I've been a long timeuser and beta tester of HiFi products so I am biased but, to me, the changes between default and AS are subtle. It's like AS polishes the rough edges. If you are looking for a major comparison change, you won 't find it. When I take a flight with AS active the experience seems right.

I set up a flight plan for a short flight. Searched for bad weather in AS - set up plan - departed in heavy rain and climbed up on top. Approach had low clouds and strong crosswinds, I had tp really work on the approach. Very much the same as real life.  Took the same flight with default weather - not the same - wind not quite right, clouds looked a bit different - nothing MAJOR but enough so that I noticed.

It's a great option for those that want just a little bit extra.

 

 

4 hours ago, vgbaron said:

I've been a long timeuser and beta tester of HiFi products so I am biased but, to me, the changes between default and AS are subtle. It's like AS polishes the rough edges. If you are looking for a major comparison change, you won 't find it. When I take a flight with AS active the experience seems right.

I set up a flight plan for a short flight. Searched for bad weather in AS - set up plan - departed in heavy rain and climbed up on top. Approach had low clouds and strong crosswinds, I had tp really work on the approach. Very much the same as real life.  Took the same flight with default weather - not the same - wind not quite right, clouds looked a bit different - nothing MAJOR but enough so that I noticed.

It's a great option for those that want just a little bit extra.

 

 

I'm still seeing some deviations from the METARs when using the MSFS2024 Live Weather.  AS is accurate. It must have something to do with how recent the weather data are.

17 hours ago, Damian Clark said:

Default is definitely improved. AS as always works to improve things further, aimed at aviation weather realism enthusiasts. As you know, the lack of available support from MS/Asobo for weather extensibility continues to limit what we can do, but we are still making progress, and if further extensibility is ever provided, we'll of course take advantage of that.

I have been impressed with the improvements to default weather in 2024, so my initial thought was to wonder if weather addons have lost some of the advantage of better looking skies.  With that in mind I installed the beta of AS for 2024 - very impressive indeed!

Just curious, as I have not seen anyone showcasing this in any video, but is there lightning and thunder in default live weather?

You can always use MS live weather and use AS in passive mode. You'll get some real turbulence effects better than default.

4 hours ago, jabloomf1230 said:

I'm still seeing some deviations from the METARs when using the MSFS2024 Live Weather.  AS is accurate. It must have something to do with how recent the weather data are.

AS has more priority put on METAR reports vs. other data (grib, sigmet/airmet, sythensis, etc.), which appears a bit different than MSFS (2020/24) live weather. No to say that MSFS live weather is bad or wrong. We're just focused on different things. Some of this will depend on what region you're flying in too. We're still tuning things for ASFS and hoping for an even better balance that satisfies most user by default and provides options to satisfy nearly everyone.

New update posted at our forums:

 

Update 112424 (SU1 Beta 2) B9094 (1.0.9094.40127)
- New experimental redesigned cloud smoothing processes:
 Generally reduced full layer clearing instances during transitions for a better and more full cloud coverage experience
 Removed transition strategy of clearing layers when a large altitude transition was required
 Fixed issue where some layers could become mis-ordered/corrupted
 NOTE: Due to removal of "clearing layers for large altitude changes strategy", layers will occasionally transition altitudes significantly, and this can cause pulsing (or breathing effect) of apparent coverage due to MSFS cloud patterning logic during these large altitude changes - Reduce smoothing rate to make this effect less visible
 NOTE: This is for preliminary testing of this new experimental smoothing processes and may be problematic in certain conditions or situations
- Fixed issue where METAR-specified cloud layers at or above 24000ft would cause cloud layer corruption and potential low/below-ground layers
- Increased visual depicted coverage of very thin layers as specified in METAR for more expected results
- Removed SayIntentions.AI weather updated skipped messages from log
- General performance and stability improvements

Update 112024 (SU1 Beta 1) B9090 (1.0.9090.40431)
- Added MSFS2024 compatibility – ASFS is now dual MSFS2020/2024 compatible and will install for any/all installations of 2020/2024 (Store, Steam or CD) as found (AS_FSConnectorInstall.exe, or a new ASFS installation must be run after MSFS2024 installation in order to install on MSFS2024 or any new MSFS 2020/2024 installation)
- Adjusted cirrus generation to prevent too high coverage and too many cirrus layers in some cases (was also possibly causing reduced performance)
- Slight reduction in general cirrus generation (approximately 10%)
- Increased cloud thickness minimum when precip exists to prevent precipitating cloud layers from being too thin in some cases
- Increased surface attenuation of turbulence and adjusted high altitude threshold to 250ft AGL (was 100ft AGL) for less overall turbulence near ground especially during flare/landing
- Reduced minimum Download interval (option) to 10 (vs. 15) minutes for even quicker updates if desired
- Changed default Download interval to 15 (vs. 30) minutes for quicker default updates
- Added Force DataNet downloads for live/recent weather option - When enabled, HiFi DataNet downloads are used instead of NOAA for live and historical weather (within 10 days) - Can provide quicker updates including 30 minute interval updates, but does not include snow depth data
- Docs updated
- Additional attempted fixes for potential thunderstorm clouds not depicting properly after departure in some cases
- Rework of cloud transition smoothing/synthesis processes regarding thunderstorms to fix occasional thunderstorm depictions and missing/too small CB clouds
- Fixed issue with weather depiction when a duplicate Active Sky preset existed (by user manually copying, add-ons misbehaving or other unexpected duplication of presets)
- Increased coverage of certain thunderstorm scene cloud layers to reduce lightning effect cloud jumping anomalies in certain Anti-Aliasing modes/levels
- General tuning of thunderstorm depictions
- Fixed issue host/port updates from default not properly reflecting in script, causing potential failure to update issues when localhost IP/hostname changed or port option changes were made by user
- Fixed issue with IPv4 disabled for "localhost" host name, causing listener/web errors and failure to depict weather issues in some cases
- Adjusted uninstall process for AS FS Connector to remove any Active Sky FS weather preset files accordingly on uninstall
- Fixed issue with fog layer generation related to previous tstorm depiction fixes
- Reduced SayIntentions.AI status message frequency

Tried ASFS for the first time yesterday (with 2024). Flew from EGLL to EHAM, very windy yesterday. Default weather gave me up to 60kts of wind at 2000ft coming in to Schiphol, which seemed excessive. Decided to go missed in the A330, then tried a 2nd approach with ASFS - seemed much more realistic in terms of winds. Also - the sky looked absolutely gorgeous! Would share a screenshot, but not at the sim PC right now. 

Btw I think default clouds in 2024 look a bit more unrealistic than 2020... something about their vertical depth seems a bit "off"...

So tempted to purchase since it doesn’t look like Asobo will ever bring back thunderstorms with lightning. 
 

my favorite memory predowngrade 2020 was sitting in the sunny Bahamas as a thunderstorm rolled in from afar and just rocked the island with rain lightning and thunder. Hoping active sky can give me this experience again

3 hours ago, UAL4life said:

So tempted to purchase since it doesn’t look like Asobo will ever bring back thunderstorms with lightning. 
 

my favorite memory predowngrade 2020 was sitting in the sunny Bahamas as a thunderstorm rolled in from afar and just rocked the island with rain lightning and thunder. Hoping active sky can give me this experience again

Really still no lightning in 2024?!

MS / ASOBO should be smart and try to learn from ASFS / HiFi / Damian, just as they did with WT, although I would rather prefer that HiFi could become independent - in order to get a chance for their products to continue to serve other platforms as well...

There's just so many thing ASFS does so much better than default FS 2024 weather...

Edited December 7, 20241 yr by jcomm

52 minutes ago, jcomm said:

MS / ASOBO should be smart and try to learn from ASFS / HiFi / Damian, just as they did with WT,

I have been following the weather development in MSFS from the beginning, and I am always amazed that the weather is obviously given special treatment. At the beginning there were grandiose promises (all types of clouds...), but then the limitations quickly became apparent. SU7 was supposed to provide a remedy, and Jorg Neumann even promised another "awesome" weather update. From then things went into snail mode and the topic was largely ignored ("we need to talk to Meteoblue").

Yes, some will rightly object that there have been improvements and that MSFS2024 represents another step forward. On the whole, that may be true. I can't judge 2024 yet, but I'm relatively happy with 2020 itself.
But then I ask myself: "Why is the ground in a flight simulator improved 4000 times, while the weather only makes very hesitant, isolated improvements, even though the community has pointed out the need for improvement in countless reports - often with the "bug logged" tag.

Discussions about Live Weather are often limited to the appearance, while there is actually so much more that is important in connection with the weather:

• Are there convincing stratus layers?
• Are thunderstorms really convincing?
• Are thunderstorms with lightning still coincidental and rarerely depicted (at least in Europe, that is)?
• Does the visibility and fog simulation provide an accurate representation of RVR values?
• Does the cloud display match the respective atmospheric situation?
• Can the sim display more than one cloud layer from METAR reports?
• What about high overcast layers?
• Are METAR bubbles avoidable?

I therefore hope that MS will take up the issue again at some point and rethink the seemingly set-in-stone dogma of an untouchable weather simulation. After all, this was also possible in many other areas of the simulator (aircraft, avionics, scenery, replay tool).

28 minutes ago, Tom_L said:

But then I ask myself: "Why is the ground in a flight simulator improved 4000 times

This feature is massive and much needed.  In 2020 ALL surface areas big enough to land an aircraft were available, but in 2024 this is not the case.  Any landing area has to be checked out for suitability due to the increase in ground resolution, rocks, pepples, cracks etc.

 

The weather has been improved in appearance and turbulence.  Yes, 2024 now displays high overcast conditions as well as multiple cloud layers. Much more convincing than 2020.

You say you can't judge 2024 yet, but you are missing out on some really good upgrades over 2020.  The weather has improved more than you seem to think.

Can you see real fog /clouds yet where for instance entering a cloud you can't see your wing tips and sometimes the whole wing? I miss this from previous sims it seems there is some code blocking any weather from entering a bubble around the ac? 

When I do random flights in fsx/p3d I notice clouds swirling around the ac very close. 

Using active sky in all cases as I'm a big fan. 

20 minutes ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

This feature is massive and much needed.

The improvements are welcome and I am looking forward to them, especially the expanded ground features. I chose that massive upgrade to make my actual point clear: MS is making great efforts in all possible areas, often involving third parties. I would like to see the same commitment and openness in the weather simulation as well.