I'm loving the city night lighting

[ryanbatc 12,857]

I came off my old airport tonight and just saw the moon, with the high clouds (moon providing illumination too which is insane), and the semi distant city night lighting.  I said to myself "wow this looks my flight the other night."

Even the up close lighting is markedly better - I see they dropped the size of those stupid floating bulbs to a more reasonable size.

amazingNL by Ryan Butterworth, on Flickr

amazingNL2 by Ryan Butterworth, on Flickr

Even the runways look perfect from straight on from about 6 miles out....noice!

(Note the NXi still isnt officially supported in the MV PC6)

amazingNL3 by Ryan Butterworth, on Flickr

Edited October 22, 2021 by ryanbatcund

[turnandbank 243]

A noticeable improvement for sure. 

[captain420 3,099]

Yup definitely a huge improvement! I'm so glad they reduced the size of the orbs. However even with the full moon, the sky should be a tad darker. I've changed the date when there's a new moon and the sky is a bit bright. It should be closer to black.

[109Sqn 1,564]

This is probably something which has been there all along, but I was using the drone cam to tour the streets of Chichester (UK) at night as I stayed there in September and I noticed the flickering blue glow of TVs in several windows!

[cmpbellsjc 2,961]

26 minutes ago, captain420 said:

 However even with the full moon, the sky should be a tad darker. I've changed the date when there's a new moon and the sky is a bit bright. It should be closer to black.

I can’t agree with that. Last night I observed a full moon with scattered clouds and the brightness of the sky was pretty much similar to those screen shots. In fact, I’ve been in the mountains in Colorado in the winter and have seen some full moons that were so bright and made the sky look particularly bright for being in the middle of knowwhere.

I’d say it’s pretty subjective to each persons night vision.

[scotchegg 4,186]

31 minutes ago, captain420 said:

I'm so glad they reduced the size of the orbs.

Absolutely!

[captain420 3,099]

1 hour ago, cmpbellsjc said:

I can’t agree with that. Last night I observed a full moon with scattered clouds and the brightness of the sky was pretty much similar to those screen shots. In fact, I’ve been in the mountains in Colorado in the winter and have seen some full moons that were so bright and made the sky look particularly bright for being in the middle of knowwhere.

I’d say it’s pretty subjective to each persons night vision.

Yes I agree it is subjective. Which is why it's almost impossible to please everyone with the right setting. There's also other variables that come into play such as display, gamma, settings, etc. But from my end of the spectrum, it's a tad too bright.

Here are some examples that someone posted on the FS Forums showing us a comparison on how the night can be improved. Filter off is default SU6.

Edited October 22, 2021 by captain420

[RaptyrOne 1,411]

I think the “Filter Off” looks better ( more realistic). Out in rural areas with no ground lighting and no moon, you might see ink black sky but even then, with the stars, it never appears truly black. The ground also looks too black with that filter on. Just my opinion of course.😉

[Slides 1,552]

One of the issues I have with OLED TVs is that they assume that darkness is pitch black when in reality, it's usually slightly grey outside. Unless you're in space or a completely dark room with blackout curtains. This defeats some of the purpose of an OLED screen which is great at showing pure black.

[tymk 105]

4 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

This is probably something which has been there all along, but I was using the drone cam to tour the streets of Chichester (UK) at night as I stayed there in September and I noticed the flickering blue glow of TVs in several windows!

Yeah, that's a nice touch, but there's more... 😉 Try pausing the sim before dusk and slowly moving the time slider in the weather window (works best in big cities). Watch how the lights in the windows change with time. I was amazed the first time I noticed that...

[bobcat999 8,483]

I don't think the slightly bright dark sky issue (with full moon) is totally down to subjectivity. 
Here in the UK, on a clear night with a full moon, the brightness of the sky varies with the amount of humidity and other particles in the air.

For example, on a dry crisp night is can look very black, but with with humidity there is a silvery white lightness to the sky, almost like the moon is lighting up a thin high level mist.

The default colours at the moment are a good compromise I think, but the good thing is people can adjust it to their liking using filters without having to alter the base sim rendering anyway.

Edited October 22, 2021 by bobcat999

[March Hare 720]

4 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

I don't think the slightly bright dark sky issue (with full moon) is totally down to subjectivity. 
Here in the UK, on a clear night with a full moon, the brightness of the sky varies with the amount of humidity and other particles in the air.

For example, on a dry crisp night is can look very black, but with with humidity there is a silvery white lightness to the sky, almost like the moon is lighting up a thin high level mist.

The default colours at the moment are a good compromise I think, but the good thing is people can adjust it to their liking using filters without having to alter the base sim rendering anyway.

You beat me to it. Sometimes the sky here is quite bright, and I wouldn't need the external lights on the back of the house to see in the garden. Sometimes the sky is just a blanket of orange light pollution.

I think you also have to account for altitude (and related camera position), the angle of the light source across the simulated atmosphere... Because it is simulated lighting and atmospherics, based on real-world physics, not a textured sky box with a colour that's manually adjusted. But, of course, real-time simulations are limited by home computing technology, so you won't likely get perfection and absolute realism.

[dogmanbird 269]

I see the same as Bob here. Humidity or moisture in the air lights up the sky, almost like there's a city over the horizon, that can never be reached 🙂

[bobcat999 8,483]

55 minutes ago, dogmanbird said:

I see the same as Bob here. Humidity or moisture in the air lights up the sky, almost like there's a city over the horizon, that can never be reached 🙂

Very poetic!  

[Tuskin38 6,504]

11 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

This is probably something which has been there all along, but I was using the drone cam to tour the streets of Chichester (UK) at night as I stayed there in September and I noticed the flickering blue glow of TVs in several windows!

Yeah, that’s been there since launch.

Another cool detail that’s been in since launch, the number of lit windows on a building depends on the time of day. At sunset there’s a lot more lit than at midnight or later. Than more start to light up the closer you get to the morning.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Tuskin38