Hello all,I am using FSX with REX textures and the Active Sky Evolution WX engine. I get accurate visibility (at least right in the vicinity of the airport) when I program WX in FSX. However, I do not get an accurate overcast cloud layer. It's almost as if I am not in clouds at all but just limited visibility as I climb and I can see the ground clearly below me. This is frustrating when trying to simulate IFR flight. If I climb high enough (depending on the WX setting) I can get above an overcast layer where the visibility improves but I can still see the ground through breaks in the clouds. This happens when I program the WX through FSX or through ASE. I have cloud draw distance set to 80 miles with detailed clouds and maximum cloud coverage. I would like to set a ground visibility of 2 miles and a ceiling of 500 feet to simulate a non-precision approach. But I can clearly see the ground in front of me because the cloud layer isn't very complete. Is this just the way FSX is or is there a setting or tweak I can apply that might fix this? I am running FSX on an I-7 920 at 3.8 ghz and a Nivdia 275 card with Windows 7 64 bit.Thanks,Mark

Have you got the FSX Cloud Coverage Density setting on maximum? And have you tried using the REX Weather Engine? Here's an example of a real weather download over France a couple of days ago, with the aforementioned settings obscuring the ground with the lower layer of cloud:Al

I think it's just the way it is unfortunately. I've been trying to simulate IMC since FSX came out... hoping that it would be possible.I think due to the way the cloud sprites are rendered, we won't ever see true thick overcast.

You are not alone Mark. I can get what appears to be a complete overcast while sitting on the ground, but I'm in a clear space with clouds all around me when I climb into it. I can see the bottom and the tops of the clouds and the ground below. At least you indicate that you can get above the overcast. The clouds follow me up as I climb and I never get above them.

At KFOK tonight using ASE and a 3+year old computer!!

I think it's just the way it is unfortunately. I've been trying to simulate IMC since FSX came out... hoping that it would be possible.I think due to the way the cloud sprites are rendered, we won't ever see true thick overcast.

The way I have been doing it is setting the visibility in the overcast layer to the smallest setting. This is the closest thing I've been able to do to replicate IMC conditions. This is the one area that X-plane visualizes way better than FSX but it isn't enough for me to replace FSX with X-plane. Too bad we can't merge the two. :(

Hi,I thought the following fsx.cfg edit fixed the overcast problem.CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=12DETAILED_CLOUDS=1CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12

Hi Jim,Thanks for posting the pic and thanks to all of you for posting your comments. I do have the cloud coverage slider to maximum. As you posted in the pic I do see the overcast layer when above it, but I still see the ground through breaks in the clouds. Maybe FSX just doesn't have complete overcast coverage everywhere. I still have an issue with the base of the overcoast being much higher than where I set it (either in ASE or the FSX WX engine). Even when I am in the clouds I still look down and see the ground. Again maybe it's just something I have to live with in FSX. If that the case it is okay, I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can to improve my WX experience.Thanks,Mark

At KFOK tonight using ASE and a 3+year old computer!!

I stopped caring about this. I remember one time (using ASA btw) I could see the airfield from a rather great height while approaching, while when I was on finals, I couldn't see it at all due to the fog. And that wasn't because the fog had suddenly appeared, but it had to do with certain layers being active or not or whatever... Weird things like that. Yesterday I created overcast weather with all settings as 'overast' as could be, but within no time I could see clear blue skies through the clouds.I think it's simply not possible to create REAL real weather with FSX. it can come close but that's it. But as I said, I don't really mind: it looks awesome anyway and that's all I care about. :(

I stopped caring about this. I remember one time (using ASA btw) I could see the airfield from a rather great height while approaching, while when I was on finals, I couldn't see it at all due to the fog. And that wasn't because the fog had suddenly appeared, but it had to do with certain layers being active or not or whatever... Weird things like that. Yesterday I created overcast weather with all settings as 'overast' as could be, but within no time I could see clear blue skies through the clouds.I think it's simply not possible to create REAL real weather with FSX. it can come close but that's it. But as I said, I don't really mind: it looks awesome anyway and that's all I care about. :(

It is perfectly normal to be able to see through haze, clouds from a height. Ask any parachutist or paraglider pilot! It is quite common to stand on a mountain top and be able to see your landing spot. However!, after take-off as you approach the cloud layer the visibility rapidly diminishes until one cannot see anything! And dissorientation sets in. It's a common phenomenon.vololiberista

The way I have been doing it is setting the visibility in the overcast layer to the smallest setting. This is the closest thing I've been able to do to replicate IMC conditions. This is the one area that X-plane visualizes way better than FSX but it isn't enough for me to replace FSX with X-plane. Too bad we can't merge the two. :(

Reducing visibility in the cloud layer does work for instrument approaches as long as you are in the cloud layer. When above it, you can see the ground below the clouds. This is an option with the FSX weather settings but not with ASA/ASE since there is no setting for different visibilities at different levels in ASA/ASE.As far as seeing the ground through the overcast in real life per vololiberista, this is true with a thin overcast/haze layer, but the thick overcast we are trying to create obscures the ground in real life as shown in Jim's picture. Apparently I need to throw away my new computer and go back to a 3 year old one. Is that the problem?

I agree with those that say this is a limitation of FSX. I think a lot us have noticed goofy things related to overcast cloud coverage. Although X-Plane falls short in many areas, the way it renders overcast conditions is MUCH more convincing. At least that's my opinion. But for the times when it is not overcast, FSX looks amazing.Scott

I agree with those that say this is a limitation of FSX. I think a lot us have noticed goofy things related to overcast cloud coverage. Although X-Plane falls short in many areas, the way it renders overcast conditions is MUCH more convincing. At least that's my opinion. But for the times when it is not overcast, FSX looks amazing.Scott

Maybe it's just something I have to live with. I must admit I love FSX. Some of the add-on aircraft and sceneries are amazing! I am looking forward to using Active Sky Evolution more (as I continue to learn all of the features of the product) with my REX clouds to make great looking WX in FSX. I will just use the visibility setting more often when practicing instrument approaches since it's hit or miss with the overcast settings.Someone a few posts up mentioned editing the cfg to get better cloud layers. Are you guys having success with that? Thanks to all for your comments,Mark

I thought the following fsx.cfg edit fixed the overcast problem.CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=12DETAILED_CLOUDS=1CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12

I use CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=10 as a good compromise performance-wise between the default 8 and the high of 12. I think it works well for overcast conditions.

Hello all,I am using FSX with REX textures and the Active Sky Evolution WX engine. I get accurate visibility (at least right in the vicinity of the airport) when I program WX in FSX. However, I do not get an accurate overcast cloud layer. It's almost as if I am not in clouds at all but just limited visibility as I climb and I can see the ground clearly below me. This is frustrating when trying to simulate IFR flight. If I climb high enough (depending on the WX setting) I can get above an overcast layer where the visibility improves but I can still see the ground through breaks in the clouds. This happens when I program the WX through FSX or through ASE. I have cloud draw distance set to 80 miles with detailed clouds and maximum cloud coverage. I would like to set a ground visibility of 2 miles and a ceiling of 500 feet to simulate a non-precision approach. But I can clearly see the ground in front of me because the cloud layer isn't very complete. Is this just the way FSX is or is there a setting or tweak I can apply that might fix this? I am running FSX on an I-7 920 at 3.8 ghz and a Nivdia 275 card with Windows 7 64 bit.Thanks,Mark

Mark, I am under the impression that running REX textures together with the ASA weather engine isnt going to give you the best of results. When I had FSX installed I wondered which weather program I would add. Since REX was cheaper and I wanted to know if FSX would run smoothly on my pc first before investing more, I purchased REX. Meanwhile, I had ASA 6.5 installed for FS9. After reading a post that the ASA weather could be used together with FSX/REX I tried that and yes, it all worked well. Hoever, I notice when doing so I lose the haze. Visibility is unreal. However when using the REX weahter engine the haze is good, visibility is limited to 40 - 60 miles and all looks real.Could it be that the ASA haze textures have a different name? The default FSX weather has almost no haze either so it is my impression that both ASA and REX add these textures using their own filenames. So when using the ASA enigne it calls the ASA haze files which of course are not found if you dont have the ASA graphics installed.Menno