Quick Question,  Does AS16 get rid of the hard haze line you would see in P3D where the distant mountain peaks would be crystal clear and the lower half of the mountain would be hazy?

 

 

 

yes it does!

 

If this is true in all situations then it is really a big step forward.

So can anyone tell me whats the difference between these 2 new products vs ASN and REX combo?  With all these new screenshots ive seen I cant tell the difference tbh.

In an static shot Mack - you generally won't see a difference unless someone posts a full overcast image. The rest is "under the hood" - weather influenced DYNAMIC texture changes. Improved performance on most systems (there will always be someone who loses fps). The in cloud movement. The Weather radar in Xgauge - just to mention a few.

 

To me, screenshots are nice but it's a tossup - if you like the screenie - product is great!! If you don't like the screenie - product stinks!

 

Take any graphics shots and there will be some that love them and others that think they're awful.

 

But, with AS16 you can use any graphics you want but you only get the dynamic changes with ASCA.

 

Vic

So what happens to ASN, in case a P3D update drops and it stops working / something breaks? Is ASN support completely dead or will it still be receiving functionality updates to keep it working with the 3.x branch of P3D?

I'm one of those lazy people that set the clouds with Soft Clouds, at one of maybe two sets switching back and forth on occasion, and just leave it there. I actually start with the clouds that I see most people that use Soft Clouds, recommending  as their favorite set. If it looks good, I don't change it, so this changing of cloud sets when flying from the North Pole to Miami ( which I never do anyway), is probably something that wouldn't interest me in the least. I do like the way Active Sky 16 is working so far, and will probably just stay with my Rex textures +  soft clouds. 

 

 

I'm one of those lazy people that set the clouds with Soft Clouds, at one of maybe two sets switching back and forth on occasion, and just leave it there. I actually start with the clouds that I see most people that use Soft Clouds, recommending  as their favorite set. If it looks good, I don't change it, so this changing of cloud sets when flying from the North Pole to Miami ( which I never do anyway), is probably something that wouldn't interest me in the least. I do like the way Active Sky 16 is working so far, and will probably just stay with my Rex textures +  soft clouds. 

 

I'm with you on that.  To me, the soft cloud sets look the most realistic.  I can't get used to the cloud ASCA clouds.  To me they don't look  natural.  But i'm loving AS16

 

 

What I don't get is why ASCA is required for a solid overcast.

 

I think ASCA has made changes to the cloud structures (or the dimensions of) that the textures are applied too, therefore changing their shapes. I assume this is what enables better full overcast conditions, rather than the way clouds are mapped in the weather engine.

I hope HiFi can develop their own set of soft cloud textures. I don't want to give up the in sim texture changes I am now getting.

I have just had a good long  session with AS2016 and for me it does the usual thing weather engines do, and that is to fail at generating the weather I see right now. Its always a bit of a botch, or has some weird layering, or too much (or not enough) blue sky, or the wrong cloud types forced into the wrong layers, or clouds intersecting the land, or., or, or .... etc. Sometimes it looks good, sometimes its a dogs dinner, and this is sadly still the case with AS2016.

 

Maybe for long distance fliers its great at creating a general sense of the weather of those long flights, but for someone like me, who fly's relatively short GA/VFR hops (where I know precisely what the weather is like ) I can do a far better job myself. Having said that I will persist over the next seven days, and give it a fair crack of the whip.

 

As for Cloud Art I hate to say it but it really looks poor. I've seen nothing yet that comes close to REX, FEX, or even the freeware cloud set that are available. Sadly Hi-Fi can't seem to do textures that compete with their rivals; and I really mean sadly, as I would love to see some amazing textures from someone else... No offence intended, this is just my opinion based on what I've seen so far

I was pretty sceptical with spending 70EUR on this, but... just watch this video!

 

No static images here could reproduce this immersion.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IYQqZLyLLA

I was pretty sceptical with spending 70EUR on this, but... just watch this video!

 

No static images here could reproduce this immersion.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IYQqZLyLLA

 

All I'm seeing that is 'new', is that smoke effect on the plane that doesn't look super convincing.

I'm one of those lazy people that set the clouds with Soft Clouds, at one of maybe two sets switching back and forth on occasion, and just leave it there. I actually start with the clouds that I see most people that use Soft Clouds, recommending  as their favorite set. If it looks good, I don't change it, so this changing of cloud sets when flying from the North Pole to Miami ( which I never do anyway), is probably something that wouldn't interest me in the least. I do like the way Active Sky 16 is working so far, and will probably just stay with my Rex textures +  soft clouds.

 

That's a bit odd logic imho. If you mainly use one set because you are lazy this new addon should actually interest you because it does what you don't want to do yourself out of laziness. The fact that what you have now looks good is a more logical reason to not change things although it also is a bit odd: you spend a lot of money to get a more realistic experience, including the purchase of AS16, but suddenly you want to stick with just one texture set... while real life shows you thousands of 'sets' all through the year.

 

I myself used HDE for 'ages' because it looks good but also and mainly because I hate to start a texture addon everytime to handpick a new set without knowing which one to pick. I do look forward to using an addon that creates new skies on the fly. It will add a lot of variety to my simming experiences. I may not always like what I see but that also happens in real life so... that shouldn't be a problem.

I agree. I'm not convinced on this yet.

All I'm seeing that is 'new', is that smoke effect on the plane that doesn't look super convincing.

Yeah, can't say I like what I saw (although it was hard to see anything because of the very nervous head movement). The effect seems to change speed all the time and sometimes it instantly disappears or appears...? And it seems the effect is there even when you aren't flying in clouds? Maybe a real life pilot can tell us if this is how it looks in real life? It more often looks like there is smoke coming out of the engine...!

That's a bit odd logic imho. If you mainly use one set because you are lazy this new addon should actually interest you because it does what you don't want to do yourself out of laziness. The fact that what you have now looks good is a more logical reason to not change things although it also is a bit odd: you spend a lot of money to get a more realistic experience, including the purchase of AS16, but suddenly you want to stick with just one texture set... while real life shows you thousands of 'sets' all through the year.

 

I myself used HDE for 'ages' because it looks good but also and mainly because I hate to start a texture addon everytime to handpick a new set without knowing which one to pick. I do look forward to using an addon that creates new skies on the fly. It will add a lot of variety to my simming experiences. I may not always like what I see but that also happens in real life so... that shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

 I have looked at quite a few screen shots of the new clouds on Facebook and on this forum, and frankly on a scale from 1-10 I would rate them a 5 at most. They don't compare in my opinion to what I get with Rex Soft clouds. To me the Soft Clouds look very realistic, and I am delighted with the way they look since they day I installed them a year ago. Now the cloud formations that I am now getting with AS16 are much better than what I have been used to with ASN.

That's a bit odd logic imho. If you mainly use one set because you are lazy this new addon should actually interest you because it does what you don't want to do yourself out of laziness. The fact that what you have now looks good is a more logical reason to not change things although it also is a bit odd: you spend a lot of money to get a more realistic experience, including the purchase of AS16, but suddenly you want to stick with just one texture set... while real life shows you thousands of 'sets' all through the year.

 

I myself used HDE for 'ages' because it looks good but also and mainly because I hate to start a texture addon everytime to handpick a new set without knowing which one to pick. I do look forward to using an addon that creates new skies on the fly. It will add a lot of variety to my simming experiences. I may not always like what I see but that also happens in real life so... that shouldn't be a problem.

 

Lol was thinking the same and couldn't follow the logic in that argument.

That's exactly why I purchased ASCA too with AS16 clouds are in real life diverse too.

I don't like every cloud in real life lol and seen a lot in the skies from above or below...

Hence it's more realistic to have different clouds during flight :-)

ASCA have some real beautiful clouds including soft clouds lol