Is FSUIPC a fix for vis issues

[ismetm]

As many others I find the sudden visibilty changes in FS2004 the one thing that can destroy that feeling of immersion in the sim. Specifically, the experience of climbing through a layer of limited visibility only to suddenly hit a layer of unlimited visibility and all that limited visibilty below is lost but should appear as a low vis layer below. Instead there is all the landscape below me in glorious, or in my view, not so glorious technicolor. I would like to use FSMetar to fly with real weather but always have max visibilty at all altitudes fixed to what I think is a good compromise of 30 miles. To my eyes this recreates a 'realistic' experience of flight (in Northern Europe at least. My question is, can FSUIPC fix it so that a program like FSMetar or similar cannot overide the max visibilty that I set beforehand? If so I'm purchasing immediately!! I tried the seaches but couldn't be sure from old posts whether this was truly possible. Many thanks for any guidance.

Cheers

IsmetM

[Pete Dowson]

As many others I find the sudden visibilty changes in FS2004 the one thing that can destroy that feeling of immersion in the sim. Specifically, the experience of climbing through a layer of limited visibility only to suddenly hit a layer of unlimited visibility and all that limited visibilty below is lost but should appear as a low vis layer below.

Yes. Actually, Microsoft tried to address that by placing a very thin layer of cloud on top of the visibility layer, but only when that is 10 miles or less. Unfortunately it looks very odd from above and most folks would prefer they hadn't tried!

FSUIPC's graduated visibility facility does provide a more realistic graduation of the visibility -- with that, the layer effectively extends all the way up, but increases in range according to parameters you set. By the time you get to an altitude which has, say, not unlimited, but possibly 50 or 60 miles, the ground below is suitably blurry in any case simply by virtue of altitude and, often, clouds.

I would like to use FSMetar to fly with real weather but always have max visibilty at all altitudes fixed to what I think is a good compromise of 30 miles. To my eyes this recreates a 'realistic' experience of flight (in Northern Europe at least.

Well, it certainly wouldn't always be realistic in my part of Northern Europe! ;-) A visibility of 30 miles is certainly quite common, once you get above the murk, but it is often much less that that, and sometimes (especially at this time of year) at lot higher. From my own experiences flying a light aircraft you often get a distinct boundary above which the visibilty is good (yes, even looking down) and below which it is murky. I suppose it is the angle through which you are looking when above this layer -- in most aircraft you rarely if ever are able to look straight down (unless you are in trouble or performing aerobatics of course). ;-)

My question is, can FSUIPC fix it so that a program like FSMetar or similar cannot overide the max visibilty that I set beforehand?

It sounds like you want to set a MINIMUM visibility of 30 miles, not a maximum. Yes, FSUIPC does offer a minimum (normally set to zero), but obviously if you use that you will never get mists or fogs.

As for the maximum, FSUIPC offers surface maxima related to clouds/rain and graduation to an upper altitude maxima. The only maximum it cannot override is the drawing distances for clouds and scenery which you may have set in Options-Settings-Display.

If so I'm purchasing immediately!! I tried the seaches but couldn't be sure from old posts whether this was truly possible.

Why search? Don't rush to buy anything. Before you buy, please download the FSUIPC ZIP (http://www.schiratti.com/dowson) and read through the user documentation. That really is the definitive source for the description of what it can do. I don't want you rushing and spending money then regretting it.

There is also a new version available for testing, with new facilities as well, but none concerning the weather. Details of these are placed in Announcements at the top of this Forum.

Regards,

Pete

[ismetm]

"Well, it certainly wouldn't always be realistic in my part of Northern Europe! Wink A visibility of 30 miles is certainly quite common, once you get above the murk". . . you clearly don't live in Devon then :D .

Thanks for your swift reply Peter. I didn't think of reading the documentation. . . . . why ever not!!? duh! :? I will indeed. My assumption has been that, if there is vis control like the sort I'm looking for, it would only be with a registered version of FSUIPC :D

What I want to do is achieve a situation where visibility can be anything from 0 to about 30 miles. The way I've dealt with it is to set my own weather parameters which always includes a 30 mile vis. Not ideal but at least it avoids that dreaded thing.

Anything more than 30 miles in FS looks unrealistic to me. Anything more and that 'distance haze' you get even on a clear day is missing. That is on the ground. Of course at altitude the situation is different as you point out but that sudden shift to unlimited vis after climbing through a limited vis is the thing I hate.

[Pete Dowson]

My assumption has been that, if there is vis control like the sort I'm looking for, it would only be with a registered version of FSUIPC

Yes, that is so. But the documentation is free to read either way! :-)

What I want to do is achieve a situation where visibility can be anything from 0 to about 30 miles.

Ahthat's an upper limit of 30, not a minimum of 30. Sorry, I misunderstood.

Yes, you can set a surface limit of 30 and have that "graduated" to an upper altitude limit of 30 too. But I think you might find it a little wrong when cruising at 35000 feet! If you only fly GA VFR then maybe a surface limit of 10-20 depending on the cloud density, and a graduated going up to, say 40 or 50 at 15000 feet. Try FSUIPC with the recommended defaults first, then play with them.

Of course at altitude the situation is different as you point out but that sudden shift to unlimited vis after climbing through a limited vis is the thing I hate.

That is exactly what the "graduated visibility" option is designed to avoid.

Regards,

Pete

[ismetm]

Peter wrote:

"That is exactly what the "graduated visibility" option is designed to avoid."

That's it Peter. That's exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.

Yes, you're right in saying that a max vis at 35000' is not quite right but I prefer that to the totally unrealistic unlimited vis. I guess I'm a fan of limited vis because it lends an 'atmosphere' to FS which I enjoy. I also like flying at dawn and dusk too, again because of the 'atmosphere' it imparts. . . it's an aesthetic consideration rather than one of accuracy.

Anyway, Peter thanks for you patience in helping me.

IsmetM

Devon UK. :D

[ismetm]

Hi again Pete

A picture tells a thousand words. The shot on Avsim of the latest FSX screenshots illustrates perfectly what I wish was achievable in FS9. The aircraft is at high altitude way above limited vis, but the limited vis is clearly visible as a haze layer below. Looks like the issue has been fixed for FSX.

Here's the link to the screenshot:

http://fsinsider.com/puget+sound.htm.

It's the last pic on the right on the top row in case the link doesn't work.

Best wishes

IsmetM

Devon, UK