Unfortunately I am forced to stop my flights with the 12.2 beta versions due to the continuous crashes. 😔

Probably the cause of these crashes (it is the first in 2 years that I see crashes) is a mix of non-optimized Betas and weak power of my PC.

I could go back to flying with the previous 12.1.4 which was very stable and never gave problems, but I prefer not to go back, I decided to keep the 12.2 intact on my PC (to test with the next Beta releases 👍 ), and fly temporarily with XP11 until I find stability on 12.2. 

The problems I am encountering with 12.2 however do NOT negatively affect my final judgment.
I think that the Laminar team has done a really good job, and is still doing so.
The environmental graphic realism introduced with 12.2 is truly remarkable. 👏
Is it 100% perfect?
Not completely.
But it's on the right track to be, there are a few things I would personally tweak in the lighting, but overall I like it already like this.

 

1 hour ago, efis007 said:

Is it 100% perfect?

Hope your not waiting on that. Will never be perfect. Hope you filed crash report.

7 hours ago, Aglos77 said:

If requests are welcome, I would like to see the warmer (yellow) lighting as seen in this video for the cl650.

https://youtu.be/o2C496aeKb8?si=0oUmBjEbwEh0ST5t

 

That's pretty straightforward.  I'll keep the video.

And boy! its really rocking 

 

 

1 hour ago, TadeuPrimo said:

And boy! its really rocking

What kind of flight control stick is that? 

Clouds and lighting is looking great! But that Star Trek Rain is a buzz killer! 

 

It always amuses me when people call the rain in the landing lights "Star Trek rain" - it immediately identifies the person as an aviation layman.

 

24 minutes ago, Litjan said:

It always amuses me when people call the rain in the landing lights "Star Trek rain" - it immediately identifies the person as an aviation layman.

That's not the same effect we see in XP, especial in VR as the warp speed follows your viewpoint. Lights on or off, it's always on. And there is going to be a difference between a slow moving Cessna 172, vs a fast moving Jet Aircraft. And the location and type of landing light. I am a rated pilot, nice try, though.

There is a "bug" with the rain direction in VR (and it also shows when moving your viewing direction in regular 2D view) - that is a byproduct of the way that the rain effect is generated. An alternative would be to track every raindrop as a separate 3D object 😁 - but I hope some other solution can be found to fix this.

I can´t speak much for small aircraft, I have barely spent any time in them (just a few hundred hours), and no time flying through substantial rain, but I can vouch for that effect being pretty much like it shows in X-Plane when flying in 737s, 320s and 747s. It is even more pronounced in snowfall.

I also just tested this in the C172 in 12.2b3 : During daylight, no rain falling is visible at all when in flight (you can just see drops on the windscreen). At night, there is also no rain falling visible at all when the landing lights, anti-collision beacon and strobe lights are off.

What could be improved is the rain only showing in the "cone" of the landing lights - this may come when volumetric lighting of clouds is implemented.

So I am not sure which X-Plane version you are flying, but in 12.2b3 it works as it should and there is no plan to change it.

 

Edited April 22, 20251 yr by Litjan

9 hours ago, Litjan said:

It always amuses me when people call the rain in the landing lights "Star Trek rain" - it immediately identifies the person as an aviation layman.

 

Its because the light source its my Landing Lights bellow the airplane, not my face. The X-Plane effect its not correct. You can see the visible light cone below the airplane in the real video.

Edited April 22, 20251 yr by TadeuPrimo

10 hours ago, strider1 said:

What kind of flight control stick is that?

I created my own solution, this way I can bring my VR setup in my backpack in the layovers. (Sidestick, Throttle and Rudder)
 

 

12 hours ago, Litjan said:

There is a "bug" with the rain direction in VR (and it also shows when moving your viewing direction in regular 2D view) - that is a byproduct of the way that the rain effect is generated. An alternative would be to track every raindrop as a separate 3D object 😁 - but I hope some other solution can be found to fix this.

I can´t speak much for small aircraft, I have barely spent any time in them (just a few hundred hours), and no time flying through substantial rain, but I can vouch for that effect being pretty much like it shows in X-Plane when flying in 737s, 320s and 747s. It is even more pronounced in snowfall.

I also just tested this in the C172 in 12.2b3 : During daylight, no rain falling is visible at all when in flight (you can just see drops on the windscreen). At night, there is also no rain falling visible at all when the landing lights, anti-collision beacon and strobe lights are off.

What could be improved is the rain only showing in the "cone" of the landing lights - this may come when volumetric lighting of clouds is implemented.

So I am not sure which X-Plane version you are flying, but in 12.2b3 it works as it should and there is no plan to change it.

 

I don't think it's a bug, it's the way it was designed in XP9-10.

I already had an email exchange with Austin about implementing Rain Cones over a year ago. He finally agreed after some back and forth. I am not holding my breath!

You will never see those rain cones in the 172 in real life. Not in front of the cowling/windshield, anyway. You will only see streaks of water on the windshield. Thats my memory flying IFR in a 172.

It works as should in 1 or 2 AC, but not the rest of them. I already have a bug report logged.

On 4/22/2025 at 6:18 AM, Litjan said:

It always amuses me when people call the rain in the landing lights "Star Trek rain" - it immediately identifies the person as an aviation layman.

Ah, this is a good opportunity for me to complain that the rain streaks turn into dots/drops when the sim is paused. Should I file a bug on this*?

 

*I'm serious!