RWC Weather Change Question

[777]

Quote

 

Hi, 

 I was flying around KSNA yesterday and the clear blue sky turned to overcast instantly, i flew back where i came from and it changed back instantly to a clear sky. 

Is that still a limitation?  I was under the impression that things popping in and out instantly was a thing of the past with RWC.

Thanks.

Edited April 16, 2016 by 777

[Vantskruv]

Yes, thought it too.

[sundog]

2 hours ago, 777 said:

Hi, 

 I was flying around KSNA yesterday and the clear blue sky turned to overcast instantly, i flew back where i came from and it changed back instantly to a clear sky. 

Is that still a limitation?  I was under the impression that things popping in and out instantly was a thing of the past with RWC.

Thanks.

In general, no - the whole point of RWC is to render complex weather formations around you, and normally that's what it does.

We'd have to see your log.txt to understand what's going on for sure, but my guess would be that you crossed a boundary within X-plane where their internal coordinate system changes. It has to do with how X-Plane corrects for a flat-Earth model as your move across a round Earth. When this happens, it can shift the weather patterns on us. These boundaries are very far apart, but if you happen to be near one that's probably what it is.

[777]

Hi,

I will make sure to send a log when I see the overcast sky disappear or suddenly appear again.

In the mean time, here's another log from a few moments ago.   Flying from Dublin to Shannon

I don't know if it's a related problem.

all the clouds suddenly disappear and then re materialize.

It happened once or twice on the way and then twice close to shannon just before I closed xplane.

It happened twice in quick succession.  all a bit strange... 

Thanks.

Log.txt

[777]

Hi,

Just did another test flight between edinburg & glasgow.

Another issue I've found is that visibility will instantly increase/decrease at a certain point, no smooth transition like I'd have expected.

Thanks

 

 

[sundog]

RWC only positions clouds; we don't do anything to visibility. Visibility changes are coming from your weather engine, or X-Plane's built in weather.

[sundog]

3 hours ago, 777 said:

Hi,

I will make sure to send a log when I see the overcast sky disappear or suddenly appear again.

In the mean time, here's another log from a few moments ago.   Flying from Dublin to Shannon

I don't know if it's a related problem.

all the clouds suddenly disappear and then re materialize.

It happened once or twice on the way and then twice close to shannon just before I closed xplane.

It happened twice in quick succession.  all a bit strange... 

Thanks.

Log.txt

My guess was correct. You'll see this line a couple of times in your log:

SkyMaxx Pro: Coordinate system changed; recreating weather.

That means we crossed a boundary where X-Plane changed its coordinate system, and we had to regenerate the clouds in order to properly position them again. What probably happened is that you flew across a corner of one of X-Plane's grid cells that define a given coordinate system, which led to this happening a couple of times as you flew into the corner of another frame of reference and then back out of it.

Like I said, these boundaries are pretty far apart, so this isn't something that happens often - you just got unlucky in your location. I've actually talked to Laminar about finding a better way to deal with this case, and it's hard to say the least. But it's something I'll be looking into for future revisions.

 

[777]

Hi Frank,

thanks for your reply.  i look forward to your future updates.

x-plane is a great simulator but it also has its limitations and I can sympathize with add on developers like yourself when you're constrained by the limits of the sim itself.

I appreciate your work, skymaxx is looking better than ever, the new landing light effects through the clouds are captivating and really add to the feeling of depth passing through the clouds.

Regards

Steve.

 

 

[ONDR4.cz]

Thanks for the clarification Frank, I too seem to be "lucky" to have such boundaries in my area. I don't know about "pretty far apart" though. I flew in a straight line on HDG approx. 230 and according to the log "Coordinate system changed; recreating weather." appeared twice within 2 minutes (which I witnessed in-flight as well). Are the grid cells the same size as the ortophoto sceneries for example? Which are 1x1 degree tiles I think.

[sundog]

I'm not sure if they are aligned with 1x1 degree cells but they may be. Like I said before, if you flew across the corner of one of these cells you could see two different coordinate system changes in a short distance.