Third party weather

[liamp51 541]

16 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

The default weather right now is a mixed bag. It looks amazing visually... and I (*****I*****, not everyone else) don't care about it not being 100% accurate with what's going on outside my window this particular second, as long as the conditions approximate some sort of reality or currently forecasted weather, I am great with it. What bugs me is that there is no way to predict or look up what the weather is anywhere. With things like REX that inject the weather the old-school way, it's the same issue as with P3D - the weather becomes the same everywhere until it updates. That's not ideal and transitions are jarring, BUT - there is a way to look up weather. You can queue AS to tell you the weather at your destination, for example. This is useful when flying the Airbus, for instance, because that data needs to be entered into MCDU in your Approach page. In MSFS with default weather, the only way to "find out" the current weather at your destination is to look it up using METAR or even start up Active Sky for P3D and check the weather through that. The problem with that approach is that it's probably not going to match what the sim is simulating at the moment. With REX you can do that, but you gotta deal with ugly transitions and the weather being the same in the entire world until REX loads a new batch of data. With default weather, it's... whatever the sim knows at the moment and there aren't any tools to look up what it knows. THAT is my problem with default MSFS weather. 

 

One solution is old-school but precise. The other is new generation but inadequate as it currently stands. 

 

If Asobo can give me tools to look up weather it's going to simulate in my flight plan, I will be happy to stick with it and not wish for any third party weather solutions. 

You raise a good point. As long as there is a way to look at what the SIM is depicting in regards to weather, I would be a happy camper 100% of the time (barring things like the current temp issue). 

[Bobsk8 12,732]

40 minutes ago, liamp51 said:

You raise a good point. As long as there is a way to look at what the SIM is depicting in regards to weather, I would be a happy camper 100% of the time (barring things like the current temp issue). 

I use Avliasoft EFB and you can look up  the arrival weather, as well as get enroute weather. Right now I am 217 miles from LFMN, and the weather there is 150 degrees at 4 kts, Cavok, temp /dew 79F/72F  

[liamp51 541]

7 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I use Avliasoft EFB and you can look up  the arrival weather, as well as get enroute weather. Right now I am 217 miles from LFMN, and the weather there is 150 degrees at 4 kts, Cavok, temp /dew 79F/72F  

Does Avilasoft pull the weather info directly from the sim as opposed to NOAA metars and stuff? 

[Bobsk8 12,732]

8 minutes ago, liamp51 said:

Does Avilasoft pull the weather info directly from the sim as opposed to NOAA metars and stuff? 

I have mine set on "Real world". You can select different weather formats in EFB. I am on a flight now, so I can't change the setting, but when I land I am going to change it to "simulator" and see what happens. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Bobsk8

[liamp51 541]

Just now, Bobsk8 said:

I have mine set on "Real world". You can select different weather formats in EFB. 

Ahh gotcha! See that's the thing, since like November, I've genuinely not had any real issues with the arrival or departure weather being completely wrong, or even mostly wrong. Maybe it's just where I fly, but IDK. My Simbrief fuel burn and timings are almost always bang on. 

[Bobsk8 12,732]

1 hour ago, liamp51 said:

Ahh gotcha! See that's the thing, since like November, I've genuinely not had any real issues with the arrival or departure weather being completely wrong, or even mostly wrong. Maybe it's just where I fly, but IDK. My Simbrief fuel burn and timings are almost always bang on. 

Well I checked it, and according to Avliasoft EFB, that program is not able to get weather from MSFS 2020, and it says to use real weather, which is what I have it set on. 

[B777ER 2,486]

On 7/22/2021 at 4:00 PM, Bobsk8 said:

maybe you should return to P3D and Active Sky then.

At least Active Sky is ACCURATE. MSFS may look better but the data is trash and useless for realistic fuel and flight planning.

[threexgreen 3,139]

20 hours ago, Damian Clark said:

What defines a complete and accurate weather system?  Where is the line drawn between the ultimate stock experience and what might be possible with 3rd party efforts?  The argument I'm seeing is that everything any add-on has ever offered (say Active Sky, for example) or has ever imagined, should be free and stock.  Why doesn't this same logic apply to aircraft, scenery, other utilities, etc?  Why aren't 3rd party weather add-on efforts considered valuable when the other categories are?  Just thinking out loud.

Some have already explained but I got the feeling that my post early in this thread is among what you're referring to here and in your first reply, so I'll explain what I meant because it seems there is a misunderstanding.

To be clear, I was the first one cheering when I read on your forums that you are developing a weather app for MSFS despite the obstacles. I absolutely want third party devs to be part of this. The issue for me is just that I'm personally sick of fixing the base sim up with addons for all kinds of things that the base sim is awful at or doesn't do at all. As an example, FSX live weather was never really working right while P3D doesn't even have live weather at all even though the platform it basically evolved from did, which is a big step backwards. In both cases, you basically came to the rescue and that's why I said ActiveSky is one of my 'must-haves' - and not just fixing but also extending.

Microsoft then announced MSFS and with it a new, highly complex weather system that would beat everything we've ever had. While I like MSFS very much and also like many parts of the weather system, it still lacks with regards to live weather a year after release and has issues it really shouldn't have if it wants to be what they advertised. I'm positive that MS/Asobo will fix that and make it better, but it's the following prospect that annoys me - potentially ending up spending money not only for an extension but to put a bandage over something that should be working on its own. I've had enough of this in FSX and P3D.

That's why I'd prefer MS/Asobo to do the live weather part right. If ActiveSky is then released for MSFS and extends the experience, you can be sure I'm the first one in the queue to buy it.

[BrianW 124]

2 hours ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

I (*****I*****, not everyone else) don't care about it not being 100% accurate with what's going on outside my window this particular second, as long as the conditions approximate some sort of reality or currently forecasted weather, I am great with it. What bugs me is that there is no way to predict or look up what the weather is anywhere.

My thoughts exactly.  There's no way to accurately plan a flight.  We can assume it's going to somewhat match reality but quite frequently it doesn't. Then add the fact that the in sim ATIS is always wrong when it comes to sky conditions, while being completely disconnected from the conditions the sim is displaying.  I know they're working on improving weather accuracy, but I'm completely baffled on why ATIS can't read the weather that MSFS is rendering instead of just reporting the same three cloud layers and random visibility everywhere .

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

33 minutes ago, B777ER said:

At least Active Sky is ACCURATE. MSFS may look better but the data is trash and useless for realistic fuel and flight planning.

Trash? Why you say that? It's pretty accurate most of the time (in my case at least). Meteoblue doesn't predict totally different weather that it actually is. It would be a fantasy weather if that would be the case 😉 And as others pointed out - even though you plan a flight with 100% accurate data at the time, in a few hours, when you actually fly in the area, the weather can change - nobody can predict the future 100% accurate. Not even the weather man. Especially not the weather man 😉

I really get your point - I had the same ideas at the beginning of my MSFS days. Give me METARS or I don't wanna play. But once I realized and excepted what I lose and what I gain - it was a no-brainier... at least for me. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Tomaz Drnovsek

[liamp51 541]

9 minutes ago, Tomaz Drnovsek said:

Trash? Why you say that? It's pretty accurate most of the time (in my case at least). Meteoblue doesn't predict totally different weather that it actually is. It would be a fantasy weather if that would be the case 😉 And as others pointed out - even though you plan a flight with 100% accurate data at the time, in a few hours, when you actually fly in the area, the weather can change - nobody can predict the future 100% accurate. Not even the weather man. Especially not the weather man 😉

I really get your point - I had the same ideas at the beginning of my MSFS days. Give me METARS or I don't wanna play. But once I realized and excepted what I lose and what I gain - it was a no-brainier... at least for me. 

Planning a real flight in regards to weather can be a word not allowed shoot too. I think it's funny that people think the predicted models will always 100% match the what happens in reality. Oh well...

[Jeeeno 314]

50 minutes ago, B777ER said:

At least Active Sky is ACCURATE. MSFS may look better but the data is trash and useless for realistic fuel and flight planning.

BS. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Jeeeno

[liamp51 541]

51 minutes ago, B777ER said:

At least Active Sky is ACCURATE. MSFS may look better but the data is trash and useless for realistic fuel and flight planning.

I guess Asobo should just give up then huh 😑

[Bobsk8 12,732]

58 minutes ago, liamp51 said:

Planning a real flight in regards to weather can be a word not allowed shoot too. I think it's funny that people think the predicted models will always 100% match the what happens in reality. Oh well...

Hey, these folks are sim experts. They know more about flying than any real pilots.  😁

[liamp51 541]

9 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Hey, these folks are sim experts. They know more about flying than any real pilots.  😁

A good buddy of mine who flies corporate said that MSFS's weather depiction is the best and most immersive he's ever experienced in a sim so 💁‍♀️