FSMeteo

[Forkboy2 27]

Just wondering exactly what the new FSMeteo does that the built in real weather of FS2004 doesn't do??? I read the list of features at their website, and I'm not sure which of those go above what FS provides out of box.I'm definately interested in buying it, but $35 sure seems like an awful lot of money to spend on something when I'm not really even sure what difference it will make. My main concern is the weather itself, don't care so much about all the little extras like downloading archived weather, etc.Be nice if there was shareware version.Also, are there any decent freeware tools that do some of same thing?Matt

[michal 44]

If I were you I would wait (another 2 weeks ?) for AS2 weather program specially designed to work with FS2004. You can find out much more details on ActiveSky forum next door here on Avsim.Michael J.

[Guest Efrain_APR1]

Hello Michal!I have to agree with Mike on this one. ActiveSky 2 will be "the" weather program for FS2004. The visuals are just stunning. I know, because I am on the Beta team! ;)Efrain Ruiz, APR1AirPUERTORICO Virtual Airlineswww.airpr.net

[Forkboy2 27]

Thanks, I've been watching the development of that one also. GUess will have to wait a bit more to see where it will be priced and wait for the inevitable thread comparing the two. Hope it's not $35, that seems like a little too much. For me when things are around $20, I don't mind just going out and spending the money without much thought....but at $35, I think twice before spending my money.Sure seems like addon's are getting more and more expensive lately. Matt

[Chris Willis 8]

Hi, You can add compatibility with Fs Sky World 2004 environment with active sky, and constant update.ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

[Forkboy2 27]

Does this mean FS Sky World for 2004 will be ready soon??Matt

[Guest freequest]

O well guess I missed that Beta... Looks like I just have to buy AS2 no problem there ver 1+ have been great.But I do hate haveing to change my beta pic and add "From 0 to 1.9x" HEHE

[Damian Clark 948]

Ben!Sorry you didn't get into the beta, did you miss the announcement in our forum?Send me an e-mail...Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg

[Mike S KPDX 597]

you know Matt,I have never seen this question answered with clarity. I has gone around several times but no clear, concise answer.Yes, I do own FSMeteo - still not sure what it does over the default FS9

[Guest freequest]

Yeah I did I was at the time moveing and helping my bro renovating so didnt have a lot of online time anyway... Sure thing... maybe ill get into your next beta cycle... :)

[mganz121 159]

>Yes, I do own FSMeteo - still not sure what it does over the>default FS9You are quite right and it is a question that is never answered. For my own part FSMeteo offers me the following differences over the inbuilt FS9 weather:-1. INSTANT and drastic cloud changes through FSMeteo as against a nice smooth transition with FS9 inbuilt weather.2. DRASTIC winds transitions as against manageable wind transitions using FS9 inbuilt weather.3. SMALLER clouds and more of them as against a more realistic cloud cover appearance using FS9 inbuilt weather.4. A NOTICEABLE drop in frame rates, presumably due to (3) above when using FSMeteo compared to the same weather through FS9.5. OCCASSIONAL server access problems with FSMeteo compared to quick and always available server access for FS9 inbuilt weather.6. BOTH servers have been known to have weather that is out of date on occassions. 95% of the time, the FS9 weather reflects the NOAA weather available online.7. GLOBAL weather rather than regional transistions.Now it could just be me, but for the life of me I cannot get FSMETEO to perform as well as I would like. Sadly I do not see any benefit at this stage, tweak as I might. As great as it was for FS2000 and FS2002, it needs a lot of work to come up to what FS9 is currently offering, but I am quite sure that Marc will get there as he has to remain competetive in this area. In fact I have a few dollars here to lay down a bet that FSMeteo will be updated significantly once the new ActiveSky2 is released.Watch this space and as somebody has mentioned before, "your milegae may vary"ANZ121

[Guest LLgaz]

That's strange. I have FSMeteo.....I've had it for a very long time now....more than a couple years actually, and I've always enjoyed it. In FS9, I would never even consider flying with Default weather. I do not have INSTANT and drastic cloud changes with it.I do have DRASTIC winds transitions, but the default weather also does that, as does Active Sky.....actually, its not even clear that the new Active Sky will solve this problem. Pete Dawson himself said that he does not know how to solve this problem with FSUIPC much to the dismay of people like me who bought FSUIPC for that very purpose.If you do a search here on Avsim, you will find a few threads where people complain about the wind transitions even with default weather.I get cloud cover based on my weather settings, and I've always been happy with them.I get NO drop in Frame Rates whatsoever when using FSMeteo.There are occasional server problems, but these are few and far between so as not to be a hindrance to me whatsoever. Actually, I find that the FSMeteo servers are available 99.9% of the time.Whenever I'm flying, I always check my weather using www.aviationweather.gov and there has only been two...yes two occasions when I've seen FSMeteo giving me out of date weather.It is impossible for FSMeteo to give global weather in FS9 because FS9 does not do Global weather. Actually, FSMeteo gives local weather. When it downloads the weather, you can look at its status bar and you actually see it setting ALL the local weather stations that are within a certain distance from your position. You can pre-set what that distance is.Well, it must be Just you.....because over the years, there has never been any posts about FSMeteo having the problems in FS9 that you describe. I mean, these problems you talk about are pretty serious, and if customers were having them, you bet that there would be some long threads here on Avsim about them. But yours is the first post I've seen describing problems like this.I can't help but think that you are trying to get potential customers who doesn't have FSmeteo to buy AS instead. I hope I'm wrong, but I honestly cant see how its possible that you can have some of the problems that you describe. If you are ripping on FSMeteo just for the sake of it, then that's rather unfair to a piece of software that has performed just as advertised in the age of commercial releases that have been riddled with bugs.Both AS and FSMeteo are world class pieces of software. I fully intend to get AS2. I will use the one that I think is better after trying both. But I will not rip either one of them in these forums because they are both excellent addons.

[Wolfko 0]

A feature amongst others which every version (not only the newest) of FS Meteo has over the default FS2004 weather is the opportunity to load down Metars for every hour in the past. E. g. you have heared of an interesting weather constellation soemwhere in the world the other day or the other year, or have got interesting weather in your area, but you have no immediate access to FS, then you can download the worldwide weather for a specific hour on a specific date aleter, when you have got time simming.Wolfgang

[Mike S KPDX 597]

Anthony, my question still stands.Can you state exactly what FSMeteo brings to the table that FS9 does not?I too have been a user for many years.

[Sidney Schwartz 11]

Hi Mike,Nice fog this morning, eh? :) Someone else has already mentioned the ability to download and re-use metars. Another advantage to fsmeteo is that you can easily check your enroute and destination weather at any point during your flight. It also downloads and displays taf's as well as metars. The other thing fsmeteo has is a raft of settings you can fiddle with, but I confess that I only use one or two of them, so I don't know if that's much of an advantage.I've been using mostly fs9 wx because it's fast and trouble free. FSmeteo generally works well, but sometimes it just gets reaaaal sloooow. I don't know why. I was just saying to someone else on the RC beta team that I've never seen any real visual difference between fs9 wx and fsmeteo, but then I saw this. Below are screenshots of how fsmeteo (top) and fs9 wx (bottom) displayed this morning's fog a kpdx. That's the first time I've seen any such problem with fs9 wx, and I have no idea what caused it.Sidney Schwartz KPDX