Hi Joshua! My preliminary findings with SP1 for AS2012 is that indeed it does considerably increase cloud cover but still not real true overcast when flying thru it. Looks great from below and way above cumulus layer but when climbing out can still see many breaks where ground is visible and on approach seems always to be more scattered to broken but with hazy visibility. True these conditions often exist RW but a TRUE overcast is zero-zero visibility when flying thru and ground only starts becoming visible (on approach) near the bottom of the cloud layer and then breaks out below the ceiling. The only way Damian will be able to simulate that truly is by using the 1/16 visibility setting within the overcast cloud layers. It is possible to do this manually in FSX producing very realistic overcast stratus. There will therefore no longer appear to be holes below and above and the in-cloud experience of zero visibility will be simulated. I have mentioned this in several previous posts but since Damian has not been monitoring, I have received no developer response but much discussion from other forum members. Another point that I and others have brought up in the past: FSX does not have a realistic sprite for stratus clouds. Unfortunately, the options offered by AS2012 are not much better. Look up in the sky when stratus are present and you will notice that they cover large AREAS and do not look like "chicklet" grouped together. From above FSX stratus looks like a patch-work quilt with uniform patches of cloud close together. This pattern can sometimes be seen in Cirrus (mackerel sky) but not low stratus. Chris needs to work on a more realistic texture sprite for stratus. That will go a long way toward resolving the overcast dilemma. Third point still unresolved: when using DWC mode during climbs/descents the temps/winds do not correctly change with altitude but instead rapidly correct at about 1000 feet above the discreet reporting levels. In case that is confusing: the winds/temps aloft are reported at discreet pressure levels 3000, 6000, 9000, 12000, etc and AS2012/ASE use these levels in the program but in RW the changes are actually continuous with altitude and not in sudden steps. STANDARD mode correctly implements this but DWC does not. This affects climb/descent performance in sophisticated simulations like NGX in an unrealistic and negative way. This was also reported by me and others several months ago with no response from HiFi. I understand that there are many young gamers and make-believe pilots using FSX and may not know the difference since most have no knowledge of the physics of flight nor any real flying experience. But a growing number of experienced former and aspiring pilots are becoming increasingly attracted to FSX now that more realistic aircraft simulations have become available. It is this group who demand more realism and are looking to Hifi to provide that when it comes to weather simulation. Anyone who has ever flown a turbojet is well aware of the affects of temperature change on performance and not simulating the correct changes with altitude really destroys the experience of the simulation..

Hello again, Thank you for your detailed findings and suggestions. I will be sure to forward this to Damian and his team.

Can I add an extra call for getting the temperatures correct in DWC mode. Having step tempersture changes really messes with the climb performance of aircraft.