Ive done some basic balancing (I've been an avid flightsimmer for over a decade, and understanding weather is part of the hobby
, and I have some limited sailing experience)
For example, fog will not be generated above a set amount of windspeed, rain will not appear if there are no clouds present, and the random generation formulas are based on percentages to determine values that will be created for SH3.
Unfortunately, the weather system in SH3 is overly simplified, and is limited in what can be done with it. There are three types of fog (from mild to peasoup), only two cloud types (partial and overcast), two levels of rain (but I have only seen heavy work, might be my vid card though) and up to 15kts of wind speed. the rates of change available are only none, mild and heavy. It doesnt leave much to work with, but does get the job done.
It would be nice to have the dynamic real world weather available to flightsims, but it is a bit of overkill for powered seafaring (sailing would be a different story however.)
Frankly once the initial settings are input, it is out of our hands and in the hardcode. Open a .mis file, and under the [MISSION] section are all the weather values we can play with, and only at the outset of a mission. And these weather patterns are global (though if the program itself adjusts for the medditeranean is unknown to me, but I assume it is doubtful)
The only power we have once the mission is started, is affecting the rate of change, and weather check (to see if weather changes) interval set at the start of a mission from the .mis files.
However, these are only my findings from the limited testing I have done in the last few days, your mileage may vary.
That said, I will do my best to balance the weather as realistically as possible at the outset of a mission, as I am a stickeler for the finer details, outside of that, it is in SH3's hands.
I hope that sheds some light on the subject, and I wouldnt have even got this far if it weren't for Hartmann's input (see the other Random weather Generation thread for the fruit of his research.)
Ill send the files to you tonight. If you have any questions at all, let me know!
Cheers all,
Jamie