Hi Folks, Anyone hear of these guys before? Notice their 'clouds and sky scenery are provided by Flight Environment'. Does this mean there is a connection between these folks and Flight1/Peter Wilding? Can't think of a worse time to launch a product like this, just after ASV?Appreciate any comments from folks with more information.Cheers,N.

Well I bought their previous version of the Weather Maker program but didn't use it much. I found the user interface very awkward to work with. I was expecting something like Flight Unlimited III where you could just set a few parameters and have it generate complete, complex weather systems with fronts and all. Instead you had to construct the whole system yourself using this weird interface (which among other things had you start over if you made a mistake) and then once loaded into FS it didn't look anything like the system you created anyway.I'll check if it's a free or discounted upgrade for existing users or something but I won't get my hopes up (it should be free considering the previous versions were just nasty betas leading up to this "final" release).I've created so many custom weather scapes in FS9 now that I don't really need to use any third party program. In the end, all they do is modify the existing parameters for weather in FS9 and also changing them over time (which I don't need since all my flights are about 1h).

Hi there,Yes there is a connection and yes we are working with weather maker pro to help in any way we can. We should in the not too distant future be linking our FE program to Weather-Maker Pro to trigger really good matching clouds and water etc.I've been testing the new weather engine and I have to say it's very unique, got some really exciting features, brilliant ways of making your own weather and offers some real advantages frame rate wise. For example if I'm using complex aircraft and heavy weather I can really good fps and perhaps twice as good as some other weather eingines. So for example; if using the brilliant 727 by Paul Golding and Flight One, which I love (more fun and demanding than any other aircraft of it's type) I use Weather-Maker Pro as a matter of course. Even on my modest 2.8GHZ machine with a 9800 Pro I get very good fps in heavy clouds when approach/landing at Seattle.The user interface has got a lot easier to use but considering the amount of unique features such as the ability to see the weather in real radar maps before flying the interface does need to have some more complex options.There is a very clever way also of building really realistic weather on your own. There is a demo so you can try before you buy so I would suggest it's worth taking a look at.Peter

IS it also working by real time weather like in the MSFS ? I really like this feature in tehe FS2004 version. There is only one big disadvantage. If you have e.g. overcast weather somwhere with rain or snow - then you depart going thorugh the clouds and suddenly the overcast weather is gone and you have a different weather with no overcast. This is ridiculous and not realistic. It should be that you fly over a certain time till you get out of the bad weather. Any suggestions or addons for that ????

I got this program too, just now.I haven't tried it yet, but I thought since I also own FE, it would be a good program to use together with FE.I hope it gets rid of that ridiculous chopped horizon effect where there is like a screen covering the horizon in crystal clear visibility.

There is never a bad time to release a product you have put your heart and soul into for the thrill of further enhancing our flight simulator experience. I completely enjoy what I do and want to provide that experience to others.You are free to purchase any product you wish. WMPRO3 gives you another option.In regards to Flight Environment, I am extremely pleased with the work that Peter has done. That is why I wanted to give credit where credit is due. His clouds, sky, and water textures have brought new definition to FS2004 and other 3rd party weather engines.Like Monet, Manet, and Degas, we are mutual artisians in this field who appreciate one anothers individual creativity and constructive input.

In regards to the Custom Weather Interface:We have greatly expanded WMPRO3 in that we now offer a very intuitive Learning Center to help with creating custom weather scapes. We now also provide a new random custom weather generator which creates unique weather at your location with the click of a button. Custom weather was created and enhansed for the enjoyment of those who requested the option.In regards to the free upgrades:As stated on our website and our press releases - all upgrades are free to previous users until the next version of Flight Simulator is released. In regards to previous releases:I have released optional public betas of version 3 for the past three months and have had very good responses. With any new product there will be growing pains to endure. I have met every challenge with dedication and determination for the sake of product solidarity and customer satisfaction and will continue to do so. A forum is provided on AVSIM for this purpose.

My question was if your program has this feature that if you have overcast weather at an airport and you take off - you go through the clouds and this overcast weather remains for a while.THis is the major disadvantage at the FS 2004 real time weather. YOu take off in heavy weather and once you climb out - the weater changes and you can see no overcast clouds anymore. The ground and airport are only in scattered clouds which makes it totaly unrealistic.GreetingsMarek

Thanks for the responses. I think the demo version is a great idea. I'll download that and give it a try!Cheers,N.

Hi Marek -There are two elements are you talking about. In a metar report which both FS2004 and WMPRO3 (all other weather-engines) read the different layers reported on the report. For example: OVC150 etc.The problem is that FS2004 with one or even two to three layers of clouds will show broken with overcast clouds. Most metar reports unless observed directly by the meteorologist will only report the first layer of clouds. Thus, you get the effect you are stating. So the only way to overcome this is to try to add additional layers. WMPRO3 does this where it can, but still trying not to muddle the true real-time weather report. There are just some situations you can not avoid. That is why we have allowed the ability to have up to 5 cloud layers to help in those situations where the report allows for that. But unfortunately, we are at the mercy of the weather reports.Also, I may also to help to use a 3rd party cloud package. I have noticed a great improvement in this area.The other issue is how FS2004 builds clouds. It is built upon a bunch of individual sprites clumped together. For example, when you see the smoke puffs from your tires when you land, the smoke you see is a sprite. So magnify that by a tens of thousands and you get clouds. I can understand why maybe Microsoft didn't allow full overcast. I personally think it is because of performance. The more clouds the more of a hit it is to FPS. I believe that when MS comes out with its next version they will be able to take advantage of some of the new abilities the newer graphics cards. I still think FS2004 shows some incredible advancements in weather that has not been there before.I hope that helps answer your question.

Dear Reed,Thanks for your email. So let me sum up what you wrote. Now that i bought the WM pro and i install it - i will load up the ral time weather mode in FS 2004. If there will be an overcast weather with rain and i will take off . i still will face from one sec to the next just partly cloud weather and there is nothing i can do about it. Maybe FS 2006 will have a better weather function .GreetingsMArek

Hi Marek -To some extent you are correct. But it depends on the Metar Report. If you have more than one cloud reading (OVC034 OVC050 etc) then the chances of a true overcast cloud layer grows more likely - that goes for any weather engine. (I have tried them all including my competitors.)I am with you on this when it comes to FS10. I believe they will improve it as long as they put time into that section. But we can only cross our fingers.Have a good day.

Hi Marek,to my knowledge, the limitation with overcast is very simple. Reed is right in saying clouds are drawn from sprites. To make it easier to understand, think a sprite is a flat disc of texture. Then, build a cloud in having many sprites spread out in a 3D volume.The issue: FS rotates the flat disc in order to have them always facing you (from where you look in the 3D world). However, it does so ONLY horizontally. When you are above, you are looking to sprites from their edge (flat), not from their face (filling the view), hence the "holes", hence the OVC not looking like an OVC.I wonder if this is a bug, a left over, or a design decision, but displaying the sprite facing the viewer whatever the angle of view should not have any performance difference than rotating only horizontally as they are now.This is not a limitation of Weather Maker Pro, but a limitation of FS only!Hope this helps!