Sort of surprised they give a date at all. By all means internally have a goal and have a bunch of private testers hammer on it, but it’s not like it helps anyone to even give a single day target. There’s no upside.
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From Today’s Weekend News
"*Our new Volumetric Cloud System requires a significant rewrite of our radar, sensor and weapon system code. To integrate the clouds smoothly, the process will be split into stages. The Clouds will initially be released as a purely visual feature, with the possibility to select a wide variety of weather presets from the Mission Editor. After the initial release, we will finalise the work on radar and weapon systems as well as how AI behaves in the new weather conditions. This is particularly relevant for close air combat line-of-sight behaviour.
Please note, DCS: F/A-18C Hornet and DCS: The Channel will be released within a short time frame of Open Beta 2.7.0. which we have pushed out to the 7th of April 2021 due to the heavy testing and 3rd party integration requirements.
Thank you for your passion and support,
Your sincerely,
Eagle Dynamics Team*
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I would anticipate lots of obscure bugs to be found with radars, IR weapons, and TV sensors including TGPs, plus add the AI in as well as they said - so it will be a busy time for the third parties to catch up on these changes.
It may be tougher to be a mission designer again for some time to get expected results from the AI during the transition too.
…And I mean bugs like “AI won’t shoot missile because there is a part of a cloud within his calculated FOV between him and the target, despite the cloud being tiny and the target very large”.
Not to be a downer on it - but some realistic expectation is due considering the gravity of the changes. It is Open Beta (for most of us) after all, so there will be problems to sniff out and report!
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At least they are taking it slow. Eye candy first, and then little by little they get everything else working. Imagine if they tried to do a feature complete release for all those things, how broken it would be… 
Or how long it would take? 12-18 months for New Features and everything to be bug free?
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Another week… 
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Don’t do that… I thought you where saying it was going to be another week after the 7th … 
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Currently version number: DCS 2.5.6.61527.3 Open Beta
Next update: Planned 14th April 2021 (subject to change)
Another week added unfortunately But if that is what they need to get it right then so be it.
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Well damn. Can’t wait for HARM PB mode.
Just had a look over at ED forums … And the pitchforks are out …
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Sure…I’m a bit disappointed…But I’d be really disappointed if 2.7 wasn’t tested fully and given to us in a knowingly broken state.
It’s been hyped up so much this last month that I’m sure I’m not alone in saying this is one of The Biggest DCS releases in recent history.
I can wait as long as it takes…I just want to enjoy it to it’s fullest when it’s tested and ready.
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Eh I don’t mind a bug or two. I wouldn’t mind getting my mitts on 2.7 in the foreseeable future. In fact, i can’t wait to do so 
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Dare I say…
…humor aside, this actually is good news. It means that after the release problems we had in the past that lead to ED expanding the internal testing stage and more importantly, the internal testing team itself - it’s paying off. Those testers ARE finding problems, reporting them, and the dev team is working on fixes that require more test time.
We’re not in terrible rough shape currently, so I don’t personally feel as much demand for the next patch.
Desire - yes, I want to fly in those new clouds!
Demand - no, that I reserve for fixes to things that were working and then broken but should have been obvious, such as issues through early 2.6.
We haven’t had any major core updates of this scale since the testing team expansion so this is a trial by fire for the new QA process as well.
(Yes, most of this post is a mental exercise in maintaining my own patience! 
)
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Turns out I was! 
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Yay another week to finish my A-10 Liberation campaign and get some screenshots and vids out of it before the Liberation software breaks with 2.7 
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I was all hyped up for 2.7 release on Wednesday… then I read the patch status thread on the DCS forums 
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I don’t want to jinx it. Or even to be a naysayer. But there is something bothering me watching all of Wags recent tutorial videos with the clouds. (I’m hoping it’s the early implementation that he is using for those videos).
It really do seem as if the clouds are changing position every time they are redrawn, and making for some weird perspective effects every time the airframe (viewing angle) moves. Anybody see that?
It’s been driving me crazy because it’s been in those videos for a long time, and I was hoping to see it getting better the closer we get to release. (He could have recorded all the videos at the same time though)
If you look to the right of the HUD on Wags latest video on the Hornet Radar modes you will be able to see it… Anybody else?
Hoping for the best…
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To me it looks similar to IL2 with maybe a little more sophistication. What you describe does exist for IL2 as well but, unlike the older Rise of Flight, it’s easy not to notice it. I no longer do. The interaction with the hud also exists in IL2. In VR that is a little harder to ignore but it has improved by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. This will be the same. Yes, there will be some initial disappointment but over time ED will find a balance that will work for most users. If the clouds allow for different levels of quality, I will opt for Low or Medium which could help with the interference with the HUD animation.
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My hope for this new atmospheric phenomena feature is that clouds push that sense of flight up a notch; the sensation of speed[1] will no longer be limited to rooting around above the grass. I’m doubtful since, currently, I can’t fly through a pillar of smoke (from something burning) without a noticeable hit in my FPS, therefore the closeup details will likely be lacking. Will see.
Me expectation is I’ll get a more “visually rich” scene (my wife, the ever present home designer, would term it ‘visual interest’).
[1] For those who’ve never gone really fast up high in aircraft (mach 1+ for instance) without stationary objects around you for reference (clouds) – it’s kind of underwhelming. And a huge waste of gas if you’re on a ‘joy ride’.
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