I really feel there would be a market for something like star citizen without all the realism stuff that gets in the way of the gameplay. I’m a backer, and when I can get to playing the game it’s fun, but finding my way to the launch pad after every two years break when I’m trying to checkup on progress sucks.
I’m pretty sure the lead on clouds is the industry leader on cloud rendering. He has some great gdc talks and paper write-ups of his work.