REX Sky Force - Cloud Model Sync Explanation

[Denco 48]

1 hour ago, pete_auau said:

I  think that David  done  a  great  job  in reviewing  the  sf  and  was  one of the  reasons that i had  purchased  and  like  yourself  had as16  and  asca  and  was  quite  happy  with it.  Now  that i have  ditched  asca  and  now  run  as16  with  sf   and   havnt looked  back

Where can I find this review?

[sleightflight 17]

Yes I agree, I don't blindly buy products from every producer, I support the ones I know to be good, A2A, PMDG, Majestic and Just flight fill my hanger. I wouldn't know they were good without reviews and forums expressing opinions.

I do believe in evaluating a product, it just frustrates me when people bicker about something they haven't tried.

[kingm56 1,031]

4 minutes ago, sleightflight said:

I do believe in evaluating a product, it just frustrates me when people bicker about something they haven't tried.

Fair, sir! 

[JoeFackel 760]

First to all that bitching, stop that and don't waste our time, let at least THIS thread not die. How we in Austria say: talk it into a paperbag, we will then listen later 

What let's me scratch my head .... why is there this "SET" thing, why can't SF choose randomly cloud structure from its whole cloud archive? The same with the sky textures ...

Is there some limitation from the P3D engine?

[Nyxx 6,993]

40 minutes ago, Denco said:

Where can I find this review?

Before your read the Below. I want to be clear. They are only my thoughts and finding on SF they carry no more weight than anyone else's thoughts and ideas and criticism. It's alway best to look at as many reviews as possible to get your own opinion. Have a look on youtube and a google search. All I can wish is its helps in in your endeavor to form your own opinion Denco.

Frankly Denco, reading it now it was not that a great review but it was day after release so any info was good info at the time.

It was not clear at the time How many texture per set was being used. It looked like 8 of each but it also says 1509 read to load, now we know it's not just the 8 shown but far more.

and look here this also has some nice videos on page 3.

 

[jimmy64 43]

Skyforce is a huge improvement over Texture Direct for me.  AS16 open and running, SF open and running but, weather engine off, Sync on. Simply beautiful.

From the manual:

ALL Weather Engines - When not using the Sky Force 3D Weather Engine.
(Freeware, payware, default simulator)
IMPORTANT NOTE: If using another weather engine besides the one that is
included within Sky Force, and you want the Sky Force 3D cloud structures to
adjust based upon weather conditions within the simulator as you fly, you must
make sure the “Enable real-time 3D cloud model (structures) sync mode function
is enabled in the Cloud Sync settings. Sky Force must remain opened in the
background for this process to work.

[Flic1 976]

I think one of the big questions being asked still has not been answered through the many threads that I have read.  Maybe Reed can clarify.  I think we all understand the cloud models are being 'synced' and then textures are pulled onto the models.  What is still a bit confusing is whether these textures are being pulled from ONLY the installed cloud set or is it using any of the clouds from all 22 sets?  As has been asked several times, should we be choosing a cloud textures set or is SF3D doing this for us in 'Sync' mode??  Otherwise, I have had a great experience using SF3D along with ASP4 so far.  The skies really look great!

 

Thanks!

[Pete Dowson 558]

2 hours ago, pete_auau said:

Now  that i have  ditched  asca  and  now  run  as16  with  sf   and   havnt looked  back

I have just installed SF3D to try it with AS to compare the results with AS + ASCA.  But how can I stop AS loading ASCA automatically without uninstalling ASCA, which I don't really want to do until I'm sure I prefer SF3D.

Pete

 

[Flic1 976]

1 minute ago, Pete Dowson said:

I have just installed SF3D to try it with AS to compare the results with AS + ASCA.  But how can I stop AS loading ASCA automatically without uninstalling ASCA, which I don't really want to do until I'm sure I prefer SF3D.

Pete

 

Pete - I open AS first and let ASCA start.  Then I just close ASCA down and start SF3D.  I have not found a way to stop it from opening along with AS.

[kingm56 1,031]

3 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

I have just installed SF3D to try it with AS to compare the results with AS + ASCA.  But how can I stop AS loading ASCA automatically without uninstalling ASCA, which I don't really want to do until I'm sure I prefer SF3D.

Pete

 

Pete, can't you just decouple AS16 from ASCA (i.e. designate ASCA not to start automatically when AS2016 is launched)?  I think this will work.... 

[jimmy64 43]

4 hours ago, J van E said:

It may be an honest mistake of REX but you can't blame this forum or social media for this: the source of the misinformation was Sky Force itself.

Sorry Joeron but I've read the manual, promotions and Reed's statements and have found no misinformation. Perhaps you're not understanding all of the terminology. I get it, there's a lot to sift through, but it does make sense. Give it a minute, it will all sink in, you're a bright guy.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, JoeFackel said:

What let's me scratch my head .... why is there this "SET" thing, why can't SF choose randomly cloud structure from its whole cloud archive? The same with the sky textures ...

Is there some limitation from the P3D engine?

I think it's simply because REX chose to not go that way. Instead of letting textures being injected on the fly they chose to double the size of the textures so they contain a lot more 'pictures of clouds' to play with, hence eliminating the need to inject textures on the fly. Combined with a far greater amount of structures, the actual 3D models, this results in enough variety to keep anyone happy.

As other said: what does it matter if things are injected on the fly or not as long as things look good? And I do agree with that. (It was never my point to argue with that!). As it is now I don't even care if those models are injected or not, as long as they do their job and we get those thunderstorm clouds when needed.

At this moment I am doing my first proper flight with SF (with AS). I decided to actually install the sets after it was clear cloud textures aren't injected so I could be sure the SF textures were actually loaded and being used. And well, while I am typing this in a small Firefox window on the right I am looking out over a deck of clouds I've never witnessed before in any sim. Well... that may come as no surprise from a guy who has been flying with one freeware cloud texture for years, but still: I am very happy with my purchase. I don't want anyone to be mistaken about that, despite my opinions over communication and so on.

That doesn't mean there are some issues: like I had an overcast sky that ended rather abruptly in a straight line and the holes near that edge were all squares. That didn't look right at all. But well, hopefully things like that will be fixed. I also don't know if this is caused by SF or AS.

[kurtb 121]

i just rename acsa exe to something else and then it does not open

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, jimmy64 said:

Sorry Joeron but I've read the manual, promotions and Reed's statements and have found no misinformation. Perhaps you're not understanding all of the terminology. I get it, there's a lot to sift through, but it does make sense. Give it a minute, it will all sink in, you're a bright guy.

The only misinformation was in the interface of SF itself and in one line in the manual where it says that cloud textures were also synced which isn't the case. But well, let's leave it at that.

21 minutes ago, Flic1 said:

What is still a bit confusing is whether these textures are being pulled from ONLY the installed cloud set or is it using any of the clouds from all 22 sets?

The cloud models/structures use the textures from the installed set. The structures are the only things being injected and they read the installed textures which come from one set: the structures can't read the not installed textures from other sets. The cloud textures however contain double the amount of 'info' so there is more for the models to play with which should give you plenty of variety. Which is why REX chose to not use real time injection of textures.

BTW Personally I would have preferred if REX had given us just 3 or 4 obviously different cloud sets of the utmost quality: when I look through all 22 sets I have forgotten what set 1 looked like when I am at set 3 already... and I can hardly see a difference between most sets, apart that some seem to have some more fluffy textures. But I am using set 1 now and I do get fluffy clouds here and there anyway so... I think 22 is a bit too much. But well, I suppose some people like to have so many choices. The same goes for most other sets. As I posted before I may start using the randomize option and maybe then I will discover some actual differences. But for now I'm good with one set.

[Pete Dowson 558]

13 minutes ago, Flic1 said:

I open AS first and let ASCA start.  Then I just close ASCA down and start SF3D.  I have not found a way to stop it from opening along with AS.

Looks like I'll have to uninstall it then, as I have AS being loaded by FSUIPC, so I can auto-close it down at end of session. I was going to start SF3D in the same way. I don't really want to have to intervene via keyboard during P3D initialisation.

Pete