Most realistic settings for Active Sky

[Bloody 2]

Hello all,

what are your settings in ActiveSky (especially Cloud Draw Distances and Visibility Options) to 

a) have it realistic (Am I right that these settings should be different in winter/summer?)

b) have it good looking? 

 

I am currently using the default values but I think that other values can create even better effects, although it really looks great already. If someone is happy with his settings and could share them, this would be very appreciated. Thanks! 

[pmb 5,137]

The AVSIM Prepar3d guide

by Rob Ainscough has a separate section on AS210/ASCA. I applied most of his suggestions, as he's usually right.

Kind regards, Michael

[vgbaron 3,496]

I usually leave mine at default unless I'm specifically testing a feature.

Vic

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

I usually leave mine at default unless I'm specifically testing a feature.

Vic

Same here. I only change these four settings after a reinstall:

- Minimum cloud draw distance 110 (higher than default)
- Maximum cloud draw distance 140 (higher than default)
- Force BKN to 7/8ths OFF (really don't understand why this is ON by default)
- Cloud motion effect OFF (can't say I like the effect)

BTW Most screenshots in Rob's pdf are default too. I usually only document changes I made to default settings. Makes setting things up after a reinstall a lot easier. Maybe a tip for Rob! That would really cut down the amount of pages of his guide.

[vgbaron 3,496]

6 minutes ago, J van E said:

I usually only document changes I made to default settings.

Ditto - I have a changes.txt file that just contains the date and any changes from default. Sort of like a differential backup scheme. Much less to deal with.

Vic

[Mace 1,902]

4 hours ago, J van E said:

Same here. I only change these four settings after a reinstall:

- Minimum cloud draw distance 110 (higher than default)
- Maximum cloud draw distance 140 (higher than default)

I think this, coupled with complementary visibility maximums, is the most realistic.  Mine is even less than that, but i set visibility maximums to match, so there is no "plate" or "boundary" effect in my sim.

Is 200 nm viewing even possible in real-world conditions?  I don't think so based on my experience, (other than lightning flashes), but I'd like some other opinions.

I turn my vis down, both at lower and upper levels.  I notice a lot of simmers (via their screenshots) not doing that -- I see a lot of screenshots where someone is at low level, and they've got almost no haze going on in the distance.  That just doesn't seem realistic to me with most airmasses.

[vgbaron 3,496]

I did the majority of my real world flying in Southern California and I can recall RARELY seeing the type of clear horizons that many in our community think is the way it should be. And on smoggy days you were many times flying IFR.

 

Vic

[spilok 1,132]

Default works great.

 

Stan

[Mace 1,902]

18 hours ago, vgbaron said:

I did the majority of my real world flying in Southern California and I can recall RARELY seeing the type of clear horizons that many in our community think is the way it should be. And on smoggy days you were many times flying IFR.

 

Vic

Many in our community post screenshots, or post their weather engine / cloud settings, with 200 nm cloud draw distances.  I would contend that if they ran a realistic visibility setting, 200 nm would be superfluous.  I couldn't even see that far over Greenland at FL35, which I would think is about as haze-free airmass as you're going to get.

 

 

 

 

[WebMaximus 372]

So for those in here with real FL300+ experience, what would you say is a realistic upper visibility setting for flying in Europe? 

[vgbaron 3,496]

20 minutes ago, WebMaximus said:

So for those in here with real FL300+ experience, what would you say is a realistic upper visibility setting for flying in Europe? 

Well, Richard, I set mine at 200 but I expect that 90-100 vis on a clear day would be realistic. We all like eye candy so sometimes it's a trade off. I think ASP4 does a very realistic job in that regard. Just because it's set to 200 doesn't mean we will GET 200.

Don't forget we have the limitation of the sim itself in that setting at 200 allows for easier handling of the weather by the program itself. Sort of like you only want to draw a 10 mile area but you want a 60 mile workspace, if that makes any sense - so for me - 200 (actually 199) is it.

Vic

[WebMaximus 372]

56 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

Well, Richard, I set mine at 200 but I expect that 90-100 vis on a clear day would be realistic. We all like eye candy so sometimes it's a trade off. I think ASP4 does a very realistic job in that regard. Just because it's set to 200 doesn't mean we will GET 200.

Don't forget we have the limitation of the sim itself in that setting at 200 allows for easier handling of the weather by the program itself. Sort of like you only want to draw a 10 mile area but you want a 60 mile workspace, if that makes any sense - so for me - 200 (actually 199) is it.

Vic

Thanks Vic, I keep mine at 199 as well.

[GSalden 4,656]

As Clouds Draw Distance does nothing beyond 115 nm it has no use setting both CDD and Visibility to more than 120..