So, I know we are all excited about the new Flight Sim  from MS.  But,  don't forget our sub-hobbies that come with flight-sim...    Building and overclocking, and tweaking. That's right..  tweaking. 

Yes, I agree, most of us would rather have a sim that needs absolutely Nooo tweaking. But, if that were possible, then 'part of the fun' would be missing. (maybe)

 Humm, I'm not sure I like those clouds. I wonder if it's just the way the videos were recorded? Or why they look so undefined. They are not sharp on the edges. Looks like out of focus; like mashed potatoes from a distance. Not sure why.

And also,  the terrain...  not so sharp. Hopefully, it's just the videos and will not be so in the real sim. But the lighting and how earth will be rendered in? Yes, Amazing. No more generic earth.! 

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by joemiller

Yeah the clouds have issues sometimes looking like pyroclastic flows which would be cool around Mt Fuji and other volcanos. 
 

but they also look awesome 69% of the time. Can’t wait to see what 3rd party devs do with the engine, (unless the rumors of a super restrictive API are true. )

Don't expect to be able to modify the clouds like in P3D. They are not only volumetric, they are dynamically formed based on environmental conditions. You won't be able to just swap out static textures.

Settings heavily effect the sharpness of the clouds. You want to be on Ultra for the best experience.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by bonchie

Clouds are amazing.

So... I've looked at a lot of clouds in my life... I really don't recall seeing any real clouds with sharp edges.  Seriously.  Not one.

6 minutes ago, WarpD said:

So... I've looked at a lot of clouds in my life... I really don't recall seeing any real clouds with sharp edges.  Seriously.  Not one.

Really?! 

How about this one? Or this one? Or this?

Definitely plenty of apparently sharp edged cumulonimbus out there.
Those MSFS20 clouds sometimes just look plain blurry.

Also depends on your settings. The clouds look the sharpest at ultra.

2 hours ago, WarpD said:

So... I've looked at a lot of clouds in my life... I really don't recall seeing any real clouds with sharp edges.  Seriously.  Not one.

They're talking about clouds in Real Life, not in a flight sim. 😄 

Seriously.  Go outside some time. 🙂 

To me, the clouds look like out of focus photographs.  Or what you'd see with severe nearsightedness (myopia).  So I guess we could call them "myopic clouds" and refer to the people who think they're correct as "myopic."

😄 

Hook

PS.  It's not just you, WarpD.  I've been amazed for over a decade at what people think look realistic.  I guess it's a style thing.  One company made clouds that looked like what you'd see in a painting... attractive but unrealistic.  People loved them though, and they did make for interesting screen shots.  But they didn't look like actual clouds.

H.

2 hours ago, travelabroad said:

How about this one? Or this one? Or this?

That third shot is what I see all the time.  

Hook

It's because of different tech: The clouds you are used to from FSX, P3D or XP (those with the sharp edges) are (photo-real) textures. That's why they are well defined and can look very good under specific circumstances. They do have a lot inherent flaws (not dynamic, rotating with view, no volume) though, making them look subpar in a lot of other situations. MSFS has true volumetric clouds, which are noise-generated. If you use X-enviro for XP11 you know what that means. Noise generation always means that sharp edges are unlikely if not impossible. Close-up you may even see grain (very prominent in X-Enviro for instance). The tech fixes all problems 2D texture-based clouds have had all along, it does however have its limits/downsides as every tech has. Occasional lack of sharpness is just that. IRL sharp-edged clouds however are very rare, so I think it's a very minor downside. Personally I am very satisfied with how they look and interact with the weather system and lighting engine.

57 minutes ago, MagentaChild said:

IRL sharp-edged clouds however are very rare

"Cauliflower cumulus" is pretty common in areas with lots of convection activity.  This is probably why I see so much of it as I live in Texas.

Hook

I personally hope I never have to tweak again. 

5 hours ago, travelabroad said:

How about this one? Or this one? Or this?

Those are cumulus congestus clouds developing into cumulonimbus. Since the pics appear to be taken from the ground, the slant-range viewpoint cannot be anything less than several thousand feet away.

That's why they look sharp edged. Pretty much anything would look sharp-edged at that kind of distance. When you get up closer to cumulus clouds, they don't usually look like they have sharply-defined edges and are actually very wispy as you go into them.

Fun cumulus cloud fact: The weight of the water in an average cumulus congestus cloud, is greater than the weight of a Boeing 747 at MTOW.

9 hours ago, UAL4life said:

Yeah the clouds have issues sometimes looking like pyroclastic flows 

Exactly, I call them the doomsday clouds. From what we see in pics, clouds can be really good but also look sometimes weird. It could be the user low level graphic setting though,