Help with Cloud Editor and .awa Files

[Bullethead]

Howdy-

I can't get the cloud editor to put clouds at the alts I specify.  I always get clouds way above and below the alt limits.  And so far, tweaking variables 1 at a time to try to isolate their effects has been unsuccessful.  There seems to be no rhym or reason to where the clouds appear between 1 setting and the next.  I'm sure part of the problem is that I don't know from which part of the cloud the alt is measured.  Is it the top, the bottom, or the middle?  Also, cloud type and size seem to affect the final alt of the cloud, but in ways I haven't been able to figure out.

What I want to do is make like a decent day for gliding.  I want long, parallel rows of big cumulous.  The bottom of each cloud needs to be about 7k ASL, each cloud needs to be about 3-5 miles in diameter, and I want 5-10 miles between clouds.  I can do all of this except I can't get the altitude right.  I end up with individual cloud bases scattered from below sea level to 20k.  If anybody can tell me the editor settings needed to make what I want, please let me know.

In the meantime, I'm thinking that something in the system introduces more randomness into cloud placement and size than what you specify in the editor.  I'm hoping that somehow gets built into the .awa file, so I can edit that directly to solve the problem.  Anybody know if that'll work?

And does anybody know what each number in the .awa file means?  Here's an example from the file I'm working on now:

Editor settings:
Start time:  0.01
Downtime:  0.01
Speed:  300 (so I can watch them move across the big map)
Min Alt:  15k
Max Alt:  15k
Min Size:  15k
Max Size:  15k
Min Type:  2
Max Type:  2
Clouds per Row:  30
Number of Rows:  10

This results in the following line in the .awa file:

36,36,300,820488,0,10,30,2,2,15000,15000,-427680,15000,1346400,1356960,0,-322080,-918720,0,-1019040


In this, I figure I can spot the times, the speed, the type, and 3 of the 4x15ks I entered.  I'm pretty sure some of the big numbers are the X and Y coords of the corners of the front.  But what are all the zeros in there, and where is the 4th 15k I entered?

[gatso]

Min Size: 15k
Max Size: 15k

Thats your problem I'm guessing. From the help file:

Minimum and Maximum Size

Sets the minimum and maximum size, in feet, of the clouds in the weather front.  The clouds are generated at some random size between the specified min and max.

Turn it back to the defaults of 1k and 3k and see what happens.

Gatso

[Bullethead]

I have no problem with cloud size.  They're all the same size, and they're about the size I want and spaced out like I want them.  And 1-3k wide clouds are WAY too small.  Not only is that much smaller than reality, it's also too small to be any sort of tactical factor.  That's why I want clouds at least 3 miles wide.

My problem is that I can't control their altitude ASL.  Even with the min and max ALT set at the same height, I still get clouds from below sea level all the way up to 20k or so.  So instead of a bunch of cumulous all at the same alt, I've got some pretending to be fogbanks and others hanging up in cirrus territory.

The reason I set the min and max alt to 15k is that my best guess at present is that cloud alt is calculated from the center of the cloud MOST OF THE TIME.  So if I want the bottom of the cloud at a certain alt, I need to set the cloud alt to the desired base alt plus 1/2 the diameter of the cloud.  I want the bottoms of the clouds at about 7-8k, so I used 15k alt here with 15k wide clouds.

The Hell of it is. this isn't consistent.  Maybe about 2/3 the clouds are at the desired alt.  And I can live with the few that are way high.  The problem lies with about 1/3 of the clouds being right on or below the deck.  Because AH draws clouds AFTER it draws water, it looks very strange.  Besides, I don't want clouds that low.

[pokie]

http://www.accesswave.ca/~tscott/AH-stuff/AH-Editor&Stuff/Clouds/

May have some use to you.

[Bullethead]

Thanks, Pokie.  I'll read it thoroughly tomorrow.