we noticed that in SH3 the cloud layers were sort of a texture which was applied to the "sky" which was more or less just a huge sphere shape surrounding the "map".
no matter how high an aircraft climbs into the sky, he will never reach the clouds because the clouds are just an image of clouds (make sense?)
it would be a huge environmental leap for the clouds to be "volumetric"
meaning that instead of being a part of a texture applied to a sky layer, the clouds would actually vary in height, thickness, and the type and number of clouds would change depending on the weather condition.
for example you might see a thunderstorm on the horizon, you may even see rain coming out of the bottom of the storm... but where you are at that moment might be clear.
I have used the weather in microsoft flight simulator as an example numerous times.
above: it is obvious that there is 1. volume to the clouds and 2. multiple cloud layers.
as you close in on the surface this will be less obvious of a feature... however from a tactical standpoint it IS a unique feature because
1. If there is a rain shower nearby, you can hide in it to make repairs (ie planes wont fly into the storm and ships wont be able to see you in the storm.
2. aircraft which are flying above the lowest cloud layer should be harder for the watch crew to spot
3. weather forecasting or prediction. weather follows some pretty specific patterns in real life. in SHV if you are cruising on the surface in relatively good weather and calm seas, you can look on the horizon and see thunderstorm clouds like the pic below
note the relatively clear and nice weather... however the thunderstorm on the horizon is apparent. this storm feature could be moving toward you or away from you... it could be developing or dissipating.
finally, lighting and thunder.
in SH3 lightning was just a streak of electrical energy hitting the water - ie cloud to surface lightning. i think an interesting addition to SHV would be cloud to cloud lightning - see image below
notice how you really dont see lightning, however its presence is obvious because the entire volume of the thunderstorm cloud is bathed in bright light from within. this temporarily provides enough light to brighten the entire area even though it may have been pitch black moments before.
3 other environmental features which should be included:
1. Differing water clarity and quality depending on the location for example much of the gulf of mexico - especially within 50 to 100 miles of land should appear slightly muddy - on the other hand the bahamas should be very clear.
2. Aurora Borialis - the northern lights should be apparent during certain times of year and in specific locations. this would be tactical in that it would increase the visual range of the watch crew as the sea scape would be brighter.
3.
A spherical world like that featured in the flight sim series... not a flat mercator world like we have in SH3/4 this stretches distances to unrealistic proportions, does funny things with the u-boat ranges and other time/speed/distance & navigation related issues. - i cannot stress the need for this to be implemented enough - SPHERICAL WORLD SPHERICAL WORLD SPHERICAL WORLD - and the charts (maps to some of you) should be modified to represent the spherical world... if you look at aeronautical charts or nautical charts etc the printed image IS slightly curved especially as you near the poles. (see image)
