Clouds are Very Poor Quality in the Distance

[dectenor1]

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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:

There is a bug where clouds in the distance are displayed with incredibly poor quality even on ULTRA settings.

This must be a bug as it was not like this in MSFS2020, where the clouds were good quality to the horizon, therefore, a regression that has slipped through. It can’t be intended to be like this as they just don’t look like clouds, in the same way that if an aircraft did not look like an aircraft it would be a bug.

They are always extremely low resolution blobs that are almost translucent.

Sometimes you do not notice this as there are clouds in the way blocking the view of the distant clouds.

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?

Yes, it happens with a default installation.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?

Every flight when there are clouds in the distance.

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

1. Fly around and notice the clouds in the distance (if they are not blocked by
   by clouds closer obscuring the view of them) are extremely low quality.

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:

Keyboard, Mouse, Logitech Yoke and Throttle, Thrustmaster TCA Pack, Thrustmaster TFRP Rudder Pedals.

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?

No changes

[PC Only] Many issues may be due to an outdated graphics card. Please state your Graphics Card Driver Manufacturer (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD) and Version:

Nvidia Latest Drivers, but has occurred on all drivers used since release of the sim.

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

5800X3D, RTX4090, 64GB RAM

MEDIA

There are many screenshots below, in some of them, you can even see a definite line where the clouds lose all of their quality.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
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[SGTDESBO4159]

The cloud rendering in MSFS 2024 is a significant step backward compared to MSFS 2020. Despite running on Ultra settings, distant clouds appear as low-resolution, translucent blobs that lack definition and realism. In MSFS 2020, clouds retained their quality even at the horizon, making this a clear regression rather than an intentional downgrade. The degradation is particularly noticeable when there are no closer clouds to mask the issue. Given that realistic weather depiction is a cornerstone of flight simulation, this needs urgent attention. The current implementation fails to capture the depth, density, and structure of real clouds, breaking immersion and making the sky look artificial. It’s baffling that in 2025, with modern hardware such as the RTX 4090, the sim still struggles with proper cloud rendering. This issue must be rectified to maintain the fidelity that MSFS is known for. May I also add that we require accurate cloud depictions, including CBs, TCUs, and other realistic formations, rather than the current unrealistic, shaving foam-like representations?

[dectenor1]

And again today.

[dectenor1]

Horrible low resolution clouds in the distance as always.

Please fix, this is a clear regression from MSFS 2020 in terms of cloud quality.

[dectenor1]

It is just awful.

[dectenor1]

More terrible clouds in the distance, the quality is abysmal on ULTRA settings.

[dectenor1]

Some more nice ones today

[ComfyClover4141]

Clouds in the distance have far lower level of detail (as if they were on the MEDIUM/LOW setting). Volumetric clouds are at ultra for me atm.
I think prioritizing compute for rendering the atmosphere is super important for a flight sim, and better resolution on the clouds would go a long way to make the sim look great.

[dectenor1]

Yep, it is so bad isn’t it.

I don’t understand how they let through such a large regression, and also how there aren’t more people reporting this.

[davegranstrom16]

In 2020 it all is fine, so perhaps it was an exaggerated effort by Asobo to lower Cloud LODs in the distance so FPS is higher? Gee, that’s some optimization there.

[dectenor1]

Well whatever it is, it looks absolutely dreadful. A massive step backwards, and one that needs to be removed.

[dectenor1]

Really low quality clouds in the distance again.

Please put this back to how it was in MSFS2020, it was much better.

A new sim should be a step forward, not backwards.

[dectenor1]

Beautiful Alpine crossing

Ruined by hideous clouds.

[dectenor1]

You can 100% see the reduction in cloud quality with distance here

[SlabsFly]

Hmm, I generally find that the representation of clouds is acceptable to me. I certainly do not see the “blobbiness” that is present in a number of your images. Some general examples that I tried to scrounge together quickly:

[dectenor1]

Yes, but a lot of these photos there are clouds in the way blocking the view of the one’s in the distance.

And of course, sometimes the atmospheric conditions mask the issue because of lighting or soemthing. But the issue is there in the sim, I see it on streams as well.

Of course also looking at a small screenshot with reduced quality makes it hard to see as well.

[dectenor1]

For example I am flying now and I don’t see the issue.

Because the atmospheric and weather conditions cover it up.

But you can see the issue even in the weather presets, few clouds for example.

[dectenor1]

More today

[SGTDESBO4159]

C’mon MS sort this out please!

[davegranstrom16]

Oh no… I hope this is a one-time issue on my end…

This is MSFS2020