Latest SkyMaxx Pro 4 preview

[mccurdypm 57]

It certainly looks extremely promising !

 

http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/11965-skymaxx-pro-v4-previews-december-3rd-2016/

 

 

http://forums.x-pilot.com/forums/topic/11965-skymaxx-pro-v4-previews-december-3rd-2016/

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

Interesting. Would like to see a comparison between this and X-enviro.

[hjsmuc 393]

As a user of XEnviro I'd say it looks better. Not necessarily more realistic though.

[Guest]

Looks great indeed. And the advantage over X-Enviro is that you can create the weather you want, right? (And it's cheaper too. ) Are those clouds real 3D?

[Novation 534]

That looks much better to me.

 

X-E @ $70 can go hang

[Guest]

That looks much better to me.

 

X-E @ $70 can go hang

But afaik (but what do I know) these are only cloud textures...? X-Enviro can change the weather and also, I suppose, during a flight so during long flights you will get different weather. SkyMaxx can't do that? And I also read that X-Enviro even changes colors on the fly (like the sky) depending on the weather. It may cost 70 instead of 40 but for 70 you seem to get a lot more? For something similar you need SkyMaxx PLUS the weather connector and that's 60 already... So why is X-Enviro called too expensive but SkyMaxx not?

[pilot83 387]

As a user of XEnviro I'd say it looks better. Not necessarily more realistic though.

the best comparison is to take screenshots using each add on at several altitudes during same time and then compare coverage, texture, draw distance, type of clouds...in function of Metar.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

But afaik (but what do I know) these are only cloud textures...? X-Enviro can change the weather and also, I suppose, during a flight so during long flights you will get different weather. SkyMaxx can't do that? And I also read that X-Enviro even changes colors on the fly (like the sky) depending on the weather. It may cost 70 instead of 40 but for 70 you seem to get a lot more? For something similar you need SkyMaxx PLUS the weather connector and that's 60 already... So why is X-Enviro called too expensive but SkyMaxx not?

 

Good point after reading your post maybe 70$ was justified and it will be improved also

[jspahn 268]

First adjusting undocumented datarefs into any product is bad practice and creates potential support nightmares ie sky color changes....I feel this is best handled by freeware guys and should be kept separate from a core product...

 

Additionally the lifetime updates supplied by the competition for 70 bucks only works for the initial release such as we do, well not all the time the shift from v1 to v2 was free as a thank you to the community for all the support...

 

Also it's my understanding that xenviro pretty much locks you out of any third party development ie weather engines, which means you're completely at the mercy of their vision. We develop the way we do to keep development inclusive to ensure the end user gets the best experience as the sim advanced...

 

Just thought I'd share my 2 cents just to let the community know what our goals are since I've been seeing a lot of backlash towards us recently.....thank you

[carlito777 712]

Still only cumulus clouds. That might look good for screenshots but is not realistic. Trying to depict overcast with a ton of cumulus clouds glued together is a joke.

[hjsmuc 393]

John, valid points. I am way beyond 200 bucks of investment for XP11 alone right now. Rest assured that I will buy the SMP4 upgrade on release. On the other hand, I also support the new kid on the block. The most critical aspect, as you state correctly, is that they have everything on their server, no choices allowed. It's XEnviro or nothing. But then, what's 70 bucks for a hobby worth thousands of dollars over the years?

[jspahn 268]

Still only cumulus clouds. That might look good for screenshots but is not realistic. Trying to depict overcast with a ton of cumulus clouds glued together is a joke.

Not true we've introduced our strataform in v3 and a new HD cloud layer in V4 along with higher definition imagery for the cloud puffs and the cirrus layer which moves now btw.....tons of options in our UI

[Paraffin 2,197]

Looks great indeed. And the advantage over X-Enviro is that you can create the weather you want, right? 

 

You can in the current SkyMaxx Pro 3, so I would assume that applies to the new version too. 

 

Note: SkyMaxx Pro is basically a "better clouds" add-on that will track whatever you set in X-Plane's weather settings whether it's manually set or using X-Plane's own weather injection. There is a $19.95 add-on from the same developer called Real Weather Connector that adds additional horizontal cloud layers and interprets injected METAR info. Basically it smooths out the injected changes, and works with SkyMaxx Pro to make things look as realistic as possible (for this product). 

 

So I think you'd need both SkyMaxx Pro and RWC to compare with what X-Enviro is doing. That also evens out the cost comparisons a bit more.

 

I've been happy with SkyMaxx Pro v3 and RWC with X-Plane 10. I'll pick up Pro v4 too, but I'm still keeping an eye on X-Enviro.

[jspahn 268]

John, valid points. I am way beyond 200 bucks of investment for XP11 alone right now. Rest assured that I will buy the SMP4 upgrade on release. On the other hand, I also support the new kid on the block. The most critical aspect, as you state correctly, is that they have everything on their server, no choices allowed. It's XEnviro or nothing. But then, what's 70 bucks for a hobby worth thousands of dollars over the years?

I'm not for or against their vision just pointing out ours since there is a certain dialog going on.....my initial point was "hey community here is what we are up to in contrast to the other guys"

 

It's competition and it's a good thing for the end user, and I don't expect everyone to agree with our efforts but we've been around for awhile and we sure as hell will keep trying

[carlito777 712]

Not true we've introduced our strataform in v3 and a new HD cloud layer in V4 along with higher definition imagery for the cloud puffs and the cirrus layer which moves now btw.....tons of options in our UI

I'm using Skymaxx Pro v3 + RWC and I have yet to see anything else then puffy cumulus. Even if the METAR is showing multiple overcast layers then it is just puffy clouds everywhere. This is very disappointing. And what I see in the screenshots above is again just nice and puffy clouds everywhere. Have you ever been to Northern Europe? The weather doesn't look like that around here.