A more efficient approach:
How about giving the forest area a damage effect like we have in water (and maybe slightly modified variables for a different effect)
Imagine it.
Softly landing on trees will give an effect like getting stuck in the trees, and then slowly going downward (trough trees, breaking them due to weight) until you reach ground (Il2 water already does this). You can maybe bail out of your plane like you can in water.
Smacking into trees at high speed gives you explosion like in water.
Wingtip touching trees will cause that wing to get break off like in water (or edit some properties from what we have now in Il2, to cause damage instead of total break off of the wing or whatever body part that is in contact with trees [virtually Il2 water])
Have sparks and twigs and leaves flying instead of ripples in water, obviously. Hmm I'm trying to imagine the sound from cockpit
It seems like the simplest solution to me. Basically forest areas will be like water, with raised altitude.
What do you guys think?
- Bengal