Well when I switched to FE clouds from Chris Willis's clouds, I saw a noticeable imrpovement in smoothness and more consistent frame rates. I have read many comments by FE owners reporting the same thing..I guess the only way to find out for sure is to have some people that are flying 4.5 with FE, purchase AS 5 , make the switch, and then tell us what happened to their frame rates.

OK, I am perhaps going to get blasted, but this is a genuine question: I used Active Sky in FS2002, but with the improved weather options introduced in FS2004, found the defaults really pretty impressive. Admittedly some combinations produce a marked decrease in fps, but free replacement cloud textures from the file library look very bit as good as the originals and help alleviate that problem.That said, if I am at a busy add-on airport with lots of nice scenery and lots of nice traffic, courtesy of UT, having anything other than pretty clear skies is asking for trouble, I know. Is Active Sky really so much more frame-rate friendly that it's worth $28 and more?As I say, this is a genuine question - maybe the answer is 'yes, it is'!!Martin

Well, this discussion has convinced me of one thing....I'm not going to even attempt to break into the business of doing add-ons for flightsim. :)For me, who is nothing more then a flightsim fan that wants it to be "as real as it gets", will be upgrading. As much as I enjoy flying with 4.5 currently, the promised new features and effects should add to my flight experience. The fewer "combinations" of add-ons it takes to get an effect in FS9 the better, as far as I'm concerned. I already spend to much time trying to tweak/fix things when an add-on combination goes sour. For them to put the graphics, and the engine in one package, sure makes my life easier.Well

>I guess the only way to find out for sure is to have some>people that are flying 4.5 with FE, purchase AS 5 , make the>switch, and then tell us what happened to their frame rates. You can only compare them side-by-side by using the fixed weather set through the ASV 'themes' or FS9's weather set-up. I would not trust anyone who compares with online flying since every flight is different. So what really counts here is AE versus FE - ASV is irrelevant here.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

Hey Damien, I agree what was said in a previous post,$28 is a lot to ask for a upgrade.Dont forget who supported all your previous work, the people that bought AS2004 &2004.5!!!How about a break here bud??

Well I just upgraded-and I guess my wants are pretty simple. I want the weather in FS and the variables of how the weather interacts to flight to look and match the real world as closely as possible.In my area of the country we have had a day of lt. cumulus going to severe thunderstorms and heavy rain to a nice layered stratus now.The new active sky recreated that reality -I was amazed how exactly the weather conditions,look of the clouds, and handling variables matched the real world.It's that simple for me-worth the price 100%. Thanks for increasing the reality factor! Next time I get the urge to eat out which I get several times a week I'll skip 1 knowing Active Sky will last a lot longer and give me more long lasting pleasure than that meal would have-that way it didn't cost me anything! :-)...and I hope Chris W. after years of providing incredible free software for demanding fs'ers, gets a few good meals out of this product on his end!http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

Hello All,Well, I was a holdout for AS before, and when I finally got it, I was just amazed at the difference in weather -- how in the world did I ever fly without this before.Looking over the new set up, it is most obvious that #5 offers much more than the earlier offering -- in clouds, type of weather and services. I'll wait until the rush is over, and the download is easier, but I WILL buy it. This company and Chris Willis have a proven track record and although I can't imagine it much more realistic for FS, I'll willing to bite the bullet and spend the 28 clams and go for it. Again, I can't take my wife and kids to Micky D's for 28 bucks, so the length of time AS 5 will last will far outlast the spending of the money. And judging from AS 2.4.5, well, it has to be a winner.best to all, Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

In ASV you can choose the clouds from a 512x512 resolution to a 64x64 resolution. You can even enable mips. This allows you to choose the best cloud configuration to balance your AI/Scenery taste.Jos

Hi there Chris and all,I would just like to add a few words to back Chris and Damian up with the promise we are indeed working with Active Sky to ensure customers for both products get full compatibility and full function of both products.I have to say I'm really impressed with ASV and I would encourage all current FE customers and future customers to get ASV. Well worth it and a definite improvement of fuction over version 4.5The clouds in ASV are excellent and it's not about which is better, comparing to FE, or which has FPS advantages. It's about personal taste; In theory there will be only very minor FPS differences for most people and should not be an issue. It's about more choice and freedom of choice.If anyone has AS 4.5 and FE I promise you upgrading to ASV is well worth it and IMHO it makes FE look even better and nothing to me looks better than good clouds and good water together. I had a blast today Island hoping from Puerto Rico to the Virgins. The weather with ASV was stunning. Never looked so convincing to me.What everyone should appreciate is the combination of FE and ASV will make BOTH PRODUCTS WORK BETTER, because the environment and clouds and weather are eveywhere. Really good value for money if you think about it.I've read on this thread about $28 being steep. IMHO it's very good value for money because it's not an upgrade but a new build.Certainly what I've seen so far in ASV in stunning and and FE customer I'm sure will be delighted with ASV and has the promise it will soon be fully functional with ICS cloud selection; so you get my vote; buy this product with confidence.Peter Wilding (developer of Flight Environment)

Well I paid $38.00 US for Active Sky 4.5 siz days ago through Simflight.com now Im going to pay another 27.00US for ASV Thats a total of 65.00 US for a product that If I had waited One week I could have got it for 38.00NOT!!! Ill get my year out of this version and then think carefully when the next one comes along. And also I puruse this support forum carefully before I make the same mistake again. Yes I know I already bought this up on the AC forum but I thought Id add my opinion into this thread.RegardsDennis Waggoner

As an owner of AS-4.5x, who will probably not buy AS-5 only because I recently purchased another sky/texture enhancement, do at least acknowledge the following:* AS-5 is a version change, not an upgrade. As such, any discussion about the "high cost of upgrade" is irrelevant. Keep apples to apples, not oranges.My 2 cents only, and should be taken as such.bt

Hi Geofa,"...and I hope Chris W. after years of providing incredible free software for demanding fs'ers"Thank you alot Geofa, after almost 6 years of decication of freeware and all hard time I put, to give the community for free with my time left at home after my works for what's they want the most, all the support from fs sky world from 2 series version, update and patch, and all others things related to fsw and Msfs support, I have done my freeware for the passion and share my works with the community to let them enjoy Msfs in a differents way, I am proud that's I have make many "happy" simers with my freeware and I offend others with my freeware as well for X reason.ThanksChris WillisHiFi Simulation Software Team Developerhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_dev_team.jpgFreeware Addons for FSW GROUP

Hi Chris,congratulations on the release of ASV and welcome to the "dark side" :-samurai Looking forward to using ASV; not right away but soon.Cheers, HolgerP.S.: Of course, congrats to Damian, Jim, and the Beta team as well.

>Thats a total of 65.00 US for a product that If I had waited>One week I could have got it for 38.00Sorry Dennis but it is your job as a consumer to know what is in the pipeline and decide what is best for you, there are no babysitters here to assist you with every decision. If you failed to do a basic homework I don't even feel sorry for you. It is the the tough world of the fittest as Mr.Darwin once said.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

Micheal,I disagree with you. I feel that Dennis should get the next version for 38.00. If you would have purchased a product in a store and found it for significantly less a week later, you would probably take that one back and buy the new one at a lower price.I think Damian needs to make this one right! I am sure he will. Dennis, I would send Damian an email and see what he can do for you. If the original purchase was $28 and the new version is 38, then you should have to come up with the $10 difference.I think that is fair, and I don't see why Damian wouldn't honor that type of request. He is a extreamly fair and moral person.Barry