Acadia
Well-Known Member
I feel a little geeky starting a flight sim thread, but I thought this is pretty useful for people using MSFS 2004 to practice instrument stuff.
One major flaw FS2004 has is that when using 2D clouds (rather than 3D ones that really gag most computers) the sim does not produce a solid overcast very well. When you are in a simulated cloud deck you can always kind of see the ground and you can see approach lights much too far away. If other folks have noticed this and are looking for a fix there is a very good work around.
A new set of textures for overcast cirrus clouds was made to create realistic (for a computer sim anyway) overcast clouds. The zip file contains instructions, but the basic procedure is to simply replace the 4 default overcast cirrus textures with these ones (back up the originals) and then create a 1foot thick layer of overcast cirrus directly under a larger overcast cumulus layer. So for example if an ILS has a DA of 283 set an overcast cirrus layer from 283 to 284 and then make a overcast cumulus layer from 284 to 10000 (or what ever).
The effect is pretty cool. You get a much more life like transition from clouds to being able to see the runway environment when practicing approach procedures. You also cant see the approach lights until the last second when they slowly fade into view (if you have set the visibility to the minimum).
Anyway I thought some folks here would find this helpful. I downloaded the Zip file for the clouds from Avsim.com, but I put it on my own server for folks here.
***Reminder these textures replace the 2D overcast cirrus clouds. You have to have simple clouds (not 3D) checked in your weather settings.
Zip File 493KB
One major flaw FS2004 has is that when using 2D clouds (rather than 3D ones that really gag most computers) the sim does not produce a solid overcast very well. When you are in a simulated cloud deck you can always kind of see the ground and you can see approach lights much too far away. If other folks have noticed this and are looking for a fix there is a very good work around.
A new set of textures for overcast cirrus clouds was made to create realistic (for a computer sim anyway) overcast clouds. The zip file contains instructions, but the basic procedure is to simply replace the 4 default overcast cirrus textures with these ones (back up the originals) and then create a 1foot thick layer of overcast cirrus directly under a larger overcast cumulus layer. So for example if an ILS has a DA of 283 set an overcast cirrus layer from 283 to 284 and then make a overcast cumulus layer from 284 to 10000 (or what ever).
The effect is pretty cool. You get a much more life like transition from clouds to being able to see the runway environment when practicing approach procedures. You also cant see the approach lights until the last second when they slowly fade into view (if you have set the visibility to the minimum).
Anyway I thought some folks here would find this helpful. I downloaded the Zip file for the clouds from Avsim.com, but I put it on my own server for folks here.
***Reminder these textures replace the 2D overcast cirrus clouds. You have to have simple clouds (not 3D) checked in your weather settings.
Zip File 493KB