Yeah, ESP is the commercial version of FSX that was marketed towards airlines that needed a sim to run their full motion simulators. People weren’t even able to buy the ESP based sim until LM bought the rights to it.

8 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

My comment was nothing to do with or about REX. 

Hi Rob,

Nor was I trying to imply that REX had implemented a particle based solution. Instead, with the info we have currently, it appears they have, like HiFi, found another way of creating a believable virtual reality. It will be fascinating to learn and see what they have done this time around that appears to be so unique and special.

Regards,

Mike

 

If this is indeed a game changer as REX claim it is, then it will be very interesting to see what Hifi have up their sleeves as I doubt they’ll let REX ride off into the sunset unchallenged.

I'm afraid REX is a bit late to the party and somehow miss the time to market...

I have waited quite a long time for Rex Skyforce as a previous Happy customer of REX Essential but after two years of "coming very very soon" an abandon of REX Simair; a product line that is everything but clear and a change of my simulation plateform from FSX to P3D I decide to go to the current market leader i.e. AS16 / ASCA and Envtex texture (because it incorporate nicely with the live update feature of AS16 / ASCA)

Considering AS16 / ASCA / Envtex is doing a great job I don't really plan to buy a new product that do more or less the same, I guess for someone that does not own already a weather engine it will be appealing but otherwise ...

 

19 minutes ago, Bushido5 said:

I'm afraid REX is a bit late to the party and somehow miss the time to market...

I have waited quite a long time for Rex Skyforce as a previous Happy customer of REX Essential but after two years of "coming very very soon" an abandon of REX Simair; a product line that is everything but clear and a change of my simulation plateform from FSX to P3D I decide to go to the current market leader i.e. AS16 / ASCA and Envtex texture (because it incorporate nicely with the live update feature of AS16 / ASCA)

Considering AS16 / ASCA / Envtex is doing a great job I don't really plan to buy a new product that do more or less the same, I guess for someone that does not own already a weather engine it will be appealing but otherwise ...

 

I was in the same boat; I got tired of waiting for Skyforce and moved on to ASP4 / ASCA, Currently, I am happy with this combo.

At the same time, we are all waiting for the next big breakthrough in this hobby. IF Skyforce is all that it is marketed to be (including performance) and enhances my immersion, then I will get it. 

I am OK with shelling out the cash for the best experience possible, even if I have already invested in a similar feature / addon. 

 

Quite honestly I'd like to see the SimAir getting finally released. I've been waiting forever for it, seems that SkyForce got prioritized for whatever reason.

In the Hifi ASCA settings screen you are already able to select the injection of 'cloud structures'. The developers of REX have marketed this a lot better though, as this is what the whole 3D cloud discussion is about if I understand it correctly. Nevertheless I'm still sceptical about the upcoming Skyforce, Like others I'll wait for the initial reviews.

I think that the ASN cloud structure setting builds on the one dimensional sim layering of the 2D cloud sprites. It allows for complex stacking of the sprites in multiple dimensions . This is active for cloud types such as CB. The HiFi website at one point had a graphic that displayed how it works. Its still based on 2D textures.

2 hours ago, Bushido5 said:

I'm afraid REX is a bit late to the party and somehow miss the time to market...

 

Not if they differentiate themselves significantly.  

The real problem of it being delayed is that HiFi has had years to both get the bugs out and improve ASN, based on user feedback.

As was evidenced with the Aerosoft CRJ, a developer really needs a considerable amount of feedback from a variety of users, just to avoid major pitfalls.

6 minutes ago, anthonyg96 said:

Yep bye active sky

REX have never managed to release a weather engine to compete with Hifi Sims products, and this is with over a decades worth of trying, trust me I have bought all of them.

Why would this one suddenly be any different ?

My point exactly Glynn.

Unless REX’s weather engine blows Hifi’s out of the water, I’ll stick with Active Sky for the weather and possibly Sky Force for the clouds depending on how the early reports of it are.

For all the talk of "3D" clouds, the thing that interests me most is their claims of greatly improved thunder storm depiction - something that no wx engine, including AS/ASCA which I otherwise love - gets right.

As an example, last night I was flying the Turbine Duke from KSEZ to KDEN on a typical summer day (historical wx from last July) featuring warm temps and widely scattered "fair weather" cumulus over most of the route.  Approaching Colorado's Front Range from the west I began to see a thickening of cumulus clouds in front of me.  My biggest clue that these were actually significant buildups at that point?  The lighting that started to appear underneath, as otherwise they simply didn't look very threatening.  IRL, at the point I diverted, the threat would have been both obvious and ominous.  If someone could somehow solve that problem and make such buildups look like the monsters they are, I'd be thrilled.

Scott

8 hours ago, Milton Waddams said:

Yeah, ESP is the commercial version of FSX that was marketed towards airlines that needed a sim to run their full motion simulators. People weren’t even able to buy the ESP based sim until LM bought the rights to it.

What in the world......