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[SAS~Malone]

agreed, tested it, and it's a big improvement. gives a much more natural feel /look to the sunlight.
two thumbs up!

[WxTech]

I uploaded a reduced version, at 256 pixels. 128 was making for a too-pixellated central spot in Photoshop for my taste. But a 16X reduction from 3MB to 193kB is nothing to sneeze at. 

I should check out that other variant you found, Mick. I'm curious to see how another mind addressed this... which I was completely unaware of. I had sought out just such a treatment before attacking it myself. That reinventing the wheel again, eh, Malone?

[WxTech]

I just got around to checking out the glare01 and 02 files in that effects pack. Both are identical, except that one is grey and the other is reddish. They also have prominent spikes like the game's default (although I haven't tried in flight.) But also apparent is the great difference in size of central bright spot; mine is much tighter, at about 1/3 the diameter (and 1/9 the area.) Which explains my reticence to go smaller than a 256 pixel wide image due to excessive pixellation of that spot.

I think those images might be merely reduced-in-size versions of those original to the game; the pattern of the spikes is identical. Just to be certain here, have you guys tried out my variant (which I think you must have if the spikes were outta there.)

I should add--just to show where my aesthetic sense leans--that I never use the lens flare effect. You know the one; the line of reflections that would be produced in a camera lens. My eyes don't do it, so I don't want to see it.

For movie makers it's fine, of course.

[WxTech]

Text removed to avoid confusion, as it has been moved to the first posting.

[WxTech]

I noticed in the #412 effects pack a Sun.tga and .mat file (in the Sprites folder), presumably to represent the Sun. How efficacious this could be with the completely saturating glare01.tga in view is questionable in my imagining of the combo.

But in my glare treatment I've made the central spot somewhat sun-sized, and it's always saturated to the point of standing in as the sun, and so I don't feel I'm missing anything.

[WxTech]

Experiment to understand how clouds are made. The pics should tell the tale...

Done in v4.08. Cloud base height 1,000m. All views are from the same point in the sky and at the same zoom setting.

The 'colored spaghetti' is the overlapping characters of the 'cloud' graphic I created for the purpose, as shown in the inset image. The characters are reversed because the game reverses these images.

Note how the images farther down in the 4x4 array become increasingly utilized as weather worsens. In good weather, the vast majority come from the first row of 4. Strange how good wx makes bigger clouds than does hazy wx, as well as more concentrated patches of clouds. Another regrettable anomaly... Small clouds typically have *MORE* cloud images (sometimes incredibly dense piles) going into them than do big clouds; what a waste of textures! Grrrr...

[WxTech]

I've been doing some critical examination and comparison of cumulus cloud .tga's in my folder. Another Clouds4x4.tga graphic which has a reasonable amount of shadow structure with slight bluish cast was given the treatment to improve opacity/brightness. I see that my earlier variant was making up clouds which were too smooth and monochromatic. They do have more snap and visual appeal with a bit of an impressionist's painterly aspect.

I'll post a pic or two soon, and if anyone likes, I'll make available...

[WxTech]

Some new work done.

- Improved, livelier look to clouds; no boringly monochromatic grey/white.
- Even bigger, via BASE_R_DISP = 6 in DATA.cld, with DENSITY still at 1. With Base at 1,000m, hazy weather cloud tops go to about 15,000 feet; thunder clouds go to 35,000 feet.
- Improved balance for brightness and contrast of cloud base shadows with the atmospheric hazing, particularly so for the poorer weather clouds. (I have no idea if this has been made to behave differently in versions later than my 4.08. If anything seems odd, get in and tinker with the DATA.cld file; the readme.txt points the way.)

(P.S. The Hawaii pics also feature my retexturing of the game's default map.)

A 'satellite' view of Hawaii, from the FMB. Note the extensive merging of clouds into sizeable masses over considerable area. Your are sited on a mountain, looking west toward Honolulu and Pearl Harbour. The two diverging lines show the angular width of the FOV of the inset image. Weather is 'haze' (#3 in the list), and the cloud base is at 1,500m. Here the tops go to near 5,000m. Note the very uniform base height, as it virtually always is in nature. This is achieved by setting four parameters in DATA.cld to zero. Significant departure from base height uniformity is a no-no to this ex weather observer!




Two more views of the cloud mass over Honolulu/Pearl...






A view on top of cloud (hazy weather; 3rd selection) at about 5,000m (15,000) feet.




Under the weather (thunderstorm; last selection). Cloud cover is easily 95%, with only small, widely scattered chimney-like holes, which you have to be practically underneath to see. Virtually overcast. Cloud tops go to 35,000 feet!

[JotaC]

Man, awesome work, I can't wait until I arrive home :-D

Is the link at first post updated?

[Korrigan]

+1, beautiful clouds indeed

[WxTech]

Revised version available, link in first post. Completely overwrites first iteration.

[farang65]

Love the last cloud pic. 

I am really a tropical jungle man at heart.

Just yesterday saw the same looking clouds all around Lamphun.

It was building up to a huge dump of rain.

Cheers Kirby