Ships floating above horizon - any fix?

panthercules · 05-07-09, 11:20 PM

I had this problem running GWX 3.0 a while back and thought it was perhaps the 16km atmosphere module so I disabled it (via JSGME) and tried without it, but the problem still showed up - see below:

I'm running GWX3.0 and the following mods:

GWX - Alternative Flotillas
GWX - Captain America's Officer Icons
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX - Open Hatch Mod
GWX - Integrated Orders
GWX - Merged Campaign
SH3MoonMod for JSGME
LRT - No Collision Damage for GWX 3.0
LRT v2.04 Full for GWX3.0
EDE- LRT 2.04 Full patch
Integrated Orders- LRT 2.04 Full patch
Open Hatch - LRT 2.04 Full patch
Hitman Compass Graphic for GWX3.0 for JSGME
GWX Alt Flot fix for JSGME

Any idea why this is happening or how to fix it so that the ships don't float above the horizon like this?

Sag75 · 05-07-09, 11:41 PM

Hi, I've always seen that in SH3 stock and GWX2.1. In my honest opinion it's not a bug.

Just look: the ship is not entire, but you can see only the upper part of the hull. This is an haze effect simulated here. You may see better it by watching a ship on its side: you will see only the superstructures and the main bridge..

Hunter · 05-08-09, 01:38 AM

it is not a bag, just real optical effect.

Hitman · 05-08-09, 06:22 AM

It's unfortunately supposed to look like that. In SH3 you won't get a clear horizon line that cuts the ships as in real life, but instead the earth curvature is simulated invertedly, i.e. it curves slowly UPWARDS from your position to the horizon, and that way it progressively hides ships that are at the same height as you, instead of the game making the ships slowly "sink" under the horizon. The problem is that this way you would see the earth still curving upwards beyond the ships, hence the developers added a sea fog that blends sky and sea and hides that effect. The side-effect is the one you have noticed....ships seem to float in the horizon fog.

danlisa · 05-08-09, 06:37 AM

Are you using the default 8km Scene files? If so, Yes, it's fixable.

Thanks to another member here I currently have a modified scene file that removes that annoyance.

If you're happy doing it and IIRC, you need to extend the Fog distance out further than your Horizon distance within the Scene.dat.

Annatar · 05-08-09, 06:41 AM

Perhaps you're seeing a Fata Morgana.

panthercules · 05-08-09, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danlisa

Are you using the default 8km Scene files? If so, Yes, it's fixable.

Thanks to another member here I currently have a modified scene file that removes that annoyance.

If you're happy doing it and IIRC, you need to extend the Fog distance out further than your Horizon distance within the Scene.dat.

I'm using whatever version of the Scene files that would have been installed by GWX 3.0 or the various mods I noted in the first post (I don't know if they changed the Scene files - I haven't changed them manually myself) - I'd love to get your fix and give it a try though - I really don't remember this effect looking anywhere near this pronounced in all my previous playing with SH3 (which was pretty extensive back in the day), so I'm hoping I can at least tone it down a bit.

I'll take a look in the scene.dat file and see if I can figure out where that change needs to be made, but if you happen to recall where it is that would be great.

Thanks for the lead

[edit] - took a quick look in scene.dat with S3ditor - boy are there a lot of fog entries, and nothing jumped out as the obvious place to make this change - any guidance toward proper location would be greatly appreciated.

onelifecrisis · 05-08-09, 08:54 AM

It's actually possible to completely remove the problem but it needs a fairly powerful machine (at least for 16km). Actually, prolly not that powerful by modern standards. Hmm... wait a sec...

Edit:
Well it runs at 10fps or less on my machine, but maybe yours will fare better...
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=151558

Edit:
If you want an 8km version, I should think it'd be easiest to just ask Dan to send you his.

danlisa · 05-08-09, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

If you want an 8km version, I should think it'd be easiest to just ask Dan to send you his.

Well, LOL, you helped me make it. So, yeah, I'll pass it on if wanted.

onelifecrisis · 05-08-09, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danlisa

Well, LOL, you helped me make it. So, yeah, I'll pass it on if wanted.

Haha, well you made it! You do what you want with it mate.

irish1958 · 05-08-09, 02:11 PM

Actually, if you just stay out of the rum locker, the ships will settle back down.

panthercules · 05-08-09, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

It's actually possible to completely remove the problem but it needs a fairly powerful machine (at least for 16km). Actually, prolly not that powerful by modern standards. Hmm... wait a sec...

Edit:
Well it runs at 10fps or less on my machine, but maybe yours will fare better...
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=151558

Edit:
If you want an 8km version, I should think it'd be easiest to just ask Dan to send you his.

Well, it seems to drop my PC down from 60 to about 17 fps with the 16km version, so maybe I'd better try the 8km version just in case

@Danlisa - any chance you could send me your 8km fixed version? Is it otherwise based on the GWX file, or would I be losing something in GWX by using it? I'll PM you with my e-mail address, if you wouldn't mind shooting me a copy.

Thanks!

panthercules · 05-13-09, 09:55 AM

@ Danlisa - thanks - that fix got me back up to 60 fps and things look real good.

Now, one last thing (I hope). Can someone tell me where in the files the parameters are set for how the visibility/fog level affects the ranges at which ships can be spotted? I can't recall exactly what those ranges are (especially on the short end), but for example using the 16km mod it seems you can spot ships at about 16km in "no fog", about 8km in "light fog", maybe 2km in "medium fog" and maybe 400m in "heavy fog" type visibility. Using the 8 km version, it seems these numbers are about 8km for "no fog", 4 km for "light fog", etc.

Using the 8 km version, is there some easy way to change the "light fog" range to something more like 5 km instead of 4 km? Would doing that have any adverse/unforeseen impacts on anything else? Ideally, I'd like to set these ranges at something like 8km/5km/2km/500m for the various "fog" states - is that something tweakable using S3D? If so, where would those parameters be set?

05-07-09, 11:20 PM	#1
panthercules The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,336 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	Ships floating above horizon - any fix? I had this problem running GWX 3.0 a while back and thought it was perhaps the 16km atmosphere module so I disabled it (via JSGME) and tried without it, but the problem still showed up - see below: I'm running GWX3.0 and the following mods: GWX - Alternative Flotillas GWX - Captain America's Officer Icons GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects GWX - No Medals on Crew GWX - Open Hatch Mod GWX - Integrated Orders GWX - Merged Campaign SH3MoonMod for JSGME LRT - No Collision Damage for GWX 3.0 LRT v2.04 Full for GWX3.0 EDE- LRT 2.04 Full patch Integrated Orders- LRT 2.04 Full patch Open Hatch - LRT 2.04 Full patch Hitman Compass Graphic for GWX3.0 for JSGME GWX Alt Flot fix for JSGME Any idea why this is happening or how to fix it so that the ships don't float above the horizon like this? __________________

05-07-09, 11:41 PM	#2
Sag75 XO Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 424 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 0	Hi, I've always seen that in SH3 stock and GWX2.1. In my honest opinion it's not a bug. Just look: the ship is not entire, but you can see only the upper part of the hull. This is an haze effect simulated here. You may see better it by watching a ship on its side: you will see only the superstructures and the main bridge.. __________________ Betasom - XI Gruppo Sommergibili Atlantici http://www.betasom.it/forum/index.php

05-08-09, 06:22 AM	#4
Hitman Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Spain Posts: 6,099 Downloads: 109 Uploads: 2	It's unfortunately supposed to look like that. In SH3 you won't get a clear horizon line that cuts the ships as in real life, but instead the earth curvature is simulated invertedly, i.e. it curves slowly UPWARDS from your position to the horizon, and that way it progressively hides ships that are at the same height as you, instead of the game making the ships slowly "sink" under the horizon. The problem is that this way you would see the earth still curving upwards beyond the ships, hence the developers added a sea fog that blends sky and sea and hides that effect. The side-effect is the one you have noticed....ships seem to float in the horizon fog. __________________ One day I will return to sea ...

05-08-09, 06:37 AM	#5
danlisa Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 5,499 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 1	Are you using the default 8km Scene files? If so, Yes, it's fixable. Thanks to another member here I currently have a modified scene file that removes that annoyance. If you're happy doing it and IIRC, you need to extend the Fog distance out further than your Horizon distance within the Scene.dat. __________________

05-08-09, 06:41 AM	#6
Annatar Machinist's Mate Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Merry Old England Posts: 121 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Perhaps you're seeing a Fata Morgana. __________________

05-08-09, 01:38 AM	#3
Hunter Commander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St.Petersburg, Russia Posts: 474 Downloads: 166 Uploads: 0	it is not a bag, just real optical effect.

05-08-09, 08:54 AM	#8
onelifecrisis Maverick Modder Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England Posts: 3,895 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 3	It's actually possible to completely remove the problem but it needs a fairly powerful machine (at least for 16km). Actually, prolly not that powerful by modern standards. Hmm... wait a sec... Edit: Well it runs at 10fps or less on my machine, but maybe yours will fare better... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=151558 Edit: If you want an 8km version, I should think it'd be easiest to just ask Dan to send you his. __________________ Freedom of speech - priceless. For everything else there's Mastercard. Last edited by onelifecrisis; 05-08-09 at 09:07 AM.

05-08-09, 02:11 PM	#11
irish1958 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 3,250 Downloads: 320 Uploads: 11	Actually, if you just stay out of the rum locker, the ships will settle back down. __________________ Irish1958

05-13-09, 09:55 AM	#13
panthercules The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,336 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	@ Danlisa - thanks - that fix got me back up to 60 fps and things look real good. Now, one last thing (I hope). Can someone tell me where in the files the parameters are set for how the visibility/fog level affects the ranges at which ships can be spotted? I can't recall exactly what those ranges are (especially on the short end), but for example using the 16km mod it seems you can spot ships at about 16km in "no fog", about 8km in "light fog", maybe 2km in "medium fog" and maybe 400m in "heavy fog" type visibility. Using the 8 km version, it seems these numbers are about 8km for "no fog", 4 km for "light fog", etc. Using the 8 km version, is there some easy way to change the "light fog" range to something more like 5 km instead of 4 km? Would doing that have any adverse/unforeseen impacts on anything else? Ideally, I'd like to set these ranges at something like 8km/5km/2km/500m for the various "fog" states - is that something tweakable using S3D? If so, where would those parameters be set? __________________