ARMA 3 - TrueSky Weather, Effects

[Sealife 22]

the HDR lighting is done completely different to OA/TOH ...

the over-bright whole screen bug known from OA where it was caused by small region of brightness or looking into ground is gone

so if we go in a house and zoom in and out we dont get that bright light because of single source light thing that was in previous engines is gone ?

that would be great and maybe i can speculate that psuedo caves can now be made more believable possibly ?

[liquidpinky 11]

the HDR lighting is done completely different to OA/TOH ...

the over-bright whole screen bug known from OA where it was caused by small region of brightness or looking into ground is gone

about the 'clouds' pouring bug with angle of view change / rotation ...

this is sort of related tot he TrueSky middleware and you can see it in all games using it

play for example WarThunder http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?142789-War-Thunder-MMO&p=2288495&viewfull=1#post2288495

and You will spot it there too

I have little idea how it might be possible to lower this effect but would need discuss it with graphics programmers ;)

This effect is even more exaggerated on a triple monitor set-up, but it is honestly that good an experience to be flying in and out of them I couldn't really care.

There is virtual no performance hit while have dense cloud to none for my rig and every mission I create always has overcast weather just so I can play in the clouds.

[Neus 11]

I really don't see a problem with the changing clouds, like Liquidpinky said its such a good feature to be able to fly above the clouds ect I really don't mind. Unless of course you want to show your friend that cloud that looks like a fish or something, but when you turn to show him its gone :p

[viper[cww] 14]

I have no idea why, but flying above the clouds sounds very exciting to me :D

[Neus 11]

I can't wait! Another thing I'm interested in is the new lighting system they showed off in one of the demos where coloured lights illuminate surroundings, I hope this works the same way for the plane wings and collision lights ect... I think it would look so cool at night flying through the clouds with the lights lighting the end of the wing and also possibly a part of the cloud? Hmmm...

[looter 10]

the HDR lighting is done completely different to OA/TOH ...

the over-bright whole screen bug known from OA where it was caused by small region of brightness or looking into ground is gone

about the 'clouds' pouring bug with angle of view change / rotation ...

this is sort of related tot he TrueSky middleware and you can see it in all games using it

play for example WarThunder http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?142789-War-Thunder-MMO&p=2288495&viewfull=1#post2288495

and You will spot it there too

I have little idea how it might be possible to lower this effect but would need discuss it with graphics programmers ;)

Hey Dwarden thanks for the answers, also I play warthunder all the time and never put two and two together, makes me even more excited as warthunder's clouds are great. I only really have one question left about TrueSky, will ArmA 3 use its rain or lightning-strike type systems for the weather? Would be awesome, especially at night with the new lighting engine!

I can't wait! Another thing I'm interested in is the new lighting system they showed off in one of the demos where coloured lights illuminate surroundings, I hope this works the same way for the plane wings and collision lights ect... I think it would look so cool at night flying through the clouds with the lights lighting the end of the wing and also possibly a part of the cloud? Hmmm...

That would require particle illumination, not sure if thats in ArmA 3 or not - would be a pretty cool looking effect though. That kind of thing might already be supported in TrueSky too, considering light from the sun effects the clouds.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Looter

[Neus 11]

Yeah it would be nice to know if particle illuminations in then. Definitely not needed, but would be a sweet touch to aesthetics.

[Dwarden 1124]

we will look into what we can do with the tearing effect on the clouds (at least in terms of camera movement)

and our partners from SimulWeather will look what they can do if you move within the 3D space vs the clouds

so ye we are aware of the issue(s) and will try address it

the other stuff like thunderstorm lighting on clouds and rain effects are in the TBD part, so don't put too much hopes on these in Alpha

[looter 10]

we will look into what we can do with the tearing effect on the clouds (at least in terms of camera movement)

and our partners from SimulWeather will look what they can do if you move within the 3D space vs the clouds

so ye we are aware of the issue(s) and will try address it

the other stuff like thunderstorm lighting on clouds and rain effects are in the TBD part, so don't put too much hopes on these in Alpha

Thanks for the clarifications, hope you guys can work out the small bugs and looking forward to more immersive weather in ArmA 3.

[old_painless 182]

I really hope that the AI will be affected by poor visibility from bad weather as well as from darkness

[sproyd 2]

I really hope that the AI will be affected by poor visibility from bad weather as well as from darkness

I'm not a developer but I'd imagine the latter is easier than the former. See Arma 2 and getting spotted and shot through dense foliage.

[old_painless 182]

Yes, foliage has its own issues in A2, very much dependant on which bush or shrubbery is in play.

But whether or not the atmospheric conditions are factoring in on detection ability too, will be very interesting to see. Definitely on my checklist for the Alpha

[Rydygier 1302]

Personally all this weather stuff is and always was important to me as immersion booster. For most players, perhaps except "pilots", this may be only marginal eyecandy - not for me. So I want to express, how I'm glad with progres, that I see between A2 and A3 in this matter. To be more constructive - I just ran simple test. From 0 to 100% overcast change watched with 4x speed. I understand, that this is third party software responsive for clouds, still does no harm to present some thoughts:

1. Yes, clouds should change its shapes all the time and sometimes can form just over my head, but... But in most cases clouds should just come from beyond the the horizon as is in real. If I want to achieve in scenario weather breakdown, means from clear sky to the full coverage with dark, heavy clouds, I expect rather, that these clouds would come to me, not that would be formed over me. Imagine, how great would be to see mostly clear sky, but some "fearsome" thundery front coming from beyond the horizon, massive cumulonimbus, tropical storm or anything like that with distant, but closer and closer thunders (deep, diversed and juicy sounds), lightnings (more convincing/realistic than in A2, perhaps calculated with some kind of fractal way), rapid squall just before, that wrinkles sea surface and increases waves on water (BTW, he he, any chance for yachts&sailing?), and dust on land, finaly with wall of rain. I love this in real world. :)

2. Another problem is, that apperently winds on the clouds level are far to rapidly changing their direction. In one minute clouds movement can be reversed, and again, and again... Looks bad. Clouds movement direction should be most the time far more steady, clouds should just come from one direction and go to the opposite most of the time.

3. I probably understand, what is the purpose of this sky deep color change to dark gray (graphite) just over horizon, as simplification of some visuals, but as for me, weather gourmet, it is too big simplification and looks unnatural.

4. Do the clouds cast the shadows?

5. Frankly I'm not expecting that, but would be great to have several kinds of clouds (cumulus, stratus, cirrus and such).

6. Other crazy sky effects ideas: aurora, "falling stars", UFO...

OK, OK, enough. :)

[Blaf 1]

...how great would be to see mostly clear sky, but some "fearsome" thundery front coming from beyond the horizon, massive cumulonimbus, tropical storm or anything like that with distant, but closer and closer thunders (deep, diversed and juicy sounds), lightnings (more convincing/realistic than in A2, perhaps calculated with some kind of fractal way...

That might provide some really nice and atmospheric moments, however im afraid the performance impact of calculating curved cloud layer behind (also curved) horizon would be unbearable... :(

[NeuroFunker 11]

if you are playing at night with nv googles, set bad weather in editor and look in the sky. Be afraid of black hole sucking you in! can this be fixed? Looks weird.

[dmarkwick 261]

I wasn't aware that the weather is now middleware. I knew it had been drastically revamped, but not middleware. I don't know the full abilities of TrueSky but it looks good, then only thing to bear in mind is that people across MP games need to see more or less the same thing. Not so importnant with clouds (plane spotting notwithstanding) but if cloud shadowing on the terrain is to be used it needs to be somewhat synced. Or maybe that's not so important?

[dnk 13]

Important with clouds if you're in an air battle (not ArmA's strong suit at all, but still).

[Smurf 12]

They took off rain from the Dev branch to work on it, what can we expect?

Something "more 3D" than the almost-not-seen 2D layer from 2D OFP times, blurred vision or drops when looking up without eyewear? Some "windshield action"?

Wishlist\benchmark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhHKy8dOcnY

Probably the best thing I've seen in the subject, amazing "non-scripted" views. (Some Devs are fans of the game, so they know what Im talking about :rolleyes:)

Anyway, A3 already looks so good.

[gammadust 12]

I wasn't aware that the weather is now middleware. I knew it had been drastically revamped, but not middleware. I don't know the full abilities of TrueSky but it looks good, then only thing to bear in mind is that people across MP games need to see more or less the same thing. Not so importnant with clouds (plane spotting notwithstanding) but if cloud shadowing on the terrain is to be used it needs to be somewhat synced. Or maybe that's not so important?

I am also intrigued by this weather synchronization in mp cenarios. I figure the cloud generation is based on seed values / set parameters which are deterministic and synched automatically across server and all clients.

Loving its look so far, but having said that the engine still needs some tweeking i guess.

Edited March 22, 2013 by gammadust

[SmallBlackSheep 0]

please add cloud shadows

[BobcatBob 10]

Lol BIS should Troll us HARD with uber realistic rain that gets in our eyes constantly and fucks up our vision alot (If we don't have eye goggles or a boonie hat or other protection) rain should also be influenced by wind so wind + rain in your face equals SQUINT/BLINK blackness and reduced FOV every 3-5 seconds as you do :) :) :) :) :) Make those windshield wipers mean something dammit!

[NeuroFunker 11]

i would most likely to see the wind affects bullet drop. I did test with no wind and max wind. There were nearly no difference, bullets did fly directly to the target. Used to ACE's wind affects bullet drop.

[tremanarch 6]

please add cloud shadows

cloud shadows are already in the game! AT least thats what I think when clouds are flying it gets darker and brighter..

I made a Timexleration video to show this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl4aeEoFqgM

jump to 1:00 Minutes - it begins when the sun sets

(its more subtle than the other game)

[SaOk 112]

Nice, better rain effects could have big boost on atmosphere. Hope to see stalker style wet textures/effects too in arma someday.

[SmallBlackSheep 0]

cloud shadows are already in the game! AT least thats what I think when clouds are flying it gets darker and brighter..

I made a Timexleration video to show this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl4aeEoFqgM

jump to 1:00 Minutes - it begins when the sun sets

(its more subtle than the other game)

indeed! but when i hear cloud shadows i think of big shadows moving over the landscape and not just +1/-1 brightness setting.

also raindrops on vehicles' windscreens would be awesome! :D