REX Sky Force - Cloud Model Sync Explanation

[geolpilot 88]

1 hour ago, carlito777 said:

But it is still the WEATHER ENGINE and not the texture programme which decides where to display which type of cloud. So if you use AS as the weather engine, then this is the programme which interacts with the sim and which actually places cloud formation in the virtual sky

Yes it is the weather engine that places the clouds in the sky, and determines all the other weather variables (in this case ASP4). The point is that the texture program (SF) can then "see into" the sim where the external weather engines has placed the clouds, the types of clouds it has placed, the winds and a whole lot else that the weather engine has placed into the sim. The cloud modeler and texture program (SF) can then send to the sim its models and their textures as appropriate for the weather read from the sim.

That's how ASCA, or ENVTEX or SP can create similar pictures to the ones shown by Jeroen above, under the same conditions all injected by the ASP4 weather engine. The differences are due to the model structures and textures these three environment programs are putting onto the weather injected by the single weather engine.

[RALF9636 1,902]

Has anybody using Active Sky together with SkyForce seen a rainshaft, a wall cloud or a roll cloud yet?

 

[geolpilot 88]

8 minutes ago, RALF9636 said:

seen a rainshaft, a wall cloud or a roll cloud yet?

 

Not yet, but then again serious weather is a bit scarce world wide at the moment. Just looked at the Aviation Weather Centre site and a good place to test this right now would be the Bela Horizonte area in Brazil, or the wall of thunderstorms along the South African border into southern Namibia / Botswana. I would test this myself now, but its 2am and I have had a long day!

[geolpilot 88]

52 minutes ago, boez said:

How AS16 can use the new SkyForce structure files is a bit of a mystery*

No its the the other way around! AS16 is a weather engine only, so it has no need to use the Skyforce structure files, because without ASCA active it is doing nothing about structures or cloud texturing. But Skyforce structure files and textures can use AS16 injected weather!

Since AS16 or ASP4 is such a good, accurate weather engine, one gets accurate depiction of that weather by Skyforce. REX's weather engine at present has all sorts of inaccuracies, so that using it with SkyForce results in a far less accurate depiction of the actual metar reported weather. Until Weather Force comes along (and we hope is a vast improvement but HIFI are ahead of the game on this one), AS16/ASp4 is a perfect partner for SkyForce.

Proof is in the actual use of AS with SkyForce. I just flew over a cold front moving from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, weather injected and nicely modelled by ASP4. The depiction of that weather by Skyforce was perfect, from solid overcast most of the way, with rain, until near FAPE, where the frontal zone of cold air pushing up warm air (as determined and injected by ASP4) was depicted by wonderful, building cumulus SkyForce cloud models. Just what a front should look like. As I write this the front is moving over PE and I am sitting on the ground in the sim at PE and watching the clouds thicken up and steadily closing up to more overcast conditions, just as ASP4 has gone from reporting partly cloudy when I landed, to cloudy at the moment. 

[Guest]

I made a few more screenshots comparing SkyForce with ASCA and ENVTEX, this time using the exact same situation (same sky, same weather, etc.) But because they contain a lot of screenshots I posted them over here:

Later on this week I might make comparison between sets within SkyForce, so I might use the same testflights as used above but then with different cloud sets. I am really curious if they make a huge difference or not.

[jkeye 150]

I like the effects on the windscreen that ASCA provides.

Is that possible when using SF?

[bsmfinegan 12]

4 minutes ago, jkeye said:

I like the effects on the windscreen that ASCA provides.

Is that possible when using SF?

It's Active Sky that produces those effects not ASCA.

[Denco 48]

When there are heavy clouds present I noticed that my GPU usage will increase up to 99% making TrackIR lag. What's funny is that my fps is great. 

I find this issue very strange since I'm getting much better fps with SF3D then with ASCA, but with ASCA I never experienced my TrackIR lagging. 

[boez 85]

1 hour ago, geolpilot said:

No its the the other way around!

A weather engine (any of them) tells the sim what clouds are needed and the sim then uses the structure files the draw the cloud. If AS16 gives a metar to p3d that requires cumulous clouds to be drawn then it will use the corresponding structure file. If skyforce has modified that structure file then you will see a different cloud to default no matter what the engine in use. The weather engine neither knows not cares what the structure file is actually describing (or how accurate it is). The structure files cannot tell the weather engine anything about what it contains as it's just a data file.

 

"But Skyforce structure files and textures can use AS16 injected weather!" .. If you change this to "But Skyforce structure files and textures are used by AS16 injected weather!" then we are in agreement.

[Nyxx 6,993]

7 minutes ago, Denco said:

When there are heavy clouds present I noticed that my GPU usage will increase up to 99% making TrackIR lag. What's funny is that my fps is great. 

I find this issue very strange since I'm getting much better fps with SF3D then with ASCA, but with ASCA I never experienced my TrackIR lagging. 

I was over France today (LEMG to EGNX) France was overcast. I opened AS up and set cloud draw to 90 miles max with P3D running, man did it look bad I turned it up to the max 250 nm and still my FPS did not bat an eye (did not drop below my fixed 25)so now am using max draw clouds to 250, that's insane. 

I always kick verything running of my CPU 0-1. I Start loading P3D and then Kick of AS/ASCA/SF/VA/ATC/Chasplane. I find this really helps keeping everything running well. 

Yesterday I had stutters/long frames and then I remembered I forgot to do the above, try it. It really works wonders on my PC.

[Denco 48]

23 minutes ago, Nyxx said:

I was over France today (LEMG to EGNX) France was overcast. I opened AS up and set cloud draw to 90 miles max with P3D running, man did it look bad I turned it up to the max 250 nm and still my FPS did not bat an eye (did not drop below my fixed 25)so now am using max draw clouds to 250, that's insane. 

I always kick verything running of my CPU 0-1. I Start loading P3D and then Kick of AS/ASCA/SF/VA/ATC/Chasplane. I find this really helps keeping everything running well. 

Yesterday I had stutters/long frames and then I remembered I forgot to do the above, try it. It really works wonders on my PC.

It's not my fps. My fps is above 40 in clouds heavy areas. It's just that TrackIR lags when I shift my view. Sort like your mouse when you turn Vsync on in other games.

 

EDIT:

I have resolved the issue by disabling clouds shadows.

[Nyxx 6,993]

11 minutes ago, Denco said:

It's not my fps. My fps is above 40 in clouds heavy areas. It's just that TrackIR lags when I shift my view. Sort like your mouse when you turn Vsync on in other games.

 

EDIT:

I have resolved the issue by disabling clouds shadows.

Do you use PTA Denco?

I use Matts but I have changed it to my own taste but his preset changers clouds shadow to a res of only 256. Making the hit on shadows very low. If cloud shadows was your problem, just a thought! I could not live without clouds shadows now 

[Denco 48]

40 minutes ago, Nyxx said:

Do you use PTA Denco?

I use Matts but I have changed it to my own taste but his preset changers clouds shadow to a res of only 256. Making the hit on shadows very low. If cloud shadows was your problem, just a thought! I could not live without clouds shadows now 

Sadly I don't. I might take a look into it in the future.

Cheers.

[ErichB 3,638]

Today was an amazing day with Skyforce - flying from Toronto to Vienna.  I would even go as far as to say it has transformed the weather experience for me with some significance after one week of testing.

[rstough 525]

Hello Everyone -

To be honest I didn't realize how this post would go.  But I will be going through it over the next couple of days to answer questions.  Please be patient as we released the Hotfix and just need to make sure it goes well with customers that are suffering issues.

But I will be on it tomorrow for sure.