Bring back sky and weather from 0.63 beta

[ADSL4678 7]

Dear developers, please give us back the sky and weather from 0.63 beta. They were great - it greatly increased the attractiveness and atmosphere of the game. What we have now is just zero compared to the sky from 0.63 From a technical aspect, I think it will not be so difficult, since 0.63 is already enfusion, there are a lot of references to SimulWeather in the 1.19 code, 0.63 files are in the public domain.

@Kyiara

[ADSL4678 7]

I hope the developers read this. I think the atmosphere is a very important part of the game.

[Kyiara 789]

18 hours ago, ADSL4678 said:

I hope the developers read this. I think the atmosphere is a very important part of the game.

We do read this, but due to various reasons, this is not being planned.
Sorry

[Derleth 1357]

10 minutes ago, Kyiara said:

We do read this, but due to various reasons, this is not being planned.
Sorry

Aye, it is a dead horse I return to beating once in a while. I know Adam has said it will not be done, and I am aware of the reasons the volumetric clouds were removed in 1.02 - and they were very valid at the time.

However! The team really should take a close look at some of the mods modifying the skybox and lighting that have appeared, and take inspiration to make what improvements are possible. You even mentioned Lad's Lighting Overhaul in the Community Spotlight so it is obvious you are aware they exist - so there is really no valid reason for the vanilla game to still have such bland lighting and skybox. It can be vastly improved even without putting volumetric clouds back in, so why not do that?

As for the proper volumetric clouds, I am confident a way to eventually implement them in some way can be found - at the very least you could explore a way to make it possible to add with mods. Because, to be perfectly honest, the Skybox in DayZ is extremely low quality as is, keeping it unchanged should not even be an alternative.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Derleth

[Kathosky 119]

Immersion always has been such an important aspect in DayZ. If the volumetric clouds cannot be reimplemented at least improve the skybox (specially at night looks horrible) as Derleth also suggests naming some example mods that already do something about it.

By the way, first post reminded me to a one I made some months ago that starts the same way 😂

 

[Derleth 1357]

As clarification to the OP I can add to that simulweather was not only removed from the game, but the supporting code enabling it has been removed too. I was informed of this when I approached a modder to try and mod the proper clouds in. The current game engine simply does not support them, there are references and leftover comments here and there, but no there is no easy way to get them back. And it is a damn shame.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Derleth

[ADSL4678 7]

On 2/3/2023 at 4:37 PM, Derleth said:

As clarification to the OP I can add to that simulweather was not only removed from the game, but the supporting code enabling it has been removed too. I was informed of this when I approached a modder to try and mod the proper clouds in. The current game engine simply does not support them, there are references and leftover comments here and there, but no there is no easy way to get them back. And it is a damn shame.

 

 

Strange. The game engine since 0.63 is enfusion. In my opinion, if the engine is the same and it worked then, then it can work now. Moreover, Arma Reforger also uses enfusion and there are quite good volumetric clouds.

[ADSL4678 7]

On 2/3/2023 at 3:10 PM, Kyiara said:

We do read this, but due to various reasons, this is not being planned.
Sorry

Please do it. Without it, the game looks inferior. The current sky looks like a cheap decaration. In terms of synchronization and performance, one could use solutions from Arma Reforger - it seems like the same engine (enfusion) there. Moreover, if this is the question, I think that many players are even willing to sacrifice weather synchronization for the sake of a complete survival atmosphere.

[John Maynard 31]

What exactly would it be interesting to change in the sky?

[Derleth 1357]

8 hours ago, John Maynard said:

What exactly would it be interesting to change in the sky?

If you need to ask that there is probably no answer that will make you care, but I will try anyway. The sky is part of the visual presentation of the game, and the current sky looks bad - really bad. And because of that it makes the game as a whole look dated, because the skybox is a low quality pixel mush that could be taken straight from some 1990:s shooter. 

Interestingly, during the entire alpha stage and initial release - until the 1.02 patch specifically - the game had great looking skies. Volumetric clouds interact with lighting in a way that two-dimensional textures (as are currently used) simply can't. With 2D clouds light diffusion is severely limited and there can be no shadows from the clouds - while volumetric clouds can obscure the sun and stars creating varied lighting conditions depending on the weather. In the current weather model all that happens is that the ambient lighting is slightly affected by the % of overcast, since there are no "real" clouds there can be no other interaction.

In the 1.02 patch the simulweather sky was ripped out and replaced with the current flat textures. This was made because low-end systems (blame consoles...) had performance issues, and due to this the weather was often desynced creating situations where every player in a group would see different weather - while on the server it could be something else entirely. Examples are ghost rain - you get wet even though the sky is clear - or pouring rain that doesn't get you wet. At that stage in the game's post release development the team didn't have time or resources to deal with the issue, so they simply ripped the clouds out. The decision was understandable, but ultimately it made the game look worse.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Derleth

[Kathosky 119]

I return to this thread due to the latest official calendars that have been posted on Twitter. If it is true that the sky box is being reworked, even the night dome, I am very excited!

[ADSL4678 7]

Many thanks to the developers for the new skybox. This will definitely bring a little newness to the game. However, the issue of the return of volumetric clouds and more complex and variable weather (as in 0.62 or 0.63) remains relevant. And several interesting photoshop selections.

p.s. I saw at the end of the developers' stream that the clouds are now moving!!! Thank you dear developers, you are the best!!!