Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections
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Yes, except this was done to death when Aerosoft released their Twin Otter for 2020. Those are photographic artifacts, you do not see those in real life because the glass is treated to prevent that very thing.
I would find you the topic, but when AS sold the Twin Otter to Microsoft for 2024, they appear to have taken their old forums down.
Next best thing: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/aerosoft-twin-otter-baby/395128/1388
Talking about it in the Twin Otter MSFS forum thread, though the links to the AS forum no longer work.
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In my opinion, there is obviously no need for an exaggerated glass effect on the instruments, but rather a visible, well-balanced one that does not distract users. It should be subtle yet present, something that works well for all of us and enhances the overall visual experience.
For me, alongside flight dynamics and overall model fidelity, the visual presentation is extremely important—especially the cockpit details. At the moment, due to the apparent limitation of the glass effect on the instruments by Asobo Studio, the instruments unfortunately appear quite flat and somewhat underwhelming without a proper sense of glass.
I truly hope that it will be possible to achieve a glass effect that satisfies the expectations of the community.
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@Galf I think what I said wasn’t clear enough, or maybe your abilities are lacking, so I’ll say it again. And once again, I respectfully ask you not to interfere in the communication between me and the developer. This has nothing to do with you. You focus on your own business, and I’ll focus on mine. If you don’t like something, that’s your problem, but do not interfere in the communication, interaction, or conversation between two people. I’ll say it again, now for the umpteenth time, for those with weaker comprehension: do not interfere!
@batkizoltan said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
@Galf I think what I said wasn’t clear enough, or maybe your abilities are lacking, so I’ll say it again. And once again, I respectfully ask you not to interfere in the communication between me and the developer. This has nothing to do with you. You focus on your own business, and I’ll focus on mine. If you don’t like something, that’s your problem, but do not interfere in the communication, interaction, or conversation between two people. I’ll say it again, now for the umpteenth time, for those with weaker comprehension: do not interfere!
Oh yeah, the interaction between two people on a PUBLIC forum xD I think the price for the weakest comprehension goes to you my friend. You are harassing all of us with your weird demands.
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In my opinion, there is obviously no need for an exaggerated glass effect on the instruments, but rather a visible, well-balanced one that does not distract users. It should be subtle yet present, something that works well for all of us and enhances the overall visual experience.
For me, alongside flight dynamics and overall model fidelity, the visual presentation is extremely important—especially the cockpit details. At the moment, due to the apparent limitation of the glass effect on the instruments by Asobo Studio, the instruments unfortunately appear quite flat and somewhat underwhelming without a proper sense of glass.
I truly hope that it will be possible to achieve a glass effect that satisfies the expectations of the community.
@batkizoltan said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
In my opinion, there is obviously no need for an exaggerated glass effect on the instruments, but rather a visible, well-balanced one that does not distract users. It should be subtle yet present, something that works well for all of us and enhances the overall visual experience.
For me, alongside flight dynamics and overall model fidelity, the visual presentation is extremely important—especially the cockpit details. At the moment, due to the apparent limitation of the glass effect on the instruments by Asobo Studio, the instruments unfortunately appear quite flat and somewhat underwhelming without a proper sense of glass.
I truly hope that it will be possible to achieve a glass effect that satisfies the expectations of the community.
I completely agree with you. The instruments look like their glass "caps" have been removed. And from certain angles, the windows look like holes.
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@batkizoltan In my opinion, your attitude needs an urgent fix by the developer...
@Rhinozherous said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
@batkizoltan In my opinion, your attitude needs an urgent fix by the developer...
There is nothing wrong with his attitude. He expressed his opinion politely - and raised valid points. The glass effect is substandard; he's not the only one who noticed it. What exactly is your problem with his attitude? Please elaborate.
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@Rhinozherous said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
@batkizoltan In my opinion, your attitude needs an urgent fix by the developer...
There is nothing wrong with his attitude. He expressed his opinion politely - and raised valid points. The glass effect is substandard; he's not the only one who noticed it. What exactly is your problem with his attitude? Please elaborate.
@kityatyi said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
@Rhinozherous said in Request for Improvement Aimed at Strengthening the Glass Effect on Instruments and the Reflection of the Glass Effect’s Reflections:
@batkizoltan In my opinion, your attitude needs an urgent fix by the developer...
There is nothing wrong with his attitude. He expressed his opinion politely - and raised valid points. The glass effect is substandard; he's not the only one who noticed it. What exactly is your problem with his attitude? Please elaborate.
"This is a critical issue that should not be delayed — it requires immediate attention from the developer, and a proper solution needs to be implemented. In its current state, this cannot remain as it is."
This is not a critical issue (the aircraft and its features work as intended) and he is not the one setting the tasks for the dev.
Adding words of respect does not magically change a childish demand into a polite question. -
@Black-Square As I’ve mentioned several times before, this is a truly outstanding aircraft that the flight simulation community has been eagerly waiting for, and it is genuinely a premium-quality model.
The update released today is also excellent and further enhances both the flight experience and the aircraft itself. The panel looks fantastic, and the new panel textures are beautifully done.
However, I must strongly emphasize the lack of glass effect, reflections, and light interaction on the instruments. This is a critical issue that should not be delayed — it requires immediate attention from the developer, and a proper solution needs to be implemented.
In its current state, this cannot remain as it is. It cannot be ignored, and it is not realistic to wait for Asobo to address it at some undefined point in the distant future — in practice, that means never.
In my personal opinion, the highly respected developer of the Caravan is absolutely capable of finding a solution to introduce proper reflective and glass effects on the instruments.
I strongly urge that this be treated as a top priority and addressed in the next update — or, if possible, through a dedicated hotfix.
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@Black-Square I would kindly like to ask the developer to share and elaborate on their opinion and perspective regarding the glass effect on the instruments.
I have also recorded video footage from the simulator to demonstrate what I am referring to. Based on this, I would respectfully like to ask whether you see any realistic possibility or prospect of developing and implementing a custom glass effect in the future, or if the situation is expected to remain unchanged until Asobo addresses the current limitations related to the instrument glass effect.
This is important for us, as it helps set expectations for those of us who would like to see a more pronounced and visually convincing glass effect.
At the same time, I would like to sincerely thank you for your fast bug fixes and for the conscientious, precise, and premium-quality work you have been delivering.
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@Black-Square I would kindly like to ask the developer to share and elaborate on their opinion and perspective regarding the glass effect on the instruments.
I have also recorded video footage from the simulator to demonstrate what I am referring to. Based on this, I would respectfully like to ask whether you see any realistic possibility or prospect of developing and implementing a custom glass effect in the future, or if the situation is expected to remain unchanged until Asobo addresses the current limitations related to the instrument glass effect.
This is important for us, as it helps set expectations for those of us who would like to see a more pronounced and visually convincing glass effect.
At the same time, I would like to sincerely thank you for your fast bug fixes and for the conscientious, precise, and premium-quality work you have been delivering.
@batkizoltan Unfortunately, I only have the same answer for you that I have given every time this has come up. There was some undocumented change to the glass shader in MSFS 2024, which I needed to address in my initial compatibility updates for MSFS 2024. Some of you might recall what the glass looked like when you attempted to port my MSFS 2020 aircraft to 2024 yourselves. This seems to have had the side effect of making the glass reflections slightly weaker in MSFS 2024.
I have not spent extensive time searching for a solution, because there has been ongoing discussion about it on the developer forums. Unlike what you suggested in a previous post, this might not be as simple as me "implementing" a solution. The shaders in MSFS are somewhat of a black box, with only the SDK documentation to guide us, often with outdated or imprecise language. The shader input parameters are generated by the exporters we use from our 3D modeling software. Carenado uses 3dsMax, and I use Blender, which have completely different exporters, and different supported features.
Perhaps there is an easy solution, but this will likely start with me comparing output from the exporters to code a solution myself. MSFS 2024's Virtual File System and DRM makes this more of a hassle than it used to be, but it should still be possible. Obviously, I would much rather Asobo identify what changed and fix it, especially since any fix I publish might yield even worse results with no notice after a sim update or beta. I try not to make any changes like this that would fundamentally break an aircraft at an unforeseeable time, since it would require an update from me, and I do occasionally travel to record sounds for these aircraft.
I appreciate the praise for my aircraft, and I hope you can still enjoy them with diminished glass reflections. I improved the glareshield material on your request, and found an undocumented feature to improve the exterior lighting on your requested. I'm sorry that some issues are more complicated than others, but I will do my best to look into this when time permits and find you a solution.
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@batkizoltan I've spent the last few hours on this, and have found how to reintroduce the skybox reflection into the glass shader (that's what was missing before, as the side reflections noted above are either screen-space or ray-traced reflections).
Unfortunately, I'm personally not a huge fan of the glass shader in MSFS 2024, as it seems to give the underlying instruments a slightly washed-out appearance. This is something I have noticed to varying degrees in aircraft back to FS2004, and it's one of the visuals I feel strongest about in flight simulator. I identified this as something I would avoid in my own aircraft from the beginning, since it does not represent the anti-reflection coated glass in any aircraft I've ever flown, in which the instruments are always high contrast and readable (except for condensation in pitot-static instruments).
Note: I can adjust the smudges and such later, this was just to demonstrate the desaturating effect of the new glass shader.
I definitely see why some might not like this shader, since the new skybox texture for light aircraft in MSFS 2024 (of which there are several. Note that "Closed" and "Helicopter" are swapped in the documentation.) seem to completely overwhelm some instruments from common viewing angles. This is because the skybox is based on the default C172, with rear windows, as opposed to the skybox in MSFS 2020, which was a real spherical photograph from the cockpit of some kind of light sport aircraft, if memory serves.
However... I also strongly believe that the customer is always right, so I will have to rely on the opinions I can gather from the community: Stronger skybox reflections, but desaturated instruments like the default aircraft, or less skybox and higher contrast instruments. Just know that I will always do my best to make everyone as happy as I possibly can with their virtual flying experience.
