War Thunder ULQ Spotting with Clouds

Legend:

Green is observer.

Black are the targets.

Blue line is "Visible"

Red line is "Invisibile"

Brown is "Conditional"

Left is ULQ

Right is Movie Settings. I have not confirmed other non-ulq settings but it seems this applies to them as well as long as cloud detail is not set to minimum value.

A is below cloud. Distance doesn't matter from cloud. You could be on the ground even with the cloud at 6km and this still applies.

B is in cloud, > 0.6km of #3. Between 0.8km and 0.6km of the cloud edge. Basically inside the cloud but close to the edge. Can still see the ground on ULQ but not on MOVIE settings.

C is within the cloud, within 0.5km of #3, but greater than 0.8km of the cloud base. It is within 0.6km but greater than 0.4km from #3. Cannot see the ground on ULQ settings.

Target #1 is some far distance but on roughly the same altitude as A. It is some far distance below clouds.

Target #2 is > 400m from A and between A and the cloud.

Target #3 is far inside the cloud.

Distances and Conditions 

Note: Dots always only render up to 8km.

A-1 <8km (Visible All Settings)

A-2 >0.4km but in the direction of a cloud (ULQ cannot see)

A-3 >2km (ULQ cannot see, Movie may see if they vary their zoom settings, which iirc is zooming in since patch 1.53 but before then it was probably zooming out completely independant)

B-1 >0.8km of cloudin between, else <8km. (None can see)

B-2 <8km, but <0.8km of cloud in between. (ULQ can see, Movie may see if they zoom in)

B-3 Between 0.6km and 0.8km (ULQ cannot see but Movie may see the propeller shine in the old system, though from what I've heard they can see others clearly since patch 1.55 but that could be just a misunderstanding)

C-1 has >1.5km of cloud in between (None can see)

C-2 has >0.8km of cloud in between (None can see but from what I heard recently Movie might be able to see)

C-3 Between 0.4km and 0.6km (ULQ can only see if they zoom in. This is a pain in the butt for me myself since I use a hatswitch to track and my low frame rates means I should never turn the camera while zoomed in or I will lose track of the enemy. Movie settings can see quite clearly from what I heard since patch 1.53)

Note: The information below this big image is now partially outdated as of Patch 1.53 due to new rendering system changes. The distance which planes now dissappear is not at exactly 0.8 km but now whenever the target aircraft is rendered in its darkened sillhouette form. Expect worse results with planes dissappearing as close as 0.25 km when zoomed out:

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Pre 1.53 information (A lot of it still applies to patch 1.53, its just that visibility isn't predefined at exactly 0.8 km but now is dependant on zoom level):

Air Battles Differences Simplified, ULQ versus Movie from my little experience on movie settings on my brother's computer:

-Less Tree density

-Dots tend to disappear into the haze and into the sun earlier than they do on movie settings however I don't have a direct comparison to prove this.

-Trees makes spotting more difficult compared to movie setting for some reason, but when you're far enough where the trees don't render it's easier to spot with ULQ

-Haze reduces maximum distance dots are rendered

-Dots render further on movie

-Dots are smudgier on ULQ around 4-8km on unlimited vis atmospheric setting, but tend to be more precise on Movie (so if you don't have a keen eye for long-range spotting, it's easier on ULQ)

-Transitioning distance where the lowest LoD models are used, it is significantly harder to track aircraft on ULQ. This can be temporarily solved however by zooming out if the target aircraft is between 2-4km. It also seems that higher quality LoD models are rendered further away on higher graphical settings which also makes it easier to identify between, let's say, a G8N, a B29 and a B17G.

-Any Cloud formation that isn't "clear weather" or "full cloud cover" where clouds would be at your flight level or inside seriously screw your spotting up

-ULQ can see the ground whilst in thick clouds, not being more than 1.5km above the cloud base (does not effect aircraft spotting however)

-In thin clouds or skimming cloud base, Movie settings has better spotting ability all around except looking below, ULQ can only see aircraft within 0.8 kilometers or are significantly below the cloud deck

-In the thickest clouds, Movie setting you can only easily spot and track aircraft up to 0.45-ish km away (though you still can faintly see them up to 0.8), they blur up past 0.25-ish km, ULQ simply has a binary value of 0.8 km where under that distance they aren't blurred at all

-Movie settings can spot aircraft that are inside clouds if they are far enough away (ULQ doesn't see the aircraft no matter how far away unless the aircraft is within 0.8 km)

-In movie settings the tips of hills and trees and sometimes aircraft can get blurred by far-away clouds if the hill is beyond 0.8 km from player, but aren't blocked if the cloud is not near the hill, but on ULQ they are all simply "behind the cloud" and not visible (hence ULQ users should never fly low on a partially cloudy day)

-Movie Settings has cloud shadows, making maps like Korea a pain in the butt to spot people on a perfectly good sunny day. ULQ tends to make the landscape bright despite cloud cover.

Cloud Examples