Haze Layer Still shows up Abruptly

Bug Reporting Hub Resolved
1

:wave: Thank you using the Bug section, using templates provided will greatly help the team reproducing the issue and ease the process of fixing it.

Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

NO

Brief description of the issue:

While the release notes say: Added interpolation out of METAR data when getting away from the METAR data (distance, altitude or time), the haze layer still shows up abruptly and there is no transition.

Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

Provide coordinates (DevMode > Options > Display position)

Provide time & date of the observed Weather issue

11:45pm Pacific Standard Time, at OIKB

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Try flying to any airport with haze layer

PC specs and/or peripheral set up if relevant:

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute on this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

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

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

2

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

Yes

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

I did some testflights and I also still notice aprupt weather changes (when using live weather). For example the day before yesterday I flew in the Los Angeles Area (started at KLAX, then over Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, downton LA, …) and had two sudden noticable weather changes (one over the Observatory and one a little later over downton LA).

The overall weather change was not dramatic - but the visibility changed and some low level clouds disapeared …

DX12, DLSS?

This was with DX12, DLSS enabled (quality)

PC specs:

  • CPU: i9-9900 @ 4.7GHz all core
  • RAM: 64 GB DDR4 @ 3733MT/s
  • GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X (Driver version 512.95)
  • Sim Version: SU10 beta, steam version
  • OS version: latest Win 10 pro (up to date)
  • Sim installed on 2TB nvme SSD
3

Yes I’m getting this too, now another thing is the haze layer only circles around the airport METAR radius and the rest looks much more clear… dont think thats how its supposed to be… the airport METAR and Live weather should work together and blend in much better. The effect is amazing though.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Screenshot 2022.07.14 - 20.35.25.06
Microsoft Flight Simulator Screenshot 2022.07.14 - 20.35.25.061920Ă—1080 97.2 KB

1 Like
4

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

Yes

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

youtu.be/71nYRu2_Os0
Repro steps used in this video:

  • Select any aircraft. Set departure to VOBL RWY 9L. Set weather to live. Select any time, preferably something that gives you daylight.
  • Fly (or slew if you want to save time) east along runway heading. VOBL will most likely have fog. The transition out of this area to clear visibility is smooth. As you flybeast, you head towards VOMM, which also typically has a fog layer. However, the sim does not render this fog/haze layer from a distance as it comes up the horizon and you have line if sight to it. Instead, as you near it, it abruptly draws the fog all around you (including behind you). Basically, the transition from an area of clear visibility to that with fog is abrupt.
3 Likes
5

Exactly my pet peeve at the moment. Kills immersion.

Also - the haze layer does not blend well with some airport objects and some buildings - it’s like there is an odd layer discrepency where the haze is sometimes covering the object and sometimes not…even see this on some tree objects…

3 Likes
6

I’m actually not sure what that video is showing, what happens if you fly at normal speed instead of slewing around?

I’ve not seen any sudden appearance of fog in the beta yet, but will keep an eye out.

7

Happened to me last night - all clear and suddenly all hazy in 1 second. Came out of nowhere. I was going normal speed…

This NEVER used to happen prior to SU7 - why can’t they just revert this METAR nonsense.

3 Likes
8

Does anyone have a theory on what causes these visible transitions?

I can understand when it happens if the weather data updates, but why does haze for example suddenly appear when entering a different area?

Regardless of the weather source, the haze should already be visible from a distance. Why the sudden change?

9

You move from a location where the weather is predicted by a model, to a area where it is observed. They don’t always match.

10

Skip to 3:20. You will see the fog abruptly pop up all around you. My apologies for not trimming down the video.

You can fly instead of slewing at any airspeed you want and this popping will still happen.

11

Even so, the haze should be visible from a distance blended with the surrounding predicted weather. Right now it seems to pop up when moving across the observed-predicted weather boundary.

3 Likes
12

Exactly. Basically, both the physics and the graphical rendering of the weather must be interpolated as one transitions from an area where weather is predicted to an area where weather is directly obtained from METAR.

I understand why the METAR weather depiction was introduced - to ensure consistent weather for online users using VATSIM. However, it feels like a major regression for someone like me who does not fly online. I wish there was an option to opt-in or opt-out of this model depending on the kind of flying you do, similar to the DX12 mode. Once the METAR implementation is in a good state, they could remove that option and deprecate the old weather model.

3 Likes
13

Yes, of course. But this has been discussed for months on the forum. The merge between METAR and prediction is not good enough yet.
Hopefully this will blend better in the future.

1 Like
14

It wasn’t just for VatSim—having accurate weather that matches METARs is a huge deal for those of us who are real pilots and those who wish to fly more realistically. Personally, I found not encountering expected weather at the airport far more immersion breaking than the occasional pop-in. I will also add the irl, the boundaries between weather conditions can be very abrupt. Honestly, I’ve found the METAR blending to generally be good and I only rarely encounter pop in changes. I believe that Asobo is continuing to work on that so hopefully it will get even better. Btw, not trying to invalidate your complaint, just offering a different perspective :blush:.

2 Likes
15

The release notes for sim Update 10 beta state that the weather system now interpolates out of regions with METAR. In fact, this is the very first item listed under weather in the release notes. Unfortunately, it is clearly not working as stated. Hence, we report this again in the beta feedback.

3 Likes
16

I am a real world pilot too, and I am also instrument rated. To me, the smooth weather transition is more important than accuracy of depiction. Besides, the encountered weather seldom matches forecast weather. But to each his own, and I understand your expectations are different that mine, and I accept that. I just wish both use cases are supported.

Also, interpolation of cloud coverage seems seamless. It is the transition in visibility/fog/haze that is abrupt.

5 Likes
17

Yeah, it would be ideal if Asobo would provide options instead of making wholesale changes. While I appreciate having matching METAR, the real problem is the inability to get wx information out of the sim. I don’t necessarily need to have the weather match real life, but I do need “accurate” forecasting and wx info at the field for flight planning and to know whether I should even start an approach. Thanks for sharing that you have your instrument rating. I do too, so it is interesting to see the difference in perspective.

3 Likes
18

I saw clouds change quite abruptly yesterday. One second, broken ceiling around 6000 ft, the next, scattered clouds much higher with a lot of blue sky.

19

Yeah, I can’t figure out what the deal is because sometimes the transition is good and other times it is pop in. I’m wondering if it is affected by LOD? I lowered mine recently so I’ll be interested to see if I get more pop-ins.

20

What you stated is a very valid use case.

I kind of treat the inaccurate weather like how I plan for a flight in real life. I do the planning at home, then drive to the airport, and the weather is worse than forecast. What do I do? Or the weather is as/better than forecast and I do the flight. But I encounter unforecast enroute/destination weather, and it is worse than forecast. What do I do? Basically, I treat the inaccuracies in the weather depiction in the sim as unforecast weather. For planning, I use the official weather sources (NOAA aviationweather). Sure, the sim may not match this, but to me, that is unforecast weather.

But I do understand your point, and it would be great to have it in the sim.