In part 1 I covered adding in wind layers and in part 2 I introduced the different cloud types. In this part I will provide some examples which, through experimentation, I believe are safe for use. Mostly though, this part is intended for use by campaign mission makers and designers.
Links for the earlier parts can be found below:
http://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v ... f=5&t=8360
http://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v ... =48&t=8373
First off, let’s recap the rules:
Rule No.1: Except for Wind, don’t try and use the FMB to edit weather. Add it to your mission file using a text editor like Notepad.
Rule No.2: Keep winds at airfield level at or below a strength of 5m/s.
Rule No.3: Add as many Local Weather areas as you need for the duration of the mission.
Rule No.4: Do not overlap Local Weather areas.
I believe these rules are still valid for the recently released v4.5 and are pragmatic at the time of writing. I’m going to add another one, since a bug in v4.5 (and earlier) can cause clouds to fully occult when viewed at certain angles. This will definitely occur if you max things out – so the new rule is:
Rule No.5: Experiment, keep it simple and thoroughly test the clouds in the mission before using it.
Weather Briefing
For server and campaign missions I would recommend (for immersion), briefing and presenting meteorological data as it would have been to airmen during the battle. I haven’t found historical data for the Luftwaffe but I imagine it would have been similar to the RAF - which has been the source of my understanding.
In an RAF Sector Control Operations room the wind forecast was represented on 6 circle boards to the side of the Tote board. Each circle board showed the wind for a 5000ft height layer, with the surface to 5000ft circle board being the lowest. The photograph isn't that clear but the wind strength in mph and gusts were chalked into the circle and an arrow on the outside of the circle could be moved around the board to indicate the direction the wind was blowing from.
The upper circle boards, e.g. at the higher altitudes, may not have been filled in if they were not known.
Below the Tote board were indicators for the cloud layers, both base and tops. In addition, at Uxbridge there is a visibility board – although unfortunately we can’t adjust the visibility in v4.5. We can but hope for v5.0... (can you imagine having only 2 miles of visibility?)
For our purposes I suggest the wind is documented in the mission briefing something like this:
Code: Select all
STRONG WIND WRNG: NIL.
WINDS:
GROUND: 270/15MPH
5000FT: 280/30MPH
10000FT: 280/35MPH
15000FT: 315/40MPH
20000FT:
25000FT:
Cloud base can be set within the mission file and should therefore also be part of the briefing. Normally the weather would be reported in zones and at each sector control station. Today we use Octas for sky coverage, i.e. 8/8 would be total clouds. In 1941 they used Tenths. If we use just global weather (which is safe to use), I think WeatherIndex=1 would translate to around 2/10 and WeatherIndex=2 would be 5/10.
Such a briefing could be something like:
Code: Select all
WEATHER-CONDITIONS: 1 AREA AT 0800:
AREA 1: S OF A LINE FROM BOURNEMOUTH TO SOUTHEND.
VISIBILITY 30M, WITH 2/10 BROKEN 1000FT/2000.
WRNG: NIL
Wind
Below are a couple of wind examples which could be added safely into campaign or server missions, together with suitable RAF and LW briefings. Noting that the prevailing wind for the UK is Westerly. In the examples which follow, all are I believe safe for use with the WeatherIndex set to 0, 1 or 2.
Wind Example 1
South Westerly winds, increasing in strength from 5kts at ground level up to 30kts above 10K ft.
RAF Briefing:
Code: Select all
STRONG WIND WRNG: NIL.
WINDS:
GROUND: 225/16MPH
5000FT: 210/20MPH
10000FT: 210/35MPH
15000FT: 215/40MPH
20000FT:
25000FT:
Code: Select all
STRONG WIND WRNG: NIL.
WINDS:
GROUND: 225/9KPH
1000M: 210/28KPH
2000M: 210/28KPH
4000M: 215/56KPH
6000M:
8000M:
Code: Select all
[GlobalWind_0]
Power 1.768 1.768 0.000
BottomBound 0.00
TopBound 152.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_1]
Power 5.445 5.445 0.000
BottomBound 151.00
TopBound 3048.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_2]
Power 10.607 10.607 0.000
BottomBound 3047.00
TopBound 6096.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
North Westerly backing winds (e.g. turning anti-clockwise with height), increasing in strength from 5kts at ground level up to 50kts above 12K ft.
RAF Briefing:
Code: Select all
STRONG WIND WRNG: ABOVE 10000FT EXPC GRTR 60MPH.
WINDS:
GROUND: 320/16MPH
5000FT: 300/45MPH
10000FT: 280/50MPH
15000FT: 270/60MPH
20000FT:
25000FT:
Code: Select all
STRONG WIND WRNG: ABOVE 10000FT EXPC GRTR 60MPH.
WINDS:
GROUND: 320/9KPH
1000M: 300/45KPH
2000M: 280/75KPH
4000M: 270/90KPH
6000M:
8000M:
Code: Select all
[GlobalWind_0]
Power 1.5 -2.598 0.000
BottomBound 0.00
TopBound 122.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_1]
Power 9.192 -9.192 0.000
BottomBound 121.00
TopBound 920.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_2]
Power 15.588 -9.000 0.000
BottomBound 919.00
TopBound 2400.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_3]
Power 20.284 -5.435 0.000
BottomBound 2399.00
TopBound 3600.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
[GlobalWind_4]
Power 26.000 0.000 0.000
BottomBound 3599.00
TopBound 9150.00
GustPower 1
GustAngle 0
Regarding adding in Local Weather, my recommendation is to keep it to a minimum. In my experimentation, there often isn’t a lot of visual difference between settings but there is on performance – especially for players with lower spec. machines. I would recommend only using the CUMULUS_GEN type or the THUNDER_GEN type – and the latter is best used with a smaller base area and a large height, mixed in with WeatherIndex=2, e.g.
As per rule 1, add the clouds using a text editor outside of the FMB and save the mission. You can safely move the positions of the Local Weather areas in the FMB – just don’t go into their properties.
Cloud Example 1
Four large cumulus field placed around the SE corner of England and NW corner of France. Cloud base varies between 650ft (200m) and 3300ft (1000m).
Mission Code:
Code: Select all
[WeatherFront]
LocalWeather_0 CUMULUS_GEN 20000 20000 241675.85 252407.97 0 0
LocalWeather_1 CUMULUS_GEN 20000 20000 194985.80 250828.14 0 0
LocalWeather_2 CUMULUS_GEN 20000 20000 285522.26 219803.40 0 0
LocalWeather_3 CUMULUS_GEN 20000 20000 220948.71 199526.56 0 0
[LocalWeather_0]
EllipticA 20000
EllipticB 20000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 200
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 10
RainPower 10
ThermalIntensity 10
CloudsDensity 10
MidSize 10
[LocalWeather_1]
EllipticA 20000
EllipticB 20000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 1000
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 9
RainPower 10
ThermalIntensity 9
CloudsDensity 6
MidSize 9
[LocalWeather_2]
EllipticA 20000
EllipticB 20000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 600
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 9
RainPower 10
ThermalIntensity 9
CloudsDensity 8
MidSize 9
[LocalWeather_3]
EllipticA 20000
EllipticB 20000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 600
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 8
RainPower 10
ThermalIntensity 9
CloudsDensity 8
MidSize 9
Three thunder cloud cells placed mid channel. Cloud base is 1600ft (500m) and the cell tops extend to 18000ft (5500m).
I would always recommend keeping EvenLayers=1 and TotalLayers=6, e.g. don’t increase them beyond these. The base area could be changed, but I wouldn’t recommend increasing it above a radius of 20000.
Mission Code:
Code: Select all
[WeatherFront]
LocalWeather_0 THUNDER_GEN 3000 3000 243301.83 212704.91 0 0
LocalWeather_1 THUNDER_GEN 3000 3000 249212.00 206989.18 0 0
LocalWeather_2 THUNDER_GEN 3000 3000 236216.88 217309.47 0 0
[LocalWeather_0]
EllipticA 3000
EllipticB 3000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 500
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 0
RainPower 0
FrontThickness 5000
FrontWindMaxHorSpeedNear 15
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedUp 30
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedDown 20
FrontWindMaxTurbInClouds 15
FrontWindMaxTurbInSquallZone 20
EvenLayers 1
TotalLayers 6
IsThunder False
[LocalWeather_1]
EllipticA 3000
EllipticB 3000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 500
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 0
RainPower 0
FrontThickness 5000
FrontWindMaxHorSpeedNear 15
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedUp 30
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedDown 20
FrontWindMaxTurbInClouds 15
FrontWindMaxTurbInSquallZone 20
EvenLayers 1
TotalLayers 6
IsThunder False
[LocalWeather_2]
EllipticA 3000
EllipticB 3000
RotAngle 0
ShiftX 0
ShiftY 0
BaseHeight 500
IsRain 0
IsDynamicEnabled 0
ParticipType 1
DropSize 0
RainPower 0
FrontThickness 5000
FrontWindMaxHorSpeedNear 15
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedUp 30
FrontWindMaxVertSpeedDown 20
FrontWindMaxTurbInClouds 15
FrontWindMaxTurbInSquallZone 20
EvenLayers 1
TotalLayers 6
IsThunder False
So that concludes part 3. Since adding clouds can have an adverse impact on the frames per second, players should be aware of how to configure their graphics settings appropriately. At the time of writing, my own PC is an i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, nVidia GTX970 1920x1080 @ 60Hz, Windows 10.
Here are my in-game graphics settings:
And here are my nVidia settings:
Personally I don’t get hung up on fps. So long as things are smooth and there is no jitter I’m happy with anything above 30fps. Even with heavy clouds the lowest I have seen is around 35fps – so it pays to experiment and if you are putting weather into missions, to consider that others may have lower specification machines than your own.