I made another post about the new water effects and seeing the white caps and noticeable movement around Kerama Airport in Okinawa, Japan and assumed that they finally improved the water effects globally. But to my attention, it isn't the case. I decided to go back to one of my usual favorite flying spots and that's Hawaii. Did some VFR flying around Oahu, The Big Island, Maui, etc. I did some close examining of the surrounding ocean and shorelines and to my surprise that the water looked nothing like the ones I saw when flying around Kerama airport. The water in Hawaii looked very calm although there were winds that showed up in the G1000. No white caps or any shoreline activity at all. Looked very unrealistic because Hawaii has some of the fiercest waves. I'm disappointed to see that the water issue seems to be an isolated issue and that it's not realistic.

For you guys who want to do a comparison or test. Take off from Kerama Airport and pay close attention to the ocean and then take off from PHNL. Compare the differences.

I believe white caps first show up with 20 knots of wind, what was the wind setting ?

Hawaii definitely needs a "World Update", and I am not talking about the water...

1 hour ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

I believe white caps first show up with 20 knots of wind, what was the wind setting ?

I don't recall exactly but when I was flying around Kerama Airport, the winds were around 10-13kts and I saw white caps and noticeable wave motion, etc.

Here's the ocean around Kerama Airport. You can clearly see waves and white caps. Not sure what the metar for ROKR is. Can't seem to find it. 

And this is what it looks like in Oahu, Hawaii. Hardly any movement and no signs of white caps. This is near the north shore, a famous surf spot known for lots of waves too, and still it looks way too calm.

 

I did a test and notice unless the wind is 9kts or above, you won't really see any real movement. Seems like live weather is not accurately picking up wind data. The ocean is way too calm.

Don't tell us. Tell THEM.

Off to Zendesk with you. 😉

4 hours ago, captain420 said:

And this is what it looks like in Oahu, Hawaii. Hardly any movement and no signs of white caps. This is near the north shore, a famous surf spot known for lots of waves too, and still it looks way too calm.

An area "known for lots of waves" is usually a result of something called "fetch," which is a large stretch of open water with the wind blowing in one direction for a period of time.

The ocean swells will continue for long distances until they reach shore and lift up over shallow water near the beach. You can get waves like that with zero wind at the beach, because they were generated far away and not part of the local weather.

Unfortunately, flight sims don't take that into account. Dynamically generated waves are more of an on-off switch according to the nearest METAR. 

You'll see static waves generated by ocean fetch in ortho-based scenery where it's burned into the water texture. That can look more realistic in areas known for constant wave action, until you get close enough to notice they're not moving. Personally, I still prefer that approach because it looks better than dead calm next to the beach when I know there is usually wave action there, regardless of the local weather.

That makes sense, but I really hope that they can improve on this and make the ocean a bit more alive so to speak. Because as of now, flying around islands, the ocean around it is as calm as a lake. They need better water depiction to go along with the amazing weather engine. Just like they have with the plane aerodynamics and physics. We need that sort of simulation being brought over to the various bodies of water as well.

Oh, I agree that ever effort should be made to deal with this issue of wave action. I've never seen it done in a flight sim, but the data sources on wave height are out there, independent of aviation METARS. Just have to go to the marine sources instead. 🙂

Edited October 3, 20205 yr by Paraffin

This might be of interest in the meanwhile:

https://flightsim.to/file/317/pearl-harbor-hawaii

The islands in general are pretty disappointing. I visited them regularly over a 25 year period as a free-diver, and Maui was the first area I flew in when I got the sim. Pretty much everything about the water and terrain in the area was very dead-looking. LOL! -  I also remember that the TBM I was flying couldn't generate enough power to crest Haleakala, the volcano. It pooped out at the edge of a stall around 8500 msl! would be terrific if they could simulate the sea of massive and active whitecaps that appear in the afternoon when the trades are howling.