New cloud setting sometimes don't show

[CATIII]

Hi folks,

I have written my own program to control weather in FS2002. You can have a look at it here: http://www.unixland.de/ios/weather.jpg

Although the tool works quite well, I have a small problem when setting new clouds:

Cloud layers and properties are 'injected' properly, i.e. I can see them in Peter Dowson's WeatherSet.exe exactly as I put them in. But mostly they don't appear visually in FS :( :( :(. Sometimes they appear but obviously with the wrong layer setting. I wonder why FS does not generate clouds as commanded although those cloud layers also appear in FS' environment menus.

Is there anything I forgot to activate or similar? Any help would be very appreciated since I spent hours and hours with this until now. Thank you!

CATIII

[Pete Dowson]

Cloud layers and properties are 'injected' properly, i.e. I can see them in Peter Dowson's WeatherSet.exe exactly as I put them in. But mostly they don't appear visually in FS :( :( :(. Sometimes they appear but obviously with the wrong layer setting. I wonder why FS does not generate clouds as commanded although those cloud layers also appear in FS' environment menus.

Not really heard of such problems in FS2002 (plenty of "interesting" complications like that in FS2004), but you do need to make sure that local weather settings are clear first.

How are you "injecting" these clouds? Do you clear all weather first? I think that is important. The only times we ever got discrepancies in FS2002 was when starting with localised weather already.

Regards,

Pete

[CATIII]

Hi Pete,

thank you for your fast reply. I update every cloud layer with a timer. If the cloudlayer is inactive, I write only 0's to clear the layer.

FSUIPC_Write($0F1C, 2, @UpperClouds_Top, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F1E, 2, @UpperClouds_Base, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F20, 2, @UpperClouds_Cover, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F22, 2, @UpperClouds_Variation, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F7A, 2, @UpperClouds_Type, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F7C, 2, @UpperClouds_Icing, dwResult);

FSUIPC_Write($0F7E, 2, @UpperClouds_Turb, dwResult);

How can I clear the local weather? All cloud changes appear in FS' global weather menu. I never used "LOCAL WEATHER".

Thank you in advance for any hints!

Bye,

CATIII

[Pete Dowson]

How can I clear the local weather?

Ah, you are using the FS98 interface. In that case FSUIPC should clear the weather for you when you start. You can check that in the FSUIPC Log.

However, using the FS98 interface you must always set lower layers before upper. You should not try to set the Upper Cloud layer before setting a Lower one. If there's only one then it is "Lower" --- unless it is a thunderstorm, in which case you set that layer fiorst. In FS98 you could have three layers only provided the lowest was a thunderstorm.

FS2000-FS2004 are not saddled with these restrictions, but the FS98 interface you are using was designed to maintain compatibility with FS98. Since FS2000 I provided the AWI (Advanced Weather Interface) which allows better advantage to be taken of the improved weather facilities in those versions. For FS2004 there's also now the NWI (New Weather Interface) which is more powerful and also allows local weather reading and setting.

I don't expect this explains why you don't see the clouds, but just in case, before you run your program, clear all the weather (you can assign a hot key for this in FSUIPC's Hot Keys page). Do it twice to be sure -- the first time FSUIPC re-instates any previous FS98/AWI weather.

Regards,

Pete

[CATIII]

Pete,

this was really an ultra-fast reply! Thank you very much. You're right: I always set upper clouds first and then in sequence the lower ones. Will have to change this when I'm back at home and give it a try.

Anyway, is there any documentation for the NWI? I would like to have a look at it and maybe switch over.

Again, thank you for your help and have a nice week!

CATIII

PS: Instead of "hot-keying" the Clear-local-weather facility, is there any way to manage this via FSUIPC offset writes? What offsets must be cleared to clear all weather?

[Pete Dowson]

Anyway, is there any documentation for the NWI?

Both AWI and NWI are documented in the latest FSUIPC SDK, but remember the NWI is only applicable to FS2004. It covers local and global weather.

The AWI is applicable to FS2000-FS2004 but only deals with Global weather, and it is a command+data based system not memory-mapped, so it isn't so easy to program. It's been documented in the SDK for three or four years now!

Instead of "hot-keying" the Clear-local-weather facility, is there any way to manage this via FSUIPC offset writes? What offsets must be cleared to clear all weather?

There are clear Weather commands available in both the AWI and NWI. For FS98 type weather commands FSUIPC tries to clear the weather as soon as the first such command arrives. However, typically when the weather you ask for doesn't become visible it seems to be down to it not clearing properly first, which is why I suggested clearing it manually.

Also, the automatic clearing by FSUIPC is, in fact, an option -- it is defaulted on, but possibly it is turned off in your FSUIPC.INI? This is why I suggested trying it manually.

Regards,

Pete

[CATIII]

I'm finally enlighted... Thank you very much, Pete. I already read the AWI docs but decided that it was too much for my needs. I will then try to stay with my interface and try to fix it.

Best regards,

CATIII