ASv6.5 Difference?

[_Brandon 0]

I'm using Flight Environment along with the default FS9 weather. I've thought about buying AS for years but I always end up spending my money on a new aircraft or another utility. My question is, if I use AS to generate the weather but continue to use the FE textures, will I notice anything different visually? I'm strictly talking about the appearance of the weather itself. For example, will I see fronts building or different weather patterns that I'm not seeing now?By the way, I've searched other threads but haven't found the answer to this exact question.

[Guest JTEK99]

Well, the unfortunate truth of the matter is, yes.... you will see much different weather patterns, cloud formations, etc. with ActiveSky. I say "unfortunate", but only for your wallet; your flightsim experience will be completely enhanced.No more strange haze layers, billowing and full cloud formations, etc. are all part and parcel of ActiveSky. I, too, use FE for my clouds/water and AS simply takes those wonderful textures and turns them into works of art.I use AS6.5 on a WideFS client and, sometimes, when I decide to do just a "quickie flight" or some circuits around a local airport, I just use the MS default online weather system. Inevitably, after about 10 minutes, my curiosity gets the best of me and I clear all the weather, then run AS6.5 and ... whoa.... the difference becomes blatantly obvious.It's too bad there's no trial version, but to date, I don't think I've ever heard any simmer, anywhere say the fateful words: "ActiveSky sucks!" Probably because every AS owner would know they were certifiably insane.

[Guest Nealoc187]

AS6.5 was my first add-on if I recall correctly, and of all my add ons, it is the one I would give up last. It is a true transformation... the default weather is an absolute joke once you've experienced AS.

[altstiff 71]

AS 6.5 is a must have. You won't be sorry.

[Guest Knikolaes]

I'll tell you this -- I am a flight school student and I have found that ASv is an absolute MUST for true weather simulation. If you get it you WILL become addicted to it.I can also verify it works smoothly in Vista on FS9. I havent even tested it on FSX yet -- I have FSX but still am stuck on FS9 until I can find a way to get Active Camera-like panning on FSX with the mouse.

[JP_Visser 3]

i bought it like at the beginning of this year,and i can only say :if you do NOT own Active Sky,buy it.it completely transforms the sim,and you cannot compare it with anything else.also,support is really good.not that you'll need them :-hahcheersJP.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

I agree! The first thing I click on is AS6.5, then AIsmooth v1.2, and thirdly, FS9.For my default airport-weather, it is KDTW. That is a nice feature...to have the local real-time weather waiting for you as FS9 initializes. :)BTW, on a wide-screen 22 inch and up...the cloudscape is awesome.Mitch

[ubersu 78]

Yes, you'll notice a difference! AS is a brilliant add on - I never fly without it.DJ

[_Brandon 0]

Okay, I'm sold. It will be my next add-on. Thanks for the replies.

[altstiff 71]

I was on the fence about ASV6 too and seen all the ranting and raving about how great it is.So I got fed up with the default weahter and the drastic changes it used to make and bit the bullet.Well, the ranting and raving was well deserved. It is something that has made a drastic change to FS for me.Some addon's I have I look at and say "it's not really worth it" with ASV6 I haven't looked back.Well spent money.

[JSkorna 137]

Thanks to all who replied!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[ShezA 176]

I am also almost convinced except that I find that clouds are the one FPS eater in FS. Are the ASv clouds optimized so they perform better than default?Shez

[Guest Nealoc187]

>I am also almost convinced except that I find that clouds are>the one FPS eater in FS. Are the ASv clouds optimized so they>perform better than default?>>ShezThere is a definite performance consideration to be taken into account when using it, but like everything else in FS, you need to adjust it to suit your needs. There are different cloud detail levels and texture sizes available, though i can't say I've ever done much with them.My OLD system was pretty weak - it was only "decent" back when I built it 3-4 years ago - Athlon XP 2500 (2.0gHz) and X850Pro vid card, 2 GB Corsair Valueselect. I like to run all my settings on max of course, but at a busy airport with all my add ons, I couldn't. But if I was having a problem (and I'd only have a problem at the largest airports with my traffic cranked up and in a complex add-on like the Flight1 ATR) I'd turn down everything else before turning down my cloud settings. The clouds just look so good in AS6 that I didn't want to lose them, and turning down other settings was always enough to boost performance enough that I never had to touch the clouds.Now that I've got a better processor (intel E4400 @ 2.9GHz, but only 1.5GB of ram) I've got every setting in the game maxed out and it doesn't miss a beat, I never have to turn anything down even at airports with 150 planes milling around and multiple full detail cloud layers.I can't imagine anyone regretting purchasing AS6.5 - like I mentioned before, if there was one single add-on that I would refuse to lose, it'd be activesky, I think it makes the most significant change in FS2004 of all my many top quality add-ons.

[G7USL 117]

I have FSX but still am stuck on>FS9 until I can find a way to get Active Camera-like panning>on FSX with the mouse.Christopher, TrackIR4 will give you all that and more.........

[ShezA 176]

Bought it. Wow! Nice environment upgrade! Socal looked fantastic yesterday even with it being clear. The haze and smog effect was perfect.Shez