Crysis really can't do clouds properly. You have four ways of doing them, each one broken in some way. VolumeObjects have the self-shading but no sun backlighting or texture. Cloud entities have some texture, albeit very low-res, and basic sun interaction, but no self-shading. DistantClouds are just flat planes of clouds with normal mapping, but they're good in that they do the job done for high altitude clouds. And then there's good old skyboxes, those unfortunately break the sun flare, moon texture, and sky hdr.
So I did them with something that Crysis can do extremely well - particle effects. Compared to the other methods, particles have a few shortcomings too, namely no backlighting and no water reflections. But what they do have is plenty, plenty of detail, and the basic self-shadowing. Also, random rotation and random generation allow for some subtle movements, and give the impression of actual clouds as they are constantly moving and shifting. They're not perfect by any stretch, but will have to do. High-altitude stratus clouds I took care of with just DistanceClouds. Been doing some building stuff too, as seen in this abandoned boathouse.
Also that leaf texture I tried to make excuses for really sucked dick, so I went and redid it with putting some actual effort into it this time. Perfectionism stinks.
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