How to render the sky for enhanced sunsets:
To safeguard against possible configuration problems, always make a backup copy of your current .cfg file that you intend to modify.
1. Add the lines in red below to the config file (region.cfg) in your Seattle or SanFran regional folder. Alternatively, you can add the lines to the config file (flt3.cfg) in your main flight 3 folder if you desire these settings in both regions.
; how high the atmosphere exists
AtmosphereThickness 250000
; how quickly the atmosphere gets thin with altitude
AtmosphereDensityRatio 0.75
; increase these values for finer sky rendering
sky_Lats 128
sky_Longs 128
sky_GradientLats 720
; this value defines the angle above the horizon where the "solid" sky color begins
sky_GradientAngle 0.4
; this computes the haze values constantly
sky_refreshalways
; decrease these values to increase the frequency of haze calculation
sky_refreshtimedelta 5
sky_refreshdistdelta 32
sky_refreshhazedelta 0.1
sky_distupdatetime 1.5
; these affect the "clear air" absorption
sky_RayleighScatterRed 1
sky_RayleighScatterGreen 0.02
sky_RayleighScatterBlue 0.8
; these affect the "clear air" scatter
sky_RayleighScatterRedScatter 1
sky_RayleighScatterGreenScatter 0.002
sky_RayleighScatterBlueScatter 0.8
; these affect how light is blended in low level haze
sky_LowLevelScatterRedHW 1
sky_LowLevelScatterGreenHW 0.8
sky_LowLevelScatterBlueHW 1
; these affect how light is scattered away in low level haze
sky_LowLevelScatterRedScatterHW 1
sky_LowLevelScatterGreenScatterHW 0.11
sky_LowLevelScatterBlueScatterHW 0.8
2. Save your new .cfg file.
3. Now run Flight Unlimited III.
4. Go into weather options and set the haze slider somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2.
5. Load nice weather (clear sky, fair with cumulus clouds etc.) and accept.
6. Hit "FLY" and get ready for the crimson sunset.
7 You can advance the time with the "D" key ("crtl D" goes back in time by 15 minute increments)
NOTES on haze and the appearance of the sunset:
1. The vast majority of the sunset effect is produced by increasing the haze setting in the weather options.
2. These configs alter the resolution, density and altitude of the sunset in the atmosphere.
3. The new settings also increase the depth and smoothness of the haze/sky/color blending.
4. Increases in the haze setting (weather options) will reduce the number of frames per second (fps) on your monitor. You can display the fps on the upper left of your monitor by the "ctrl F" key combination.
IF YOU HAVE AN UNACCEPTABLE FRAME RATE WITH THE ABOVE SETTINGS TRY THESE VALUES:
sky_Lats 32
sky_Longs 32
sky_GradientLats 360
sky_refreshdistdelta 64
These values go back to the default values. You should get 4-5 more fps but lose a touch of quality/resolution in the sky/haze/sunset characteristics.
The color values (red,green,blue) of the sunset/sunrise produced an incredibly rich red/orange color on my monitor. The colors you see are at the hands of your monitor display settings. Therefore, you may have to play with the values (between 0 and 1) in the scatter config lines to get the exact color desired.
PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS just e-mail me!
