New Clouds (30 04 20) Popping in and out

Dear server Guru's,

The new type of clouds are the clipping in and out ones, here is a video:

Video is "unlisted" only viewed using the link - not found by searching.

I used to follow this helpful guide for weather in CloD - not sure if it helps.

https://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v...f=5&t=8360

The day or so before the Campaign went live, we had good clouds and no crashes. The day the Campaign server went live - we had clouds that may have caused the crashes - the day after the Campaign has been live - we have clouds that clip in and out.

What was the cloud/weather setting a day or so before the Campaign went live? I only ask, because one of them worked, two of them are less than reliable in game. I hope this helps select the good ones.

The day or so before the Campaign went live, we had good clouds and no crashes.

Nothing changed in the server or the code for about the last week prior to starting the new campaign.  It had all been running well which is why I decided it was time to flip the switch.

However there is a very large number of items that vary more or less randomly from mission mission or hour to hour or minute to minute or day to day.  So you can't always predict how those various things might interact.

But literally zero lines of code changed from the 2-3 days before Campaign going live & after.

 - The issue with the Launcher crashing was related to the weather, reported here & solution also outlined here: https://forums.twcpilots.com/showthread....956#pid956


 - The issue with the  cloud formations disappearing I don't really consider a bug.  Or rather it is indeed a well known CLOD bug and you will notice many of the clouds have this same behavior.  They appear or disappear depending on which direction you are looking.

So it is a thing for TF to fix.  But in the meanwhile, yeah it appears or disappears when you are a long way away from it, depending on which way you are looking.  But when you get up close or fly through it works fine.  That means it works fine functionally--meaning as a thing you can fly through to evade the enemy, hide, etc etc etc.

In general there are about 20 different weather files that are used at different times to create different weather.  Each has a number of different weather systems.  Like everything else in CLOD there are various bugs & issues with the weather systems.  Like everything else in CLOD I tested literally every one of the 20 files, meaning that I jumped into each of the files and flew around to every one of the weather systems to make sure that it looked OK.

However, no one can POSSIBLY test every one of those files and every one of the weather systems in every possible situation or configuration or system or combination with other things going on in the Campaign Mission at the same time, as well as every position and angle one could possibly view it from.

So I have attached what appear to be the problem files for the "clouds appear and disappear" issue.  They are the "cumulus" files and there are 5 of them.  Another possibility is the "overcast" file, also attached.

If anyone wants to spend time messing around with them and figure out what combination of settings solves this problem I would be glad to change out your fixed files for the current ones.

All you have to do is load the mission file in your FMB, add a player plane (one or more) here or there are needed), and jump in & fly in & around each one of the weather formations to see how it works.  Then adjust the parameters of the weather system to see if it works better or worse, and repeat.

Almost certainly there is some combination of settings that works and other combinations that cause problems.  So have at it and let us all know whatever results you find.

Good luck!


  Weather-cumulous-campaignserver-2020-05.zip (Size: 3.61 KB / Downloads: 1)

  Campaign21-randsubmission-weather-overcast-2020-05.zip (Size: 697 bytes / Downloads: 1)

I used to follow this helpful guide for weather in CloD - not sure if it helps.

https://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v...f=5&t=8360

https://forums.twcpilots.com/showthread.php?tid=188

As the weather is randomised, is it certain that no weather area is touching the boundries of another weather area?

https://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v...=48&t=8373

"Unfortunately it is not possible to have multiple layers of cloud in the same area. Also, some cloud types are buggy and should be avoided in the current release, e.g. result in weird graphical effects including “rotating textures” and occasional occulting when viewed from certain angles.

Rule No.4: Do not overlap Local Weather areas.

Local Weather is added to the bottom of the mission file. A “[WeatherFront]” section is used to define all of the weather areas, e.g.

Code: Select all

[WeatherFront]
LocalWeather_0 CUMULUS_GEN 20000 20000 143109.43 256458.64 0 0
LocalWeather_1 CUMULUS_GEN 25000 25000 96419.38 250153.03 0 0
LocalWeather_2 CUMULUS_GEN 25000 25000 130921.50 300816.90 0 0

Then, beneath this section there will be a section for each of the areas, e.g. [LocalWeather_0], [LocalWeather_1] and [LocalWeather_2]. Like I said, you can have as many of these areas as you want, but don’t overlap them. Notice how, like global wind, each area has a unique identifier. Also, areas can be circular or elliptical – so they have a width. Length and angle rather than just a radius."

Weather has always been a ball-ache in CloD and I remember waving my fingers at it while swearing alot. The ACG stuff is pretty out of date, I saw in your post that the numbers have changed (limits min/max) etc - it is a legacy issue that has slightly changed over the years - I doubt it will be "fixed" any time soon. It would be handy to go through it all again and get some good reliable working examples - but as you have mentioned that takes more time than is generally possible for anyone.

If some good solid working examples could be found, would it help to have the weather "set" once for the mission start until the server ends? Maybe having a "Good weather set #1" one mission and "Good weather set #2" for the next? If it is all randomised, finding the culprit would be more of a challenge - especially if that one set works on it's own - but doesn't play well with others or certain others.

When in a dogfight, near clouds popping in and out - it is not particularly pleasant. Strangley, it also removes flak bursts in the vicinity along with the clouds.

for what its worth I see some funny cuboidal looking vertical clouds lately also no bad effects I can associate with them though

Yeah, the one off Littlestone area does look funky in appearance - but works in the game without issues so far. I think some of these clouds were experiements in dimensions/hieghts/angles/etc to see what works and what doesn't. The particular parameters of that one are unique - I've not seen one looking like that off the Kent coast in real-life hehe (I live there) but it may occur in some place on the globe - who knows.