Clouds.3

If my suggestion to use 4 models of the tents was not bad for unlocking secrests of 3 format, closer review of the models of the clouds could be IMHO even better.
It is not distraction, but rather a … leapfrog tactic. By probing ever easier files, finding something and then applying it back to other files may REALLY help to reveal those secrets.
I think, by now, I know probable well how the clouds files are constructed, so dissecting them should be not too difficult.

Anyone else care to join us here …?

Now you’re talking! 👍

Polak, if there’s anything I can do, maybe some tedious work that you think I can handle, just let me know. You’ll have to help me get started though.

Nice to see mikew is back.

Good to have helper like you Mark, thanks. Surely something will come along.

Ok,
here is one of cloud.3 (cloud1m1.3 exactly) file broken down to its basic structural components. The patterns are easily recognised and all of the cloud files are the same structuraly, of course with different byte values.
The idea is this – break down each of the file in the same manner, put them side by side in Excel and see if – knowing what basic shapes and textures coordinates they represent (which I hope I do) – reveal and describe the structure.

fc 00 1f 40 00 00 00 00 7f ff 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 e8 00 00 00 02 00 03 00 03

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 83 00 0b 00 08 00 09 00 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

00 00 00 00 21 54 45 58 5f 34 37 00 00 20 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 20 00 00

00 19 00 27 17 70 09 6a 00 93 00 04 00 00 00 27 0f a0 00 08 00 7b 00 04 00 00
00 76 00 04 00 00 00 62 00 00 fc 00 00 00 fc 00 00

64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
66 02 00 00
64 fa 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 fa 00 00
66 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
66 02 00 00
64 fa 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 fa 00 00
66 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00
64 02 00 00

61 00 19 00 00

00 27 17 0c 01 d8
00 27 16 a8 01 c8
00 27 16 44 01 b8
00 27 15 e0 01 a8
00 27 15 7c 01 98
00 27 15 18 01 88
00 27 14 b4 01 78
00 27 14 50 01 68
00 27 13 ec 01 58
00 27 13 88 01 48
00 27 13 24 01 38
00 27 12 c0 01 28
00 27 12 5c 01 18
00 27 11 f8 01 08
00 27 11 94 00 f8
00 27 11 30 00 e8
00 27 10 cc 00 d8
00 27 10 68 00 c8
00 27 10 04 00 b8
00 27 0f a0 00 a8
00 27 0f 3c 00 98
00 27 0e d8 00 88
00 27 0e 74 00 78
00 27 0e 10 00 68
00 27 0d ac 00 58
00 27 0d 48 00 48
00 27 0c e4 00 38
00 27 0c 80 00 28
00 27 0c 1c 00 18
00 27 0b b8 00 08

00 07 01 2a 00 00 00 98 ff ff
00 07 01 20 00 00 00 98 ff fe
00 07 01 16 00 00 00 98 ff fd
00 07 01 0c 00 00 00 98 ff fc
00 07 01 02 00 00 00 98 ff fb
00 07 00 f8 00 00 00 98 ff fa
00 07 00 ee 00 00 00 98 ff f9
00 07 00 e4 00 00 00 98 ff f8
00 07 00 da 00 00 00 98 ff f7
00 07 00 d0 00 00 00 98 ff f6
00 07 00 c6 00 00 00 98 ff f5
00 07 00 bc 00 00 00 98 ff f4
00 07 00 b2 00 00 00 98 ff f3
00 07 00 a8 00 00 00 98 ff f2
00 07 00 9e 00 00 00 98 ff f1
00 07 00 94 00 00 00 98 ff f0
00 07 00 8a 00 00 00 98 ff ef
00 07 00 80 00 00 00 98 ff ee
00 07 00 76 00 00 00 98 ff ed
00 07 00 6c 00 00 00 98 ff ec
00 07 00 62 00 00 00 98 ff eb
00 07 00 58 00 00 00 98 ff ea
00 07 00 4e 00 00 00 98 ff e9
00 07 00 44 00 00 00 98 ff e8
00 07 00 3a 00 00 00 98 ff e7
00 07 00 30 00 00 00 98 ff e6
00 07 00 26 00 00 00 98 ff e5
00 07 00 1c 00 00 00 98 ff e4
00 07 00 12 00 00 00 98 ff e3
00 07 00 08 00 00 00 98 ff e2


00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 13 00 4d 00 00 00 5f 00 00 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 06 00 00 00 09
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 47 00 00 00 5f 00 13 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 09 00 00 00 06
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 5f 00 13 00 4d 00 17 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 00 00 06 00 01
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 5f 00 13 00 4d 00 00 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 01 00 06 00 00
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 47 00 17 00 5f 00 13 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 07 00 01 00 06
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 13 00 4d 00 17 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 06 00 01 00 07
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 01 00 07 00 02
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 17 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 02 00 07 00 01
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 47 00 47 00 5f 00 2f 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 07 00 03 00 02
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 5f 00 47 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 02 00 03 00 07
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 4c 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 03 00 07 00 08
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 4c 00 4d 00 2f 00 47 00 47 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 08 00 07 00 03
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 4c 00 4d 00 5f 00 5f 00 47 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 08 00 04 00 03
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 5f 00 5f 00 5f 00 4c 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 03 00 04 00 08
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 5f 00 4c 00 4d 00 5f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 04 00 08 00 05
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 47 00 4c 00 4d 00 5f 00 5f 00 88 00 03 00 05 00 08 00 04
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 47 00 00 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0b 00 09 00 0a
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 47 00 17 00 2f 00 13 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 09 00 0b 00 06
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 13 00 4d 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 06 00 0b 00 09
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 2f 00 13 00 4d 00 17 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0c 00 06 00 0b
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 13 00 4d 00 2f 00 2f 00 2f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 06 00 0c 00 07
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 47 00 2f 00 2f 00 13 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 07 00 0c 00 06
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 2f 00 4c 00 4d 00 2f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 0c 00 08 00 07
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 47 00 4c 00 4d 00 2f 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 07 00 08 00 0c
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 4c 00 4d 00 2f 00 2f 00 47 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 08 00 0c 00 0d
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 2f 00 2f 00 2f 00 4c 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 0d 00 0c 00 08
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 47 00 4c 00 4d 00 88 00 03 00 0d 00 05 00 08
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 4c 00 4d 00 5f 00 47 00 47 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 08 00 05 00 0d
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 47 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 05 00 0d 00 0e
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 2f 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 47 00 88 00 03 00 0e 00 0d 00 05
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 17 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 13 00 0b 00 0a
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 0a 00 0b 00 13
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 17 00 11 00 13 00 88 00 03 00 0b 00 13 00 10
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 11 00 13 00 00 00 17 00 17 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 10 00 13 00 0b
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 11 00 13 00 2f 00 2f 00 17 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 10 00 0c 00 0b
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 2f 00 2f 00 2f 00 11 00 13 00 88 00 03 00 0b 00 0c 00 10
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 2f 00 11 00 13 00 2f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 0c 00 10 00 11
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 17 00 11 00 13 00 2f 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 11 00 10 00 0c
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 44 00 19 00 2f 00 2f 00 2f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 12 00 0c 00 11
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 17 00 2f 00 2f 00 44 00 19 00 88 00 03 00 11 00 0c 00 12
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 2f 00 44 00 19 00 47 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0c 00 12 00 0d
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 2f 00 44 00 19 00 2f 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0d 00 12 00 0c
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 17 00 47 00 2f 00 44 00 19 00 88 00 03 00 0f 00 0d 00 12
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 44 00 19 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 12 00 0d 00 0f
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 2f 00 5f 00 17 00 5f 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0d 00 0f 00 0e
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 2f 00 5f 00 17 00 47 00 2f 00 88 00 03 00 0e 00 0f 00 0d
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 11 00 13 00 00 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 14 00 10 00 13
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 17 00 11 00 13 00 00 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 13 00 10 00 14
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 11 00 13 00 00 00 00 00 17 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 10 00 14 00 15
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 11 00 13 00 88 00 03 00 15 00 14 00 10
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 17 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 11 00 13 00 88 00 03 00 15 00 11 00 10
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 11 00 13 00 2f 00 17 00 17 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 10 00 11 00 15
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 17 00 17 00 00 00 2f 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 11 00 15 00 16
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 00 00 17 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 16 00 15 00 11
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 2f 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 17 00 11 00 16
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 47 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 16 00 11 00 17
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 2f 00 17 00 47 00 00 00 44 00 19 00 88 00 03 00 11 00 17 00 12
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 44 00 19 00 47 00 00 00 2f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 12 00 17 00 11
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 00 00 44 00 19 00 47 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 18 00 12 00 17
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 47 00 00 00 44 00 19 00 5f 00 00 00 88 00 03 00 17 00 12 00 18
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 44 00 19 00 5f 00 00 00 5f 00 17 00 88 00 03 00 12 00 18 00 0f
00 2e 00 00 00 03 00 5f 00 17 00 5f 00 00 00 44 00 19 00 88 00 03 00 0f 00 18 00 12

00 00 ff ff

Polak, how did you get that neat format? I opened this file in frhed and I get the same text, just not so neatly formatted, rather a bunch of similarly sized rows. Same text though, so I know I’m getting the same info.

And what exactly are we looking at? Is this a hex edit of a 3D file? Would this file actually look like a cloud if you had a software which could open it in its native format? Is this equivalent to a TGA file which I once edited for F/A-18 PSF (making it darker to look like a storm cloud)?

I had to revisit this thread to remember what you’re trying to accomplish with clouds …
http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=64;t=001167

I can’t quit looking at your inclement weather pic on that thread. I know it was doctored for color, but if it’s possible, I definitely think it’s worth the trouble!

Right now, my Jax, FL sky is looking like that pic (without the white layer). No real cloud definition in most places, just a solid gray moving in. Hopefully we’re about to get lots of rain (looks that way, but no thunder yet).

Just let me know how to get that text formatting please.

MGonzales

Just let me know how to get that text formatting please.

Just copy the Bytes portion to Notepad and then enter line breaks where necessary.
Do not do it for m1 m2 m3 m4 clouds. Its already done.

Cloud model is simple flat multiple polygon consisting of 3 × 3 = 9 polygons. I think sometink like this. + are vertices of that figure. Later I make a replica of that in 3D with texture applied. Textures are

• tex_49.tm for inside and outside corners
• tex_47.tm for middle
• tex_45.tm for side

but each small poly below is covered with 1/4 portion of entire tm texture.

+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+

Interesting.

From the cloud1m1 printout above it seems (to me at least) that there are a total of 30 vertices and about 60 polygon descriptions. Since some of these polygons share exactly the same vertices it is possible that these polygons are somehow toggled to produce some visual effect.

64 – counts 24 repeated lines
00 27
and
00 07 – count 30 each of them
00 2e – counts 62
It is puzzling indeed.

Pretty cool effect how the clouds move (watching from the ground). I wonder, was TAW the first sim to have moving clouds?

EDIT: For best effect, start the Takeoff Training Mission at 16:00. Go to wide-angle pit (K key) and then accelerate time (Shift+T). Watch the clouds above you zip on by.

MGonzales

I wonder, was TAW the first sim to have moving clouds?

I think the first serious 3D clouds were implemented in FS98 (MS Flight Sim 98). Those were pretty crude first attempts. Then another memorable 3D clouds came to Falcon4 (3rd party), Fly2 and finally MSFS2002 and some few others. MSFS2004 are state of art and industry benchmark.

But did the clouds in MS Flight Sim 98 actually move?

MGonzales

But did the clouds in MS Flight Sim 98 actually move?

Actually it is good question. Clouds in MSFS98 were very basic and I believe they were not moving part of dynamic weather system as it is this done now.
It is interesting though to see how it was done then. Sometimes chances are, that solution there could be even implemented here. Maybe …

TAW clouds are not moving, they are static as static they can be. But whats innovative abd different about TAW is that they commited entire map of the terrain to locate the clouds. It looks like they meant to develop it into dynamic weather some day later.

Polak

TAW clouds are not moving, they are static as static they can be.

Eh, mine move. Try this …

Start the Takeoff Training Mission at 16:00. Go to wide-angle pit (K key) and then accelerate time (Shift+T). Watch the clouds above you zip on by.

EDIT: Sit there parked for a little while and the clouds will eventually disappear to a clear sky. I don’t know if any more clouds follow.

I sat in my jet for a little while with time accelerated. At 16:25 or 16:35 (crap, I forgot) another set of clouds appeared to my right.

It doesn’t look as if the sun is moving though, which is strange. I’m about to sit parked in my jet and go the distance to see what all happens with the sky during a long period of time. I wish time accelerate was a little faster but oh well.

Mark,
I will look into this. Perhaps you are discovering something about those clouds which I am not aware at present.

Ok, I sat in a parked jet for two hours of accelerated time and here’s what I saw …

Note: Heading is 298 degrees. Clouds always moved from rear of jet to front.

16:00 – Clouds everywhere, moving along.
16:12 – Clouds disappear into the horizon.
16:23 – Smaller cluster of clouds pass to the right.
16:36 – Clouds disappear over hangers.
16:42 – Another smaller cluster of clouds pass to the right.
16:55 – Clouds disappear over hangers.
17:08 – Large cluster of clouds pass to the right (further away than previous clusters).
17:16 – Smaller cluster of clouds pass to the left (very far off).
17:24 – Clouds at left disappear into the horizon.
17:29 – Clouds at right disappear over hangers.
17:51 – HUGE cluster of clouds appear covering the entire sky.
18:00 – Sun shifts down, sky colors change to appear later time-of-day, but clouds continue as they were.

So the sun is stationary for two hours but then shifts in two hour increments (assuming the moon too)? And sun and sky colors change in two hour increments to reflect time of day? That’s kind of a bummer, but I like the moving cloud clusters.

Thanks Mark, I was hoping to get a situation where the clouds were easily accessible and you’ve found one straight away.

As I indicated before, there seem to be 30 vertices in the file cloud1m1.3 based on knowledge gained from the tent files.
If these are laid out in a 6×5 grid we have 20 rectangles or 40 triangles. There are however 62 polygon descriptions which in some ways resemble the rectangle descriptions from the tent file although they are a couple of bytes longer here.

I’m assuming that not all the polygons are used at the same time, and that there must be some selection mechanism which we can worry about later.

Anyway, in each of the 62 polygon descriptors I set the value (xx) to zero:

00 2E 00 00 00 03 00 xx 00…

I then ran the take off scenario as Mark describes and as expected I see what look like grids of 20 squares in the clouds (the cloud1m1 file relates to a middle file according to Polak) … but after flying up for a closer look each of these squares seem to be made up of 2 triangles, which was a bit of a surprise.

It may be though that the common game 3D engine uses rectangles but these are converted to triangles by direct3d for display.

It also looks to me like that the cloud.3 files just desribe flat tiles at 15000' for viewing at a distance and that some other process produces the haze effect of actually flying through the clouds.

I apologise for the rambling nature of this post, but I don’t really have any concrete information to give.

Polak

Mark,
I will look into this. Perhaps you are discovering something about those clouds which I am not aware at present.

Man, wouldn’t it be cool to have afternoon rain clouds that come and go? 🙂

mikew

Thanks Mark, I was hoping to get a situation where the clouds were easily accessible and you’ve found one straight away.

I did what???

LOL! I don’t know how my discovery might be helpful but it was purely by accident. I noticed the moving clouds one day while sitting in a parked jet. Hard to notice with all the jittering but I sat there long enough (probably digging through the Manual) to notice the change in real-time.

I wonder if these clouds move all over the map? I might have to try chasing them to see.

The good thing is that it looks like we get the same clouds each time. This helps a lot.

Now the bad news (for me at least). I changed some more values to zero in the 62 polygon lines:

00 2E 00 00 00 03 00 xx 00 xx 00 00 …

Now the rectangles in the sky can be seen more clearly and they are in groups of 4×4 and not 5×4, so that’s only 25 vertices. 🙁

I don’t know if this is helpful or not but you can change your view distances in the …\PROGRAM\f22data\views4.dat file.

The F7 external view …

Default (in feet) is:

Dist 70 50 2000 20

Change to:

Dist 1 1 100000 1000

Quoting myself from another thread, What this means is that my F7 external view starts 1' from my plane, allowing me to elevate my view up to 100,000' (vs. only 2,000') and in zoom increments of 1,000' (vs. only 20').

So with these settings, you might get a better and more spacious birds-eye view of the clouds. Or you can adjust settings to something better.

It’s just that stinking fog bank gets in the way.

It may help.
I’ve changed the values in the file … but which buttons do I use to zoom in the F7 view?

I don’t think I’ve ever used this feature before.

Shift+Num 7 = Zoom In

Shift+Num 1 = Zoom Out

TAW_Key_Reference.pdf

🙂

Seems to also work without the Shift.

Anyway, I’m about to document some other 2-hour time periods for comparison. I’m just wondering if the same cloud movement cycles every so many hours.

Yes, that helps. Thanks, at least I’ve learnt something new today.

It does seem that the entire cloud layer is actually moving instead of the illusion of movement being created locally with individual clouds.

Can you guys try to include a shot or two to explain better what we are talking here about?

http://www.photobucket.com gladly accepts any photo or pic you want to publish on the net.

About the clouds: I was kind of suddenly taken aghast by number of polygones in cloud model. It somehow did not jive with my vision of the shape of this 3D model. But then I have realised that the nunber of polys and whatever else must be doubled as the cloud layer is visible from both sides (under and over). That made me feel little better.

Ok, I tried to point my jet (on the ground) into the direction of the cloud movement and my heading read 260d (if that matters).

Here’s the 18:00 – 20:00 sky activity …

18:00 – Many clouds passing overhead, stars are now visible.
18:27 – Clouds at right disappear over hangers.
18:36 – Clouds above and at left disappear into the horizon.

– Clear sky for a long time. –

19:07 – HUGE mess of clouds begin to appear, starting at the right, then above, then left.
19:21 – Smaller cluster of clouds pass above, then another smaller cluster pass at the right.
19:24 – Another smaller cluster of clouds pass at the right.
19:26 – Clouds at left disappear into the horizon.
19:34 – Clouds above disappear into the horizon, while smaller cloud cluster passes at the left.

– There’s lots of cloud clusters appearing and disappearing at this time. –

19:36 – Large cluster of clouds pass to the right, then above.
19:39 – Clouds at right disappear over hangers.
19:42 – Many cloud clusters passing all around including one far left.
19:53 – Smaller cluster of clouds pass to the very far left.
19:54 – Clouds above disappear into the horizon.
20:00 – Sun drops and sky darkens, clear sky.

Polak

Can you guys try to include a shot or two to explain better what we are talking here about?

Hey Polak, you’re just talking to mikew, right? I don’t know what I would take a pic of.

mikew, if you have any problems with photobucket, I can host your pics.

20:00 – 22:00 hours …

20:00 – Clear sky for a long time.
20:27 – Large cluster of clouds pass to the right, then above, then left (appears to be the same group).
21:01 – All clouds disappear into the horizon and clear skies to 22:00.
22:00 – Sky suddenly turns nighttime dark, sun disappears and moon appears randomly (always in the same place, above where sun was). Skies are clear.

22:00 – 00:00 hours …

22:00 – Clear skies with lots of stars at Luxor Airfield.
00:00 – No change, clear skies.

– No clouds for these two hours –

Still very dark (which I like), but where’s the moon?

MGonzales

Still very dark (which I like), but where’s the moon?

The moon seems to be random. I started the Take-Off Training Mission several times in a row at 22:00 hours. Sometimes I get a very dark night and sometimes I get a big bright moon with a lighter night. That’s pretty cool, I guess. I wonder if we can control this?

EDIT: I prefer the darker moonless nighttime but the stars show much better when the moon is out. Isn’t this the opposite of real life? What I’d like is a dark moonless night with lots of visible stars.

Polak

TAW clouds are not moving, they are static as static they can be.

I must eat theese hasty words of mine for breakfast tomorrow. Mea culpa, and thanks Mark to point that to all of us and me in particular. Clouds are moving no doubt now about it.

Sure thing, but it was an accidental find. 🙂

00:00 – 02:00 hours …

00:00 – Clear skies continue with lots of stars over Luxor Airfield.
02:00 – No change, clear skies.

– No clouds for these two hours –

02:00 – 04:00 hours

02:00 – Clear skies continue over Luxor Airfield.
04:00 – No change, clear skies.

– No clouds for these two hours –

Something I’ve noticed. The sun changes position every 2 hours but not the moon. The moon is always in the same place at the start of the Take-Off Training Mission (if it’s displayed at all), above and to the left of the HUD in wide-angle pit, slightly cut off by the top of the screen.