Active Sky Cloud Art or REX

[ssair1 92]

I'm running ASCA with Active Sky and Envtex textures and hearing a lot about the popularity of REX products. Which one do you prefer? Or is it a combination of both :) 

[vp49p3 216]

Stick with what you've got.  Its the best, especially if you also use ENVSHADE or PTA.

Jay

[Nighthwk 566]

REX SkyForce may be a potential replacement for ASCA although that remains to be seen.

[Nyxx 6,993]

50 minutes ago, vp49p3 said:

Stick with what you've got.  Its the best, especially if you also use ENVSHADE or PTA.

Jay

To be fair that’s a matter of opinion, not a fact.

I use REX soft clouds with ASCA/ASv4

I use PTA with a tweaked Matt preset

But REX SkyForce could change all that, so wait a week or two and see what SkyForce brings.

[Cargostorm 151]

7 hours ago, ssair1 said:

I'm running ASCA with Active Sky and Envtex textures and hearing a lot about the popularity of REX products. Which one do you prefer? Or is it a combination of both :) 

I would stick with what you have. I used to use REX4 TD+SC with ASP4 and have been waiting for Skyforce since they announced it. I finally switched to ASCA and ENVTEX and do not look back.  I get much greater variation due to ASCAs dynamic mode. Clouds look great too, but that is subjective.

[David Mills 4,753]

I bought REX HD Airports a few months ago when they promised that it would be upgraded to work with P3D V4 after V4 was released. This promise was the only reason that I bought the Airport package. Originally, this upgrade to V4 compatibility for HD Airports was scheduled to be released in mid-September. We are still waiting, and the project appears to have been abandoned altogether. We are told that the 64-bit code has been completed but the textures still need to be updated. If this is true, then the project should have been completed months ago. The selection of textures in HD Airport is far from vast. In fact, it's quite limited. My point is this: Don't buy REX HD Airports based on their oft-repeated claim that a V4-compatible version is forthcoming. 

[Chock 17,769]

I'd wait for the screenshots and reports of METAR accuracy depiction from users to determine which one is going to float your boat.

[pmb 5,137]

1 hour ago, David Mills said:

I bought REX HD Airports a few months ago when they promised that it would be upgraded to work with P3D V4 after V4 was released.

This is a bit off-topic but Zinertek HD Airport Graphics is compatible to Prepar3d4.1 and works excellently with it. It's not the same as REX HD Airports but the default airports look much improved - or should I say less boring - using it. Notably the default Prepar3d4 hangars still look like leftovers from FS98 time.

Kind regards, Michael

[Guest]

What everyone seems to forget here is that REX Skyforce is clouds and weather only, so if you are also using replacement textures for water and runways and whatever you still will need those, be it ENVTEX or REX. 

I myself am curious to see how Skyforce turns out because I only use ASCA with HDE v2 clouds (which imho still look better than any addon clouds but that's very personal). I am not a fan of REX though so it has to be really good before I will buy it...

3 hours ago, Cargostorm said:

I would stick with what you have. I used to use REX4 TD+SC with ASP4 and have been waiting for Skyforce since they announced it. I finally switched to ASCA and ENVTEX and do not look back.

That's a bit of an odd advice... How can you tell someone to stick with what they have when something new and interesting is coming up and no one knows how good or bad it will be? You might as well advice people to stick with FSX.  It's not about looking back, it's about looking forward.  You can't look back on a not yet released product. I would never stick with what I have just for the sake of it: I am always open for new things. That's the only way forward.

[pmb 5,137]

14 minutes ago, J van E said:

That's a bit of an odd advice... How can you tell someone to stick with what they have when something new and interesting is coming up and no one knows how good or bad it will be?

Agreed. While I'm sceptical, I feel I should certainly wait with judgement until reliable and independent reports come in and/or I've experienced it myself.

Kind regards, Michael

[Cargostorm 151]

4 hours ago, J van E said:

That's a bit of an odd advice... How can you tell someone to stick with what they have when something new and interesting is coming up and no one knows how good or bad it will be? You might as well advice people to stick with FSX.  It's not about looking back, it's about looking forward.  You can't look back on a not yet released product. I would never stick with what I have just for the sake of it: I am always open for new things. That's the only way forward.

 

3 hours ago, pmb said:

Agreed. While I'm sceptical, I feel I should certainly wait with judgement until reliable and independent reports come in and/or I've experienced it myself.

Kind regards, Michael

I think you misunderstood: the original question was not about REX Skyforce (which is not released) but ASCA/ENVTEX vs. REX4 (essentially REX TD and SC). As I own all those products, I expressed my experience with them. Of course everybody can buy products and test them, but then it makes no sense to ask for opinions in the forum.

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Folks,

Have all three products (ASCA, ENVTEX, REX4 TD) - while some of the textures in REX4 TD are quite good - I'm reluctant to use it because it breaks ASCA's "dynamic" mode... I guess REX4 TD would be OK if you don't replace sky textures and clouds ? Also - if I break the "dynamic" mode of ASCA - I'm not exactly sure how to fully recover - a full uninstall/reinstall ASCA ? ENVTEX is fully compatible with ASCA right out of the box - so this what I use (AS4, ASCA, ENVTEX, ENVSHADE)... I use ENVTEX sky textures but ASCA clouds... I'm pretty happy with the results...

Regards,

Scott 

[Cargostorm 151]

1 hour ago, scottb613 said:

I use ENVTEX sky textures but ASCA clouds... I'm pretty happy with the results...

Yepp: ASP4 + ASCA (clouds) + ENVTEX (for sky colours) + ENVSHADE is a great combo. Nothing wrong with ASP4 + REX TD or SC + PTA (or ENVSHADE), but those textures are static. And if you worry about default rain, ENVTEX or PRECIPITFX does the job. Unbelievable how many addons we "need" to improve the look of the sky/weather in the sim.

 

[pracines 823]

3 hours ago, Cargostorm said:

 

I think you misunderstood: the original question was not about REX Skyforce (which is not released) but ASCA/ENVTEX vs. REX4 (essentially REX TD and SC). As I own all those products, I expressed my experience with them. Of course everybody can buy products and test them, but then it makes no sense to ask for opinions in the forum.

Very correct Chris, you answered the original request as it was asked.

All this speculation of skyforce is based on the usual exaggerated marketing that rex is famous for and the folks who fall for it....the 3d clouds bla bla deception that has been going on for many years that never has been true; the cloud popping solutions (more marketing deceptions) that were never true...

Yes REX textures are very good "looking" (for screenshots), but Active Sky with ASCA dynamically changes the sky, so unless one always flies locally or just takes screenshots as a hobby, the Hi Fi Simulations weather/sky solution is proven to be the most realistic. Plus Active sky products load so much faster, and personally I cannot tell when a weather update is happening; a totally natural environment, none of the sudden overcast or clouds disappearing suddenly, like rex stuff.

So lets see if there is a skyforce video of an unedited 2 hour flight in a 737 or A320 and see how the skyforce updates the sky. I want to see rain shafts develop gradually, I want to see the depiction of towering cumulus and the rain shafts from them compared to broken nimbostratus rain shafts. I asked for the same thing from people who claimed rex essential did not have cloud popping, but nobody would do it.

In other words - lets hold rex to their marketing claims for the good of all, including rex.   

[kurtb 121]

exactlly