zooloo75 834 Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) Realtime Geographical Weather & Time A few weeks ago I thought of an idea that utilizes DLL extensions and gathers data from weather API's on the web. What does this mean? This means that we can have real locational weather at Altis or Stratis (or any map that is derived from somewhere on Earth). Weather can be segmented for different areas on a map, for example: You are driving out of a town in Altis, and further down the road it gets cloudy and very windy. This data is pulled in from the real island of Lemnos. So if it were raining at the exact place you are at in Altis, at Lemnos, then it would rain ingame at that area. In a multiplayer environment, you could be sniping enemies from a distance - for them, it is rainy and foggy; for you, it is clear and sunny, until you go to their area. The API in mind is http://openweathermap.org/API This concept is something I am wanting to hear opinions on from the community before I dedicate time to such a project. Yea or nay? Ingame Implementation A few methods I've thought of to determine location is to either: 1. Use the top left corner of the map as a reference point for the real lat-long calculations. 2. Use triggers that are executed upon the player's entry that call the extension, passing the requested locational data. * Would be wise to have these spawn in via an addon. Edited June 17, 2014 by zooloo75 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kremator 1065 Posted June 17, 2014 Although it is a nice idea, I'd say concentrate on FFIS2 :) Weather isn't that big a deal yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miketim 20 Posted June 17, 2014 Zooloo, here is the problem. If you are, "sniping", and "for them, it is rainy and foggy", irl they would be enveloped in that fog, would they not? But I am pretty sure with the arma engine, unless you add a new weather system type thing, in arma 3 the fog system is just distance based or something, so I don't really think it would work well. This way they cant see you, but you can see them, isnt it kind of unequal? Unless you propose some new weather system, which unless done really well (though you are a great coder so...) would probably add lag and JIP sync issues or some stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zooloo75 834 Posted June 17, 2014 Zooloo, here is the problem.If you are, "sniping", and "for them, it is rainy and foggy", irl they would be enveloped in that fog, would they not? But I am pretty sure with the arma engine, unless you add a new weather system type thing, in arma 3 the fog system is just distance based or something, so I don't really think it would work well. This way they cant see you, but you can see them, isnt it kind of unequal? Unless you propose some new weather system, which unless done really well (though you are a great coder so...) would probably add lag and JIP sync issues or some stuff. Due to the limitations of the engine, the weather is local to each client and clients won't see what other clients see, unless they were in the same area. So due to that, it may seem inconsistent, but the simulation of realtime weather and time is welcomed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kremator 1065 Posted June 17, 2014 Get back to coding FFIS2 ;) Just kidding mate. In principle good idea, but will just divert you from your main goal MUHAHAHA Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rydygier 1317 Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) If you decide to do this, you may want to contact with this guy. He was working on something like that and his project was at an advanced stage, I know, as I wrote for him some sqf for that including snow of several kinds depending on temperature (of course question is, how often it is snowing there, but who cares :) and TPW agreed for using some of his weather effects code too (heat haze, foggy breath)). In fact we had even working prototype. Although passed months since last time I spoke with him. Our main concern was some weather scripting commands (setOvercast) and weather itself (eg clouds cover change) not working, as supposed, so perhaps he is just waiting, till devs will fix all issues with weather in A3. Another thing was to find free and decent API, that would provide all data that could be implemented. There was chosen one, but not perfect. BTW during tests noted, so game suffers some lag each time weather is updated online (expected, I suppose). My opinion - for me such thing, knowing, so there is same weather/daytime in-game and on the real island would give really cool feeling and enhance immersion greatly. Edited June 17, 2014 by Rydygier Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J. Schmidt 10 Posted June 17, 2014 @Zooloo75 I really like this idea, but I don't know if it would be possible to do, due to the ArmA engine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zooloo75 834 Posted June 17, 2014 IIRC wind is now synced with all clients. So there may be engine limitations. This idea would require local weather commands to work correctly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tupolov 520 Posted June 19, 2014 We have this working in Alive dev version. The extension is written and working and allows you to select a real location. Real weather will then be applied. Like everyone we are still having to deal with the bugs in BIS weather... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zooloo75 834 Posted June 19, 2014 We have this working in Alive dev version. The extension is written and working and allows you to select a real location. Real weather will then be applied. Like everyone we are still having to deal with the bugs in BIS weather... Very nice! Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
