Funny, the more you change, the faster you run back...

[Seth2021 291]

 

 

[Pastaiolo 1,686]

Only thing i am worried about is that we will end up asking for what FSX/P3D already has, which leaves nothing for improvements. The long goal in the end should be to have true volumetric clouds imho

[Novation 534]

19 minutes ago, france89 said:

The long goal in the end should be to have true volumetric clouds imho

The long goal yes. The power requirements are prohibitive currently, but that doesn't mean techniqes can't be found to make it viable, rather than just needing more horsepower. 2D clouds look great most of the time, but when you get too close, or fly through them the illusion is shattered. xEnviro gets around this quite well, althought the white-out effect is a bit much I'm finding.

[Paraffin 2,197]

52 minutes ago, france89 said:

Only thing i am worried about is that we will end up asking for what FSX/P3D already has, which leaves nothing for improvements. The long goal in the end should be to have true volumetric clouds imho

Volumetric clouds shouldn't require too much horsepower. SkyMaxx Pro already does volumetric clouds, although I think it's a mix of that, plus 2D. That plugin is actually a little easier on frame rates than the default X-Plane clouds. 

The major improvement in weather still has to come from Laminar, eventually. We're still stuck with an essentially horizontal weather model: a stack of wind/cloud layers with the plane at the center.

What's needed is a fully 3D system underneath, that can model discrete weather systems like big CBs as individual objects with their own behavior, including vertical convection up and down within the thunderstorm cell. Until we get that, we're only about halfway there in weather modeling, and a lot of what we're discussing and comparing is just eye candy. Just different personal tastes in cloud puffs.

Austin has mentioned that he knows 3D is the next step, along with some interesting ideas about particle-based effects like snow blowing across runways. We just don't know when it will arrive. When it does, we'll all be buying new versions of these weather plugins anyway, or else using the default if it's good enough. In that respect, I see current plugins like XEnviro and SkyMaxx Pro as a temporary stopgap. Neither one can model a decent thunderstorm, or the "wall" of an approaching weather front. 

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

 

Well, mystery solved, why I didn't see anything to write home about.  The first download zip not the 1.1, had a file missing. It only contained the Cloud.bmp.  I downloaded again, the 1.1 version that has TWO files to put into the Art folder, and now I see a really nice set of 4K clouds unfolding.  I simply didn't have two files to place into the Art folder, yesterday.

Case closed.  Looks good!

[Novation 534]

14 hours ago, Sesquashtoo said:

Case closed.  Looks good!

Ah ha! I was surprised you didn't like them Mitch. Glad you got it sorted.

I see there is a new version now v1.2.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

22 minutes ago, Novation said:

Ah ha! I was surprised you didn't like them Mitch. Glad you got it sorted.

I see there is a new version now v1.2.

Hi Novation,

With that missing file, I guess I had a mish-mash of whatever. Truly, it didn't impress.  But now...I'm on the band-wagon with the rest of you folks. :)

I'll go pick up v1.2 right now, and thanks Nov for the head's up!

Mitch