Skymaxx update 1.3 released!

[gheeD 62]

Just got email that update 1.3 has been released!  B)

 

 

What's New / Changed:

• Clouds faded out due to visibility are culled, to further improve performance
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• New cumulus cloud puff textures
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• Clouds should be consistent across multiple displays
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• New config option to always force at least one cirrus layer (on by default). If no cirrus layer comes in from X-Plane's datarefs, we create one at 9000 meters
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• Improved error handling in the event initialization fails
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• Cloud visibility is generally increased
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• Random variation added to cumulonimbus cloud sizes
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• Prevents a source of a potential crash reported by one user
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• Memory leak fixed with latest Gizmo build
• 
  

 

 

[saed45 38]

nice hopefully with the release of 10.30 we get those shadows on the ground back

[deetee 164]

Good as it is I will not be reinstalling SMP for the moment as I'm enjoying those cloud shadows too much!

[CapnSplat 36]

This was a nice surprise this morning; performance seems noticeably better on my system than 1.2 and its good to see that that memory leak was plugged. There are still a few areas for improvement (cloud shadows, better weather system representation, etc.) but as SMP has been getting better and better all the time, I don't doubt that John and Sundog will find a way to implement these features!

[alexcolka 183]

Yes I did notice too some improvements. A welcome update.

 

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

[jspahn 268]

Nothing of this sort has been done in X-Plane before but Laminar Research is committed to 3rd party development and they have been great so far.  SkyMAXX, although very good IMO, will mature with with more features and performance features.....

 

Its all in the works guys

[strider1 575]

Nothing of this sort has been done in X-Plane before but Laminar Research is committed to 3rd party development and they have been great so far.  SkyMAXX, although very good IMO, will mature with with more features and performance features.....

 

Its all in the works guys

 

Is there any plans to get the clouds to appear in the distance instead poping on all of a sudden ?

[Cameron XA 272]

 

 

Is there any plans to get the clouds to appear in the distance instead poping on all of a sudden ?

 

Perhaps someday, but at the moment we don't have the appropriate SDK access to make this work.

[jcomm 5,923]

The good thing about it is that SMP is under development, and new features will probably be added by LR to the core of XP10, allowing for better weather modelling / injection.

 

BTW: I am using XP10, FSX with ASN ( probably the best weather injector available for FSX, and a very good one, although as a member of their beta team I may sound biased :-) )  and now Flight Gear 3.0 RC4.  Honestly, the most complete / complex / powerful weather model is the one that now comes with FG, even if visually you may be tricked to think it is crap! FG models geopotencial height, for instance, and has in it's advanced weather model the best meso and synoptic scale modelling of weather I have EVER found in a flight simulator....

 

I may install a copy of X-Plane 10.25 on my Windowze partition just for the sake of testing this latest release of SMP! Sounds promising!!!!

[Murmur 3,941]

Honestly, the most complete / complex / powerful weather model is the one that now comes with FG, even if visually you may be tricked to think it is crap! FG models geopotencial height, for instance, and has in it's advanced weather model the best meso and synoptic scale modelling of weather I have EVER found in a flight simulator....

 

I tried it, but I find it hard to define it the "most complete". Too many problems for me. The turbulence modeling seems very good, but I can fly inside the core of a CB with a C172 keeping control of the aircraft. Visually, It's hard to realize if I'm flying in the rain or not (the depiction of the rain, or better the lack thereof, is even worse than in X-Plane!). I tried to fly in freezing rain conditions for many minutes, without a single hint of icing effects on wings, engine or pitot/static.There seems to be not significant difference in runway friction between dry/wet/snow. Apart from this, the clouds are completely 2D (in FSX they're 2d also, but nice to see at least!), and the whole interface of FG seems quite buggy.

[jcomm 5,923]

Just like in any other simulator, icing effects have to be scripted, "plugined" or programmed by default, preferably not like in X-Plane with that irritating and irrealistic carb ice, and the structural icing depending on aircraft weight! (Austin told me he would fix it... probably in time for 10.30)

 

Some aircraft in FG have excellent icing effects, of various types. They're either programmed using one of the available scripting languages, or merge JSBSim and UIUC.

 

Precipitation of the various types is also taken into consideration for rw contamination.

 

and...

 

 

 

[Murmur 3,941]

Well I think there must be a problem in my case then. Infact I get no visible rain or snow, even when I go straight through the "wall of rain" visible under the clouds from a distance (great feature btw, would be nice to see it in X-Plane). All the graphics settings are at max.

[jcomm 5,923]

Under View / Rendering Options:

 

 

Also important, setting LOD ranges on that same submenu! Mine are set this way:

 

[Murmur 3,941]

Thank you, now that I optimized the rendering options (rain, shaders, cloud density and distance, etc.) it's certainly better and I can see the potential! As often happens, the ideal weather engine would be a combination of the best parts of P3D + X-Plane + FG.