There's a non-zero chance that something like this has been suggested already, but I couldn't find a thread like that, so fwiw, here goes...

So there are three "preset" weathers (in Blackwood, at least, dunno of other tracks) - clear day, cloudy afternoon, and cloudy sunset. All three have a predefined sky texture to them (and maybe to grass, bridges, etc. I'm not sure). What has just occurred to me is that perhaps you could fade in a new sky texture while the old one fades out, and then you'll have changeable weather patterns, at random if you will, and hopefully without terribly involved coding.

Anyhoo, this is just to get it out there. If this has been already suggested, then don't flame me hard and remove this thread if you want.

Maybe not such a good idea (but you did make me think about why it wasn't such a good idea for a good minute or 2)

Couple of reasons why this wouldn't be so great.

1- Sun would fade out and reappear in a different place (and would be simultaneously overlaid for most of the transition) if you wanted to use this technique for conveying passage of time. Very bizarre immersion killer there (think Luke Skywalkers' home planet)

Way around that is code the sun separately, not part of the sky. But clouds would still be disappearing and reappearing, so why not get rid of all details, the whole photographic sky, and use dynamically changing sky-toned colour gradients instead, and adding sun and clouds as separate objects? It mightn't look as immediately realistic as a photographic sky, but atleast it has that real-time changeability.

If it's a very windy day, I want to be able to see the clouds moving across the sky. Don's skies are beautiful for now but the devs will have to think of alternatives come S3 and variable weather. Maybe they can somehow use both approaches?

Good points, Electrik Kar! Indeed, it would be a shame to lose the photographic sky, as I like it very much, as well as any effect this would have on the so nicely done track textures (a separate thanks to you for that).

Regarding the Sun appearance/reappearance...when I used to play GTR2, depending on the time you set, the sun would, in fact, come out from behind the clouds at certain spots on the track and be in your eyes (making the driving harder). Also, after you lay rubber lap by lap, the location of the sun (angle, etc.) would also change, making you realize how much time you've just wasted (in this sense, this isn't such a great idea, perhaps ).

Anyways, I'm not saying the Devs should make LFS' weather akin to that of GTR2, as I like LFS the way it is - a lot less graphics card intensive, even compared to netKar Pro...which, IMVHO, has sh!tty graphics in itself. Just some points to mull over in the spare time (if they have any).