I still can't get over how good those trees look close up
If you can nail how that look from a distance, luthier, then you're sim will be futureproofed for years to come. I mean, those planes look photo-realistic. I think the only aspects of the sim which may need more work are the terrain and the smoke-effects, and I know that you will be able to nail these two aspects anyway.
So Luthier; will smoke change and move in the wind? I was watching a scene from Piece of Cake (not a cooking program BTW) and also Apocalypse Now where one can see the smoke swirling when the planes/helicopters fly through. I know there is a word for this, which I think begins with a 'V', but my memory fails me at this point. Seeing as this sim will be able to have the features of DX-11, I wondered if an effect like this would be possible? I'm sure it could be.
But Luthier; please, don't trouble yourself trying to nail every bit of detail. Stuff like this can appear in patches for the game in the future. I'm sure SoW will have a long future and so these things can come later.
Look at Il-2 or BoB2. Both those games have come leaps and bounds from the initial release.