ActiveSky 2002 v1.0 is RELEASED FREEWARE!!!!!!

[Guest]

Hello Damian.Thanks for the neat weather program, however I've run into a little bug. I Filed an IFR flight plan from CYXY to CYZF, and as I approached CYZW (the first weather station change since CYXY) my altimeter jumped from 26000 ft to 55,000ft. I was really still at 26,000 ft, but ATC didn't think so and ask me to descend to FL330 ASAP. I couldn't make it in time and IFR flight plan was cancelled.Here's a Pic. If I hit the "b" button, still no joy. Any Ideas?Also, in the next version, is it possible to remove the letter text, when ever you change weather stations?Thanks.

[Guest]

Maybe the problem lies with the fact that this station has the word Auto in it??

[Guest]

Looks like a neat program, gosh, FSMeteo could use a little competition I think, so this is good thing.As I understand it though, ActiveSky V1.0 only simulates winds aloft rather than using real world data? Thank you for your hard work and talent. FREEWARE STILL LIVES!!!!!!!!

[Guest Martin]

Do you get the pressure problem only with ActiveSky or with "default" downloaded weather also? I've seen this happen in some areas, both in FS2002 and FS2000. While the aircraft probably would implode when the pressure gets so high, it doesn't, and if you hold down B until it starts to get better again it usually works out OK.Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest]

Happenes only with Activesky loaded. Had to end Activesky, clear all weather and use default MS weather. Had no problems after that.

[Guest]

Just want you to know that this program severely messed up my machine. The installation first made me go through the update process as it said files in my system needed to be updated and then made me reboot. After the reboot my Norton Internet Security would not start and had a failure banner, my Anti-virus could not be updated as Norton's update program said it could not find any Norton Products on my machine. FS2002's weather update failed as it said it could not find a server. Also when I used your program for the weather it just put it to no visibility even thought it is a clear day where I was flying.Next was the hassle of trying to fix it!Even after using your uninstall nothing was fixed. I had to go and look through your program and see all the .dll's it had updated and thank god I keep a backup of my WinME OS. I had replaced them all with my previous versions except for one that would not over write, even in safe mode, which was file OLEAUT32.dll. I finally had to use windows file extraction program to get it over written and that finally fixed everything.

[Guest]

Is this the same author as Weather Maker? It seems to use the same installer.With the Weather Maker installer I got the same "need to update system files" warning. Next thing I know both my Norton and IE browser was messed up. My browser wouldn't let me open a link in a new window -- it would just hang.- Kenny B

[Ed 0]

The installer is an old version dated 6/18/98. The program tries to install old dlls. I have had problems with this installer before. Open up the activesky.cab and see what I mean.

[Guest]

Nice Job. I didn't have any problems installing or running this program. My only criticism is the weather changes very abruptly when the program updates. Was wondering if there is a way to make this a little more gradual? Especially the simulated winds aloft. I found myslef instantly bucking a 45 knot headwind, causing my airspeed to go overlimit.

[michal 44]

Damian, long time no see and now I know what you have been up to !!I am eager to try it out but having WinMe and seeing so many installation issues I am having second thughts. I was a beta tester for another product called WeatherMaker and this product had equally significant installation problems. The author told me he never tried to install on WinMe. Was your Active Sky tested on WinMe ?Michael J.

[Steve Cannell 4]

Hi DamianIt's great to see a possible alternitive real weather program. I love the fact it's freeware and I'm sure that now that you have many more users whatever problems there might be will soon be fixed. Thanks for the hard work and making this freeware !!!SteveCYYZ

[Damian Clark 1,257]

Hi Michael! Good to hear from ya...Nopers, there were no Me testers on the beta team unfortunately. I haven't ever released a VB6 package before and unfortunately I am going through a little learning curve. Not to fear, all the problems will be fixed soon. Actually I have a new package ready for testing.Now I just need one brave soul to attempt to install it on Me. ;) Any takers??-Damian

[Damian Clark 1,257]

Thanks for the kind words Steve!Yes, fixing the problems is priority one right now. I won't slow down until its stable, which hopefully won't take more than a couple days at the most.Those folks who had problems with the v1.0 program, I apologize! Good news is that most users have had no problems at all. Right now WinMe seems to be the culprit of install issues which I think are fixed already (testing now).There are a few other fixes/ehnacements happening as well and I expect to have a new build ready by tonight.Thanks for everyone's patience!-Damian

[Damian Clark 1,257]

Martin,I think it's fixed and I was hoping you could test it? Please contact me at dzc66@cox.netThanks!-Damian

[Guest]

>IE browser was messed up. My browser wouldn't >let me open a link in a new window -- it would just hang. >The installation first made me go through the update process as it >said files in my system needed to be updated and then made me reboot.Same problems here.I feel really bad having to post about problems with a freeware product as usually, if I am not happy with what I download I simply delete it and move on. No harm done. Even if it is not of interest to me I still appreciate the effort that went into producing it. All problems aside this looks like a great addon and I'm sure once the INSTALLER problems are ironed out it will join the list of "Must Have" addons.HOWEVER, I fail to see the advantage of installer programs that hijack system files and cause damage to programs that have nothing to do with the sim. The inclusion of things like VB runtime files in an addon package seems an invitation to disaster when so many other programs rely on them for their operation. Would it not be better to simply state in the readme that "In order for this addon to work you need to get the following files available from....." This way, whenever someone stumbles across an addon sometime in the future they are not faced with having their current system disrupted by outdated runtime files that are commonly available. Some of the files included in this package have dates nearly 2 years older than what is currently available. Some seem to be more recent than the vb runtimes that I downloaded from MS today. How does that happen?When installing ActiveSky today, every time that I was presented with the "the file you currently have is newer than the one being installed" message I selected "keep my existing file". The problem seems to lie in the early part of the install in the "system needed to be updated" phase.INSTALLERS BAD - ZIP FILES GOODSure for some folks nothing makes them happier than a one click install. As long as it works. A zip package may initially be a little more work but at least you can unsip it to a temporary folder, take a look at it and have the choice of what gets overwritten and the oppourtunity to not make system changes until you determine that they are actually necessary. A choice between Zip or Installer at download time would be nice.Again, it saddens me to have to say in a public forum, anything negative about a freeware contribution but now myself and others are faced with the task of trying to get our systems back in order and I for one, am not sure what exactly I need to do.I would appreciate if anyone who was successful in restoring their system to mention the steps they took. I'm sure a few of us could use the help.Thank you and to Damian, my sincere thanks (really, I mean that) for an addon that I am looking forward to using, it looks great. Thanks for your efforts. Unfortunatly, these things happen sometimes. If you could suggest a fix I'd be greatful. The system here is Win 98SE with IE6.0.2800.1106 SP1