Dear all,

 

I'm currently using Opus on my P3Dv2.2. I'm considering switching over to ASN (I'm a long time user of AS2012 on my FSX).  

Was wondering your thoughts about such a switch.

 

Best

 

ASN is an almost perfect weather engine for FSX. It's still in beta though for P3D, and while it creates some seriously good looking weather (especially with REX 4 clouds), it can bring the performance down into the low teens, even with max cloud layers set to 3 or 4. (I used 5 and 6 in FSX). It's worth mentioning that I have cloud shadows on in P3D, it's just a must have for me! The weather engine of my choice is FS Global Real Weather. It looks very real as well, has those fantastic local weather effects (special winds at places like Innsbruck, Madeira, etc.) and is much easier on the performance. You can download a free demo to give it a try!

Here you can see some screenshots I took in P3D with FSGRW providing the weather:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/442838-yes-p3d-can-look-very-appealing/?p=2994503

If more developers are developing for ASN (accurate weather radar), I might jump over from OPUS too.

The weather depiction in ASN trumps all. Thats not to say one size fits all. All of these programs have pros and cons.... But strictly speaking weather depiction, ASN out paces them all. I am curious as to what Rex weather direct will bring. It may have some unique advantages if it really takes full advantage of its texture library.

As a user of Opus for several years, I am curious as to why you are "considering" the switch? 

Since ASN has a free trial - download it and install it and try for yourself. It's what YOU get on YOUR system not what I or anyone else says that's important.

 

For me, on my system - there is no comparison between ASN and ANY other weather engine - not even close.

 

But try it yourself - if you don't like it, a quick uninstall and you are done.

 

Vic

I have used OPUS happily for quite awhile and have been using the ASN trial for the past few days.

 

I really like the OPUS camera and DHM effects, something that ASN doesn't offer.

 

However, when it comes to just weather, ASN wins.  According to ASN, they have revolutionzed weather control.  And from what I observe, that seems to be totally accurate and not exaggerated to the slightest.  ASN seems to be in control of the placement of every single cloud, eliminating altogether abrupt changes.  The detailed map in the console has every cloud placed and that's exactly what you see in the sim.  Weather has never looked this good or been so immersive.   I would recommend you get the free P3D trial and see for yourself.  The trial is unlimited for 7 days. 

As a user of Opus for several years, I am curious as to why you are "considering" the switch? 

 

sick of the windshifts at high altitudes (mainly fly tube liners) 

Also you have all these weather radars for the ifly 737, pmdg 777, and now also the FSL A320 with built in ASN support. 

As a user of Opus for several years, I am curious as to why you are "considering" the switch?

Mostly due to weather radar technology. Opus is light on my system so I was mostly concern with potential performance hit using asn. Also I've been observing cloud redraws with opus. Are those also to be observed on asn ?

I have used OPUS happily for quite awhile and have been using the ASN trial for the past few days.

 

I really like the OPUS camera and DHM effects, something that ASN doesn't offer.

 

However, when it comes to just weather, ASN wins. According to ASN, they have revolutionzed weather control. And from what I observe, that seems to be totally accurate and not exaggerated to the slightest. ASN seems to be in control of the placement of every single cloud, eliminating altogether abrupt changes. The detailed map in the console has every cloud placed and that's exactly what you see in the sim. Weather has never looked this good or been so immersive. I would recommend you get the free P3D trial and see for yourself. The trial is unlimited for 7 days.

Thx a lot. I'll give asn a try.

The ASN weather client is light, and I only have it installed on a second computer, not on my P3D rig, so performance hit is nothing.  (I did have more issues getting it working via network than any other add on via network, but I did eventually get it to work). It's as light as OPUS, and really seems to load up weather almost instantly.  Also, the menu is simpler and it basically just works perfectly without you having to do much of anything.  

 

With my 780ti, even the most nasty weather conditions barely hit performance, unless I have cloud shadows enabled.  The other day I took off from MMGL heading towards KIAH in the Airbus X.  The weather map showed thunderstorms with cloud tops up to 35000 feet.  That's exactly what I got, ascending through wave after wave of heavy cloud layers almost from takeoff all the way to FL350, with varying levels of rain intensity.  Even the sound of the rain alternated between light and heavy and there was lightning everywhere (I'll give the assist here to REX).  There was no magic hole opening in the overcast, nor did the clouds suddenly shift.  Frankly I was amazed.  

Opus with Rex4 and Dynamic head movement is almost perfection. Yes there is still is some cloud popping although greatly reduced but it only last 0.5 of a second, literally a blink of the eye.

 

As mentioned its also very light on the system. I have tried ASN and its perfect but it doesn't have Dynamic head movement and that one thing is an immersion killer for me. Its a compromise as is everything in FSX, I can live with some cloud popping but I can not live without the 777 rumbling and shaking at V1 !

I have been using the ASN beta steadily with P3d2 since ASN was first released. As a consequence, I haven't really played around with OpusFSX and FSGRW up until just the past few days. The former now has a new version in beta, OpusFSI 4.0 and latter has undergone a succession of revisions. Here's my take, tested with REX 4 Texture Direct with cloud shadows on.

 

ASN is still the best in my opinion. It has the most options (which provide the realism boost) and the UI is the most intuitive. For some reason, the cloud POV rotation bug is the least noticeable to me with ASN. The radar is a nice touch also.

 

However, as to realism, OpusFSI has caught up to ASN. Being able to view all of the weather information and maps, without Alt-Tabbing out of the sim is also a plus. The cloud rotation bug in P3d2 is noticeable, but not that it kills the immersion for me. It may just be a function of my hardware, but OpusFSI gives me a gain of anywhere from 2-5 fps over ASN, and the improvement is especially noticeable in heavy cloud cover.

 

FSGRW is still a good alternative, but it has fallen behind the other two weather engines, in my opinion.

 

In summary, you probably can't go wrong with any of the three and it will be interesting to see what the REX 4 weather engine can do when it is released.

I have tried ASN and its perfect but it doesn't have Dynamic head movement and that one thing is an immersion killer for me. Its a compromise as is everything in FSX, I can live with some cloud popping but I can not live without the 777 rumbling and shaking at V1 !

 

To each their own, but DHM never felt right on my system and it also meant I couldn't do things like change eyepoint with it enabled.  Since turbulence in Opus (even "bump aircraft") is tied to DHM I was mostly without it.  Turbulence acting directly on the airplane in ASN is excellent and includes things like ridge effects so for me the immersion factor increased immensely when I switched, especially since cloud popping, which always made my teeth grind, was eliminated. 

 

One other feature I rarely see mentioned about ASN is their manipulation of visibility as you move in and out of clouds.  The net effect is that even though FSX/P3D clouds are not volumetric, ASN comes very close to making it seem as though they are.  Bottom line, in almost every way, I can suspend disbelief in wx like never before. 

 

I know many like Opus' DHM, so I'm not suggesting you're wrong in any absolute sense - just wanted to chime in from the perspective of someone who was not a fan of it.

 

Scott

I have been a HiFI User for quite a while.  I did a couple of months ago try the demo version of Opus, for me I was not impressed, especially after the latest change to ASN.  Again, as said before to each his own, I will say this, if their was one weather engine I would recommend staying away from it would be REX Extreme.  There is nothing like flying along for 2 hours, all is well you start your decent and for some reason REX updates and you wind up in the side of a mountain.  I love REX textures, but the weather engine for right now is crap, in my opinion!

That's nice to hear that ASN has a trial version.  To be honest I wouldn't know good weather from bad , from accurate to so-so, so for me it would have to be things I do notice right off.  For example, do clouds seamlessing appear or do they "pop" in with each weather update?    Does the update drag down the system for a few seconds?  When overcast does it feel like it's overcast or just lots of clouds on top of each other?  When "popping" through the clouds at a certain elevation does it have the same feel as when I am in an airliner for real?  When I go into a cloud bank do I get some turbulence?  Those are the type of things I would be looking for.

 

I will say that what I like about Opus is a one button "click" to have my weather, Buttkicker support (I have three of them), and after years using it I have never had to pay for any upgrade.  How many times has ASN charged for their upgrades - I think every time.

 

But again, this is just me with what I would be looking at when considering a switch.  It's all good. 

 

Clutch