Configuring campaign weather.
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I’m looking to set my campaigns up with variable weather. Any tips on which settings to use? I’d like to have as much variety as possible and would like to see the weather vary from place to place, not just day to day. I’ve fooled around with it with limited success, but I’d like to understand better how it works.
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There’s an option in the weather module where you can set the percentages of weather type to be encountered, along with the min and max random intervals. Should be under “probabilistic model”
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Unfortunately the “Probabilistic” model won’t vary from place to place, only by time. If you want truly variable weather across the map you need to use the Map Model weather mode. The manual chapter on weather goes into more detail, but briefly this requires supplying your own weather map into the game. These can either be created with WeatherCommander, or using the amazing f4wx tool you can get real world weather into the game. Neither is truly “variable”, as each hours weather is pre-determined. But by either making your weather map shift or by using several days worth of grib data you can create shifting (albeit not random) weather patterns.
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?29203-Beta-F4Wx-Real-Weather-Converter
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Thanks. I would forgo having weather change according to location if I could get weather that changes significantly from day to day (or every few days). For example I’d love to be flying in CAVU one day and have it socked in two or three days later, and then fair and windy the next, ya know? ‘Setting’ the weather isn’t the end of the world, but I’d prefer not to know what’s coming. Thanks for the help.
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Then Probabilistic is probably the way to go. It’ll change the whole map at once, but you can make it randomly shift weather at set intervals.
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Take 15 minutes to read and set that. And your life will change.
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?29203-Beta-F4Wx-Real-Weather-Converter
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Also see WeatherGen. https://firstfighterwing.com/weathergen. Generates random, convincing weather. Nothing to install.
I wrote it, so feel free to ask questions.
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^ yeah, i used this. cut some holes in the shifting weather for tanker tracks (or don’t, at your own peril) generate 20 days of weather, drop in folder and there you go.
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Yup, the newest version is great as you can export a package so can set and download as many day’s variable weather as you need. You can ‘play’ in the generator to see how it pans out. Just drop the files in the right folder, load the map model and set the values and you’re good to go.
Harry (Formerly Amraam at Frugals etc.)
(I'm not currently active with ViperDrivers, but these guys are the best BMS school out there!)
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Loading the map model actually shouldn’t be necessary. The generated zip file should include a TWX file that gets ask that stuff right.
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Tyrant, I had a look at your program and I’m very impressed. Thanks for the link (and for making it and sharing it!) I would need to wrap my noggin around it, as there are many variables. If I wanted to just have the program generate a random weather file for say Balance of Power what would I do?
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Tyrant, I had a look at your program and I’m very impressed. Thanks for the link (and for making it and sharing it!) I would need to wrap my noggin around it, as there are many variables. If I wanted to just have the program generate a random weather file for say Balance of Power what would I do?
I have a video tutorial series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL38Y5xS3fngEe2w63hR5-vBqx63Xk9Lhm
This is the WeatherGen thread on this forum: https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?27640-Release-WeatherGen-A-BMS-random-weather-generator
But I have tried to make the basic process fairly easy:
- Under “Load/Save”, enter the mission name or (easier) click the folder icon to load the campaign file.
- Under “Weather Parameters”, click “Random” until you see something you like.
- Under “Load/Save”, click “Save Package”
- Unzip the resulting zip file into your Campaign\SAVE folder.
There’s a lot more you can do, and the videos cover some of it, but that is the basic process. Probably the main thing you’ll want to do beyond what I’ve listed above is adjust the times of the generated weather. Also note that anything with a blue underline can be clicked to get an explanation of what it does. And of course, feel free to ask questions here on the forum.
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Thanks very much, I’ll give it a go.
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Thanks very much, I’ll give it a go.
Curious: did it work for you?
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
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Hi Tyrant, sorry I haven’t given feedback, poor form old boy.
Yes, I have tried it and it works great, I must say. Thanks very much. At first it didn’t seem to work, but that’s possibly because I failed to change the map to Balkans (though perhaps that’s simply for reference in the GUI). But more likely because I didn’t extract it to the right folder? There is no /SAVE folder in the Balkans, only in Korea on my machine.
I followed your instructions, and also checked out some of your videos, which are great. I just clicked random until bad weather would appear near my base (Palese) so that I could literally see if it was working. And sure enough when I stepped to the jet it was blanket overcast. Your program is simple yet powerful and really easy to use. All hallmarks of good design. Thanks for pointing me towards it and the relevant forum and vids.
So if I can ask you, what now? How do I keep it going? Does this just give me a starting point and how weather goes from here is dependent on the weather settings in game? Is it more common that players will generate new weather files for each mission? How do I keep the weather evolving and unpredictable, with a good dose of inclement and variable weather through the rest of my campaign run? It’s BoP for what it’s worth. Thanks.
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Hi Tyrant, sorry I haven’t given feedback, poor form old boy.
No need to apologize. I was just curious if you’d used it, and if so if it had been helpful. As I said, happy to answer questions.
Yes, I have tried it and it works great, I must say. Thanks very much. At first it didn’t seem to work, but that’s possibly because I failed to change the map to Balkans (though perhaps that’s simply for reference in the GUI). But more likely because I didn’t extract it to the right folder? There is no /SAVE folder in the Balkans, only in Korea on my machine.
Every campaign can have a different folder structure. Only the original Korea has the SAVE folder. Most other theaters store files directly in the Campaign folder. And yes, the map background is just for decoration - it doesn’t matter if you’re showing the Korea map, the weather will still work in any theater of the same size. Most theaters are 1024x1024, so size isn’t something you usually have to worry about - if it’s listed in the map dropdown in WeatherGen, it’ll work.
I followed your instructions, and also checked out some of your videos, which are great. I just clicked random until bad weather would appear near my base (Palese) so that I could literally see if it was working. And sure enough when I stepped to the jet it was blanket overcast. Your program is simple yet powerful and really easy to use. All hallmarks of good design. Thanks for pointing me towards it and the relevant forum and vids.
So if I can ask you, what now? How do I keep it going? Does this just give me a starting point and how weather goes from here is dependent on the weather settings in game? Is it more common that players will generate new weather files for each mission? How do I keep the weather evo
lving and unpredictable, with a good dose of inclement and variable weather through the rest of my campaign run? It’s BoP for what it’s worth. Thanks.The key to keeping it going is the “Maps Auto Update” checkbox in the BMS weather settings dialog. This causes BMS to read timestamped weather files from the WeatherMapsUpdates folder underneath Campaign (or Campaign\SAVE for KTO). The files have names like 11030.fmap that correspond to their timestamps. That one is for Day 1, time 1030. If there’s another one in there with a name like 11100.fmap, then at 1100, the weather will change to whatever is in that file.
Generating those files is, in essence, what WeatherGen does. It has an algorithm that creates weather patterns that you can view. When you click “Save Package”, you’re generating a zip file with those FMAP files in it, each timestamped according to the weather you created in the tool. The idea is to create weather for a few hours or days so that you have weather systems that will move and change. All you should need to do is set the weather as you like, set a start time and a duration (so the files have the right names), save the zip, extract it into your campaign folder, and you’ll be good to go. There are a lot of knobs and buttons, but those are the basics.
Hope that makes sense. Happy to answer further questions. And I haven’t been sitting still, either, so more (hopefully) cool features are headed your way in 3-4 somethings.
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The key to keeping it going is the “Maps Auto Update” checkbox in the BMS weather settings dialog. This causes BMS to read timestamped weather files from the WeatherMapsUpdates folder underneath Campaign (or Campaign\SAVE for KTO). The files have names like 11030.fmap that correspond to their timestamps. That one is for Day 1, time 1030. If there’s another one in there with a name like 11100.fmap, then at 1100, the weather will change to whatever is in that file.
OK, yes that is clear. I’m new to BMS, and this is the first time in all of the years of flying Falcon that I have any control over the weather, or even that I have more than an outside shot at even seeing inclement weather. I recall a few dedicated servers back in the AF days that would eventually become completely socked in, as in the soup. And a few times I saw it offline. Lightning and overcast. But it was very rare. So to have this at my fingertips is very cool indeed. Few things can affect a flight sim quite like weather, so it’s rather exciting for me, as is BMS for that matter. Looking forward to your next version.
If I understand you correctly, I can generate as many days of weather as I want to? I need to learn about the time controls and how to say for example generate the first 5 days or so, if that’s possible. I’ll surely forget what I set, so it will seem unpredictable.
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If I understand you correctly, I can generate as many days of weather as I want to? I need to learn about the time controls and how to say for example generate the first 5 days or so, if that’s possible. I’ll surely forget what I set, so it will seem unpredictable.
Yes, that’s correct. Five days might take a while to generate (a few minutes) but should work fine. Depends on what you set the step size to. I use 15 minutes myself.
Anyway, not only should it seem unpredictable, nothing says you have to look at the future weather, so it can be a surprise in fact rather than in principle. It’s not just moving the clouds across the map - they change with time, too. Fronts can therefore pop up where none were before. Change the “evolution” setting to alter how quickly that happens.
The tool also has a forecast feature, which is intentionally somewhat inaccurate. Forecasts can be shared on the web with other pilots, too.
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Just another word of thanks. This has really transformed my campaigns and added a level of uncertainty and decision making that isn’t there when the weather is always clear and mostly calm. Not to mention making me land sideways. The most amazing sim just got even better, and it only took a few clicks to do it. Nothing even to install.
Another question if I may. Briefings in the sim only reveal wind velocity and direction plus cloud base altitudes and contrail levels with a generic description, fair, poor et al. What is the best/easiest way for me to know what the cloud actually is? Is there a way to know more than it is ‘poor’? It would be quite helpful when planning missions or selecting targets and weapons to know if the cloud over the target is say 7/10 or blanket overcast and so on. Thanks Tyrant, really liking your program and sorry for the noob questions that are probably clearly explained somewhere.
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Just another word of thanks. This has really transformed my campaigns and added a level of uncertainty and decision making that isn’t there when the weather is always clear and mostly calm. Not to mention making me land sideways. The most amazing sim just got even better, and it only took a few clicks to do it. Nothing even to install.
Another question if I may. Briefings in the sim only reveal wind velocity and direction plus cloud base altitudes and contrail levels with a generic description, fair, poor et al. What is the best/easiest way for me to know what the cloud actually is? Is there a way to know more than it is ‘poor’? It would be quite helpful when planning missions or selecting targets and weapons to know if the cloud over the target is say 7/10 or blanket overcast and so on. Thanks Tyrant, really liking your program and sorry for the noob questions that are probably clearly explained somewhere.
Have you looked at the forecast feature in WeatherGen? It has a description of the clouds, winds, temp, etc. for every location on the map, for the next six hours. It doesn’t quite go to tenths, but it’ll give you an idea. If you want to know precisely, you can look at the “Clouds and Contrails” section, or, inside the sim, the “Clouds” tab of the weather dialog. I personally prefer the WeatherGen presentation, but then again, I would.
