Forums » Air Combat & Civil Aviation » Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II » Any mods for cloud layers?


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#2868589 - 09/27/09 08:31 PM Any mods for cloud layers?
Cheapshot Offline
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Registered: 12/06/01
Posts: 566
The puffy cumulus clouds look great, but the stratus clouds aren't doing it for me. At low angles you can really see the 'stacking' effect at the edges....and with everything else looking so good nowadays, it really sticks out to me.

If you look at these images, it may be more apparent as to what's bugging me about them.



So anyone know of any mods that could improve them?

Thanks.

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#2868608 - 09/27/09 09:13 PM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Cheapshot]
Cheapshot Offline
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Registered: 12/06/01
Posts: 566
Alrighty...after posting this, I searched through the A2A forums and luckily stumbled across a post mentioning that there were some values in the BDG file that controls how tightly the layers are stacked.

These are the lines you need to look for...

"Cloud_Fair_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000"

"Cloud_Poor_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000"

"Cloud_Inclement_CloudSliceHeight= 3048.000"


There is a list of what I'd assume are working values in Appendix 'A' in the manual. I took the value of 3048 down to 750 and now it looks just fine without a noticeable impact on framerate. smile

Much much better.....




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#2868706 - 09/28/09 03:46 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Cheapshot]
Bader Offline
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Registered: 01/22/01
Posts: 14018
Loc: Bletchingley, Surrey, UK
Interesting.. As I recall, the reason for the existing implementation is to give the lovely look at Dawn/Dusk. But it does compromise the look in daytime. So this is an interesting user mod.

I'll give it a try myself. Did you change all three of the values?
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#2868823 - 09/28/09 07:58 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Bader]
Cheapshot Offline
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Registered: 12/06/01
Posts: 566
Yep, changed all three values. I just went back, reset the original value of '3048', and checked to see if I lost any lighting effects during dusk/dawn when set to 750. Nope...still looks good.

Granted, the overall layer is thinner from top to bottom, and you can still see the stacking when you are very close, but it looks much better to me overall.

Do you (or anyone else) know if there is a switch/setting in the BDG that would allow me to add 'slices'? I see a setting for density, but I believe that affects the cumulus clouds and not the stratus.


Edited by Cheapshot (09/28/09 07:59 AM)
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#2887033 - 10/24/09 12:08 PM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Cheapshot]
Bader Offline
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Registered: 01/22/01
Posts: 14018
Loc: Bletchingley, Surrey, UK
Hmm, that's interesting. Sorry for the very delayed response, btw. Working on a number of new things. Trees, new models and such.
By default in 2.10, we have

Cloud_Fair_CloudSliceHeight = 1500.000000
.
Cloud_Poor_CloudSliceHeight = 1500.000000
.
Cloud_Inclement_CloudSliceHeight = 1500.000000

I am not at all sure where your values of 3048 came from, Cheapshot, but maybe that's why it looked quite bad on your system.
_________________________
"Ah yes, Michael (Parkinson)," Bader replied, "But these Fockers were Messerschmitts..."

BDG BoB Developers Group: Six years of passion for historical recreation of the Battle of Britain.

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#2893159 - 11/02/09 03:38 PM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Bader]
Smosh Offline
Member

Registered: 02/07/01
Posts: 1905
Loc: Gisborne, New Zealand
Just letting you know that I just reinstalled BoB:WoV and the new 2.10 and my default settings were also 3048.00

Might be something to look into?
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#2893384 - 11/03/09 02:29 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Smosh]
Osram Offline
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Registered: 06/14/01
Posts: 9167
Loc: Weißenthurm, Germany
I looked into the code and if BoBII writes a new bdg.txt it indeed uses 3048, which is 100 feet. We can change that if people wish. Maybe a few users can test different values and report back on a value they like?

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#2893396 - 11/03/09 03:00 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Osram]
Torquatus Offline
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Registered: 05/07/04
Posts: 1334
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
I think 750 looks quite good as well. Have tried 3048, 750 and 1500. 1500 is also better, but 750 (edit: 1000) is what I'm going to stay with at the moment. I will try some smaller values as well, when time permits.


Edited by Torquatus (11/06/09 03:42 AM)
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#2893401 - 11/03/09 03:23 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Torquatus]
Osram Offline
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Registered: 06/14/01
Posts: 9167
Loc: Weißenthurm, Germany
Ok, thanks.

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#2895600 - 11/06/09 03:36 AM Re: Any mods for cloud layers? [Re: Osram]
Torquatus Offline
Member

Registered: 05/07/04
Posts: 1334
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
Further testing reveals that values smaller than 750 start to lose the point as the layers are so close together that the cloud becomes like a thin layer. Fine for high stratus, but the cumulus just looks silly. I may actually amend my earlier post and say I'm using 1000 now ...
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"I like to find out that I died, and that I'm currently in a ballet in China, and all the other very accurate and important things that the Wikipedia site brings us all."

-Stephen Fry

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