but to be honest I think the clouds are the only area where P3DV2

has gone backward. You see no cycle in the time laps at all. Cumulus clouds form and then dissipate.

Very obvious in a real time laps. Even in Condor the soaring simulator. Like I say I am not complaining

I am a big P3DV2 fan but maybe later they can redo the whole cloud system. V2.9 :lol:

[denali 74]

another quick video

 OMG that's AWESOME!!

 

With 2.2 and a new NVidia wonder driver things are gonna bee sooo GREAT!!

 

(Having a good day here, enthusiasm bleeding in from another successful project here too. )

[Noel 4,519]

 

 

I think I an even seeing low level stratus cloud at the same level a cumulus
clouds and I have never seen that in reality. It looks entirely spooky. Not that I am complaining
its nothing new same in FSX but to be honest I think the clouds are the only area where P3DV2
has gone backward.

 

I agree it's really taken a turn for the worse over FSX.  There are definitely some depictions that look fine but you're as likely to end up with weird looking stuff that just doesn't represent reality well and looks artificially laid down.   The rotating clouds w/ VC panning is exceedingly bad--how the heck did that get past the QC department?  Maybe 15 years ago but now?  Hard to swallow for me!

 

The other very weak offering is water.  Oh, it's tolerable unlike the interconnected grid of rotating clouds--they appear to all be on rotational axes parallel w/ the axes of neighboring clouds, and all are attached so that they all rotate in sync w/ a gear effect--but water being such a huge part of the earth's surface area something I wish LM or REX4 would address much more meaningfully.  Again, 2014 and this?  From certain angles water looks like someone put five coats of satin varathane on top as it's' so dull, so 'un-wet' appearing as it were.   Very weak indeed, however there's hope as the team seems to be really tackling some other fundamental weaknesses well.   Still has a very unpolished feel to it to me.

[Guest]

Just to be clear, the cloud motion video was done using OpusFSX 3.41 weather engine and REX 4 cloud textures -- I'm assuming of course that OpusFSX doesn't swap in it's own cloud textures?

 

For Corey - Overcast - you'll see some stutters as the frame rate does drop below 30 fps at some parts (fraps takes about 3 fps and I was on the cusp of 30).  Display settings are all extreme this time but no vegetation shadow casting ... kinda surprised it performed as well as it did (for the most part I could stay above 30 fps when not recording).

 

This is LM's "Overcast" weather (no weather engines used) setting ... Twin Otter water takeoff and landing.  Available at 1440p.

 

 

This is the link to downloading source video from my google drive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw0Q-fAfEZwyTTdzaHRpSGthZDA/edit?usp=sharing

 

Cheers, Rob.

[denali 74]

For the cloud time-lapse naysayers, I think LM has said that they were leaving cloud depictions to third parties.  With ASN you don't see cloud popping like that.

[vgbaron 3,698]

For those who have issues with the way the clouds pop in and out and move - you might want to try ASN beta for P3D - there is a free 7 day trial available - I find it superb in P3D (and FSX for that matter).

 

I suspect you will see a difference.

 

www.hifitechinc.com/downloads

 

Vic

[Noel 4,519]

For those who have issues with the way the clouds pop in and out and move - you might want to try ASN beta for P3D - there is a free 7 day trial available - I find it superb in P3D (and FSX for that matter).

 

I suspect you will see a difference.

 

www.hifitechinc.com/downloads

 

Vic

Vic, are you saying the rotation issue is not happening w/ ASN, or cloud popping?  Popping is no problem for me be rotation looks like a placeholder until they get around to completely eliminating it.

[autogyro 18]

Vic, are you saying the rotation issue is not happening w/ ASN, or cloud popping?  Popping is no problem for me be rotation looks like a placeholder until they get around to completely eliminating it.

 

Rotation is a conscious and deliberate design decision by LM.

 

There are two schools of thought on the matter:

 

Rotate cloud with position of aircraft (FSX/P3D v1.4)

 

Rotate cloud with eyepoint of camera (P3D V2)

 

The difference is that when you fly THROUGH the clouds, with the second option clouds don't seem to rotate away, because they are not based on your aircraft's position (imagine if you're really close to the clouds, if they're even slight offset to one side as you pass them they'll rotate to keep pointing at your aircraft). Setting the second option makes flying through clouds more realistic as they can fade away when you pass them.

 

Where the second option falters is that if you have wide FOV or rotate your head around a lot, you'll notice clouds spinning as it rotates to match your eyepoint - this is most evident on clouds situated quite high and close or low and close.

 

LM might put in a tweak option to switch between the two. It is not a bug, simply a result of using billboard style 2D clouds.

[Flyer10 31]

That's all understood but the fact of the matter is that the VFR pilot has his head on a swivel and out of the cockpit all the time.

If you fly VFR in V2.1 the same way as a real pilot flies in reality then you will see the clouds spin around an axis perpendicular to the ground in an extremely exaggerated way, roughly through the center of the cloud. This is definitely the worst feature of P3DV2. As for the naysayer comment, I have forgotten more about clouds than you are likely to ever know. I am an accomplished sailplane pilot and get up close a personal with real clouds all the time. I know from experience exactly how they behave and can even predict what they are going to do next. As for the weather engines and texture addons I already have ASN and REX4 Installed and I think (and in this regard my opinion actually maters) the default cumulus look more realistic.

[Noel 4,519]

Rotation is a conscious and deliberate design decision by LM.

 

There are two schools of thought on the matter:

 

Rotate cloud with position of aircraft (FSX/P3D v1.4)

 

Rotate cloud with eyepoint of camera (P3D V2)

 

The difference is that when you fly THROUGH the clouds, with the second option clouds don't seem to rotate away, because they are not based on your aircraft's position (imagine if you're really close to the clouds, if they're even slight offset to one side as you pass them they'll rotate to keep pointing at your aircraft). Setting the second option makes flying through clouds more realistic as they can fade away when you pass them.

 

Where the second option falters is that if you have wide FOV or rotate your head around a lot, you'll notice clouds spinning as it rotates to match your eyepoint - this is most evident on clouds situated quite high and close or low and close.

 

LM might put in a tweak option to switch between the two. It is not a bug, simply a result of using billboard style 2D clouds.

Even so, the 2nd option is completely unacceptable regardless if it was deliberate, but I appreciate the insight so thank you for that.   I guess the solution is in developing a different design approach.