So this morning I looked up in the sky, and saw some high high cirrus clouds, and a very few low level clouds outside.

 

In Opus, cirrus is controlled with a check box. It's all or nothing.

 

As for the "very few" low level clouds, they probably didn't show on a METAR so Opus didn't show them. AS2012 has a setting for percentage of clouds when the METAR shows clear, but even then it's random whether you get them. There's really no way to duplicate what you see out your window.

 

I think we're still a few years from a program that will analyze the weather patterns, taking into account the age of the METARs it uses, then generate custom weather based on what it sees and thinks the weather should be. Currently the weather programs are depicting METAR weather, with some additional interpolation and smoothing where necessary, and while it's good, it's not always accurate. The only program I know of which generates weather based on other conditions is CumulusX, which will generate thermals based on a variety of factors, and will even top the thermals with cumulus clouds if conditions are right.

 

Getting exactly the same weather you see out your window in FSX is kind of a holy grail.

 

Larry Hookins

Just out of interest, can anybody please tell me how he got the body of the plane to look so shiny? It looks gorgeous and my planes don't look like that, not even the NGX. Is there any add-on for this?

To those, who still think about buying or not OpusFSX...

 

I have REX and ActiveSky + one freeware weather engine. Now those are thrown away. Will Keep REX for textures, but never ever use its weather engine. AS was no cure for wind changes as well.

 

What is the best thing about OpusFSX - it comes for FSX and P3D right out of the box. Now tell me - who has better offer?

 

To all of you, still considering... GET OPUS! Period.

 

Manuals could be more user friendly though...

To all of you, still considering... GET OPUS! Period.

 

Well I guess I should...Been looking for an alternative to the current version of REX I have. I was thinking about getting REX Essential/ActiveSky2012!?

 

Guess with all the positive posts on this topic I should get Opus?!

Guess with all the positive posts on this topic I should get Opus?!

Definitely get it.

 

I looked out of my hotel room window in Ft Wayne, Indiana the other day and it was snowing lightly outside with pockets of light fog. Since it's only 4 miles from the actual airport, I thought to myself, hmmmmmm, time to fire up the MD-11F and bring her into town using OPUS just to see how real it is. I blasted off from the warmth of KMIA where it was as sunny as could be. Noticed the clouds in the distance from FL360 as I crossed over northern Florida, where they remained until landing. As I started my descent into Ft Wayne, I once again looked out the hotel window and noticed the fog getting worse with flurries still flying. So I was curious just how OPUS was going to handle this? Once I was down to about 12,000 feet the visibility immediately reduced to near zero. I wish I had taken some screen shots as it was neat as hell. Down around 10,000 feet is where the snow started flying and I had very small pockets of blue sky poking through using an external view. Once my ILS became active I locked in autoflight as there was no way World 33 Heavy was gonna make her down safely without it. I stayed in the virtual cockpit view the rest of the way in and only about 5 seconds before minimums was announced was I able to see the runway in front of me.

 

Once down on the ground and FSX was shutdown, I walked outside to see just how real things were and just smiled thinking to myself, so that's what a white knuckle ride feels like coming down from miles above trying to land in a sea of nothingness. It was incredibly accurate.

It was incredibly accurate.

 

Sweet! B)

Pray tell us more. What does it do exactly? This can be used with REX essential? Any performance hit? Looks interesting

 

Yes ( I use it with Rex ) and No (performance hit)

whats the difference between this and AS2012?

 

I must be one of the very few that didnt see much difference, I hate to be rude, but ended up getting a refund are seeing next to no difference

 

one thing i found that the set up wasnt my thing, im one of those people when i click the the .exe and run the program and on first start up i dont have to do anything but just fly

 

i might see where this goes over the next few months and i might re purchase it

whats the difference between this and AS2012?

 

AS2012 doesn't have built-in camera functions. AS2012 does not have an in-game upper level winds reporting system.

 

OpusFSX doesn't have an integrated weather map or flight planning functions or any included textures (they recommend some good freeware ones). Opus does not have a huge number of options, and many people prefer the simplicity.

 

Look for videos showing weather depiction comparisons between both programs. For the most part,the depictions are very similar. Screen shots might tell you the differences too.

 

If you already have AS2012, it's up to you whether to try Opus. If you do not, then one is as good a choice as the other. If you've never flown with real world weather, either will knock your socks off.

 

Hook

OpusFSX doesn't have an integrated weather map or flight planning functions

 

This isn't directed at you Larry, but I don't have a need for an integrated weather map. I use real world stuff. Real world weather = OpusFSX depiction = Everything I need.

Hey Daniel. Never thought that was directed at me.

 

I don't have a need for an integrated weather map. I use real world stuff.

 

This brings up another thing that Opus doesn't have: historic weather going back several years. Real world weather maps aren't going to help when you're flying last summer's weather, chasing hurricanes or whatever.

 

I've been doing a lot of test flights in AS2012 with weather set to November 18, 2012, 0600 GMT to test various weather configurations and program updates. The last flight was a couple of days ago. The first flight was on November 18. With the same weather, it's easy to see what change when you use a different option or get a new version. It also has the advantage of perfect weather prediction.

 

When I first bought Active Sky X, it was mostly for winds aloft information. If OpusFSX had been available, with GRIB data available in-game as it is now, that would have been an even better solution.

 

Hook

Flying NGX Tutorial 2 EHAM-LOWI

 

Real world weather maps aren't going to help when you're flying last summer's weather, chasing hurricanes or whatever.

 

Hehe. Yeah, that's true. Hopefully, OpusFSX will bring that too, eventually.

Hopefully, OpusFSX will bring that too, eventually.

 

I know they're working on it, but I don't know how far back they intend to go.

 

Hook