June 25th, 2020 - Development Update

[HiFlyer 9,343]

2 minutes ago, LHookins said:

I honestly wouldn't be surprised. 😄 

I was using some version of SkyGlobe to display the stars and planets several decades ago on a 286 computer.  The calculations to produce an accurate sky have been know for a very long time.  There is no reason why we shouldn't get accurate eclipses.

I remember reading a development diary from a programmer long ago, and he was talking about calculating dates, leap years etc.

I remember him writing that the orbital mechanics of planetary positions by date, including eclipses, etc, had been calculated a zillion different times by millions of different people for various reasons, and at this point it was all in freely accessible libraries for just about anyone to use, though it could sometimes be dicey to make useful sense of it all.

[KERNEL32 497]

...nevermind

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by KERNEL32

[Murmur 3,941]

To correctly model an eclipse requires not only having correct sun and moon position (and I'm confident MSFS will have that), but also of course modeling the moon shadow above Earth surface, that probably requires a bit more work. Infact (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but I don't think there's or has been a single flight sim that does that, except (maybe?) Orbiter, which is technically a space sim.

In any case, right or wrong, eclipse modeling is understandably a low priority item.

[ludekbrno 302]

8 hours ago, Murmur said:

To correctly model an eclipse requires not only having correct sun and moon position (and I'm confident MSFS will have that), but also of course modeling the moon shadow above Earth surface, that probably requires a bit more work. Infact (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but I don't think there's or has been a single flight sim that does that, except (maybe?) Orbiter, which is technically a space sim.

In any case, right or wrong, eclipse modeling is understandably a low priority item.

I think, there isn't any problem. Those are things, which are precalculed for many and many years forward and those informations are easily avaiable from many sources. So MSFS doesn't need calculate nothing, only follow existing tables. We don't have to finding problems, which aren't exist 🙂 in fact, it is easy to model it in sim.

Edited July 1, 2020 by ludekbrno

[Dominique_K 10,133]

7 hours ago, Murmur said:

 

In any case, right or wrong, eclipse modeling is understandably a low priority item.

This is typically something which has no bearing on a simmer experience. 

[Dominique_K 10,133]

3 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

 it could sometimes be dicey to make useful sense of it all.

Any European kid who has read the eternal classic comics "Tintin : Prisoners of the Sun" (Le Temple du Soleil) will know how useful it is to know when eclipses take place. 

[Murmur 3,941]

8 hours ago, ludekbrno said:

I think, there isn't any problem. Those are things, which are precalculed for many and many years forward and those informations are easily avaiable from many sources. So MSFS doesn't need calculate nothing, only follow existing tables. We don't have to finding problems, which aren't exist 🙂 in fact, it is easy to model it in sim.

As I wrote in my post, calculating sun and moon position is easy. But modeling moon shadow, sky and ambient darkening, etc. requires more work, and is not a given in a flight sim (indeed, no sim has ever done that to date).

Edited July 1, 2020 by Murmur

[MaVe64 414]

https://www.flightsimulator.com/community-spotlight-the-official-discord-team/

Edited July 1, 2020 by MaVe64

[Mengy 814]

On 6/30/2020 at 8:43 AM, MatthewS said:

I guess one of us failed comprehension at grade school. 🤔

It certainly does appear that way!  😁

[ludekbrno 302]

3 hours ago, Murmur said:

As I wrote in my post, calculating sun and moon position is easy. But modeling moon shadow, sky and ambient darkening, etc. requires more work, and is not a given in a flight sim (indeed, no sim has ever done that to date).

Yes, I agree, but I think, that Moon shadow projected on Earth can be precalculed too, so MSFS doesn't need calculate it during simulation. Only reading precalculed table is enough.

[Andiroto 37]

3 hours ago, Murmur said:

But modeling moon shadow, sky and ambient darkening, etc. requires more work, and is not a given in a flight sim (indeed, no sim has ever done that to date).

https://pioneerspacesim.net/#slide0

There I even experienced a solar eclipse caused by another darker sun (red dwarf)!

[Drumcode 1,892]

I am not going back or spending money on any existing simulator or add-ons for it. This thing is going to the bees knees - hands down. Even though that my testing has been rough so far and I am VERY annoyed with not getting any response to my tickets. To clarify, I am not disappointed with things not working for me, just the overall testing and reporting experience.  

Edited July 2, 2020 by Drumcode

[badderjet 181]

On 6/30/2020 at 9:34 AM, RudyB24 said:

For better immersion I like to see the trees move in the wind.

In the right direction.

Piece of cake with Meteoblue forecasts.

TBH I think we've already seen this a very long time ago.