Improving clouds

[Whizkid]

Hope this is the right place to ask if anyone knows how to make the stock clouds more interesting and varied. I tried to search for anything but no go.
IL-2 has a line in conf.ini where you can change the value, just like the water, but nothing shows in CoD.

[ATAG_ProArmis]

Hope this is the right place to ask if anyone knows how to make the stock clouds more interesting and varied. I tried to search for anything but no go.
IL-2 has a line in conf.ini where you can change the value, just like the water, but nothing shows in CoD.

The only thing i know is, that you can change the speed of the zoom in function. This may help to avoid the fact that the clouds popping in and out normally.

Here you need to edit your Confuser.ini files. There are three of them, but only had any effect is the one steam uses and it might be a good idea to edit all three.

1. MyDocuments\1C SoftClub\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover - MOD folder, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
2. Steam\SteamApps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
3. Steam\userdata\76916604\63950\remote, and find the file called "confuser.ini" - This is the confuser.ini file that actually made this Mod work.

Open the confuser.ini file with notepad and scroll to the bottom of the page and add.

[MOD]
ExtendCloudsDistance=yes
ZoomSpeed=4

The "ExtendCloudsDistand=yes" will extend (I think increased 3x) the distance that clouds will be drawn in game. Depending on your system this might have a small impact on your FPS. It is either yes for on or now for off or you can just not add it at all.

The "ZoomSpeed=" can be adjusted from 1 to 10 with 1 being slow and ten fast.

Best
Pro

[Whizkid]

Many thanks for the comeback, Pro-Armis. I'll give it a try and see.

[♣_Spiritus_♣]

Like Pro said, extend clouds does exactly that, extends them to be seen from further distances. This does hit FPS but its worth it. It also prevents the clouds from popping in and out which I absolutely hate, instead it makes them fade in and out smoothly.

Its a must IMO

[dburne]

Here you need to edit your Confuser.ini files. There are three of them, but only had any effect is the one steam uses and it might be a good idea to edit all three.

1. MyDocuments\1C SoftClub\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover - MOD folder, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
2. Steam\SteamApps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
3. Steam\userdata\76916604\63950\remote, and find the file called "confuser.ini" - This is the confuser.ini file that actually made this Mod work.

Man, I am so glad I saw this!
I always thought something was off in my zoom speed, never could seem to truly adjust it. And I thought my clouds were popping in and out more than they should.

Well turns out I had only made the change to the confUser.ini in the MOD folder. So I went in and added the same lines to the other two confUser.ini's in the other two folders you mentioned, and now it is truly working properly!
Looks so much better and finally able to truly slow my zoom speed down.

Thanks so much!!

[Whizkid]

So what exactly is "zoom speed?" I've added all the above as shown but there doesn't seem to be any increase in cloud volume or size. Does it only work for certain scenarios, like Campaigns or Single Player? Is there an addon I'm missing, or a checkbox I haven't checked?

[♣_Spiritus_♣]

Zoom speed changes the speed of how quickly you +/- zoom, the extend clouds actually extends the distance from which you can see the clouds, so it doesn't make the clouds bigger, it just extends how far away clouds appear so you will see more clouds since the ones in the distance don't disappear. It also prevents the clouds from popping in and out, instead letting them fade away/appear once they reach the threshold of visibility.

[III./ZG76_Saipan]

i dont have the 3rd line numbers. also, whats a heirmesch error? i get that in the text buffer in an 88.

[Screamadelica]

I never knew about the confuser.ini files in the Steam/userdata section. So any changes you make in the other two sections you should also change there, is that correct?

This explains why it seemed that the ExtendCloudsDistance didn't seem to make much of a difference, plus the zoom view info is very handy.

Thanks for this excellent information.

Cheers, Scream. S!

[Screamadelica]

It could be worth adding this information to the original clouds mod info, or perhaps sticky this thread. It seems like a few of us may have missed this extra file location. Important to know!

Thanks to ATAG ProArmis for this tip. S!

[9./JG52 Mindle]

I believe it is just the 'documents' confuser ini file you need to modify. As this is where the [MOD] user settings are written to. My 'steam' confuser ini has never been touched. Also check that the steam update option and steam cloud sync options are un-checked in the steam game properties.




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[Whizkid]

Wow, I had no idea I'd generate such interest in the subject! I just "Verified the File Integrity", (whatever that is!) and found it was short 378 files, so maybe things will look better. Thanks for all the input to my request, guys, this is the way we all learn, I guess.

[Whizkid]

I just took a look at the June 27th 2014 TF Update video. Those clouds at the end in which the Spit is flying are just magnificent, and these are what I'm hoping to get, eventually. Imagine just swooping through the hills and canyons of those.............!! I did it once, many, many years ago in a T-6 Texan in the RAF and never forgot the experience! Are these effects obtainable now, Moderator?

[RAF74_Buzzsaw]

Do you have the TF mods installed?>?

[Whizkid]

Do you have the TF mods installed?>?

Yep, sure do.

[♣_Spiritus_♣]

You won't get the effects you saw in that update, thats a WiP/messing around. The extend clouds just takes the clouds that are in game and extends the distances you can see them before they disappear as well as preventing them from popping in and out.

[Whizkid]

You won't get the effects you saw in that update, thats a WiP/messing around. The extend clouds just takes the clouds that are in game and extends the distances you can see them before they disappear as well as preventing them from popping in and out.

AWWWWWW, no fair!!!

[7./JG26_SMOKEJUMPER]

The only thing i know is, that you can change the speed of the zoom in function. This may help to avoid the fact that the clouds popping in and out normally.

Here you need to edit your Confuser.ini files. There are three of them, but only had any effect is the one steam uses and it might be a good idea to edit all three.

1. MyDocuments\1C SoftClub\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover - MOD folder, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
2. Steam\SteamApps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover, and find the file called "confuser.ini"
3. Steam\userdata\76916604\63950\remote, and find the file called "confuser.ini" - This is the confuser.ini file that actually made this Mod work.

Open the confuser.ini file with notepad and scroll to the bottom of the page and add.

[MOD]
ExtendCloudsDistance=yes
ZoomSpeed=4

The "ExtendCloudsDistand=yes" will extend (I think increased 3x) the distance that clouds will be drawn in game. Depending on your system this might have a small impact on your FPS. It is either yes for on or now for off or you can just not add it at all.

The "ZoomSpeed=" can be adjusted from 1 to 10 with 1 being slow and ten fast.

Best
Pro

Just saw this and started using the zoom field of view feature. Wow, spotting is going to be so much better now.

[9./JG52 Mindle]

Also useful to have the 70' FOV set as default view, 30' for insta-zoom and the 90' FOV for a wide angle fish eye view.

I have the three FOV options on my joystick 4-way for quick view changes and the zoom axis on the hat switch.

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[Logan]

Wow, I had no idea I'd generate such interest in the subject! I just "Verified the File Integrity", (whatever that is!) and found it was short 378 files, so maybe things will look better. Thanks for all the input to my request, guys, this is the way we all learn, I guess.

Through steam? If you did you just lost your TF mods.
Make sure you set steam update option and steam cloud sync options are unchecked in the steam game properties. Never Verify the the game cache.

[fly4ever]

I also though the only confuser.ini file need to be changed was the one inside the -MOD folder!!!I made the addition like ages ago but I've never actually noticed any difference in the way clouds are drawn or the distance from which I can see them.
I hope now I made the addition to the other 2 files it will be as described.

Ah, and something else... As mentioned by ProArmis, the 3rd confuser.ini file need to be changed is inside Steam\userdata\76916604\63950\remote.However in my system there isn't any "76916604" folder but in its place there is one named "162859593". So, the actual path for the 3rd confuser.ini file for me is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\162859593\63950\remote.
It seems that this file name must be different from one user to another...

Many thanks for this truly remarkable and useful post and information

Cheers
Nick

[ATAG_Snapper]

Yes, that was my finding, too -- I had a different folder number, but the 63950\remote file was inside it just like yours. Curiously, the lines for cloud distance were already in that 63950\remote file, so the cloud lines I had added in the 1C Softclub confuser had carried over to its 63950\remote counterpart automatically.

[fly4ever]

Just reporting my (ClOD) skies are filled with clouds now instead of having them popping in and out like bubbles relatively to the distance.
Generally speaking and concerning which confuser.ini files must be altered, I'm wondering if counts the same for every alteration we made in -MOD confuser.ini file for a specific change to take effect.
If this is true,it would be to our great help if someone can actually remember the changes we manually made over the times to our -MOD confuser file (without noticing an improvement or a change to take effect) and report here,because it seems impossible at least for me to remember what I might have changed in there.

Considering what Snapper reported I understand that only the 2 first (-MOD & Steam) confuser files must finally be altered as the system takes care on its own for the 3rd (the one inside the numbers) confuser alteration.

Cheers,
Nick

[Whizkid]

Through steam? If you did you just lost your TF mods.
Make sure you set steam update option and steam cloud sync options are unchecked in the steam game properties. Never Verify the the game cache.

Thanks for the info., Logan. However, there is no option in the Steam Update panel to NOT update. It seems to assume that you want to update no matter what. I chose to update when I start the game. And I guess I'll have to re-install my TF Mods, but I'll check them out first. Could you post some kind of a list of dos and don'ts for meddling with the Steam stuff for the rest of us non-savvy types? Sure would help us all. Thanks.

[dburne]

Thanks for the info., Logan. However, there is no option in the Steam Update panel to NOT update. It seems to assume that you want to update no matter what. I chose to update when I start the game. And I guess I'll have to re-install my TF Mods, but I'll check them out first. Could you post some kind of a list of dos and don'ts for meddling with the Steam stuff for the rest of us non-savvy types? Sure would help us all. Thanks.

In the Steam menu, click on " view" then "games"
This will bring up a list of your installed Steam games, in my case only IL-2 Cliffs of Dover as that is the only Steam game I have installed,

In the left hand pane, you will see " IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover " probably in blue text.
Right click on this title. Select " properties".
Click on the 2nd tab, labeled " updates".

Click on the down arrow beside automatic updates, it will give you three options.
Choose " only update this game when I launch it".
Save and exit. Yeah I know that sounds backwards, but trust me that is the best option to choose.

Now when you fly Cliffs of Dover, just open Steam and log in, then close the Steam menu screen ( you will still stay logged into Steam).
Launch Cliffs of Dover with the Launcher.exe shortcut, don't launch from within the Steam menu ( not sure that matters but I don't just in case).

The game should never try to update and end up reverting back to the original state.

This is how I always launch and fly TF Cliffs, and have never had it revert itself back to the original install.

Hope this helps,

ps: fwiw I do have Steam Cloud synchronization checked, but it has never caused me an issue. In fact the one time I tried unchecking it, ended up losing all my controller settings lol - re-enabled it and got them back.

[Screamadelica]

Yes, that was my finding, too -- I had a different folder number, but the 63950\remote file was inside it just like yours. Curiously, the lines for cloud distance were already in that 63950\remote file, so the cloud lines I had added in the 1C Softclub confuser had carried over to its 63950\remote counterpart automatically.

Interesting. I just checked my files and I had the Extend Clouds Mod in the first two locations but the Steam/userdata/......./63950/remote was still missing the extra lines.

I'd recommend adding the lines to all three locations just in case it doesn't automatically add them.

As far as I can remember this is the only alteration made to the conf.user files, most other alterations have been to the conf.ini file.

Cheers, Scream.

[Whizkid]

Joy, oh joy! I now have lots of big woolly clouds to play around in! Went out into the Channel today in my Spit and just chased my tail around for a while in some until a very unfriendly ME-109 turned up and ruined my fun. No sense of relaxing flying with these bloody Jerries, its all work, work, work! I hid in some cumulus until he buggered off but by then the afternoon was ruined. Oh, well, there's always tomorrow.

[dburne]

Sounds like your having fun Whiz, congrats and enjoy!!
Behind some of the rough edges, it truly is an incredible sim!

[Whizkid]

You're right about that, Db! I even just enjoy watching the shadows move around the cockpit as the a/c turns! But then, I'm easily entertained! I can't believe how much work has gone into turning this Sim into one remarkable piece of work. I doff my hat to each and every one of you people that have given this to us, all the way from Oleg to the latest source code tweaker! You truly have given of your best, guys! Thank you so much.

[DK_]

I've looked all over but haven't been able to find a numbered folder with an ini file in it.

I did add the lines as described above in the other 2 ini files but I can't see any difference.

I put exactly this in:
[MOD]
ExtendCloudsDistance=yes
ZoomSpeed=4


Is [MOD] supposed to be there?