I'm a long time user of most of these products with the exception of EnvTex.. i've heard and seen good things from EnvTex..

My preference with p3dv3 was to use Rex Texture Direct for the ground/water and use ASCA + AS16 for the sky/clouds..

Now with p3dv4 at hand and fully installed.. i'm debating which route to take.

Its my understanding that Rex Texture direct should work with a patch any day now (i assume this means install the old installer then patch it?).. and I have installed the beta for aspd and asca.. though i'm not clear on the aspd and asca if i need to purchase anything to keep them installed (IE: do they expire).. i had purchased the AS license awhile back for 16/asca.  (i'm a huge fan of the dynamic cloud feature with ASCA, which i believe is the only product to do this on the fly?)

Given all this.. i thought maybe looking at EnvTex is worth a shot, though if i can achieve similar looks without spending more then i'd rather avoid it for now, as there are other addons on my shopping list :)  Also not sure, but it looks like EnvTex is sortof a patch job to get it running too...  In general i've gone to the all add-on.xml route with folder separation from the main p3d folder.. hoping rex/envtex would adhere to this in some way, not sounding likely.. seems like they are replacing textures directly (unavoidable i guess though since its texture replacements, ala FTXG style).

So in general unsure here.. any experiences so far.. or thoughts on EnvTex vs Rex (at least for the ground textures).. I assume they are all on par and maybe i should just wait for the rex patch (and skyforce 3D as well).  It sounds like the sky textures and maybe the runway textures cant be beat with EnvTex.. so maybe EnvTex + ASCA + AS16 (clouds with AS)..

Thanks in advance

I'm using ASP4/ASCA with Envtex and the PTA profile and find it fantastic. The most realistic that *I've* seen in a sim. But again, this is a visual preference and each person is different.

The interesting thing about having to wait so long for some add ons is that I find out that I really don't need them. What I already have is doing a great job. There are several that I will probably not update.

Vic

I used to use Active Sky in the FSX days and switched to REX for P3D.  With v4, since REX wasn't ready with a weather solution, I also went with Envtex, ASP4/ASCA and PTA and am quite happy with it all.

17 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

I'm using ASP4/ASCA with Envtex and the PTA profile and find it fantastic. The most realistic that *I've* seen in a sim. But again, this is a visual preference and each person is different.

The interesting thing about having to wait so long for some add ons is that I find out that I really don't need them. What I already have is doing a great job. There are several that I will probably not update.

Vic

Is there a certain PTA profile you are using with that combo.. any that you could share or a link.. i think i may take the plunge on both PTA and Envtex :)

1 hour ago, theskyisthelimit said:

Is there a certain PTA profile you are using with that combo.. any that you could share or a link.. i think i may take the plunge on both PTA and Envtex :)

This one is absolutely outstanding during the day, I find it hard to get used to it being so dark at night but I'm still using it. There are a lot more floating around PTA's forums. I can't even image flying without PTA at this point.

https://www.sass-projects.info/thopat/

I also use the Thopat preset and it really is nice.

6 hours ago, theskyisthelimit said:

Is there a certain PTA profile you are using with that combo.. any that you could share or a link.. i think i may take the plunge on both PTA and Envtex :)

This is the one that I like - 

http://members.casema.nl/gsalden/PTA2-thopat-2_0_2 saldo-Vis 125.rar

Vic

REX4 Texture Direct just came out today for P3D v4. I didn't remember what a difference it makes until I installed it and loaded my favorite textures from it. Glad it's working for v4 now for sure.

I'm using ASP4/ASCA and REX 4 TD for P3D v4 which I installed yesterday. I am happy so far.

Jac

BTW: is there any good thread existing where I could find the "ideal" settings for Active Sky in Prepar3d v4? I currently use the predefined settings provided with AS when clicking on "realism mode".

Second question: now REX 4 TD is updated. And Soft Clouds is updated. Any news on the combo product REX 4 TD + Soft Clouds?

Thanks for the PTA links.. ill be checking them out soon.  I wish there was a good comparison video for p3dv4 on EnvTex vs RexTD.. would be a useful thing to see at least for ground texture comparisons.. one where one is shown with the exact same scenery right after each other or split screen.

On 8/2/2017 at 10:18 AM, theskyisthelimit said:

Thanks for the PTA links.. ill be checking them out soon.  I wish there was a good comparison video for p3dv4 on EnvTex vs RexTD.. would be a useful thing to see at least for ground texture comparisons.. one where one is shown with the exact same scenery right after each other or split screen.

I'd like to see a comparison as well if one exists. I already have the TD+SC license, but I am waiting for their update.

 

On 8/2/2017 at 4:57 AM, AnkH said:

BTW: is there any good thread existing where I could find the "ideal" settings for Active Sky in Prepar3d v4? I currently use the predefined settings provided with AS when clicking on "realism mode".

Second question: now REX 4 TD is updated. And Soft Clouds is updated. Any news on the combo product REX 4 TD + Soft Clouds?

Forum says it will be release 8/10

I would also like to see comparisons between REX4 TD vs ENVTEX. I'm on the fence on these 2 and not sure which one to purchase.

I use ASCA for my clouds so it's either REX4 or ENVTEX for the ground/sky color/water textures for me, and whichever one provides me with better visuals.

50 minutes ago, captain420 said:

I would also like to see comparisons between REX4 TD vs ENVTEX. I'm on the fence on these 2 and not sure which one to purchase.

I use ASCA for my clouds so it's either REX4 or ENVTEX for the ground/sky color/water textures for me, and whichever one provides me with better visuals.

https://fselite.net/reviews/toga-projects-envtex-fselite-review/

I am using Active Sky, Active Sky Cloud Art, EnvTex and PTA. I am very happy with the combo.