What clouds are you using in P3Dv2.5

[Mochi 82]

 

 

I'm firm believer in HDEv2 as well and think the sky looks better than anything on the Payware front.

To save time for anyone who wants the sky or cloud textures you can download the already converted sky textures from this link.

http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywords=hde+

When the link opens, the first download is for the FSX compatible sky textures and the second download below it is for the clouds. The second link also has sky textures as well but they are the FS9 version. The clouds and be used in either P3D, FSX, or FS9.

Why not use the 512 DXT version and save even more resources? There's not much of a visible difference between the 512 32bit and 512 DXT versions imho.

 

Thanks for this information.. am now rocking the HDEv2 in P3D and it is very good.

[PookyMacMan 4]

I've always found REX clouds, skies, water etc. to be my favorite ones. I don't use Essential for textures anymore, but I do use REX 4 and Soft Clouds together. I choose textures based on ICAO as another user previously mentioned, it works wonderfully. In my opinion it always picks the right kind of clouds (i.e. a REX 4 set vs. a Soft Clouds set) for the scenario.

 

Also as another user mentioned, I wouldn't use Soft Clouds all the time because they do look really soft indeed. However, in situations where you want soft-looking clouds, there is no equal IMO.

 

BTW, about the ICAO feature - textures are tagged with certain characteristics for certain scenarios, however the choice of which one within that category is used is random. For example (I don't know if the exact numbers are true, it's purely illustrative) there may be 5 sets of clouds that are tagged heavy thunderstorms, but it'll pick randomly among the 5 for a heavy thunderstorm. This is from posts by Reed or Tim on their forum FYI.

[WebMaximus 372]

I've always found REX clouds, skies, water etc. to be my favorite ones. I don't use Essential for textures anymore, but I do use REX 4 and Soft Clouds together. I choose textures based on ICAO as another user previously mentioned, it works wonderfully. In my opinion it always picks the right kind of clouds (i.e. a REX 4 set vs. a Soft Clouds set) for the scenario.

 

Also as another user mentioned, I wouldn't use Soft Clouds all the time because they do look really soft indeed. However, in situations where you want soft-looking clouds, there is no equal IMO.

 

BTW, about the ICAO feature - textures are tagged with certain characteristics for certain scenarios, however the choice of which one within that category is used is random. For example (I don't know if the exact numbers are true, it's purely illustrative) there may be 5 sets of clouds that are tagged heavy thunderstorms, but it'll pick randomly among the 5 for a heavy thunderstorm. This is from posts by Reed or Tim on their forum FYI.

That makes sense and I might very well pick up REX 4 and Soft Clouds if I don't end up using the HDEv2 clouds.

 

What about sky color textures in REX, will those also be picked based on current wx conditions?

[PookyMacMan 4]

Yes they are, albeit the weather categories are slightly more broad than the clouds IIRC. If Tim floats by this thread he could confirm that.

 

I'm pretty sure the only categories that are chosen at random are water and runways.

[WebMaximus 372]

Yes they are, albeit the weather categories are slightly more broad than the clouds IIRC. If Tim floats by this thread he could confirm that.

 

I'm pretty sure the only categories that are chosen at random are water and runways.

 

Sounds good, thanks!

[Guest]

I use REX Soft Clouds ... curious, did REX 4 TD get a v2.5 update to work with the new location of SunEffect.cfg?  Haven't tested this option lately.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[Penz 39]

I use REX Soft Clouds ... curious, did REX 4 TD get a v2.5 update to work with the new location of SunEffect.cfg?

Nope, not yet.

[robert young 2,897]

Another HDEv2 enthusiast here. They give me almost zero fps hit if using the optional res my system is capable of, but they have something quite distinct from the default FSX or P3d clouds, and indeed quite a few commercially available ones which have a kind of artificial "line" at the base. Natural clouds do not have a uniform lower horizontal cut off line. The HDEv2 clouds seem to have a pleasant lower height variation which makes them look very natural. Particularly in P3d if you crank up the depth and distance they can look almost real. 

 

The author of these now very long lasting free clouds deserves a round of applause for artistry and taste. Exceptionally good freeware.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Thanks for this information.. am now rocking the HDEv2 in P3D and it is very good.

Welcome. Pretty good for free.

Another HDEv2 enthusiast here. They give me almost zero fps hit if using the optional res my system is capable of, but they have something quite distinct from the default FSX or P3d clouds, and indeed quite a few commercially available ones which have a kind of artificial "line" at the base. Natural clouds do not have a uniform lower horizontal cut off line. The HDEv2 clouds seem to have a pleasant lower height variation which makes them look very natural. Particularly in P3d if you crank up the depth and distance they can look almost real.

 

The author of these now very long lasting free clouds deserves a round of applause for artistry and taste. Exceptionally good freeware.

I agree. I've used clouds and sky textures from FEX, REX, and AS2012, and even when mixing and matching them, I've never found a set that I was really impressed by, although my second favorite clouds are from FEX. I never got into the REX clouds because they were all to harsh and unnatural looking for my taste. I think part of it was because of the baked in shadows some of them have.

 

Pablo Diaz, the author of the HDEV2 package really did a good job on these could and sky colors.

[spearmint_flyer 578]

Alright Im going to have to try these HDEv2 clouds you all speak of  .

[Nyxx 6,993]

Is there anyone here that has used REX soft clouds and used HDEv2 ?

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Is there anyone here that has used REX soft clouds and used HDEv2 ?

 

I have not and didn't even think of it - interesting idea as fps are better with all REX clouds - I would hesitate to try it but all systems are different so worth a try

[Matthijs 79]

Same here, this topic shows the difference between the popcorn clouds and the amazing HDEv2 clouds.
If you still have problems with the (popcorn) REX4 textures, try these great HDEv2 clouds!

[Jim Robinson 122]

Is there anyone here that has used REX soft clouds and used HDEv2 ?

 

Well Soft Clouds is essentially a selection of cumulus01.bmps so you'd have to choose between a Soft Clouds option and HDE v2 in that respect. You can use Soft Clouds with the HDE v2 sky textures though and I have tried that which works fine and looks great. The HDE v2 pkg also supplies a bunch of cirrus textures which work fine with the Soft Clouds cumulus01.bmps, I use those as well (resized) but most folks don't seem to like the HDE v2 cirrus for some reason. I can't see much difference personally.

 

There's no difference in performance between a 512px DXT5 cumulus01.bmp from Soft Clouds and the HDE v2 variant if you also resize it to 512px and convert it to DXT5. The file sizes will be exactly the same, VAS footprint is exactly the same, the only difference will be the arrangement of the pixels on the .bmp itself and the way clouds look visually in the sim.

[Nyxx 6,993]

Jim What size have you changed clouds to .7 or .65 ? What impact on fps VAS is there if any?