Thinking of switching

[Pilot53 544]

Im a p3dv3 user thinking about switching to xplane, im mostly interested in flying the ixeg 737.  One of the things I like about p3d is asn wx an its ability to generate some challenging thunderstorms and wx.  I know there are some wx addons like fsgrw for xplane, how do they compare to p3d with asn?  In all of the videos I have watched with x plane I have yet to see towering cb clouds like I get with ASN, is this possible with xplane?  In general do you think I will miss using asn with p3d?

[Paraffin 2,197]

X-Plane's weather is pretty good for general coverage, but it doesn't model towering cb's either visually or dynamically. It's one of my pet peeves with the sim, but I still enjoy flying it for all the other stuff. 

 

The problem is that X-Plane's internal weather model is basically a 3-dimensional pancake of only three layers, representing "current weather" with your plane at the center. Move up into a different layer and you'll get different weather, but it changes all around you at once. The default system can't model a vertically-developed system like a discrete cb with typical up/down airflows. All X-Plane knows about is horizontal winds, with the exception of updrafts around mountain ridge lines.

 

There is a payware add-on called Real Weather Connector for SkyMaxx Pro (which by itself is basically better-looking clouds). This can load injected weather and does a fairly good job of showing discrete weather systems that you can fly in and out of, although it's not perfect. It still can't model a true cb with vertical up/down airflow (I think?) because the basic sim engine just doesn't support that. It's one of the things I hope to see improved in X-Plane 11, whenever it arrives. 

 

Meanwhile, X-Plane does model some other flight-critical weather effects like wind shear, in-flight icing, hail strikes, and different runway conditions (dry, wet, icy). Even random bird strikes if you want that. Visually it's neat to see lighting in storms, and the rain effect is pretty good. It's just missing that last element of a true cb with dynamic vertical airflow. Maybe one of these days....

 

 

[Murmur 3,941]

Even with add-ons, the visual depiction of weather in X-Plane, especially convective weather (TCs, CBs, etc.) is not on par with ASN (and even vanilla FSX can do better, visually).

 

What is nice in X-Plane, is that the weather is actually dangerous, in terms of turbulence, icing, and hail stones. So you'd better avoid strong storm cells.

 

Here's a depiction of a thunderstorm I put over KJFK (manually editing the metar file) seen from 40.000 ft. I'm using modified cloud textures and a couple of tweaked cloud datarefs:

 

 

 

 

[Pilot53 544]

Thanks, well even if its not perfect, at least it seems that you have a reason to avoid wx in xplane, where in p3d it is just some minor turbulence.  Ive used fsgrw in p3d and it was pretty accurate, how is it in xplane?  What about using real weather connector?

[WR269 367]

Thanks, well even if its not perfect, at least it seems that you have a reason to avoid wx in xplane, where in p3d it is just some minor turbulence.  Ive used fsgrw in p3d and it was pretty accurate, how is it in xplane?  What about using real weather connector?

 

Weather is getting improvements....we are waiting to see what version 10.50 brings out. 

 

Since the best weather in P3D and FSX is payware, the same applies in XP....for clouds, REX had a product for XP9 but nothing for XP10.

For XP10, there are several products for cloud textures such as HD Clouds, SkymaxxPro and a few others.

 

A new product in the market is Real Weather Connector, otherwise refered to as RWC...it works in conjunction with Skymaxx Pro and what it does is by-pass the weather restrictions inherent in XPlane such as 3 layers of wind and 3 horizontal layers of cloud....if you use RWC, you get 6 layers of wind and cloud....from memory, the sweet spot in FSX and P3D is 5 layers on average before it gets stuttery.

 

Whilst this new development allows for better immersion and the CU clouds now have a more noticeable vertical component, the towering clouds are still a work in progress, but it is going in the right direction.

 

FSGRW is a product I have used in FSX, P3D and now in XP...you can use it with RWC and get a good result, you can see fronts up ahead and fly to them or around them.

 

So while it has its limitations which are still being actively addressed, I have found the weather dynamics in XP a real eye opener....I do recall flying the SAAB 340 in a canyon in Alaska and scaring myself witless as I entered air pockets and the aircraft would drop! You really do feel you are flying and there is nothing "under the aircraft" sort to speak, hard to explain, but it is a very different experience, and can't wait to see what the future holds.

[jcomm 5,939]

I'd say that, between X-Plane's and MSFS + good weather injector the big difference is that in MSFS and derivates we do not have hail effects. 

 

OTOH, XPlane's turbulence can, in some aspects of significant weather, provide a closer to real sensation, but in MSFS it all also depends on the aircraft we use, because a well modelled aircraft can indeed bounce at the rhythm of shear and turbulence, plus updrafts / downdrafts as plausibly as I would expect. IRL I've seen the tow plane towing me, 60m ahead, going inverted in seconds, due to wave-based turbulence ( rotor clouds were present... ) !

 

I still prefer the weather in MSFS and derivates, specially when injected by AS. From a modelling pov, MSFS also includes a structure for weather representation that can bring the modelling of true to life effects (*) a few steps further ahead of what X-Plane presently offers, but of course, things can change, and I believe cloud rendering is probably going to be part of the upcoming 10.50 update ( ? )                

 

Thermals are also modelled in X-Plane better than default thermals in MSFS, but again a good weather injector for MSFS can make the difference. Truth being said, both models of thermal lift are poor, very poor.... but heck, they're not soaring sims...

 

Finally, even when the extended DSF option is chosen in the rendering settings, X-Plane still lags behind MSFS is rendering of distant weather, and even earth tiles. It still can create situations where flying next to a tile border, you see it blank in the distance, until the border is crossed :-( and no matter what enhancement products you use, there is still that irritating halo around your aircraft.... exception being an overcast layer being present specially if you use SMPv3.

 

For me there are only two areas where X-Plane shines over MSFS - free and very nice scenery, provided you have a powerful rig to profit from the best it can offer, and, modelling of some types of aircraft, including rotary wing, that no offer in MSFS can get anywhere near ( well, the good old DODOSIM Bell 206 having been the only remarkable exception! ). If you like flying helicopters, forget about MSFS and go either X-Plane or DSC World...

 

 

(*) I mean that geopotential height modelling I bring many times to the forums... and is only modelled in Aerowinx PSX, and, incredibly, also in DCS World and even IL2 BoS !!! but in no other civil flightsim... MSFS can model non ISA temp lapse rates, and although not enabled, it's internal structure even allows for the modelling of non ISA pressure lapse rates! X-Plane is plain ISA.

[vonmar 123]

FSGRW is a product I have used in FSX, P3D and now in XP..

 

Will,

 

I just purchased FSGRW and ok in FSX Acceleration and P3Dv3.1 so far.

 

But, for Xplane10 I need to know how to shut off NOAA plugin (Python) ? or can NOAA  be left on?

 

Also, in Xplane10 .. there are a few  Weather / options must be selected or disabled from the Xplane10 weather menus (prevent Wx downloading e.g.)  to have FSGRW work properly?

[jcomm 5,939]

you can shutoff a plugin through the enable / disable in the plugin manager, but i prefer to move the folders in and out of the Resources / plugins X-Plane folder :-)

[vonmar 123]

but i prefer to move the folders in and out of the Resources / plugins X-Plane folder

 

José ,

 

I think that would be the best solution for me also ..

 

I have (screenshot) one NOAA folder and two Python scrips for NOAA.

 

Just to verify, do I move the folder and the two files out ?

 

Also, in Xplane10 .. there are a few  Weather / options must be selected or disabled from the Xplane10 weather menus (prevent Wx downloading e.g.)  to have FSGRW work properly?

 

 

 

Xplane splash screen (screenshot).

 

Use real weather and winds aloft ... Check this ??

or uncheck it?

when using FSGRW ??

 

 

 

[finkelstein 25]

 

 

I believe cloud rendering is probably going to be part of the upcoming 10.50 update ( ? )          

 

Just curious, where did you hear this?

[Melchor 18]

After the release of IXEG I am considering switching to X-Plane. Problem is that I only fly on virtual reality which is supported by Flyinside on FSX/P3D. Does XP have any plans to support VR? It would be amazing to be inside the cockpit of the IXEG 737.

[jcomm 5,939]

Just curious, where did you hear this?

 

Didn't read, but looked at some shots posted at the Devs blog, I believe ( ? )

[tonywob 4,769]

 

 

Does XP have any plans to support VR?

 

They did have plans and I saw iy working an a conf, but development was frozen due to issues on Mac OS X and drivers

[saed45 38]

 

 

Problem is that I only fly on virtual reality which is supported by Flyinside on FSX/P3D. Does XP have any plans to support VR? It would be amazing to be inside the cockpit of the IXEG 737.

 

 

I think the Flyinside guy said hes working on a solution for Xplane.

[jcomm 5,939]

vonmar,

 

sorry for the late reply...

 

Inside of my plugins folder, when I want NOAA to be active I have the folder "PythonInterface"  and the folder "PythonScripts" with just a folder and a script inside of it:

 

folder: "noaaweather"

script: "PI_noaaWeather.py"

 

Just as you pointed out I also untick the x-plane startup dialogue option for real world weather and winds aloft download, although the NOAA plugin can take car of that when it starts...

 

If I want to use X-Plane Real World Weather or FSGRW, I move both folder above to a temporary folder away from my X-plane install folder. 

 

As simple as that :-)