[WIP] Dynamic Environment SH5

[misha1967]

Fantastic!

Now, since I just can't ever let go of something, how does it work for the other climate zones, such as the perpetually grey North Sea?

[pedrobas]

Originally Posted by misha1967

Fantastic!

Now, since I just can't ever let go of something, how does it work for the other climate zones, such as the perpetually grey North Sea?

Gap is working on that , he has to adjust the rest of the zones, so it´s a lot of work, we have to give him his time.

[misha1967]

Originally Posted by pedrobas

Gap is working on that , he has to adjust the rest of the zones, so it´s a lot of work, we have to give him his time.

Oh, I didn't mean it that way, I'm already positively ecstatic that we're getting there

[tonschk]

Originally Posted by gap

I've made some research.
The next image shows the location of your screenshot as a red spot, on google earth (left):

On the right I've located (more or less) the same place on the map used as base in DynEnv.

As you can see those coordinates are laying in an area where blue and cyan pixels have been blended for rendering a climate of transition between subartic and cold temperate (Polar_A and Temperate respectively in our cfg files). In such areas conditions may vary depending on were exactly (wich pixel of the map) you are located. In this particular case it means that that both snowy or not snowy land could be possible outputs because, due to our season settings, april is still winter for subpolar climate, and spring for cold temperate climate (look at my seasons chart).

On the other hand, on google earth's map I've highlighted in yellow the position of Kiruna, the northernmost city of Norwey, not too far from the coordinates you gave me, but in inland. According to wikipedia, its daily mean temperature for the month of april is slightly under 0°C (-3.2°C). I am coming from an hot place, so I am no an expert on that matter, but I think that under these temperatures it may or may not snow, especially toward the cost of northern Norwey, where the North Atlantic Current is mitigating the climate. By the way: is there any Norwegian SH5 player here that can confirm or disconfirm my assumptions?

Anyway this is not exactly our point: we want to demonstrate that DynEnv is (or maybe is not) messing up land seasons. The location we chose is not the best one for our case study, because of the mixed pixels method that I was talking about before, and because the month of the historical mission we are using for test. Before sailing to another place I would like to ask you to visit the same location in campaign between december and february, or to load once more the same mission after installing this patch:

http://www.mediafire.com/?kzcc2t6g7wnpqfp

enable it after Dynamic Environment Base Mod, any version. In both cases it should be snowy, or at least I hope so...

Hello there, using as usual the exact same historical mission, I added your Test patch as shown on the list attached below and now the mountains has snow also with Dynamic Environmental

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\MODS]
Dynamic Environment SH5 Basemod (realistic version) V2.1
KZS Hull wetness for U-Boats + co tower and deck_revised_by_TheDarkWraith
Dynamic Environment SH5 Atlantic Floor V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Sounds V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Waves (realistic version) V2.1
Dynamic Environmental SH5 Shallow Waters V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Shallow Waters V2.1 Patch
sobers best ever fog V9 SH5
Dynamic Environment - Longer Cold Temperate Winter Patch
Dynamic Environmental SH5 Realistic Colors V2.1

[pedrobas]

Originally Posted by tonschk

Hello there, using as usual the exact same historical mission, I added your Test patch as shown on the list attached below and now the mountains has snow also with Dynamic Environmental

You´re a little bit late tonschk , look previous page. Gap found the solution and is working on it.

[misha1967]

I don't know if they're useful, Gap, and if they're not please disregard and don't let it detract from the awesome job you're currently doing.

As I already mentioned in one of my previous screen shots, the "fluffies" appear even when there are no clouds according to the weather report, an issue that goes back to the stock version of the sim. Just out of curiosity, I switched off 3D clouds in the options and the "fluffies" instantly disappeared. The skies were still grey with perhaps a hint of blue in it, so it didn't solve the "grey problem". Now I'm not going to switch them off permanently, they look beautiful, I just want the blue skies in between them back. Again, if this is a useless observation, please disregard. I just know from experience that you never know what might be helpful when you're troubleshooting.

Another thing that might be interesting is that I got an actual screenshot of what I've mentioned before where the skies are whitish/grey no matter what until the sun starts to set, when they return to the colors that you would expect under absolutely clear conditions on those latitudes:



Please note that the time indicator in the upper right has changed from "day" to "dusk" and that's all that has changed. Same patrol, same weather conditions, but the fluffies have disappeared and, more importantly, the blue has returned to the sky.

The only thing that changed was that I went from "day" to "dusk."

Again, I don't know if this helps at all, I'm just including it as another data point.

Thanks again for your efforts. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it, Herr Kaleun!

[misha1967]

A slight addendum to the above:

I saved and exited to post the post above, and when I reloaded, the "fluffies" were back but, and this is the important bit, the sky behind them and between them was still blue, the way it's supposed to be.

The "fluffies" which are, obviously, something built into the 3D clouds in the stock game meaning they'll be there even with "skies clear" weather reports are actually quite realistic. In that particular climate zone, and I speak as one who grew up there, completely clear skies without as much as a hint of "fluffies" is extremely rare and, besides, they look good as opposed to the 2D alternative.

But the ONLY time that the sky between the fluffies is the white/grey with perhaps a hint of blue in there is when the fog level is above "all clear", and that seems to be the problem here. Yes, even fog levels of, in sim terms, "1" will haze over the blue and make it whitish/grey, but when the fog is zero whatever you can see of the sky is a beautiful blue.

And apparently that changes in the sim when you shift from "day" to "dusk" into "night" and "dawn" and then turns whitish grey when you go back to "day".

It all has to do with the angle of the sun as defined in the EnvColor files, I'm sure.

[gap]

Originally Posted by misha1967

I don't know if they're useful, Gap, and if they're not please disregard and don't let it detract from the awesome job you're currently doing.

Again, I don't know if this helps at all, I'm just including it as another data point.

Thanks again for your efforts. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it, Herr Kaleun!

Hi Misha, thank you for your encouraging words and for your support!

Of course any suggestion is important, especially for me, since I am unable to notice problems, collect clues and test possible "theories" directly in game. So, please, keep on posting here any idea or glitch possibly related with DynEnv may occur to you!

Originally Posted by misha1967

It all has to do with the angle of the sun as defined in the EnvColor files, I'm sure.

Yes, I am resonably sure that the problem is there. Your last remarks, as well as the tests I've conducted with the help of Pedro, are confirming it: as grey skies are occurring only in some areas and in some times of the day, hopefully their cause must reside in colour settings for those zones and sun angles. Much easier than we had thought before

Of course other factors, as main color filter, sky shader, fog paramaters, may concur, but colour settings stand more obviously as the main factor, at least to my eyes

Before editing those colors I need for permission and headups by stoianm, who is the one who edited those parameters. In the meanwhile I am preparing a worksheet for viewing, compairing and editing colors in envcolors cfg file directly onscreen:



currently I am trying to improve it with a VBA macro that will show color changes on the worksheet in real time! The help by any Visual Basic expert here would be greatly appreciated!

[gap]

Originally Posted by tonschk

Hello there, using as usual the exact same historical mission, I added your Test patch as shown on the list attached below and now the mountains has snow also with Dynamic Environmental

Hi tonschk, thank you!

Don't forget that that patch is meant only for tests, not for realism.

Thanks to your test, now I know that the problem with snow resides partly in the tga map (whose editing is highly time-consuming ) and partly in season settings. Anyway I had a confirmation that, though requiring some fine tuning, my method of work on the tga map is giving its expected results ... with some side effects

After solving the problem of grey skies I'll focus on the snow issue and I'll prepare a proper "snow patch", even though it can take a while. I rely on your patience!

[pedrobas]

Originally Posted by gap

I rely on your patience!

And we rely on you !!

[Silent Steel]

Originally Posted by gap

I rely on your patience!

In Gap we trust

[Bothersome]

Just like to say, I've installed DE with the following MODs...

Remove Electric Torpedo Wakes=1
sobers see thru wake fix=2
Unterseeboot II SFX=3
Dynamic Environment SH5 Basemod (realistic version) V2.1=4
Dynamic Environment SH5 Sounds V2.1=5
Dynamic Environment SH5 Atlantic Floor V2.1=6
OPEN HORIZONS II_full v1.7=7
Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_byTheBeast=8
Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1=9
#Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1_HotFix=10

The only thing I can tell from just starting a new campaign because of just getting OH-II 1.7 is that the moon phases are still wrong.

I'm wondering how hard it would be to correct this?

Also if anyone knows of more tips for my MOD layout, please advise. Thanks

An much thanks to the MOD developers.

Well, back to the game...

[gap]

Originally Posted by Bothersome

moon phases are still wrong. I'm wondering how hard it would be to correct this?
Thanks

Hi Bothersome,

I've never payed attention to moon phases before, as I was thinking that DynEnv, as well as Real Environment, already contained the fix for it.

To answer to your question I need for some information.

If SH5 moonphases, as in reality, are cycling with a periodicity of 28 days, and they are just "misaligned", I can think of an easy method for realigning them, maybe with an error of ±21 h, if it is enough for you. I need just to know the offset: for instance by how many days full moon is late or early, compared to real astronomic calendar.
On the contrary, if the problem is that SH5 moonphases are not following the correct periodicity, I don't have any clue on where to put my hands...

[Solipsism]

New version looks great, thanks!

[pedrobas]

Originally Posted by Solipsism

New version looks great, thanks!

What new version?