It seems like weather themes are a pretty powerful feature that is under-utilized so far. Are developers waiting on a SDK from Microsoft, or is there more interest in real-world weather?The problem with real-world weather is that the complexity can bring down performance to a crawl on mid-range and low-range systems. Even using ActiveSky and setting the options to limit cloud layers, most winter days up here in the Pacific Northwest are unflyable (and this is with Chris Willis' optimized clouds). However, with the themes included in FS9, I can get cloudy skies, low visibility, thunderstorms, and all of that good stuff with a negligible impact on frame rates. Since the themes cover a 1000 square mile area, they are perhaps more appopriate for GA flying than for commercial.The www.weather-maker.com site has some nice themes, and there seems to be some talk of weather maker software, but they don't have an FS9 version available or any updates on if it is still in development. What I'd like to see:MORE VARIETY IN THEMESThe default weather themes don't provide much variety in terms of "average day" flying. There is "fair skies", but no winter version with appropriate temps. There's nothing like "Scattered showers" or other mild weather variations that are appropriate for VFR, but will still require you to be on your toes regarding weather changes. The "extreme" weather themes are interesting, but not appropriate for every-day GA flying.LOCALIZED THEMESI'd love to see themes that are localized for a particular area. For example, set up a winter Seattle theme that includes snow over the cascades, scattered showers over the central sound, high winds on the coast with a system moving eastwards, etc.THEME CREATORSoftware that lets us define and generate new themes.RANDOM THEMESAn instant theme generator that lets you create a random weather situation, perhaps using sliders to define the basic situation or pick a climate/season.Above all, weather themes and theme generators should be optimized for performance on average systems (or have settings that let you configure them to your preferences), so that we can enjoy these weather scenarios and maintain fluid flight.Is anyone working on this sort of stuff?

That sounds like a great idea to me. The only extra weather theme that I have is a 'hot and humid' one I downloaded some time ago. I also think there isn't enough variety in the themes: It's fair weather or IMC, it seemsBlairCYOW

I use those weather themes and like 'em. Especially their Hot & Humid tropical weather when flying arounf the islands. The nice thing all the settings are done for you - I don't wanna create weather - just fly through it!I think they are working on a "Overcast" theme to create a true thick layer automatically. :)

I've always wondered about the scale of the weather themes. For example, "cold front" - how far do you need to fly to see the front? Are the themes suitable for 100nm or less flights, or only the long hauls? A few micro-scale themes would be nice - a line of storms 20 miles west...that effect.Best,sg

The weather scapes created and available at Weather-Maker.com are created by the Weather Maker Professional Alpha Edition. This will provide a way to dynamically create your own weather themes online. It will be a weather theme generator online.Go to our website: http://www.weather-maker.com to view more information. Click on the learn more link.

We are currently working on an Overcast version Weather Scape (Theme).

We have been able to scale some of the theme's to be about 4000 square miles. So long hauls can be used for Weather Themes.Also we have a few micro themes that we have created, but have not released them yet. Including a line of storms 20 miles west. If you would like to test one you can email me at: [email protected].

Reed: Thanks for the info. I didn't see that "learn more" link on your site. The weather-maker service looks very interesting, and the price seems reasonable. I would certainly sign-up.When do you anticipate the release? Can you provide any more informtion on features beyond the description on your site? Screenshots perhaps?

For me a theme is only good when checking out a new addon or screenshots. I prefer to have the realworld weather of where I am flying at that time. But I do agree that the weather in FS9 can bring your system to it's knees!Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpgCalVirAir International VACougar Mountain Helicopters & Aviation[link:www.cgrmthelos.com]Cougar Mountain Helicopters

In regards to availablity we thought we would have it by Winter of 2003, unfortunately - other work has slowed us down a lot. We are shooting for early Spring 2004 (April/May) release.I do not have any screen shots available at this time. When we get closer to the release date and beta testing we will release some screen shots. We released some for Weather Enhanced Edition, but that was scraped due to the fact that FS2004 came out so quick.The weather scapes will be more dynamic to create online when weather maker pro is released to the public. Right now you only have a cold front that moves west to east. When pro edition comes out you will be able to create whether it will come from the north, west, etc. You will also be able to determine the amount and intensity of the precip along the front. When we are in beta we will release more detail.Thank you for your interest.

First, yes, I'm aware this is a very old post, but I found it searching and found it quite rel

I am sure there are lot's out there who share an interest in morte weather themes. I have all that I could find but we could use dozens more. When the SDK came out I thought sure, I 'll just wip up a few for my own tastes but whooooh... it is not easy to create them. Thought it would be just like creating your weather in 2004. Move a few sliders, select a few clouds, but no. Too much time required for my interests.So all you weather "hounds" out there... let's see more add-on themes!

Hi,This question isn't about Weather Maker but it about FS9 weather. I came across a website called FSMETAR by Ivan Jose Alvarez. It is freeware and looked interesting. Has anybody used this program? It requires FSUIPC v. 3.x by Pete Dowson (being a newbie, not sure what this is). I'm checking the web for info on this program. Just thought I'd ask. Thanks.Tom:-hmmm

I can't comment on this since I wasn't familiar with it. I wanted to know what it was and did, and found this review. http://www.com-central.net/simworld/html/fsmetar_review.htmMight be of interest to some. Is anyone using this that can provide more info on how/how well this works?[Edit] Found another link- http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fsmetar/current version seems to be 1.5.2; scroll down for explanation and comments by the developer (Iv

Hi,Thanks for the links. They pretty much explain what FSMETAR is all about. I might give it a try - I don't use any weather addons now so this might be worthwhile. Thanks.:-)