FSX-MS REX 4 incl. soft clouds and METAR injection??

[HighBypass 2,339]

REX 4 is reasonably cheap at the moment so I began to investigate it. I am fully aware that it "only" gives you better, more realistic cloud textures and more. I know it is not a weather engine, although it will check a METAR and create a theme for your departure airport.

My question is this - I decide to fly from EGCC, long distance over to say, Rome. Manchester is nice and sunny with a few fluffy Cumulus clouds (REX presumably sets that theme up). I have a weather engine to inject real world METARS as I fly along. Suppose that the METARS for airports near the alps say that there is extensive CB and thunderstorms in the area. Would FSX show me that using REX4 theme which began as a few Cumulus clouds?

Thanks.

[TextRich 88]

Hi HighBypass.  Yes, REX 4's METAR weather theme is dependent on FSX weather.  REX 4 generates textures for all possible weather conditions and those textures will only show up if the corresponding weather occurs.  It does not matter what weather engine is being used.

[ckyliu 1,749]

REX4 replaces your environmental textures, so clouds, airport concrete and tarmac, sky/horizon etc. It doesn't set a "weather theme" like a weather engine does, it just picks what it thinks are the most appropriate texture sets for weather and area you give it, and replaces the default ones. REX4 sends a full set of cloud textures into FSX/P3D for the weather engine to call up, so even if there's not cumulonimbus at your airport, there are still cumulonimbus textures sat waiting in the simulator if required, i.e. REX4 doesn't replace all the cumluonimbus textures with cumulus, if the texture was originally CB it will still be a CB texture.

What you might find is that REX4 selects quite a bright sky/horizon which might look out of place if the weather changes. Because the simulator and weather engines don't call up different sky types depending on weather, they always ask for the same one for that time of day. So REX may have replaced that "generic" one with one more suited to particular weather. That's not the best example but you get the idea.

Edited May 13, 2019 by ckyliu

[HighBypass 2,339]

Thanks guys! I might have to consider it. You say stock FSX doesn't call up different sky types, so REX 4 sounds like a far better looking option anyway.

[airernie 263]

3 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Thanks guys! I might have to consider it. You say stock FSX doesn't call up different sky types, so REX 4 sounds like a far better looking option anyway.

If you do choose to buy it I would recommend waiting.  No need to buy now and pay full price since REX has frequent sales.

Edited May 13, 2019 by airernie