Replacement cloud textures- what's available other than SkyMAXX?

[brucek 38]

I tried searching on "cloud" but no result.

 

I currently have SkyMAXX v3.0, and love it. However, I also regularly use the JAR A320 with the BSS sound pack (IMO the best sound pak in XP, and the JAR bird is also very nice).

 

My issue is that these three products (JAR A320, BSS sound pak and SkyMAXX v3.0) do not seem to be compatible, resulting is a 3fps that occurs randomly when using a Mac. I don;t know that SkyMAXX is the issue, but from a thread at the .org is appears as though iit's a part of the issue (old be that the Mac is another piece of the problem too).

 

I thought of uninstalling SkyMAXX and seeing how the A320/BSS works. I'm wondering if there are any other cloud textures products that anyone here could recommend? I might even think about cloning my XP folder and creating a custom instance that will work wth the A320/BSS combo- but if that needs SkyMax to be disabled then I'd like to replace the stock XP clouds with something better, if at all possible.

 

Thanks for any ideas. And I'm not intending to trash SkyMAXX, it's great, it's just that the A320/BSS combo are so awesome..... My opinion is that there's nothing like a good sound pak to increase immersion. Thanks....

[Morrigan 90]

Clouds HD2. It's a replacement package for stock cloud textures. Combine it with something like NOAA weather to bake correct weather for the area, and it gets pretty okayish.

 

Don't get me wrong though, SkyMAXX is rather unique as it creates volumetric clouds from scratch, so the result you will get from replacing the textures will be quite different. Give it a go though, maybe you will like it

[brucek 38]

Thanks Lena, I will try this product. Much appreciated.

 

It's strange how the combo of the JAR A320 and BSS sounds are the only cause that I know of that causes this slow-down. Both are excellent products, and the BSS sounds are almost addictive!.. But it's a huge file size and maybe pushing the realism this far just has consequences. I have yet to confirm that SkyMAXX is a part of the issue, will only know when I uninstall it and try something else such as what you suggest.

 

Thanks, Bruce

[alpilotx 505]

You might try Sky Tool from Aerosoft (Freeware!):

• http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/105217-sky-tools-free-v-121-for-x-plane-10/

(I haven't tried myself, but it seems, some user really like it)

[brucek 38]

Thanks Andras, much appreciated....

[finkelstein 25]

Clouds HD2. It's a replacement package for stock cloud textures. Combine it with something like NOAA weather to bake correct weather for the area, and it gets pretty okayish.

 

Don't get me wrong though, SkyMAXX is rather unique as it creates volumetric clouds from scratch, so the result you will get from replacing the textures will be quite different. Give it a go though, maybe you will like it

 

Yep, I also use the HDClouds v2 and NOAA combo. Very happy with it. 

[brucek 38]

Thanks Marius,

 

So far I have only got as far as creating a duplicate XP folder (renamed X-Plane A320), and have uninstalled SkyMAXX Pro. No low fps yet on the JAR A320 / BSS sounds, but haven't flown a lot. Will experiment with the alternate cloud textures mentioned above.

 

But- boy- what a difference uninstalling SkyMAXX Pro ! Obviously texture changes (back to XP stock), but also very different cloud composition. Just taking off into Broken cloud weather from KDEN, it's like different sims ! I had forgotten that the default clouds sometimes disappear. I'm not sure how the cloud texture products work yet, that's my next move.

 

Thanks again everyone, Bruce.

[Vantskruv 11]

To clarify what the differences are.

 

SkyMaxx Pro replaces XP:s cloud system completely, rendering its own clouds.

UWXP is another addon which only replaces XP:s cloud textures and shaders, also as a bonus it replaces skycolors and watertextures to your liking.

I've not used HDClouds, but I guess it is using the same procedure as UWXP.

 

I currently have tested Skymaxx Pro and UWXP, right now I prefer UWXP.

[kneighbour 32]

what is UWXP?

[Glenn_C 135]

what is UWXP?

He probably means Ultra Weather XP which can be found here. http://store.x-plane.org/Ultra-Weather-XP-11_p_443.html

[James Britnell 9]

Hi brucek,  Another thing you could try is to disable SkyMaxx Pro  whilst you are using the JAR A320.

 

In the MENU BAR select Plugins

From the Drop Down Menu select Plugins Admin

Select Enable/Disable

 

Here you see a list of all the PLUGINS installed in X-plane 10

 

Look for the plugin SilverLinning and uncheck the box to the right.

 

This will disable SkyMaxx Pro and you will revert to default clouds.

[brucek 38]

Hi James,

 

Thanks- that's a great idea, although I've already made a copy of my XP folder and uninstalled SkyMaxxPro, I like this solution better, and less drive space required to boot..

 

Bruce.

[Phantom88 3,287]

This looks interesting :smile:

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/31080-3jclouds-lighter-and-puffier-clouds-with-less-puffs/

 

[mdavis 10]

Depending on your settings (and there are several significant ones), SkyMaxx Pro puts a big load on your VRAM capacity.  If you are flying complex aircraft out of complex airports, you are most likely running out of VRAM and forcing texture swaps between VRAM and RAM which will drop your fps down into single digits.

 

My stock suggestion when you hit a framerate wall is to install GPU-Z and find out how much VRAM is really being used.  The numbers in the Rendering window are for X-Plane textures only, not the total VRAM load on your system.  My guess is that you'll find that you are overloading your VRAM and making some slider adjustments can pull that back down where they need to be.

[Cameron XA 272]

 

 

My stock suggestion when you hit a framerate wall is to install GPU-Z and find out how much VRAM is really being used

 

Or you can just open the SkyMaxx Pro config window and get the same reading there.