FS9 weather/clouds & 3rd. party weather engines - question.

[JSkorna]

Think whatever you want then.

 

Martin, the facts from years ago haven't changed. You know the solution and how you go about it is up to you. It takes all of about 30 seconds, at most. Good luck! I'm out!! PM me if you need to.

[Skywatcher12]

Hmmm...my clouds flicker and can be partially cutoff but it appears airport dependent. Couple of airports I've been too get this issue without fail but nowhere else. I've added the issue to one of the many things I must research at some point in the future.

[tiger1962]

Thanks Mark, that's an excellent observation and a factor I hadn't considered. I only check my weather settings when in-flight, not on the ground where scenery can interfere:

All scenery buildings, objects and trees can be scaled down to fit their surroundings.

This sometimes leaves "invisible" artifacts way above and all around the visible buildings, objects and trees, which are actually the untextured wireframe outlines of the scenery models at their original scale - this is also why you can get collisions on the ground while seeming to be well clear of any obstruction.

I have also got scenery where clouds actually show in front of certain trees, others where they show in front of the glass windows of the control tower and terminal buildings, which is an issue with the surface transparency setting in the model itself.

 

These "invisible" artifacts and transparency issues can cause cloud flicker and partial cutoff issues when on the ground, so always check your weather settings when in-flight, or slew up to 1500ft well clear of the scenery below!

[Skywatcher12]

Thanks, that's a logical explanation. Yes, once clear of the airport everything is back to normal regarding the clouds.

[martinstebbing]

I found this thread just now and JS's advice (#2) to turn off 'Render to Texture'.

 

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?78398-FS9-Clouds-end-with-a-very-distinct-line-vs-blending-in

 

I loaded up a flight, clear weather, and added one layer of Cirrus clouds at about 30,000'.... as ever, a razor-sharp line across the bottom of the clouds, which flickers as you pan.

 

Then turned off 'render to texture' and went back to the flight. Now the cirrus clouds have no horizontal cutoff at the bottom, and don't flicker at all! I have looked at the ramifications of turning off RtoT in various threads, and it seems it can cause FS9 crashes - but so far I have had no issues. My fps is unchanged. So fingers crossed!

 

If this tweak (and I already have cloud draw distance set to 30 miles) fixes all my 'cloud-related annoyances', I shall (at last) be a very happy bunny!

[ColR1948]

Hi Martin,

I read the other thread you linked to, did you just change the Render to Texture or have you also got an ATI card and installed the Omega drivers.

 

So have I got this right you start the sim with R&T turned on then after it started you then go in to settings and turn it off?

[martinstebbing]

No, I have an nVidia GPU, all I did was uncheck Render to Texture. It seems to be working, though I have only done a few tests. The cirrus clouds loook normal so far.

 

When you uncheck 'Render to Texture', a line is created in the FS9.cfg file (in the graphics card section) 'RendertoTexture=0' (or something similar). That should remain there until you change the setting yourself, so you shouldn't need to do this more than once. Remember that FS9 constantly rewrites the fs9.cfg file, so some settings can get changed, but I don't think that this one should. (I have a copy of my 'definitive' fs9.cfg file saved and I wrote a little script to copy that to the folder containing the 'active' cfg file at every boot. That ensures my preferred settings are maintained).

[martinstebbing]

I thought it was too good to be true! The horizontal cutoff line is still there, even with RtoT unchecked. It worked when I made the switch, but it certainly isn't working now.

 

I guess I will either have to accept these cutoff lines or do without cirrus clouds altogether. Perhaps there is no definitive cure in FS9 for this... though some people report they never get this problem, which is annoying when one does! Maybe I should try changing my video driver??? I have come up against a brick wall troubleshooting these issues (and am getting rather fed up of trying to fix them, I must admit!)

[Skywatcher12]

I've never really read a great deal about this issue but have you tried using dxt3 and 32bit clouds? It would be the first thing I would try. Sorry if it's been mentioned here or elsewhere I haven't been through this entire thread to check.

[martinstebbing]

Thanks... I don't think the actual texture format helps, as I have seen posts from others with both formats complaining of the problem.

 

Moreover, despite what was claimed above, FSX is apparently not immune from the same issue:

 

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/415643-my-clouds-dont-look-right-in-fsx/

 

I have just tried installing a different (softer) cirrus texture set in REX, and the first few times I have loaded up the sim, all looks good, cirrus with no lower cutoff: but as I say, I am running out of 'energy' with this now! I've made a dozen or more changes over the past month, one or two of which which at first appear to provide a solution, but always turn out to be a five-minute wonder. That cutoff line always comes back... :(:mad:

 

Well, if all is still OK after a few days, I'll let you know, but I am not holding my breath.

[ColR1948]

There are a lot of people reading this thread but I wish any if any of the readers who don't have this problem please come on and say what you have done or give us your setup details.

 

I have tweaked this and that and like Martin sometimes I think I've cracked it then I too get the cloud flicker and/or the line, I've gone in to a flight for a good few minutes thinking this is it but no it comes back.

 

As I've said earlier everyone's setup is different, so what might work for one won't work for another, it may be we will have to just bite the bullet and live with it annoying as it is.

[martinstebbing]

please come on and say what you have done or give us your setup details.

There are so many parameters that could possibly affect the horizontal line issue that people probably don't know what to post. The cloud flickers seems to be an issue that can only be fixed by setting cloud_draw_distance to 30 miles (so said AS6.5 support), but yes, if anyone has that set to a higher value and never gets clouds flickering and being

erased and redrawn, it would be good (and irritating at the same time!) to know. In theory, unless cdd is set to 30 miles, everyone should get the problem... (To test, go to FS9/weather and clear everything; then in advanced set one layer of cirrus clouds at, say, 35000-35500', and go back to the sim and in options/display, set cdd to maximum, then go back and pan around. 3rd. party weather software (and FSUIPC) settings may hide the worst of the flickering, but with unlimited visibility, it's only too obvious. Sometimes I get good cirrus clouds, but more often than not that horizontal lower cutoff is there.

 

I haven't had the chance to test further, but as I said yesterday, choosing different bitmaps (still 32-bit though) for the cirrus clouds eliminated the line for the few tests I did, but I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

 

I suppose some people may consider all this a lot of fuss over not very much, but having clouds flicker and disappear and so forth, as you watch the sim, is very, very noticeable of course, and when it's bad can really spoil the FS experience... Those that have this issue will know!

 

(It's a problem I have had, BTW, ever since I started FS9 in 2004, on several machines, so it's unlikely to be hardware or driver related).

[Skywatcher12]

You need to find out if anyone who has had this issue has ever fixed it. No point getting feedback from people who have never had the issue. There is nothing special about any settings I run for example and I also run my cloud settings maxed. As I said, you first need to check if both dxt3 and 32bit cause the same problem on your system and if to the same extent. Problem may come down to a million other things that may cause it and in the end it may be a hardware thing you can do nothing about. What happens on a fresh FS install with zero addons? I know uninstalling FS may not be an option but sometimes there may not be any other way to 100% rule out certain possibilities. Good luck.

[martinstebbing]

I think, reluctantly, I am going to have to go back to setting my own weather via FS9's own built-in options - I can at least select cumulus and stratus clouds which obscure the vertical line of the cirrus clouds.

 

On top of having this cutoff cirrus line (some 'fixes' for this seem to work for a flight or two, then the problem is back), FSRealWX Pro is now setting impossible cloud layers (screenshot); how come after downloading the metar, I am getting cloud layers below ground level?? I suppose FSRealWX is just loading up what the metar shows - is it a VATSIM issue??

 

 

The metar, BTW, shows: FMMI 080830Z 12009KT 070V160 9999 SCT023 24/19 Q1022 NOSIG

 

I tried clearing the weather and loading it via FSRealWX again, but the same result: clouds at 2300' at FMMI, although the airport is 2500' higher than that in elevation (where the little a/c is above). It's not sat on a plateau..

 

Just endless frustrations with this. Tempted to fly with bright, sunny, cloudless skies for a while!!

[bam1220]

I am one of those that have been following this thread. I have the same problem too. I think it's just a part of FS9 and there is nothing that we can do to fix it. I have just learned to live with it as part of FS9.

[ColR1948]

I recently went back to using the default online weather, I didn't use the update every 15 mins though, I used the snapshot.

All seemed to be going OK then I noticed a cut off in the clouds, the cut off was perpendicular, a perfect straight line it looked ridiculous.

I tried something else, I deleted the Cloud Draw Distance line from the fs9.cfg just to see what would happen, the sim started and I got the weather etc.

After a short flight I exited and looked in the fs9.cfg and the cloud draw line had been put back to CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=5 so where did it get the =5 from?

I'm presuming from the weather settings, so this made me think are the weather settings from one part of the sim fighting/conflicting against other outside programs?

[martinstebbing]

I made a copy of my fs9.cfg file and wrote a script so that that archive copy overwrites the current one at every boot. That way I know my settings will be as I want, at least at the start of a flight.

 

FYI, my settings at the end of the [Weather] section are...

 

MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=144840

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=3

3D_CLOUD_PERCENT=100

DETAILED_CLOUDS=1

CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12

CloudsImpostorRingRadius=256000.000000

 

MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=144840 works for me. If it's set too low, I see what looks like an ocean all around me in the distance, where FS9 is not (presumably) drawing detail.

 

CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12 was recommended in various threads I read (Google it) and is supposed to increase maximum cover, but I guess a value of 8 is good too. Some people said a value of more than 8 is pointless, but others posted screenshots showing the obvious difference... you know how it is on forums!

 

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=3 is the only way to avoid seeing clouds being redrawn, as pointed out by Jim Skorna. I find that you can often change to 8 when you're en route but at lower altitudes cloud flicker is a real problem with any value other than 3. (The reason is given further up this ever-lengthening thread!).

 

I have also gone back to using AS6.5, even though there's no live weather, and have had no problems for the past week or so. The skies always look good.. though I have probably jinxed it by saying so now! I don't seem to get cirrus clouds (I never solved the problem of the horizontal cutoff line), but I can live with that!