Thank you everyone who was able to tune into the Live Dev Q&A! Here is the link to the VOD if you would like to watch it:
We have a new system where we will be adding answers to the questions asked so look out for a new category called “Live Dev Answers” to read through them. Here is the link: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/c/archives/live-dev-answers/215
Here are some questions and answers we didn’t have time for but they wanted to answer:
Q: Thunder is still problematic in some areas. Any thoughts?
A: We trigger thunder when the thunder probably received from Meteo Blue is high enough. With the update that we thought would fix the thunder, we increased the threshold to trigger thunder from 1% to 40%. This should have fixed a lot of cases but apparently not all. We will further increase that threshold to 45% with a further update. We are also in contact with Meteo Blue to discuss the issue and define the most optimal threshold.
Q: There has been much discussion concerning water and LOD issues, with the last Q&A addressing that no specific LOD changes were deliberately made.While some people are experiencing different levels of quality others are noting the trailers and world update videos seem to show levels of detail they cannot reproduce yet. Are there any plans to add more graphic setting variables so that people can adjust the sim to better fit what graphic details and quality levels are most important to them?
A: All our videos are recorded on a high end PC with out of the box Ultra Settings, some shots have settings below Ultra. But we have already said that as more and more optimizations come into the sim and higher hardware becomes available, we will add more options to push visual detail even higher.
Q: he sim uses OpenStreetMap data, can you tell us more about how (and which) OSM data are imported into the sim, and after which delay we should be able to see the changes in the sim after mapping/editing a building or a road in OSM
A: OSM data is not streamed live from OSM to the user. We take an instant snapshot of OSM, test it thoroughly, and then make it available to users. We update the OSM data when necessary but don’t have a pre established schedule. We are looking to collaborate with OSM more in the future.