Environmental conditions

[tonibamestre]

Hey devs,now that you are still on time,what do you tell me about implement real downloadable weather? The same way AS does with FS,actual sky conditions could be implemented optionally.So,depending upon the wind speed and direction,to slave sea surface to that.Of course,most of the known underwater currents must be taken into consideration also.
I think that an engine able to manage that items would add a lot of realism to the SH serie from now on, what your opinnion is?

[BulSoldier]

Actual weather updates will be usable only if you are playing in 1 tc . I dont see how this will work with tc of 128 , 256 or more.

[danlisa]

Actual weather updates will be usable only if you are playing in 1 tc . I dont see how this will work with tc of 128 , 256 or more.

The same way normal weather updates do. Weather data is not correct to the minute or even hour, more often than not it's around every 4-6 hours. This time scale would be perfectly usable in a game with TC. All that is needed is for the game to create a transition period between vast changes in weather type.

[GreyOctober]

So what youre saying is that even if your campaign date is December, the system would still download the weather for, lets say, August?
Since there are no weather stations out at sea, Activesky draws some averages from the data gathered from stations located in proximity, and thats why weather depictions in the middle of the Atlantic range from innacurate to totally fictive. That might be fine for a flightsim, but a waste of resources for a subsim.

[danlisa]

*snip*.....That might be fine for a flightsim, but a waste of resources for a subsim.

Totally agree. As long as weather patterns or events are improved in SH5 then I'm happy.

I was only demonstrating to BulSoldier that the system is workable for a game with TC multiples ala FlightSim 2000 onwards.

[dcb]

I'd be happy enough with just a realistic (I mean credible) weather system, which would take into account seasonal changes. Of course, snow and icebergs would be a MUST, for those freezing Arctic patrols in winter.

[tater]

More realistic weather would be great. Zonal, with actual squall lines to duck into, etc.

[tonibamestre]

I agree with that,and why not to include a Weather conditions setting where you can set the type of environment you want? Look at Virtual Sailor or Ship Simulator itself,both are naval sims and you can manage what kind of weather you want.
Could be a good improvement concerning graphics for the upcoming SHs.

[Frederf]

Here's a funny question. Is it easier and less resource intensive to program believable made up weather patterns or is it easier to use historical records? As over-the-top as actually using downloaded or otherwise "referenced" weather, it might actually be easier than writing a convincing algorithm from scratch.

[Boris]

I agree with that,and why not to include a Weather conditions setting where you can set the type of environment you want? Look at Virtual Sailor or Ship Simulator itself,both are naval sims and you can manage what kind of weather you want.
Could be a good improvement concerning graphics for the upcoming SHs.

pfft... how does that make for a good simulation? You think real sub captains could choose their weather??? Can you choose the weather before you go outside of the house?

[Vader 1]

I would be happy if the hidden commands for weather changes were used.
ie "weather changing" nothing was worst than being ay the charts for 3 hrs "thinking " it was clear topside only to spot a small ship and go topside to discover SURPRISE your in the middle of a storm...hello could someone yell down the hatch lol
seriously the dev were planning on this feature on SH3 why not finish it:hmmm:

Vader

[Brag]

The weather in GWX was already made bearable :DL

[Frame57]

Even in SH4 I thought the foul weather was a joke. I hope the stormy weather in 5 will be a lot more realistic

[Task Force]

I hope we have real storms that cause us issues... makeing attacking difficult to imposiable... and maby even damage some sub systems.

[Alex]

:)

:hmmm:...


:o !

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5558/28192509.jpg



Does that mean we'll see weathering effects on ships :o and :o for the very $µ%&§?! first time :o :o :o :o falling snow in the next opus of SH ? :huh:




:hmm2: !

[Uber Gruber]

More realistic weather would be great. Zonal, with actual squall lines to duck into, etc.

Brilliant idea Tater....deciding to remain on the surface, throttling the engines to try to make it into a cloud bank or rain squall before the chassing escorts get within fatal range. Now that would be exciting :rock:

[maerean_m]

Does that mean we'll see weathering effects on ships :o and :o for the very $µ%&§?! first time :o :o :o :o falling snow in the next opus of SH ? :huh:
It seems that way, doesn't it? :)

[Alex]

It does... :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

I've indeed been wondering a lot when falling snow was about to get rendered in the game !http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7770/bannana.gif

Thanks for your answer, Mihai ! :|\\

And keep up the good work ! :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:

[Hanomag]

I would love to see an occasional gale... I mean some really nasty Gilligans Island, Posiedon Adventure, Bermuda Triangle type stuff... making my U-boat the new Barf Boat... :rock:

[karamazovnew]

Weather played a very important role in Uboat operations. The importance of knowing what kind of weather lies ahead means that this time we really need a weather map based on other sub's reports (and BdU forecast). Also, cruising in bad weather, and I mean BAAAAD, would be suicidal on such a small vessel, the crew would be injured by smashing their heads on the walls :damn:. So you'd be forced to dive to rest the crew. Also, I doubt that visibility in rain is always limited to 1 mile :doh:.

[Frederf]

Having a deleterious effect on the crew for cruising in high seas would be a nice thing to model in SH5.

[Seeadler]

I hope they implement this time a better weather-engine than in SH3/4, there where such only one cloud texture for scattered cloud covering and one for overcast skies, not more.

SH2 even had a better weather-engine, there were several textures for Cirrus-, Cumulus-, Stratos-clouds and overcast skies. These textures were combined by a weather script in multiple layers and one could be scripting dynamic moving weather fronts for campaign missions. But the weather system was to complex for the graphic card generation at that time, the creators of campaigns were not been able to exploit to the full extent of the weather without drastically decrease of the framerate. But today with modern graphic cards this should not be a major problem. Real Environment X in combination with Active Sky Advanced for FSX shows it works.

[Kromus]

Little bit offtopic maybe, but I`d like to have permanent weather report (or just only when weather changes) let`s say every 3-4 hours (you could turn it on/off).
Would be nice if you are timeaccelerating 1024x+ stormy and foggy weather to know exactly when bad weather ends.

[Red Heat]

I'd be happy enough with just a realistic (I mean credible) weather system, which would take into account seasonal changes. Of course, snow and icebergs would be a MUST, for those freezing Arctic patrols in winter.

Oh yes... a credible weather system or ever you go...like you said it will BE A MUST! :yeah:
And another thing wich i will enjoy to see in the SH5...its the famous Atlantic Hurricanes, big storms and waves...hiting the U-Boot...

[difool2]

Now, it may just be that they have an Artist on Board, but I saw multilayered clouds in at least a few screenies (cumulus at c. 10,000 feet cirrus at 30,000). Now if they just add in the planets too...