active sky 6.5 dead?

[domvc10 13]

Due to family priorities ive not really fired up fs9 for the past year or so but now I'm slowly getting some time to get back on it. I noticed today that as6.5 won't download any new weather so i suppose it's just too old and no longer suported. Not even weather from vatsim seems to download.

I got fsmetar up and running for now(its pretty good for an old freeware program) At some point I'd like to venture out and pay for some new weather program but are there any that are supporting fs9 right now?

[Flyboy49 10]

Active Sky Evolution still works. It's great

[John Hinson 22]

4 hours ago, domvc10 said:

I noticed today that as6.5 won't download any new weather so i suppose it's just too old and no longer suported. Not even weather from vatsim seems to download.

That is correct.

2 hours ago, ChinookWind said:

Active Sky Evolution still works. It's great

Yes, it does, but I think it is no longer available for purchase. As it is from the same developer, it too could be discontinued at any time without warning.

Best regards,

John

[gaputz 60]

1 hour ago, John Hinson said:

Yes, it does, but I think it is no longer available for purchase. As it is from the same developer, it too could be discontinued at any time without warning.

 

I'm also a big fan of Active Sky Evolution.  I have the same worry that ASE service will be summarily discontinued one day, especially because they stopped selling it. I suppose the good news is that ASE was also developed for FSX so that might be beneficial for FS9 customers.   Does anyone know if HiFi has said anything about the future of ASE service?   If it goes, is there an alternative for FS9?

Greg 

[iwebber 207]

FSGRW still supports FS9... and it's pretty good.

[domvc10 13]

Thanks for the pointers.

ASE was something I was thinking about but as per some comments above, how long will it still be usable. It's a shame AS 6.5 cannot be set to download from another source the program works fine it's just the server that is the problem.

FSGRW looks interesting, maybe a little pricey but I will explore that a bit more and will inquire on the  time they still expect to support FS9.

[JAT 185]

You wont be disappointed if you get FSGRW . I am happy with it.

nebojsa

[Skywatcher 133]

23 hours ago, gaputz said:

Does anyone know if HiFi has said anything about the future of ASE service?   If it goes, is there an alternative for FS9?

Greg 

They said once ASE was pulled off the market they would provide updates for a minimum of 12 months and stated hopefully well beyond that.
If they pull the plug in 12 months, I'll never touch AS again even if I move to FSX. I'll buy my FSX weather from someone else. They are now the first major weather developer to dump FS9 users with no product option to purchase. I hope they will at least continue ASE updates for a very considerable time period. I would think inline with whatever update period FSRGW and REX do for FS9 users would be considered fair.

[HUSSAR 272]

2 hours ago, Max50 said:

I'll never touch AS again even if I move to FSX. I'll buy my FSX weather from someone else.

Sorry you feel that way.  I know how hard it is to walk away from years of enjoyment and all the money put into addons, been there myself.  Unfortunately that is the way it is for developers, their bread and butter are in the sims that are developed today.  Blame all the users that want bigger and better.  It's not HiFi's fault, I am sure that Damian would love to provide service updates for ASE but that takes away from the development aspect of what currently people want.  If everybody stuck with FS9 and FSX would there be a problem?

[John Hinson 22]

18 minutes ago, HUSSAR said:

It's not HiFi's fault, I am sure that Damian would love to provide service updates for ASE but that takes away from the development aspect of what currently people want.  If everybody stuck with FS9 and FSX would there be a problem?

I am not sure what effort goes into providing the weather information for download but that is absolutely all most FS9 people would be asking for.

Even Windows doesn't stop working just twelve months after sales of a particular version cease.

John

[HUSSAR 272]

41 minutes ago, John Hinson said:

I am not sure what effort goes into providing the weather information for download but that is absolutely all most FS9 people would be asking for.

Even Windows doesn't stop working just twelve months after sales of a particular version cease.

John

I am not sure either but I would venture to say that it cost's money and time in order for that to occur.  Microsoft has lots of money but there is an endgame for their support as well.  

HiFi gives provides support a lot longer than Microsoft does if you scale the metrics accordingly.

[Skywatcher 133]

3 hours ago, HUSSAR said:

Sorry you feel that way.  I know how hard it is to walk away from years of enjoyment and all the money put into addons, been there myself.  Unfortunately that is the way it is for developers, their bread and butter are in the sims that are developed today.  Blame all the users that want bigger and better.  It's not HiFi's fault, I am sure that Damian would love to provide service updates for ASE but that takes away from the development aspect of what currently people want.  If everybody stuck with FS9 and FSX would there be a problem?

FSGRW and REX continue to provide what people don't want. They have products out on the market and fully supported for FS9 as far as I am aware. I'm not suggesting HiFi should continue ASE, there does come a point you must expect one developer to be the first to jump ship. I'm suggesting I would consider it fair to continue with ASE updates of a period equal to the other products.

I understand developers moving on but I also understand loyalty to your previous consumer base. I'm not asking for new products or updates forever. However, to pull the plug totally on existing loyal customers while other developers are still fully supporting the same user base then I have every right to consider it to be a little "slap in the face."

In the end they have every right to run their business model in any way they wish. I also have every right to go with the developer/product which I feel is the most deserving of my $$$.

 

[John Hinson 22]

5 hours ago, HUSSAR said:

I am not sure either but I would venture to say that it cost's money and time in order for that to occur.  Microsoft has lots of money but there is an endgame for their support as well.  

HiFi gives provides support a lot longer than Microsoft does if you scale the metrics accordingly.

"Endgame" for  Microsoft's updates, maybe, but the software doesn't stop working.

The cycnics amongst us might suggest it was all a ploy to get us to spend another £40 on another product from the same firm that does the same, only to find that got taken off the shelves a month or so later.

We all sit here waiting for this one to go "pop" too, then we'll have to pay the same again for FSGRW, which the site I looked at then wrongly listed it as not for FS9. And how long will that work for?

John

PS - I bought REX too but wasn't impressed at the weather depiction for my personal taste. However, I use their clouds with ASE so not all my pennies were wasted.

[domvc10 13]

I have to say I agree quite a bit here. I do not need the data from the Hifi servers as I use the vatsim data so I was kind of annoyed it cannot still get this data, it wouldn't cost hifi anything if it's fed directly to AS. But obviously this data was fed via their servers so that is probably the catch and they don't want to maintain that.

 

maybe I will just stick with fsmeteo in the end, at least I won't lose any money

[Damian Clark 1,235]

Hello all,

To clarify any misunderstandings:  AS6.5 is very old and the data it uses is no longer available.  The network and server software/technologies designed for it, and the software itself would need a redesign in several areas that is not within our capability.  If we could provide the data, we would.

ASE was discontinued for several reasons, this is also an old product that was kept available for some time to continue to provide an FS9 solution, but we could not support FS9 and FSUIPC interface indefinitely while also developing for all the new platforms and demands of our users with a VERY small development and support team.

Typically we discontinue products (no longer sell them) after about 5-8 years from release.  We have no plans to stop providing ASE data.  We provided AS6.5 data for many years after it was discontinued, and only stopped because the data is no longer available as explained.  With that said, we cannot officially guarantee unlimited indefinite access to discontinued products.  The data ASE uses may become unavailable, beyond our control, at some point, and we would not be able to assign resources to redesign fundamental core data components for such an old product.  But we don't see that happening any time soon.

We have always provided many free updates for all product versions, many new features, constant maintenance and support, and in some cases free upgrades to brand new versions.  We've also provided significant discounts and promotional opportunities along the way.  After AS6.5 there was ASX, ASA, offered at significant discounts to AS6.5 users, and ASE was provided as a free upgrade to ASA users.  We strive to provide tremendous value to our customers, and I think our history has proven that. 

If anyone would like to contact me for further discussion please feel free to open a ticket at http://support.hifitechinc.com.  Thanks everyone.