How are they at night? Natural looking or glowing white? :-)

Glowing orange, actually, at least around cities (the effect looks good from the ground but a little too extreme in the air). In rural areas they are dark like they should be. 

Interesting (and unexpected!) Thanks for the info.!

What I don't get (coming from P3D) is that my REX files were many GB's.  I think that "Soft Clouds" alone requires 1 GB of space on the drive.  How does x-Enviro work in 108 MB for the entire install?

Yes it has 2d clouds and yes its looking flat sometimes but i think the below is an immersive feature from an IFR point of view ...reaching the clouds in the horizon...In the second screenshot i reached the upper clouds showing far in the horizon in the first screenshot.

 

 

What I don't get (coming from P3D) is that my REX files were many GB's.  I think that "Soft Clouds" alone requires 1 GB of space on the drive.  How does x-Enviro work in 108 MB for the entire install?

 

One of XE's major flaws is the cloud resolution so I imagine this would be the biggest culprit.

Personally, I have no problems with the resolution, as it truly helps with performance.

The missing cloud shadows and the flickering sharp edges, where a thin cloud or haze layer hits hills or mountains, is the biggest immersion killer for me.

What I don't get (coming from P3D) is that my REX files were many GB's. I think that "Soft Clouds" alone requires 1 GB of space on the drive. How does x-Enviro work in 108 MB for the entire install?

My Rex soft clouds folder is only 79.4 Mb because this only changes low level clouds in P3D if im correct however REX texture direct will target all level clouds and is bigger in size due to options for cloud shapes and texture resolution, Xenviro has only at this moment one resolution and one set of clouds.

 

Few more images on x enviro on this fb page https://www.facebook.com/groups/XPDedicated/permalink/1107565706027547/

I uninstalled Soft Clouds recently.  So, I just checked the Rex site for requirements and found this:

 

Windows Vista SP2 or greater 
Microsoft Flight Simulator X, FSX-Steam Edition, Prepar3D v.1.4, P3DV2, P3DV3 
RAM: 2GB or greater 
Hard Drive: 1GB of free space for installation
Video Card: 512mb DirectX9 or greater 
Other: Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (Included with installer) 
Internet Connection: Required only for Software Updates

 

But, maybe that is wrong. 

Review by Wycliffe Barrett:

 

I've made a couple of flights now and really like it. Sure, there are a couple of bugs with cloud motion and fog effects, but those will surely be fixed. The overall program is great. I was flying in the U.K. And had multiple levels of clouds with lots of depth. Very realistic. The low res clouds look fine and there was 0 effect on fps, which is amazing compared to default clouds.

I bought it two days ago and.....well... some things like the dynamic skycolors and the weather-generation itself are fine. But on first start, I thought I had a flashback from the late 90ties with fsx-comic-style clouds. I couldnt belive that this is a brandnew product. There are enough examples around on how it should look 2016/17. The nice handpicked screenshots around are a bit misleading IMHO. I further support the devs and see how it will evolve. But for now Im back to default clouds with a view dataref-hacks. I must admit, Im on XP11. Overall package is is good and the price is ok but,  just not yet there.

Thanks for posting the link to Wycliffe's review.  Am really looking forward to the next version of xEnviro.

I bought it two days ago and.....well... some things like the dynamic skycolors and the weather-generation itself are fine. But on first start, I thought I had a flashback from the late 90ties with fsx-comic-style clouds. I couldnt belive that this is a brandnew product. There are enough examples around on how it should look 2016/17. The nice handpicked screenshots around are a bit misleading IMHO. I further support the devs and see how it will evolve. But for now Im back to default clouds with a view dataref-hacks. I must admit, Im on XP11. Overall package is is good and the price is ok but, just not yet there.

Anyone is certainly entitled to his opinion and all of this is subjective to some degree. But I have to clearly state that what you are describing is NOT what I'm seeing in the sim when using xEnviro. But well, everybody has to form his own opinion. In my eyes, the problem is that a lot of people here are looking for nice dramatic and puffy clouds rather than for a realistic weather depiction.

Anyone is certainly entitled to his opinion and all of this is subjective to some degree. But I have to clearly state that what you are describing is NOT what I'm seeing in the sim when using xEnviro. But well, everybody has to form his own opinion. In my eyes, the problem is that a lot of people here are looking for nice dramatic and puffy clouds rather than for a realistic weather depiction.

 

Um no this is not an opinion. When clouds are rendered as studdering razor thin slices in the sky when flying near tham, this is clearly a product not ready for prime time...and certainly not worth a $70 beta. That being said, however, the long distances visualls are stunning. I can't get past the close up clouds though so it will be shelved until improved.

Um no this is not an opinion. When clouds are rendered as studdering razor thin slices in the sky when flying near tham, this is clearly a product not ready for prime time...and certainly not worth a $70 beta. That being said, however, the long distances visualls are stunning. I can't get past the close up clouds though so it will be shelved until improved.

Gregda,  indeed, we are all looking at the product through our own lenses.

 

I, like you, love the far-distant views.  When I'm coming in close to the cloud deck, and transitioning to IFR, my head's already in the cockpit, so I don't see many of the "razor" clouds    

 

Still, for those that want and can, supporting the development of XE is a good thing--competition leads to breakthroughs!