Patch Notes: Sprinkles, sunbeams and the Overworld

Weather

Rain no longer vanishes when you sink into a puddle. Standing in a puddle or other shallow water hid the rain and the sand while you could still hear it. Now the falling weather is only hidden when your eyes are actually under the water.
Rain isn't always a downpour any more. A rainstorm now drizzles at its edges and only pours at its heart, so a light sprinkle or a gentle shower is common, and snow falls lightly more often. A light rain also looks light, with thinner fog and more daylight. The dark, foggy look comes in with the heavy rain.
Distant clouds no longer look square. Far-off clouds near the horizon could show blocky, square edges, worst on the lower cloud quality setting. They're smooth now.

The sea looks like water from underneath. Underwater is murkier now: the water is a blue-green that swallows reds first, gets darker the deeper you dive and at night, and closes off the distance sooner.
Sunbeams shine down through the water. On a sunny day, shafts of light reach down from the surface. They lean with the sun, shift as the waves pass, and fade as you go deeper, under clouds and at night.

Weather fills the Overworld view. Rain, snow, sand and wind used to show only as a small patch around your character. Now they fill the air in front of the camera, as they do on the ground.
Your character faces the way you're going. In the Overworld, the movement keys turn your character toward the direction you press, so you see them walk off to the side or come toward the camera instead of always seeing their back.
Other players show up in the Overworld. Other players were drawn at normal size from high up, so all you could see was their name over a tiny speck. They're now drawn as large as your own character, whether they're on foot, riding or in a Morrowind body.

Smoother turning in a crowd with the Morrowind model. Turning to face a group of players could stall a frame while every body that came into view was posed at once. Bodies about to come into view are now prepared a little ahead of the turn, a few at a time.
Fewer rebuilds of other players' Morrowind bodies. Another player drawing a different weapon, mounting a horse or stepping out of sight for a moment no longer makes their whole body load again; the weapon simply changes in their hand.
No more stalls along the coast. Walking or sailing along a coastline could stall the game for a moment each time you crossed into a new area, while the surf along the shore was rebuilt. The rebuild now takes a few milliseconds instead.
Ships in the distance cost less. The small details on far-off ships, such as lanterns, are no longer drawn once they're smaller than a pixel, just like the ships' own fittings, and ships' flags take less work to draw every frame.

FIELD BUGS 2026-10-01: sprinkles, sunbeams, square clouds, the Overworld's weather and players, and the frame rate on coasts, near ships and in crowds by @Lattymoy in #499

Full Changelog: app-v0.1.5235...app-v0.1.5244