I have posted also in another related topic about this but in order to gain more attention I am going to again state it in this new thread.Real world Nimbo-Stratus overcasts are very common weather phenomenon in North America and Europe in Fall and Winter and though AS2012 has very realistic rainy dark overcast depiction as observed from the ground, it just evaporates as you climb up through it. It seems to be being depicted as a thin visibility layer rather than a true opaque cloud. In real world, they are opaque when flying thru them and when above them they totally obscure the ground. The AS2012 depiction allows the ground to always be clear and visible and clouds just disappear when you are above them. Scattered or Broken works to a great extent but not true Overcast. I am wondering whether it is because there is no TOTAL OVERCAST texture available in AS2012 for any of the cloud types. Chris, Damian, is this something that can be engineered into a FIX or upgrade for AS2012? It is a shame not to be able to simulate this very common weather phenomenon. It is possible to create this by entering wx manually into FSX but that is really not a practical work-around. Defeats purpose of AS2012!

Craig, hopefully someone gets this message. I truly support not only your observation but as well your wishes regarding a fix.

Hi Craig,There are FS limitations which are well documented, but since you say you can achieve the results you are expecting using manual wx configuration, we'd like to know the details of that and would then better be able to understand the difference between what AS2012 is doing now and what you are hoping for. I'd propose that you please open a ticket and provide specific instructions/date/time/flight plan for experiencing the "less than desired" depiction, and then the steps taken to "fix" the depiction. This would help us truly understand what it is you are referring to.I'd like to say that "overcast" is something that has always been problematic in FS, and there are dozens of options which can affect the result positively or negatively, not to mention other concerns such as potential conflicting cloud layers and other METAR elements which we always give priority to, making certain depictions more challenging to make work for the majority user base than it may appear. We always strive to balance things to the best of our abilities and give our customers what they want, and if something can be done in this regard to improve things we'll make it happen... Thanks!

Hi Damian! Thanks for quick response. I have been testing several scenarios since my OP and trying different texture selections. Seems the Cu textures you have make it possible for CLOSE to a realistic overcast using some of the complex blending that AS2012 can at times produce but your texture selection for stratus only produces individual clouds. Now that I am using the AS2012 textures I am having a problem even if I do so manually. Conclusion: It is a texture availability problem which could probably easily be corrected. A TOTAL stratus texture is needed and AS2012 cued to use THAT texture whenever OVC and Stratus are called for together in a cloud layer. Stratus clouds can at times be individual clouds that linger for example after a passing cold front or rising from radiation fog but most often they occur in relation to an "area" of temperature inversion or an "area" of stable air (such as in a warm front) and as such form in SOLID decks that can be hundreds of miles in area. Having a good "total" cloud cover texture would also allow for alto-stratus and ciro-stratus deck formations in AS2012.

Damian, you write:but since you say you can achieve the results you are expecting using manual wx configuration, we'd like to know the details of that...Short: For all versions of Active Sky, AS2004, ASX, ASA,ASE, AS2012, you have had literaly hundreds of forum posts about cloud cover not looking overcast.The question HiFly, and all the other customer ask, is why the cloud cover is not total when it is in the real world.And as he just wrote, in manual WX configuration, if you put an overcast cumulus layer in FSX, it is indeed overcast. So why isn't it in ActiveSky's products?The Simconnect-injection-part of it, I have no knowledge of, but I have my own theory about many of the overcast complaints on the forums after all these years, and have made my own thread about that a few days ago.But as speaksman for the developers, you will have to answer the following question right away:Why is it, with Active Sky products, possible that the sky can be near-overcast at takeoff, but once you climb through it, it is possible to see the ground?If you say that "with Simconnect, it is not possible to make an overcast that last long enough for you to take off and fly through it", I will blame Microsoft for it.You have to look again, and again, at the OVERCAST PROBLEM, because customers want OVERCAST when it is OVERCAST.If it is really overcast at takeoff (Active Sky produced), you will find that after three minutes of flying, you can see big gaps in the cloud cover again.So if you want ovations and "thank you, Hifisim for the new released AS2012", the ONE only thing you have to do, is to make the cloud cover totally OVERCAST when it is OVERCAST in the real world. It is as easy as that.Please read my post regarding cloud cover, and my theory for why many customers are not satisfied, and what you can do about it.

OK, hang on a sec here stabell. While this isn't my "fight" and yeah, I'd love to see a true overcast in FS, I am familiar enough with FS (going back to the days of SubLOGIC) to know that this is an FS bug that goes back to 2000 (i.e. before clouds looked anything like clouds in FS). Yes, there have been "some" workarounds, but the reality is that for whatever reason (likely for performance reasons), MS has never allowed for a full overcast condition in any sim after FS2000. To prove this, simply run the FS wx engine, set your clouds to max coverage in the options, then set a full overcast condition in the weather. I absolutely guarantee you will see breaks everywhere in the cloud cover, sometimes to the point where it's barely even a broken condition. I have set up FSX weather with 5 layers, all overcast, one on top of the other so they don't overlap, and still not seen a full overcast. If FSX is going to break that up, what chance do you think a 3rd party software that doesn't have access to the base code of FS has? I think it's rather unfair to dump all over HiFi on this, especially when a little research on your part would show very quickly that they are fighting a fight they can't win, but still trying anyway. Maybe cut them a little slack and pick on something they CAN do something about (but in a polite, respectful manner please). FWIW.

I agree and think this is a fixable problem. I am having major issues with the layer benieth me going away and being able to see the ground. Flying over full storm conditions and it is usually scattered and sometimes maybe broken but never trully overcast.

See my post here regarding my flight last night with good cloud coverage and solid overcast: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/357280-another-depiction-problem/page__view__findpost__p__2198800Later tonight, I'll try downloading last night's weather (via AS2012) and re-flying this to see if I have the same experience.

See my post here regarding my flight last night with good cloud coverage and solid overcast: http://forum.avsim.n...ost__p__2198800Later tonight, I'll try downloading last night's weather (via AS2012) and re-flying this to see if I have the same experience.

That could be a good starting point for further research - quite promising.

I have seen total overcast on 30000 feet but only over big waters. Maybe it have to do with FSX and resources. I have read somewhere that whenever FSX needs power to something the firstthing it reduces is clouds. Thats why we sometimes sees clouds pop up and pop away. So if you see overcast on the ground it might be that there are not so much scenery to displayso the "power" is enough to show OC. But when you climb up to heights it needs more power to display all the scenery, the view is a lot longer then on the ground.And maybe this explains why I have seen OC on 30 000 feet over water, not so complicated scenery!!Just some thoughts but might be something to check out. The guy (forgot his name) who wrote it was a member of the MS FSX team.So if this is true it might be that you are stressing FSX to the limit and it just can not show OC on heights, not enough resources/power. Clouds are very heavy for the display module in FSX.

Seems to be a reasonable theory.Yesterday I made nearly a complete two hrs flight in OVC conditions from Moscow to Vilnus but there is almost nothing in between which could make the computer sweating. Even with the PMDG NGX I experienced unknown low memory use. The same day in the evening I did another flight somewhere in Peru (over the Andes) and I got, indeed, the clouds "switched" ON and OFF.

See my workaround using visibility settings that in fact will produce the overcast effect and I believe could be coded as a subroutine by HiFi to solve the issue. Just because the problem is caused by an FSX idiosyncracy doesn't mean that a great third party company like HiFi can not find a solution. Look how they finally solved the inaccurate wind-aloft FSX problem. See my testing results in my other overcast thread. If it is not visible do a forum search on "overcast".

Yes true! They have done a great job. But if HiFi tells FSX to show OVC and it can not and reduce clouds anywaythen it is not HiFi to blame if it does not. I do not know how the API works but if they cannot force/lock FSX to show OVC and take some power from something else then thereis very little they can do. I think FSX lives it own life in some areas, just to make it moving.I am a programmer/developer myself but only with standard apps like banking systemsand so on. A lot of info flowing around in transactions in/out of databases. So I know thatsometimes you run into limitations here and there. Nothing to do except making the bestof the situation. Do not expect to much of a $30 app like FSX. If it had been 3 - 4more zeros on the price tag we might demand more. Same with AS2012. AlsoFSX is made with 20+ years old tech.So to me what HiFi has done so far is the best wheather I've seen ever on a PC system.

Yes true! They have done a great job. But if HiFi tells FSX to show OVC and it can not and reduce clouds anywaythen it is not HiFi to blame if it does not. I do not know how the API works but if they cannot force/lock FSX to show OVC and take some power from something else then thereis very little they can do. I think FSX lives it own life in some areas, just to make it moving.<snip>So to me what HiFi has done so far is the best wheather I've seen ever on a PC system.

Nonetheless it's enough to drive you up the wall each time when clouds are disappearing or showing big square holes just during a finger snip. And you're right, there are some indicators telling that HiFi can't do too much about it. FSX is obviously written for people flying low and slow who wants to see the aircraft from outside (just under the finger tip by hitting the "S"-key) any time. Of course there should be no cloud nor fog obscuring the view. :(

Again my solution is in the attached link. If it can be done manually then it can also be programmed in the code. Yes, true, I do believe FSX was developed for the non-sophisticated non-pilot who was not interested in reality but make-believe with great scenery which, I am sure, covers the vast percentage of users judging by the input on many of these forums. BUT, several 3rd party developers in the last couple of years have raised the level of sophistication and complexity of their products to target the few of us who seek realism. For over a year I along with many others kept corresponding with Hifi concerning the depiction of wrong winds aloft. The same answer was given many, many times: "...can't helped because it is caused by limitations of FSX." Then Damian and Chris worked out a unique and complicated system and programmed it into SP2 that eliminated the problem. They can do the same thing with the clouds now that we have accurate winds aloft. This is probably a far easier fix (using the algorithm I use to do it manually.) I am sure they are reading these several threads concerning this issue and probably are experimenting already on a method to get the desired results from FSX. If you haven't read the thread below, please do so. It will show you what can be done with FSX, flawed as it is! This method produces SOLID overcasts above, below, and while flying through WITHOUT holes!http://forum.avsim.n...wn-to-minimums/