Post #25 of the OP link gives an interesting description of how things were overcome and what will really be present in features.

 

Particularly of turbulence now playing a major role. Cloud shifting is claimed so smooth that one might not even notice. I have yet to see any depcition of cloud smoothing actually working in any of the weather engines I have. It just doesnt work. I have to see this to really believe it. 

Does this mean no more clouds laying on the ground in the western US?

Having tried a few I have come to the conclusion that Opus is the best, simple very fast very accurate weather and easy to get metars (unlike Rex!) plus the camera provision is a nice bonus. To me REX is like a cartoon with a silly interface.

[...] features a comprehensive overhaul and upgrade of all underlying weather synthesis, interpolation and depiction systems, which have enabled significant breakthroughs and features never available until now. For the first time ever[...] A brand-new Graphic Snapshot and state management system provides universal graphics add-on integration with weather-influenced capability, allowing easy control and incredible realism and variation of matched graphics and weather with ANY environment graphics add-on (or combinations of add-ons). USA live Sigmets and Airmets, Networked Pireps, enhanced flight planning and wx briefing data, direct wind control and smoothing, visibility graduation and smoothing, and MUCH more is now available!

 

[...] is HiFi’s 6th major installment in the Active Sky series since its debut in 2002. Over the years, HiFi has strived to bring innovation and value to simulator pilots of all types, with a focus on high-fidelity and realism. By interacting with their customer base and the community, designing the technology that brings what users want, and working tirelessly to fine-tune the entire weather experience, HiFi has been able to produce what they feel is the most sophisticated and realistic weather add-on ever.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Well, the year 2008 featured ASA. :mellow:

 

Observations. The new weather engines like Opus and FSGRW surely must have made an impression. Not only on the user side. We may have to admit that the new kids on the block approached the market in a very sympathetic way. Word to mouth, user experience shared, good reviews leading to more awareness and, most likely, sales. It didn't start with announcements to my knowledge. This doesn't mean that it's better, but.. different.

 

Yes, I do realise that the Hifi beta testers removed their signatures, now showing up more neutral. I also realise the Hifi dev picking on some lines from the mentioned competition and I, most of all, hope that the next 50 or so Dollar being spend on a new weather engine for an old sim are well deserved and justified. :smile:

 

I saw folks pointing out the freeware alternatives. Big thumbs up!

 

 

"we have managed complete control of the weather environment WITHOUT COMPROMISE" - they clearly haven't given how certain aspects of weather you can't even simulate properly within FSX (proper visibility/fog reductions, it's hard coded within FSX - so that can never be properly fixed).

 

If one thinks outside the box, a weather system could be done that doesn't use FSX weather system at all ... not a trivial task, but would be a "WITHOUT COMPROMISE" solution.  I don't know if anyone does this now or plans to do this ... maybe HiFi are planning this?

 

As with most of FSX these days, when confronted with a limitation, find creative solutions around the limitations.

Observations. The new weather engines like Opus and FSGRW surely must have made an impression. Not only on the user side. We may have to admit that the new kids on the block approached the market in a very sympathetic way. Word to mouth, user experience shared, good reviews leading to more awareness and, most likely, sales. It didn't start with announcements to my knowledge. This doesn't mean that it's better, but.. different.

 

In the case of FSGRW, I think they might have been well-served by being a bit higher profile as they've been kind of a stealth product from my perspective.  Opus, on the other hand, did end up taking a different path, basically bringing an ever more enthusiastic group of users along for the development cycle while being open and responsive to the community they built, and that's worked very well for them.  I'm not even sure the product they ended up building was what they originally envisioned.  They were the new kid on the block, and their approach was one well-suited to a company in that position, but probably less so to an established developer.

 

That said, as both a REX and an Opus customer who splits time (still weighted towards the former) between the two, well... I appreciate the announcement (and again, keep in mind it was and still is limited to their own customer site so I also thank those who spread the word a bit wider).  I split time between the two wx engines I have because both have strengths - and both have weaknesses.  HiFi's announcement indicates they're aware of the weaknesses and want to compete on that level.  I think that's great. 

 

Now all they have to do is deliver! :mellow:

 

Scott

 

BTW - love your sig CoolP - it is sooo true.

If one thinks outside the box, a weather system could be done that doesn't use FSX weather system at all ... not a trivial task, but would be a "WITHOUT COMPROMISE" solution.  I don't know if anyone does this now or plans to do this ... maybe HiFi are planning this?

 

As with most of FSX these days, when confronted with a limitation, find creative solutions around the limitations.

 

 

http://www.hifitechinc.com/forums/showthread.php?1147-The-next-version-of-Active-Sky&p=5487&viewfull=1#post5487

 

If I didn't post the link correctly, Rob, it's post#25 in the main thread. You'll see he says "using hooks, assembly, etc" - essentially bypassing the FSX engine. I've done it with other programs years ago - not the easiest way to do things but if you are stuck with "iffy" code, the only thing you can do is jump out and back in.

 

Vic

 

 

essentially bypassing the FSX engine

 

Wow, if they can pull this off and keep stability it will be a GREAT achievement ... definitely a game changer for weather in FSX.  Looking forward to checking this product out.

If one thinks outside the box, a weather system could be done that doesn't use FSX weather system at all ... not a trivial task, but would be a "WITHOUT COMPROMISE" solution.  I don't know if anyone does this now or plans to do this ... maybe HiFi are planning this?

 

As with most of FSX these days, when confronted with a limitation, find creative solutions around the limitations.

 

I am becoming more and more confident that Hifi can manage the previously impossible and bypass the garbage weather engine in FSX with each passing day.   I had given up on the prospect of any weather engine ever overcoming the deficiencies hard coded into FSX, but I always wondered, is there a way around the code?  It would take an insane amount of work, patience, and skill, but money is a heck of a motivator.   Ever think that if FSX was as popular as the console games like GTA, that we would be stuck with the crap weather engine we have now?   Disregarding the argument that the demographic such games cater to don't care about complex realism, there is no question that MS would have at least put some more effort into fixing long standing issues or released more service packs, or created a new clean sheet design simulator.  Hifi obviously knows that the capital and time invested in this previously secret project will pay off, and they have their reputation at stake, so I think it's highly probable they will pull this project off.

 

Let's face it, if this product is the paradigm change the previews make it out to be, it will be the MOST IMPORTANT addon to FSX of all time.  Someone mentioned it earlier, weather plays such an important role in aviation/flight simming that it would be hard to argue that ASN would not be the most revolutionary commercial addon to MS flight simulator ever.   Accurate weather, both the graphical depiction and the ever changing mass of air we fly on, is the foundation of flight sim.   It's hard for me to say that this could be more important to the flight simulator community than the PMDG addons, but without a stable foundation like a plausible weather engine, this feels like a game.   How realistic is it to fly through bad weather without any consequences?   I applaud Hifi for taking this risk.  Who knows, this could such a game changer (aren't you tired of that term?) that even PMDG will rethink their no WX radar policy!

 

One more thing, as evidenced by the incredible PMDG 777 and NGX, and hopefully Active Sky Next, the phrase "FSX limitation" could just be seen as an excuse by lazy developers in the future.  As in life, If the developer makes the effort, anything is possible right?  

 

 

One more thing, as evidenced by the incredible PMDG 777 and NGX, and hopefully Active Sky Next, the phrase "FSX limitation" could just be seen as an excuse by lazy developers in the future. As in life, If the developer makes the effort, anything is possible right?

And not forgetting the DX10 fixer which will be released in a few days.

And not forgetting the DX10 fixer which will be released in a few days.

 

Realllyyy DX10 fixer. Uhuuuu@@@ It says that this update will fix the Street light for FTX Global and many other

Ditto..... I use 2 free programs that are simple and work great....

 

http://www.fsrealwx.net/

 

 

http://www.plane-pics.de/fsxwx/instructions.htm

 

Very interesting find...does it work really well for your?

Very interesting find...does it work really well for your?

 

 

Heres a pic over the Alps using FSXWX....

 

 

Is there any way to make an improvement to the rain effects at some point to get rid of the 'warp at light speed' effect by bypassing parts of FSX code or is that a completely different kettle of fish?

Is there any way to make an improvement to the rain effects at some point to get rid of the 'warp at light speed' effect by bypassing parts of FSX code or is that a completely different kettle of fish?

Completely different. Thats in the graphics engine. It is done by placing a double cone around the camera, rotating it relative to the camera to keep the rain movement relative to the camera accurate, and drawing a rapidly moving texture with the rain effects on it.

 

I suppose one could try to intercept the draw calls that draw this and replace the vertices, texture, and shaders with one's own setup...