Is it possible to use Fog to implement post-explosion persistent Dust?

[10t 12]

I've long been frustrated by how short-lived the smoke clouds from explosions are in the Arma series.

 

I'd love to be able to have some persistent post-explosion/bombardment dust as seen at 1:30 in this video from Syria (potentially NSFW, I guess) - something that lasts on the order of minutes, at least (for big explosions). Rolling into a dusty Kavala after a substantial MLRS bombardment is an enduring fantasy of mine.

 

 

I understand the tradeoffs involved in traditional particle-based smoke-clouds, and definitely appreciate playing in clear air at 50 fps as I do now, compared to playing in satisfying dust at 0.3 fps, so this isn't just a complaint.

 

My real question is, given the fog system that A3 includes (very well!), is it possible to apply that in some localised way? It can already handle several parameters (falloff, density, and altitudes). Could it be extended to have [x, y, z] co-ordinates, major- and minor- axis lengths, falloff, and shrinkage/dissipation rate? Or is this an engine/DX11/SimulWeather/something limitation (obviously I have no idea how fog's implemented in RV) that is just impossible?

 

Obviously, even if it's possible at all, a million tiny instances of fog over the island would end up being yet another performance-eater. I have a vague idea of a Game-Of-Life -style mechanism which would continually combine and simplify nearby/overlaid clouds into single entities over time, which would reduce the problem.

 

Anyway, are there good technical reasons this can't be done? Is my dream doomed? Or is it feasible that one of the devs could go on a caffeine-and-amphetamine-fuelled coding rampage and implement it one day?

 

Lastly, sincere apologies if this was posted before. My searches of the forum were hampered by the word "fog" coming in under the four-letter search threshold. Similarly, if this should be moved, please go ahead.

[tpw 2312]

I'm pretty sure you can't give the fog co-ordinates, but you could always try using triggers which call the desired fog and parameters. So there'd be no explosion fog out in the sticks, but plenty in bombarded towns. I've used something similar to simulate smog in my own missions.   

[semiconductor 309]

Not sure about fog but I think you can try to create a semi-transparent Smoke effect with very big particle size, low particle count and slow diffuzion time to simulate dust cloud to a certain degree.