Microsoft's answer to ActiveSky

[scotchegg 4,186]

1 hour ago, Murmur said:

This is miles better than what we have (even considering weather dynamics/forecast, as explained in the video) and some still think AS and the likes are better?

Really, words fail me.

Yeah, bit weird, isn’t it. I’ve seen / used xenviro, AS, Truesky on different platforms, and they’re nowhere near as powerful as what MSFS is showing us even before it’s released.

[Theboot100 404]

3 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

I think the clouds look ridiculous (missing transparency and way too dark) and very unrealistic in MSFS ... with all due respect.  
 

I’ll take TrueSKY and HiFi and/or REX and/or RealWeatherGlobal and/or Opus ... glad to have the choices and dedicated developers working on it and looking forward to seeing what comes out of it.

I hope the MSFS SDK provides options in the future because I certainly don’t share their current vision of weather.

Cheers, Rob.

I think the clouds look fantastic and there real world weather is light years ahead of any current sim.

[JRBarrett 3,078]

Meteoblue is a professional weather forecasting and analysis service, similar to Accuweather. They undoubtedly have far more in-house computing power to extract detailed point data from numeric forecast models than HiFi would.

They have a free iOS app which I just downloaded from the App Store. It’s pretty nice. The wind display is similar to the popular “Windy” app, with animated wind flow and temperature graphics for multiple levels (surface to 40,000 feet+). Zooming out, the coverage is indeed worldwide, and can be animated to show forecast changes in wind and temperatures hour by hour.

The weather maps section of the app has a ****load of options, including many aviation-related maps. Some of the maps do require a subscription to a premium service called “Point+”, but when I click on the “Learn More” button, it’s not bringing up any details as to what a subscription would cost.

 But, if even a small sampling of what they are providing for free in their app is going to be available for the sim, I would have to say it’s going to blow the doors off of any existing weather engine in terms of data completeness, and resolution. 

Clouds are another matter. Rob A. seems unimpressed by MSFS default clouds. Since I’m not in the Alpha (yet), I have only seen promo videos, so I’m in no position to argue, but I doubt that the clouds themselves are being provided by Meteoblue - I would assume that in-sim cloud graphics are Asobo’s work, and perhaps there will be room for improvement by 3rd part developers.

Update: The premium “Point+” service (that adds extra features to the app) is 50 Euro per year, or 10 Euro for one month. As is typical for subscription services, there is a savings when choosing a longer subscription period.

Edited June 13, 2020 by JRBarrett

[snglecoil 1,828]

5 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

I think the clouds look ridiculous (missing transparency and way too dark) and very unrealistic in MSFS ... with all due respect.

I get what you are saying. There are certain lighting conditions that give MSFS clouds an strange density and appearance...almost like volcanic ash. That could definitely stand to be tweaked. But under most lighting conditions, MSFS clouds are incredibly realistic. P3D/FSX clouds, be it default, ASCA, REX or otherwise are too transparent. People have gotten used to clouds being represented in the sim that way, but they have never been particularly convincing to fly through compared to real life.

[snglecoil 1,828]

Different strokes, I guess. I was really excited when I found out TrueSky was implemented in V5 and unfortunately found it underwhelming, but I understand that was in beta at release. Has LM refined it?

[Dominique_K 10,149]

MS presents a weather engine based on deep learning of big data, designed by a leader in weather forecasting which will be included by default at release. Something unheard of for a simulation for the public. The only thing that some can discuss is the artistry of the clouds which were not the topic... Limited minds. Pointing the finger at the moon is needed but woe to those who take the finger for the moon.

[lzamm 143]

3 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

They have a free iOS app which I just downloaded from the App Store

Seems like the benefits of being associated with MSFS have already started.😀

[cyril972 220]

3 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

Skip ahead to the 1:27 mark (you'll see what I mean by transparency) ... MSFS clouds look like thick cotton balls:

Look at those clouds, that's transparency right, not cotton balls

[cepact 517]

Volumetric clouds are extremely hard to handle compared to the clouds we knew before. There are no more things such as cloud textures. It's purely volumetric data and shading which gives the visual result. MSFS clouds looks fabulous in some lightning conditions, but also ridiculous in some other situations. I hope it will only get better. Personally, in terms of volumetric cloud rendering, I haven't seen anything better in other softwares.

[cyril972 220]

52 minutes ago, cepact said:

MSFS clouds looks fabulous in some lightning conditions, but also ridiculous in some other situations. I hope it will only get better. Personally, in terms of volumetric cloud rendering, I haven't seen anything better in other softwares.

Yeah completly agree with all of that, while MSFS clouds are not perfect, I havn't seen better. Xenvirro clouds also kind of looks good, but there is a weird blur and the clouds doenst react to the light, they just keep a white or a gray color regardless of the lighting. It's really hard to describe

[XCLTM3 112]

 

I noticed on some vids/screenshots where clouds looked very dark almost as if they were volcanic plumes.

Having said that, we must bear in mind that this is all still in it's relative infancy and is still presumably being further enhanced and developed.

Can't wait to see the various weather phenomenon in final beta/release......

 

[qqwertz 782]

I hope these clouds are still under development. Given that one sees some clouds 90% of the time when looking out of the window, they are the most important visual component after the VC. If the clouds remain like that and REX doesn't provide an alternative, I might stick with P3D.

Peter

[MagentaChild 226]

I believe there will be a subscription for live weather at 9,99, a subscription fpr AIRAC at 7,99, a subscription for streaming scenery at 12,99, a subscription for multiplayer at 5,99, a subscription for accurate airports at 8,99, one subscription for each plane you want to use at 4,99, a subscription to use their forums at 3,99, a subscription for plugging in controllers at 2,99 per device, a subscription for having sound at 4,99, a subscription for HD graphics at 4,99 (2K 7,99, 4K 10,99), a subscription for having air mass simulation at 4,99, a subscription for having access to the improved flight model at 6,99, a subscription for having a menu at 2,99, a subscription for control-binding at 4,99, a subscription for receiving updates at 9,99 and finally a subscription to the MSFS forum at Avsim for 19,99. Oh, and you need to purchase an Xbox plus all of their subscription services, obviously.

And before you want to argue with me: This is my opinion, to which I am entitled. And I certainly won't let facts or reason come in my way! /s

[RALF9636 1,966]

12 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

And of course there must be a subscription to that weather service plus one for the AIRAC data. 

 

43 minutes ago, MagentaChild said:

... a subscription for plugging in controllers at 2,99 per device, a subscription for having sound at 4,99, a subscription for HD graphics at 4,99 (2K 7,99, 4K 10,99), a subscription for having air mass simulation at 4,99, a subscription for having access to the improved flight model at 6,99, a subscription for having a menu at 2,99, a subscriptio n for control-binding at 4,99...

 

... and let's not forget the subscriptions needed for the correct size of trees and the runway undulations...

 

Seriously, I don't get why this subscription topic is brought up over and over again.

6 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

They have a free iOS app which I just downloaded from the App Store. It’s pretty nice.

3 hours ago, lzamm said:

Seems like the benefits of being associated with MSFS have already started.😀

Indeed. MSFS being one of the flagship titles of MS / XBox will have a massive advertising effect for all the partners involved.

 

6 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

Meteoblue...

The premium “Point+” service (that adds extra features to the app) is 50 Euro per year, or 10 Euro for one month. As is typical for subscription services, there is a savings when choosing a longer subscription period.

Yes. And let's imagine what the unit cost would be if one buys several millions ten-years-subscriptions at a time. It will be negligible.

 

There is no reason for the need of any subscription fee.

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by RALF9636

[HighTowers 1,434]

Do we know if Hifi has a hand in the new fs20 sdk?   I would find it odd, if they did not have a plan to develop some aspect to further enhance the WX. The default engine seems wicked impressive, but there is always room for improvement. Same with REX. I'm sure there has to be doors opened to explore and develop further.