Friday 2010-10-01 Dev. update and Discussion

[philip.ed]

I'd like to know if flying through clouds will affect the weathering model of the planes. I mean, will we see the planes glisten with water after flying through a rain-cloud (do all clouds carry some form of precipitation?) and if so, if the plane had bits flaking off, would this cause them to stick to the surface? The cloud part of this question is purely coincidental; I am not some clouds nut! Also, I doubt what I have said will be able to feature, but the aspect I'm focusing on is the effect of flying through clouds and also the limitations of the weathering system.

Did Oleg ever answer whether the terrain would be affected by the weather? I'd love to fly a sortie when the sky is clear and return to a saturated airfield (with the grass visibly darker due to the rain).

Also, if you're flying a bomber, can the crew vomit? A bit of an odd question, I know, but I am sure that I read somewhere that due to seating arrangement in some bombers, the chaps could be in for a rough ride if violent manoevures were taken. Certainly this could affect the mission, say if a gunner was sick. It could be part of the animation too.

Ok I would like to withdraw my comment about the terrain looking like its been painted by a child, i guess it was a bit harsh, if that as upset any of the devs then i apologise.

[philip.ed]

Originally Posted by Tree_UK

Ok I would like to withdraw my comment about the terrain looking like its been painted by a child, i guess it was a bit harsh, if that as upset any of the devs then i apologise.

Well, I'd say that was the right thing to do. Well done

Now can we please all just get along?

[JVM]

That would not be needed: when you are flying trough water laden clouds your A/C is not really glistening 1) because most of the water is running fast 2) because you need some specular reflection to see glistening and in a cloud that would be more like diffuse, and not that much.
The same would go for flying across rain out of the clouds (no not all clouds have rain in them, far from it...but if the temperature is right most of them will have some ice in it, and this is where the fun begins (and sometimes, ends fast enough).

Now like you say it would be quite formidable to see rain and its effects rendered; what do we need:

- rain as showers seen from afar: the kind of whitish diffuse "bands" falling down the clouds (in this case cumulus, especially for you!)
- rain as British drizzle, on the ground:
1) loss of visibility a bit like haze except that the sky will be in many nuances of gray, depending of cloud thickness and regularity
2) a certain increase in color saturation (the "wet landscape" effect) which will be really visible mainly if sunlight comes back: otherwise the lack of light typical of rainy days will not make it as obvious but it should be there (no dusty film everywhere when it rains!)
3) puddles in the proper places, and if possible some falling water from roofs or A/C surfaces...
4) glistening of surfaces like wings, roofs, cars, etc to represent the water layer
4) at close range a representation of more or less driving rain
- rain in the air
1) loss of visibility if out of the clouds
2) increase in ambient noise
3) some representation of fast running rivulets on front glass and lateral glass (for a computer screen it will resemble white/gray 1 or 2 pixel segments all over the lateral and front surfaces, changing position and length randomly
4) The BoP representation of rain is grossly overdone: rain is water, not glycerin, and not all clouds have rain...

All of that is technically quite possible I think, but is linked to weather representation, and may have an impact on the FPS...

And we did not talk about snow yet (granted, during BoB we can live without it)

JV

[Igo kyu]

Originally Posted by JVM

1)
2)
3)
4)

5) Rainbows

[philip.ed]

Thanks for the answers.

JVM, how about when the A/C is static...? The effect in WoP/BoP is overdone (I can see what you mean now) but when the A/C is static the rain will have an effect. I was at Hawkinge at the weekend, unfortunately it rained, but I got to see the (repro) Hurricanes outside get wet. It was quite a sight I must say.

[BadAim]

It yet amazes me how inane the discourse can be here. Try the f****ing ignore button. It works for me. I sure as hell hope that Oleg and Luthier try it, it will cut down on their stress around here immensely.

[philip.ed]

Can we drop that subject?

[JVM]

Originally Posted by philip.ed

Thanks for the answers.

JVM, how about when the A/C is static...? ...but when the A/C is static the rain will have an effect.

You are absolutely right...when static you should see plain drops and occasional rivulets...

Now I do not know if how far OM will be willing to push toward realism, and certainly not when...lot of food for future updates/patches!

[philip.ed]

+1 to that last comment. I am confident that even if the release of SoW doesn't contain everything that Oleg would have wanted, the game will be able to expand (amazingly so) via patches