The squares are gone after aplying the beta patch but I was flying around chicago today and into last night and all stations were reporting overcast but there were many big holes and lots of blue sky around in the snowstorm. Perhaps I am being to pickey but I do remember a time when there was allways a complete overcast when their was one with ASE not to long ago. Maybe I just did not notice it as much as I do now. Seems like there was redered another layer immediatly above the first one that solved this, I remember reading about that as well in the ASE or AS6.5 manual of the past. I notice there is just one layer now, anyway could we get that double layer effect back again? I'll give you 10 bucks.Thanks

Never mind, squares are back again.

Thanks Damian, Chris, and all the Hifi team for such a wonderful addition to the ActiveSky legacy.Over London today with the CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12 tweak :

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by Driftdown

Yep, that did the trick for me too

In which file is this parameter located ?Thank you,Ken BoardmanI think that I found it (fsx.cfg?). I changed it from = 8 to = 12. Look forward to testing it.Thanks again,Ken

I can get overcasts...but not for long.Enroute with weather calling for overcast all the way, I get overcast at departure and arrival but big, huge holes enroute...always.Overcasts are almost always quite thin...and from the aircraft looking straight down you can almost always see the ground.There is a big problem with the AS2012 and ASE wx generators, but it is the same for FSX weather and REX weather, too.Good luck on getting this BIG wx problem fixed.

Enroute with weather calling for overcast all the way, I get overcast at departure and arrival but big, huge holes enroute...always.Overcasts are almost always quite thin...and from the aircraft looking straight down you can almost always see the ground.There is a big problem with the AS2012 and ASE wx generators, but it is the same for FSX weather and REX weather, too.Good luck on getting this BIG wx problem fixed.

Well, this is exactly why I made this post : because I don't get what you describe. At all. With the 12 tweak, I can get REAL OVC (as stated in the title and obviously shown on the screenshot) for long periods, exactly where needed.Which means* that they are not thin. Not thin at all.* that I can't see the ground (look at the screenshot and tell me where you see the ground ?)So NO this is not a big problem in AS2012. Most of the problem lies in FSX (most ! This doesn't mean that AS2012 cannot be improved, of course). Have you at least tried the CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12 tweak ? Because without it, I get exactly the same as you. But with it, my OVC most of the time look very realistic as per the above screenshot. It definitely changed my perception of weather in FSX.

Edited January 22, 201214 yr by Driftdown

Driftdown,Yes, I'm a long-time user of CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=12 tweak, and I think every other wx tweak around.Would you please post your AS2012 settings. There may be something in there that I am missing.Thanks,

Hi Zach, sorry I saw you post too late. I use AS2012 on a secondary PC which is off right now, and I'm off to bed. I'll post it tomorrow after work.

I would also like to see your settings Driftdown

Hi again,here is a copy of my FSXOptions.cfg file :

[Options]fsVersion = FSXAutoRefreshAI = FalseDynamicRateofChangePercent = 0VATSIMDownloads = FalseAutomaticDownloadInterval = 5AutomaticDownloads = TrueCAVOKCloudGenerationPercent = 20NoDataCloudGenerationPercent = 30CirrusCloudGenerationPercent = 20MaximumCloudLayers = 20MinimumCloudTurbulencePercent = 0MaximumCloudTurbulencePercent = 100MinimumCloudIcingPercent = 0MaximumCloudIcingPercent = 100StratusCloudOccurrencePercent = 0MinimumVisibilitySM = 0MaximumVisibilitySM = 125MaximumUpperVisibilitySM = 125MaximumSurfaceWindSpeed = 100MinimumWindTurbulencePercent = 0MaximumWindTurbulencePercent = 100MinimumWindShearPercent = 0MaximumWindShearPercent = 50DisableWindsAloft = FalseWakeTurbulenceStrength = 25CreateVirtualStations = TrueEnhanceRouteCoverage = TrueDepictHurricanes = TrueEnableSkyScapeMode = FalseUseSkyScapeforStratus = FalseForceHighPriority = TrueUpdateRange = 500EnableWindSmoothing = FalseEnableVisibilityGraduation = TrueEnableFogLayerSimulation = TrueLocalSuppression = TrueSuppressionRange = 200StartupWave = FalseEnableDirectWindControl = TrueShowSimMessages = FalseSupressOnGround = FalseForceDestinationWeatherZone = FalseVoiceATIS = FalseThermalGenerationRatePercent = 0UpandDowndraftGenerationRatePercent = 50MaximumDowndraftRate = 300MaximumUpdraftThermalRate = 500DisableHazeLayer = TrueFogLayerGeneration = TrueDatFileOverwriteUserEdit = 0ForceWindLock = FalseSuppressionCeiling = 10000FSXDepictionMode = DWCPreventFSXCloudRedraws = TruePreventTstormsWithCB = FalseGraduationCeiling = 8000UseStratusForFog = TrueStratoCumulus = TruePostPlanGraphicsPrompt = True

Downdrift,Thanks for your FSXOptions.cfg file. It was similar to mine.For me, I still get breaks, often big breaks in the overcast when there should be none.I am testing FSX, REX, ASE and AS2012 weather engines and textures. Their accuracy is close to the same.My best wx is close to departure and arrival airports. Enroute is the least accurate if it is a heavy weather day.Current wx engines, to my knowledge, are unable to cure my breaks-in-the-overcast problem and it includes the absense of low overcasts (i.e. 200 feet, 400 feet, etc.)Low visibility masks the absence of low clouds on approaches.Low visibility simulation is quite good.I can get accurate clouds only by manually loading FSX weather...with lowest visibility (1/16th mile) in clouds.To my knowledge, FSX can accurately render METARS wx but only by manually loading it directly into FSX.I believe current wx generators at this time are unable to solve the FSX breaks-in-the-overcast and low-cloud problems.

Edited January 23, 201214 yr by Zachiii

Hi Zach, if you have the same kind of settings as mine and use the 12 tweak, and stil experience the gaps then there is indeed still a problem with OVC. I must admit that since extensively trying the 12 tweak I have almost (emphasis on almost) never had any more OVC problem myself. Do you use the 20 layers as well ?I never generate weather manually to be honest so I wouldn't know. I always fly real time weather.As for visibility, I indeed remember some OVC conditions in the metar that were poorly rendered with huge gaps that were masked on the floor by the poor visibility, but even with that you could still see the gaps shapes and it was really ugly. However since using the 12 tweak I haven't had these anymore.There obviously is still room for improvement in AS2012 : for example temperatures aloft at high latitudes which are completely crazy : I frequently get -8 0 °C or -90°C which evidently make the fuel freeze... And I am far from being the only one with this problem.But for most flights, since using the 12 tweak, it really has changed my view of weather depiction in FSX. And in "middle" latitudes, temperatures and winds aloft are really great, allowing for very precise fuel calculations, which is great.

Edited January 23, 201214 yr by Driftdown

Driftdown,I am now using your FSXOptions.cfg file. So yes on the 20 layers.I have long used the "12" tweak.On AS2012 Graphics, are you using highest resolution and 32 Bit (HD)?

At the moment I use 1024 and 32 bits. I used 4096 at the beginning but I am not convinced the price to pay in terms of performance is really worth it. And moreover I am also wondering if I don't find the 1024 more realistic when actually flying. For sure the 4096 look better on still beautiful screenshots but I don't fly to make screenshots. I fly for the flying itself.I'll have to make more testing with the 4096 to have a definitive opinion but for the moment I'm quite happy with the 1024/32bits.Hope this helps.

Edited January 24, 201214 yr by Driftdown