Volumetric clouds?

[Ixoye 1,837]

Volumetric clouds have become a huge performance hog since the latest update, am I the only one who has experienced it? I have to change from Ultra to High to keep frame rates in check.

[KERNEL32 508]

Sorry I am probably one of the very few it seems, but NOT a fan of the clouds in MSFS. I used to be - but Asobo changed them drastically, somewhere around SU2 or SU3. Never been the same since.

The clouds are now ugly and unrealistic, too transparent and there is no "snap" i.e. when going into or out of most clouds it's like a big change i.e. you can see, then you just see all white'ish. That's it. That is what a cloud is. But Asobo seems to think a cloud is some kind of semi-transparent "blobs" where you fly "through" them but can still see the ground (sometimes it will "fade" the ground out gradually as to not upset people so they cannot see the ground I suppose). Getting large "holes" in clouds no true overcast anymore.

Clouds are always the same type now too, just some kind of cumulus-like blobs that are always same height and no matter the temperature we just see these ugly cloud puffs everywhere. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by KERNEL32

[ryanbatc 13,011]

43 minutes ago, KERNEL32 said:

 

The clouds are now ugly and unrealistic, too transparent and there is no "snap" i.e. when going into or out of most clouds it's like a big change i.e. you can see, then you just see all white'ish. That's it. That is what a cloud is. But Asobo seems to think a cloud is some kind of semi-transparent "blobs" where you fly "through" them but can still see the ground (sometimes it will "fade" the ground out gradually as to not upset people so they cannot see the ground I suppose). Getting large "holes" in clouds no true overcast anymore.

 

Yep that's my take.  If you get the user defined weather you can setup some decent skies - but it's always from a distance that they look great.  Their clouds are far too transparent and far too low detailed - especially when closer.  And when you go through what would normally be a thick overcast layer (say 4-8 thousand ft thick), you can usually still see the ground...  it's just an area of reduced visibility.  

There's always going to be times where in real life, the layer bases are jagged but in the sim it's like ....oh I flew into some lower vis areas, and not like real life where poof!  You're in the clouds and can't see anything.

[Keirtt 588]

48 minutes ago, KERNEL32 said:

. Getting large "holes" in clouds no true overcast anymore.

I agree with everything you said! I also agree with this particular statement. I've noticed frequently an overcast layer has a "Gap" where there are just large holes. Typically I see them right above a field. It's irritating to see this, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees this.

[KERNEL32 508]

14 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

There's always going to be times where in real life, the layer bases are jagged but in the sim it's like ....oh I flew into some lower vis areas, and not like real life where poof!  You're in the clouds and can't see anything.

What is SAD is that MSFS used to be this way. I recall some really neat cloudscapes and visual effects that simply have been removed or disabled by Asobo. I sometimes still use REX Weather Force and still see some of the other cloud types, so it's like they still exist but the real weather system does not "use" them. What the real weather system uses now is "quite disgusting" and unrealistic.

 

[Tuskin38 6,626]

When they switched to using straight METAR values in SU7 for weather, cloud depiction took a hit.

Clouds were a lot better before that.

  

3 minutes ago, KERNEL32 said:

What is SAD is that MSFS used to be this way. I recall some really neat cloudscapes and visual effects that simply have been removed or disabled by Asobo. I sometimes still use REX Weather Force and still see some of the other cloud types, so it's like they still exist but the real weather system does not "use" them. What the real weather system uses now is "quite disgusting" and unrealistic.

 

Because people were complaining that airport weather wasn't accurate enough.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Tuskin38

[ryanbatc 13,011]

I'm wondering if its teething problems from trying to use METAR and forecast based system.  I'm one who prefers METAR because that's what seems to work irl.  You can plan everything off TAF and METAR.  I was also one where flying in the sim wouldn't yield accurate results before they implemented the METAR system.  I know a lot of people, especially in Europe, seemed to have accurate weather.  I'm glad for them.  However that just wasn't the case for me and many others in the US.

[Ixoye 1,837]

This topic was about performance hit, not how it looks.

[DMullert 216]

I agree with most of the assessments here but I also must add that with the latest update (SU7), Asobo did make the clouds more realistic in that lights and AI traffic lights no longer go through the clouds, meaning that they are now solid and cover lights as in real life.  I never realized how immersive this little detail was until I experienced it on my first night flight after the SU7 update.  Prior to SU7, you could see AI and airport lights far in the distance through clouds, which was totally unrealistic.  This tells me that Asobo may be slowly but surely going in the right direction with clouds.  We'll see where it goes!!!

[Dominique_K 10,151]

2 hours ago, Ixoye said:

Volumetric clouds have become a huge performance hog since the latest update, am I the only one who has experienced it? I have to change from Ultra to High to keep frame rates in check.

I saw an impact and also went from Ultra to High. On my rig (CPU/GPU/HDR monitor), I find them lovelier anyway than on Ultra.

[Tuskin38 6,626]

8 minutes ago, DMullert said:

Asobo did make the clouds more realistic in that lights and AI traffic lights no longer go through the clouds, meaning that they are now solid and cover lights as in real life.

Yes, that's a good change.

Regarding performance, it's only really bad for me if the cloud quality is Ultra, if I drop it to high it's fine, there really isn't a noticeable visual difference between Ultra and High.

[KERNEL32 508]

Yes on performance hit here as well on Ultra, but for me it's always been that way and not since latest update. I think where I was going with my original reply above is that the performance hit seems to come whenever the "transparent" clouds are there, which seems to be a visibility thing and Asobo made that much more prevalent after the latest update, then I just went off on how they look instead.

Edited December 29, 2021 by KERNEL32

[RW1 615]

Asobo Nerfed the clouds shortly before Xbox was released. They were fantastic on initial release. Cockpit even went dark when you flew into them.

[liamp51 541]

13 minutes ago, RW1 said:

Asobo Nerfed the clouds shortly before Xbox was released. They were fantastic on initial release. Cockpit even went dark when you flew into them.

The cockpit still darkens when you fly into them now? Nothing's changed there. 

[Ixoye 1,837]

I don't see any major difference between Ultra and High, but the difference in performance is huge, about 8,fps, especially when it is foggy, I have a 2080Ti.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Ixoye