Hello everyone!I just wanted to give everyone an update on our progress...We've been hard at work finishing development of ASV, ActiveSky Version 5. We are getting closer! The private Beta Team has really put the product through the paces and they are doing a great job helping us shape the final release version.I wanted to share a few screenshots showing some of great new interface features in this new version! This is just a VERY small sample of what is in store!Note that these screenshots are of work in progress, and subject to change before release.The new main interface got a facelift, including new decoded wx display areas, larger METAR/TAF/WINDS data windows and more.. Notice the "Create VAS Point" area at the bottom... this is where you can name and create a new VAS Point (Vertical Air Simulation Point) for updraft or downdraft effect.http://www.hifisim.com/asvshots/mainscreen.jpgVAS Points can simulate thermals, mountain ridges, mountainous updrafts and downdrafts. They are completely configurable by editing a simple text file, and have realistic properties including size, vertical lift component (positive or negative), decay, base altitude, upper altitude and more...ASV also sports Auto VAS Point Generation to provide thermal and updraft/downdraft effects based on terrain and wind... For example, when flying near the mountains with stronger winds, you will experience associated updrafts and downdrafts depending on the slope and direction of the wind. Not such a big deal for jets flying up high, but smaller aircraft will really need to watch out for this and apply mountainous flying technique, just like in the real world!As you can see, we have quite a few new options, now organized by category...http://www.hifisim.com/asvshots/optionsscreen.jpgMore details on these new options and what they do will be explained soon!Here is the new Wx Configurator interface...http://www.hifisim.com/asvshots/wxconfigscreen.jpgThis lets you easily program your own offline weather in a simple 3-step processes. Just select the weather you want via included ASV Wx Templates (which are fully sharable amongst ASV users), choose which station to apply it to, and Apply it!There are several optional wx control features here as well. You can manually create or edit a METAR string and see its decoded text in real time.. or create a new template based on your customized METAR string. When applying weather, you can send it to a single station, a range of stations, or the entire globe. For the first time, ActiveSky now supports complete control of your weather when flying offline!More screenshots and information will be released soon... Thanks everyone for your support and participation in helping to make ActiveSky the best it can be!Best Regards,The ASV Development Team

Very, very cool Damian! I noticed the "Refresh AI" button on the front panel and I know exactly what that is gonna do for me and I can't wait. I especailly like the "Auto refresh AI on first Wx Set" option. Slurp, droool.....Credit card waiting, LOL...Al

Looks awesome Damian! Can't wait to get it. I'm hoping you'll advise us of minimum system requirements soon as well. I'm hoping I can run it on my networked pc if it can handle it and use WideFS to send it on to my fs pc. The screenshots look great!KP

Hi KP,Minimum requirements remain mostly unchanged from 2004.5. System resource hit is also the same if not better as we have worked on the processing engine effeciency quite a bit. AE cloud textures offer plenty of customization options, allowing a bias towards quality or performance as desired.Pretty soon we'll have some actual in-flight footage to show you... the interface is nice but wait until you see those clouds!Best,

Sounds great Damian, thanks for the info! Looks like my network machine should be able to handle it. I'm sure looking forward to ASV. :)KP

You do realise Damian that Jim will be snowed under with forums posts "How do I set this up" or "What is the best setting for..." :D I like the look of the vertical air simulation, should make for interesting approaches to some airports and I might be able to try out my virtual gliding skills :-)Look forward to the in-flight screen shots.

Hi Damian,looks impressive !Just a few questions:the VAS is creating updraft/downdraft automatically during/in vicinity of thunderstorms ?I see the "TAF processing" option present: I recall of reading in the previous announcement regarding ASV that the new offline file was comprehensive of several hourly/semihourly METARs before the actual download time (thus enabling to fly, say, at 12Z with a 14Z file that has the 12, 13 and 14Z METARs, if I understood it well). This seems in conflict with TAF processing, but maybe this processing will be used when METARs are missing or if you want to fly offline with a "future" weather insted of a "past" weather. Am I correct ?what about oceanic/sparsely populated areas handling ?any chance to correctly depict variable visibility and vertical visibility or reading some of the RMK section (I know this would be extremely difficult because there isn't a standard way to add RMK !) ?Manu thanks and thumbs up for your continued work for us simmers !

I'm currently reading a book called "Flying the Mountains" by Fletcher Anderson which has a chapter about mountain weather. Hopefully ASV will enable me to experience some of the conditions mentoned that are more specific to the high areas. ;)

Wow this looks stunning, now all I have to do is get around the misses and persuade her to let me buy it.RegardsJason

Hi!TAF processing can be used with offline sequential playback. What if a station did not report in the 13Z sequence? Perhaps you want TAF forecast to take over for that hour instead of it using the old 12Z data? So you can still use TAF processing in all modes... online, offline, or offline sequential playback.Wind resolution has been greatly enhanced for oceanic/sparse areas, utilizing DWC and advanced server routines...Thunderstorms and VAS, no, because we can't tell your position in relation to the actual depicted cloud. However if thunderstorms are present your conditions will dictate more thermal activity so this is a possibility..Best,

Guys,This looks great. Can't wait to buy and upgrade to ASV.Regards,Jeroen van SchoneveldVelserbroekThe [email protected]http://fs2crew.com/linepilot.jpghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/800driver.jpg

Wow that looks awesome Damian!Can't wait for ASV.Regards George van Drunen

Damian,Having thermals, ridge lift and lee side rotors is really what I missed most in flight simulator. Most of my real world flying experience is in hang gliders, both in the mountains and above flat lands. I cannot tell you how much I anticipate ASV.Best regards,Henri

HI All,ASV preview video show the Cirrus Clouds and ICS function Active Sky Weather Simulator Version 5) http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=16881&page=ThanksChris WillisHiFi Simulation Software Team Developerhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpgFreeware Addons for FSW GROUP

Hi Damian,Just watched the video from avsim showing the ICS cirrus formations. Pretty impressive stuff. We are all itching to have a go with it. Will you be releasing a manual for download so we can all wet our appetite a bit whilst we wait for the final release.Graham Sumner