Can someone confirm for 2024, what sim settings should be used to ensure Active Sky is depicting live weather and that there are no conflicts?  Just wanted to be sure.  Thanks!

Just the same as in 2020 ... set to "Clear Sky" if MSFS doesn't automatically switch to it (mine appears to do so).

I think the lighting has changed a fair bit in 2024 - and ActiveSky looks amazing.

14 minutes ago, Adamski_NZ said:

Just the same as in 2020 ... set to "Clear Sky" if MSFS doesn't automatically switch to it (mine appears to do so).

I think the lighting has changed a fair bit in 2024 - and ActiveSky looks amazing.

Thanks.  So clear sky, no preset or set to live weather, then run active sky?  I think that is how i did it.  I just want to be sure since it seems like 2024 tends to change my settings without me doing it every now and then

35 minutes ago, Zimmerbz said:

Thanks.  So clear sky, no preset or set to live weather, then run active sky?  I think that is how i did it.  I just want to be sure since it seems like 2024 tends to change my settings without me doing it every now and then

Correct! :) Live weather OFF then ClearSky. I'm not 100% sure but I think AS is a little more forgiving now, in that it doesn't seem to matter what order you do any of those steps.

20 minutes ago, Adamski_NZ said:

Correct! 🙂 Live weather OFF then ClearSky. I'm not 100% sure but I think AS is a little more forgiving now, in that it doesn't seem to matter what order you do any of those steps.

Thanks!

Can anyone provide comparison shots between standard MSFS 2024 weather and Activesky in the sim? What's the advantage of activesky in 2024 as I thought the weather was much improved in the new sim. But pictures are worth a thousand words!

 

 

54 minutes ago, Purr said:

Can anyone provide comparison shots between standard MSFS 2024 weather and Activesky in the sim? What's the advantage of activesky in 2024 as I thought the weather was much improved in the new sim. But pictures are worth a thousand words!

Default weather is much improved, but ActiveSky can at times show even more realism in the clouds.  I have been using ActiveSky for all flights, but often in 'passive' mode where clouds are 2024 default with air effects supplied by ActiveSky.  

ActiveSky

Default weather.  Note how 2024 default weather is showing high cloud descending to lower levels where it is raining

More cloud types in default weather

 

2 hours ago, Purr said:

Can anyone provide comparison shots between standard MSFS 2024 weather and Activesky in the sim? What's the advantage of activesky in 2024 as I thought the weather was much improved in the new sim. But pictures are worth a thousand words!

I'll add some shortly. Just about a week or so ago, I went to NZMF (Milford Sound) and Live Weather covered it in snow (it's at sea level, BTW). It's high summer here in NZ!!! I can't imagine where MSFS gets its data from - you'd have thought almost any METAR (or similar) in NZ would give at least give you summer temperatures. Even if MSFS is somehow confusing Southern and Northern hemispheres, it should still be reading (and interpolating) *local* weather data.

Activesky always gets NZMF right.

UPDATE: I tried NZMF again just now and guess what:

You know things aren't going well if the menu already looks like this:

In the aircraft:

It gets worse (if that were possible)!

Finally ... we have ActiveSky:

All iterations of MS flight sims (from FS9 onwards) get the morning/evening onsets totally wrong. This is 4:30pm yet it looks like 8:30pm (which would still be quite bright, here in NZ summer). So ... the murkiness of the last two images is *not* down to Activesky.

I could post lots of gorgeous looking images of Activesky in action, but if Asobo can get it so terribly wrong for NZMF, I shudder to think what goes on elsewhere in the sim world with Live weather enabled. 

Do yourself a huge favour - just buy Activesky and have done with!

Edited December 13, 20241 yr by Adamski_NZ

Thank you for these comparisons...wow that is crazy that MSFS weather is not able to distinguish Winter/Summer Northern/Southern hemispheres....yikes.

Will give it a try!

People always have a hard time telling the difference between "the weather is beautiful" and "the weather is realistic." Many people get caught up in visual beauty, and that's respectable.

11 hours ago, filou said:

People always have a hard time telling the difference between "the weather is beautiful" and "the weather is realistic." Many people get caught up in visual beauty, and that's respectable.

I couldn't agree more! Since my flight sim addiction (started many years ago), I've often caught myself looking at clouds in RL and thought "now, that just isn't realistic"!!! Had I have seen the same clouds in a sim, I'd have complained. This is when viewing clouds (in RL) from the ground - goodness knows what I'd be thinking if airborne.

I really have no excuse. I do have a little gliding experience - where you take a great deal of notice of clouds - so I need to apply the same experience when in-sim.

*However* - some of the cloud effects in MSFS are butt-ugly and way beyond anything we commonly see in RL - "Volcanic ash" clouds being the worst example.

1 hour ago, Adamski_NZ said:

Volcanic ash" clouds being the worst example.

Absolutely, they’re horrendous. I’ve seen less of those in 2024 though. Btw I’m using Active Sky on every flight.

Oops , i always have had live weather active in MSFS when enabling ASFS live. It seems to do the job but why off/Clear Sky!

Thanks

Michael Moe

How's the FPS hit with AS for 2024?

 

Thanks!

No more than any [standard] other preset, as far as I could see. I haven't even noticed much of a hit when the weather updates/reloads. I can't really compare it to Live Weather, as it's so awful that I rarely use it.