F737MAX

MS is a business. Every product/service they sell needs to contribute to the net profit line, otherwise (unsurprisingly) it gets pulled. I hope you don't use a Google product/service: https://killedbygoogle.com/ – that's quite the list! Yes. Though there are some annoyances with the base sim, there's been more top-tier, boundary-pushing payware, a plethora of freeware, and more detailed and technical default content than we've ever had in flight simming.

"First Look" = we're getting an early preview. It looks stunning (when doesn't a Jo Sund led scenery?), though I don't expect this for another 2–3 months. Lots of AI traffic will, but Jo's EBBR scenery has been like butter for me. Expecting this to be similar.

Slow updates, but nowhere near abandoned. Currently on Technical Update 7.0 - Public Beta 3

No. Flight simming is über serious stuff for serious people... Remember, if it's not done how someone else thinks it should be done, it's just wrong. /sarcasm (but sadly not really). [Goes off to barrel roll the PMDG 737 under a bridge.]

Unless I'm mistaken, ASFS uses the GFS (Global Forecast System) weather forecast model to create weather detail outside of METAR reporting stations' radii. That sounds very similar to what MSFS Live Weather does. It's a free market and people don't necessarily want to wait 6 months or longer for whatever MSFS2024 may or may not bring i.r.o. the default Live Weather function.

It's *a lot* more standalone than P3D. Must haves, IMO: Bad2000's Addons Linker (freeware) REX's AccuSeason Advanced (payware) – controls terrain colour per season and tree colours, sizes, varieties and frequency of appearance. Floyd's epic clouds (freeware) – great for GA flying and if you don't mind not having live weather. AIG's AI traffic (freeware) – more controllable than FSLTL and less of a performance impact. KL791's Global AI shipping (GAIST) and GAIST Great Lakes (freeware). PuffinFlight's We Love VFR regions (freeware). Payware airliner: PMDG 737 (the 736 is a steal at $35), Fenix A320 (the best payware airliner I've ever used), JustFlight BAe 146 or Fokker 28 (lots of love for these older-style airliners). IMO. YMMV.

iniBuilds is offering some departure and arrival airports for CTP – Westbound for upto 40% off. Departure airports iniBuilds London Heathrow (EGLL) for MSFS - 25% off MK-Studios Dublin (EIDW) for MSFS - 40% off PrealSoft Mohammed V International (GMMN) for MSFS - 25% off Arrival airports iniBuilds New York (KJFK) for MSFS - 25% off MK-Studios Montreal (CYUL) for MSFS - 40% off Sale lasts until the end of this weekend https://inib.uk/ctp-sale

Quite possibly. Same end result, unfortunately. I never had the FSL, but do remember having to turn down some settings in ASP4. Will continue to wait on any progress by HiFi.

Think you may be right on this. REX WF and ASFS provide much nicer variety of clouds (and Thunderstorms are present), but seeing weather fronts at FL300+ is an advancement that MSFS has created that I don't wish to lose. Been done and failed. Now filed under 'Not planned'. Think this is partly due to a misunderstanding of what devs / flight simmers want when they say 'open up the API' and protecting the commercial contract between MS and Meteoblue. It wouldn't be the first time there's been a misunderstanding at the senior level of the MSFS team and requests regarding weather.

Q8 Pilot on his stream said ASFS "broke" the Fenix A320. Needed to "turn it off for the Fenix to fly like it should." 😔 I really liked the weather at SKBO and OPIS that was generated by ASFS on Chewwie's stream, but the Fenix not being compatible makes it a no-go for now, at least.

😄 Seriously this should be something HiFi Sim puts out/asks for known content creators to do on their behalf.

He just admitted to not reading the documentation. "Hasn't had the time." Puts his stream into same bracket as LondonController, I'm afraid.

Same thing as a supermarket/grocery store, they all charge their own prices for identical products. MSRP / RRP is only the manufacturer's recommended price. Stores will have their own overheads to cover, which will cause the end price to the consumer to differ.

Because people hate change... 😆

Can someone call him out for wasting everyone else's time with incompetence on his part? Anyone know *good streamers* who are planning to/currently are showcasing ASFS?

Go to the Content Manager in the sim. Type the ICAO code of the airport you wish to remove in the search bar. Click Uninstall/Delete. Et voilà ! Airport gone and doesn't re-download at next MSFS start.

When Orbx name their lead developer (Finn Hansen in this instance), you can. I still think Jo's rendition looks that bit nicer, but this is the first time ever I've felt saddened that there have been two versions of the same airport. Both are high-quality sceneries.

Back on topic... REX's Weather Force and HiFi's Active Sky FS will both bring historical weather. The latest Weather Force beta build (released last Monday) includes: How these add-ons will display that will be fascinating. Also, it's interesting how both add-ons also provide their own weather API. Does this set up a chance for more realistic wxr in aircraft?

Appreciate you and other beta testers describing your experiences. It sounds like ASFS appears to work better than current weather add-ons and some of the commentary on here would suggest. However, only a more detailed video demonstrating the program's ability to interpret and display weather in MSFS is going to convince many people to dip into their wallets. This type of real world view has been seen in MSFS, so there is real reticence to give it up while paying to do so...

And 'expensive'. Recently bought BBD's EGTH aerodrome for £14.40 and realised Pilot Plus' EGGD international sells for £13.39. Much prefer Pilot Plus' add-ons for UK scenery.

In this instance, for "early access," read: 'preview' or 'pre-release demo'. Unfortunately, Flightbeam has been guilty of early access airports. KDEN and KMSP were both quick releases with some features missing at launch with the promise of later updates, likely to prevent competitors stealing a march on their back catalogue. Anyway, Jo Sund's exceptional artwork again means his ENGM is a confirmed purchase for me.

Sounds promising. Though I'd need to see videos of these transitions and an OSD performance monitor. The REX Weather Force transitions can be brutal, either visually with the instant change type or performance-wise with the longer morphing period type.

That does a disservice to the default weather capability. While it's nowhere near perfect, it does (usually) reproduce similar weather to that currently in the real world. It can also display different weather fronts in the same view—something we haven't previously had in flight simming. Nonetheless, the historical weather feature, 'Active Air Effects' while using MSFS' Live Weather, and (by the sounds of things) more emphatic Thunderstorms, has all piqued my interest.

Think that's more to do with P3D's inability to render complex imagery without a large impact on any given PC. Re-ran P3D v5 on my current PC and it wasn't nearly as happy as it is running MSFS with more detail and higher graphics settings.

Away from screen brightness issues, FSLabs being M.I.A., and back onto topic. Here's what's interesting from today's Fenix blog post: Identified "gentle adjustments" to the flare and ground effect phases – specifically with ground effect modelling. Currently re-tuning the ground friction modelling in line with the upcoming SU15 and its new ground friction modelling. Aim is to deploy both of these as soon as possible and before the expansion pack is ready. Looking to put the A319/A321 expansion into beta testing very soon™. I'm a little surprised that this info isn't more call for celebration. @mmcmah even demonstrated a 12% performance increase with today's update that included over 50 items that were patched. This shows a dev team willing to acknowledge customer feedback and act upon it quickly, especially after the long, long wait to deliver both blocks of the v2 update.