Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Damian Clark

Project: ActiveSky

Recommended Posts

I can understand your skepticism about the transitions... After all this hasn't been done before.Essentially you will get octa coverage changes to occur at a specified interval (default 30 seconds - or 4 minutes from clear to overcast and vice versa). The transitions logic also includes fading in and out layers of different type and altitudes, intelligent selection of cloud type (Stratus, Cumulus or Cirrus) during transitions, skipping buggy coverage layers i.e. BNK 6/8 and 7/8 (and using SCT 4/8 cirrus combined with BKN 5/8 selected cloud type instead), cross-fading layers, and more. Basically a lot of time has been spent in making the visual representation of changing cloud conditions to be as smooth and realistic as possible (automatically changing dozens of advanced weather options every 5 seconds to ensure you see the best possible combination on your screen through the transitions).I would suggest you wait for a review or comments from users after it releases to get a better idea of what it can and cannot do. One thing's for sure that I can confidently say: It is worlds better than what we have available right now. And really this is just the first step - albeit a large step!Damian ClarkDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activeskyhttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky//images/wxre-banner.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So will it be October of 2003 in a couple of months on your planet? Oh wait, I've heard of the place... it's that magical land where Microsoft announces a year in advance exactly what features will be in the next sim. I'll bet it's free there, too! Sorry, couldn't resist. ;-)


Bill Womack

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit my FS Blog or follow me on Twitter (username: bwomack).

Intel i7-950 OC to 4GHz | 6GB DDR3 RAM | Nvidia GTX460 1gb | 2x 120GB SSDs | Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are you from Venus or Mercury? Years are shorter there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest abent

Damien, Thankyou for your response and convincing explanation. I will take your advice and check out a review. In any event, your ActiveSky program sounds like a bargain at $14.99 with the features that you list.Thanks again, Adam

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest BC_KBOS

It's kind of a plus and a minus.ActiveSky is addictive and many of us are hooked.The up side is that standalone, the program worked swell all alone with FS.The down side is that V1.4 worked swell, but had a few bugs. V1.5 fixed the bugs but killed MP.Now, if we want to get all the "bells and whistles", we will have to pay. Well, I bought FSMeteo a while back, with "free updates", only to find out that I bought FSMeteo more than a year ago, so no more updates for free.Before you all start calling me a cheapskate, when you buy something and are led to believe that those free updates are permanent, well, you tend to believe it. Why not?Now ActiveSky is going payware after all the community input and they claim free updates. How long will that last?Money is money.Just asking the obvious question...BC

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest pilot_guru

You lot sure must go through a lot of tissues, with all the crying you do, what a bunch of cry babies you are!It amazes me that you lot grizzle and cry like a bunch of 1 year olds just because a developer has chosen to release a new payware version of a program that has proven its worth, in order to recoup some of the expenses he has incurred in developing the product and to ensure ongoing development and updates, all for those who want to take FS that little bit further and to have just that little bit more realism.If you don't like the idea of having to pay for it, then DON'T buy it!, simple as that.How many of you grizzling 1 years chucked a tantrum when MS left FS98 sitting like a lame duck and released FS2000?, then the same again when they released FS2002, and it will be the same again when FS2004 is released. I'll tell you the answer............NOT ONE OF YOU!No one flamed, cried, grizzled or chucked a tantrum, but instead, you all rushed out and bought it, didn't you.......WHO CARED ABOUT THE PRICE, you just had to have it, or be left behind in the race.If you are really cheesed off, get one of the other weather programs, but make sure it is freeware and that they have a zillion years of free updates.........better get that in writing, just to be on the safe side.In the end, the choice is entirely yours, either stick with the freeware version, albeit with less features, or take a plunge and pay for the latest release, or develop your own and release it. NO ONE is twisting your arm up behind your back making you purchase, just like NO ONE is twisting Damians arm making him develop it.Damian, like ALL other commercial developers, has made a commercial decision to release a product, a decision that happens world over, everyday by the commercial fraternity.Just be thankful that there are people/groups such as Damian, the developers of FSMeteo, FlightMax and a host of others (to many to list) who produce quality products for us to purchase and use, then there are all the freeware developers who release products/addons for us to use.No one twists their arms, they do the releases because, a.) its a commercial decision, b.) they are providing a service, c.) because they enjoy making the product/addon, and d.) the community (in this case FS community) demands it.Just enjoy what you have and stop crying!see you in the clouds!David

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello!1.5 killed MP? Not for me, works fine! I would have addressed this if I had confirmed reports! There must be something else wrong with your configuration, and I'd like to try and help if you can share details on your internet connection and fs configuration. Please e-mail me at dzc66@cox.net.Led to believe free updates are permanent? Perhaps, but who did the leading? It sure wasn't me! 5 free updates later, the product incorporated many enhancements asked for and became mostly bug-free. The other things asked for needed resources! I could have said NO SORRY that can't happen, enjoy what you have. Instead I decided I could make it happen and I did. Now many of these features are reality. Is this a bad thing? We all know the answer don't we?... Just think: even if you don't support wxRE, when you get FS2004 late next year, it will contain many of the features of wxRE that otherwise would probably not get implemented. How's that for contributing? All the community input for nothing?The bar gets raised, competition is forced to make better products, and everyone wins. Those complaining I'm sure have their reasons and I am not going to try and say that they are wrong. I just think they aren't aware of all the details.Every commercial release I've done has been just like this as far as the criticism goes. Funny thing is, my FREEWARE releases always get MORE criticism - albeit in different ways! Yes folks, I've done lots of freeware AND commercial and will continue to do so. I know deep down that everyone appreciates what I am doing (LOL) so I will try to ignore the hate-filled comments and understand that their concerns are valid...But there is one thing that needs to happen to put the controversy to rest.. and that is wxRE's release. The add-on will speak for itself ....so... I will get off my soap box, get back to work to finish the dang thing, and let it do just that.BTW, free updates and support will be available for the life of the product. How long will that be? Probably about 6 months.. maybe more, maybe less, depends on how quickly I can make the next set of features that everyone will ask for (I can tell you there will be many asked for). That's around 6 months of updates (you folks know how I like making updates) not to mention the base add-on for only $14.95. Do you know how much of that 14.95 actually goes in my pocket? Pretty sad, actually... I don't expect to even break even on this product but that's OK.. I am not in it for the money. I just want to be able to keep making groundbreaking software. It's an addiction, really.Damian ClarkDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activeskyhttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky//images/wxre-banner.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest BC_KBOS

Howdy Damien!Hey, don't misunderstand.. I LIKE ActiveSky, think it's great and you should be commended for your excellent work!I was only looking for the details on future updates to the next version. My point was that FSMeteo was supposed to be free updates, and that was the impression given prior to purchase of THAT product.It was not my intention to cast any disparaging remarks, if that was the appearance, apologies.I'll drop you a line regarding the MP issues when I get a chance, but I thought one of our group already did that. In short, AS 1.5 would cause our FSHost server to do strange things. It was determined by a few of the lads that by going back to v1.4, the MP problems on the server were fixed. In any event, your work is definitely a plus and when released, I'll probably purchase it.Happy Contrails!BC

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Hi Damian,I too applaud your work and if going payware is your chosen course, then so be it. This is a quality add-on.I wanted to ask you a question regarding turbulence. I have been a religious user of FSMeteo and currently am quite happy with it. However, in my opinion, FSMeteo does not interpret turbulence very well. Perhaps its the limitations of FS2002 and not the program so I should be cautious in blaming FSMeteo. At any rate, the turbulence I experience with FSMeteo always seems to make the plane sway unrealistically right and left. Never up and down. If you have flown in commercial aircraft, then you can relate that feeling of chop and the feeling of the plane jutting up and down as it transitions through the turbulence. Of all the times I've flown in real life, never (except in a C182) have I had the feeling I was being pushed way to the left or right during choppy conditions. For a 767 to act in this manner is way out of realism. Do you agree? And if so, do you think this will be addressed in your upcoming release of ActiveSky?Thank you for your time and work.Michael

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Michael,Interested comments about the turbulence. I am not sure why the side-to-side effect is happening in the program you mentioned... Interesting because the default turbulence simulation is FS2002 is definitely more up-and-down (and front-and-back/shearish) than side-to-side. Perhaps that program is using it's own turbulence effect and it is doing as you described. ActiveSky wxRE uses default FS2002 turbulence effects that are managed for the best representation based on existing conditions. Not much side-to-side here (that I can notice) in larger aircraft.Another thing that may be happening: Wind gusts with cross-wind component can definitely cause side-to-side in any aircraft.. this is different than the actual 'turbulence' effect though.Damian ClarkDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activeskyhttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky//images/wxre-banner.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi!No offense to your comments, my post was directed at everyone not specifically to you :)Concerning the MP issues. I think it may be because v1.5 applied some timeout/retry functionality in internet transfers that were supposed to help online connections, and for the most part do, but may be causing problems with the FSHOST program when a laggy connection to the NOAA servers exists.wxRE uses an entirely new synchronous download procedure and is much more forgiving and unobtrusive with internet transfers. I think this will solve the problem here in the future. But for v1.5 and FSHOST and think we can come up with some kind of resolution to get it to work. It may be as simple as making sure the HOST has a good connection to NOAA. Damian ClarkDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activeskyhttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky//images/wxre-banner.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

DamienRoll on December!I've noticed a few small anomolies in 1.5, which you may already be aware of:Current metar display (only when using VATSIM data) appears truncated:EGGD 211650Z 16007KT 9999 FEW030 SCT190 08/07 Q09Display from Servinfo shows the complete QNH:EGGD 211650Z 16007KT 9999 FEW030 SCT190 08/07 Q0983If I look at the program runtime status, it shows METAR altimeter setting of 1013 (presumably because it can't make sense of the truncated value?)Also the program runtime status has some "interesting" values in the LH column clouds section. The first and fourth entry show a value of 2.00003051804379 (LOL!)Hope this helpsAndy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the report Andy, yes, aware of these and have fixed them. For v1.5 the solution is to not use VATSIM metars IF you have verified that at least 1 METAR station's report date/time from NOAA matches the VATSIM version (i.e. VATSIM's weather is up to date with NOAA). This error was caused by an apparent formatting change on the VATSIM METAR reporting website.Damian ClarkDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activeskyhttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky//images/wxre-banner.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...