visibility problem with Weather engines.

I used to have Activesky in FS9 10 years ago, one thing that really bothered was the often-low visibility on low altitudes.

Now, using Activesky 2012 with FSX, I have the same problem: any time there is some weather, the visibility at low altitudes (below 6000+/-) goes to zero, and you can't enjoy the scenery because you see nothing until like 300ft above ground.

Even more funny is that there is no fog in the area where I live, yet Activesky loads the fog for unknown reason.

Does REX have this issue?

If the default FSX weather can overide Activesky try juggling the FSX visibility distances at different altitude bands.

I only use the default FSX weather so that's all I can suggest.

Active Sky NEXT is far superior to AS2012. You will find all your previous problems will go away. AS2012 owners can upgrade at a discount.

To learn more:

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?272497-Active-Sky-Next-Discussions

... and until Dec 31, an additional 20% discount:

http://www.hifitechinc.com/

You will not regret the upgrade.

Note that whenever you doubt the accuracy of a weather engine, ALWAYS check the metar for the station to see what the real world conditions are.

Note also, ASN completely disables any possibility of the built-in wx engine from operating.

-Pv-

If the default FSX weather can overide Activesky try juggling the FSX visibility distances at different altitude bands.

I only use the default FSX weather so that's all I can suggest.

Yes, this helped (partially), the other problem however, existing both with default and AS weather is a rapid change in weather on descend. Say the weather is more or less clear, then, on final approach at 3000 it rapidly changes to fog, rain and near-0 visibility.

I went to AS forums, one guy did raise a visibility issue with not too many replies, leaving me surprised that nobody discussed a 10-year old issue with all versions of AS and default weather as well.

Active Sky NEXT is far superior to AS2012. You will find all your previous problems will go away. AS2012 owners can upgrade at a discount.

To learn more:

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?272497-Active-Sky-Next-Discussions

... and until Dec 31, an additional 20% discount:

http://www.hifitechinc.com/

 

You will not regret the upgrade.

Note that whenever you doubt the accuracy of a weather engine, ALWAYS check the metar for the station to see what the real world conditions are.

Note also, ASN completely disables any possibility of the built-in wx engine from operating.

-Pv-

Got it, we can try that, as long as we are positive all problems will go away ))

Accuracy is something I am less concerned about, I rather would like a smooth transition in weather (as described above) and a good visibility at 3000 ft. No fog where there is no fog, a rare thing in a real life yet happens every time in FS where weather is either 100% clear or 100% fog with 0-visibility. Now, 10 years ago, FS0, FSX, Pentium 4 PC generation or i7 series...

Say the weather is more or less clear, then, on final approach at 3000 it rapidly changes to fog, rain and near-0 visibility

I too have found similar issues. For me it's tooling along on top of an overcast, seeing a hole and diving into it only to find I'm in a whiteout. How you make sense of this is a question of perspective. In fact the 'hole' isn't really there and the actual (real world) weather calls for fog. Unfortunately FSX doesn't really have fog, it either had clouds (which you can see from above and below) and it has visibility control, which limits how far away you can see. Programs like ASN create impressions of fog using combinations of these two things. Ideally, when there's fog below (= if you descend your visibility will plummet), you will also have clouds below but this doesn't always happen.

Anyway, that's how I understand it from reading back in the AS forums.

Yes, ASN uses a combined manipulation of visibility and cloud layers to try and simulate the real world within the limitations of the FSX weather effects generator. By manipulating visibility, ASN can simulate smoothly descending into a fog layer (actually a limited visibility layer) from a clear visibility between a cloud layer and the ground.

ASN does not use the built-in FSX menu weather controls at all. Because of this, ASN can more finely and precisely affect the critical variables without the guesswork involved with user tweaking of the FSX UI.

Instead, ASN puts ALL the weather controls in the ASN UI which allows the user VAST and refined control over all the variables. When leaving ASN in its default realism mode, all your visibility and cloud layers will be what they are in the real world. To be sure what you are seeing when flying is what the weather servers know about the real world, you need access to the raw data in the form of Metars. ASN always displays the closest and nearby metars when viewing the current weather in the ASN UI. If you have any doubt what you are experiencing is accurate, look at the metar for the area.

BOTH AS2012 and ASN use interpolation. One of the features of this action is nearby metars which are different than the local will influence the nearby weather. This allows AS* to smoothly transition from one weather area to another with minimum disruption. ASN does this better than ANY other weather engine. You want smoothness in wind, temperature and cloud transitions without popping and instantaneous shifts? ASN does this so well, its actions are seamlessly non-intrusive.

When using the FSX DEFAULT weather (downloaded or user-created) the FSX feature "Rate at which weather changes..." is often misunderstood which causes FS to artificially and RANDOMLY vary the weather producing changes which do not occur in the real world. This feature is best used when loading a theme with no online weather and you want FS to randomly change the weather over time so it does not remain static.

The controls ASN places at your disposal are very detailed. If (like you say) you don't care how accurate to the real world the weather is, but you want a feature like VISIBILITY to be just so (like ALWAYS CLEAR below the lowest cloud layer) ASN has a visibility slider which allows you to refine this kind of behavior to your liking. Keep in mind when performing these types of adjustments, ASN was designed and optimized for the most *realistic* experience based on calculations resolving several data sources and extrapolating a solution projecting into the future (metars are almost never 100% current and can be minutes, hours, or days old.) ASN carefully chooses data sources to have the most influence which are closest and newest. Are you a pond jumper and hate thousands of miles of unchanging weather? ASN realistically and creatively provides changing weather over vast areas where there is no airport station data. This TOTALLY removes the weather feature we all hate where you take off from a coastal airport and a few miles away, the weather suddenly and unrealistically clears.

Again, I refer you to the flightsim/ASN blog linked above and the ASN site. This is a really good time to take advantage of the year end sale with discounts to 2012 owners AND a free trial period. If you have ANY doubt ASN can satisfy the most discriminating simmer, the trial should solve that. Get your free trial going now so you can decide if you want to purchase it before the discount period ends.

-Pv-

If (like you say) you don't care how accurate to the real world the weather is, but you want a feature like VISIBILITY to be just so (like ALWAYS CLEAR below the lowest cloud layer) ASN has a visibility slider which allows you to refine this kind of behavior to your liking. Keep in mind when performing these types of adjustments, ASN was designed and optimized for the most *realistic* experience based on calculations resolving several data sources and extrapolating a solution projecting into the future (metars are almost never 100% current and can be minutes, hours, or days old.) ASN carefully chooses data sources to have the most influence which are closest and newest. Are you a pond jumper and hate thousands of miles of unchanging weather? ASN realistically and creatively provides changing weather over vast areas where there is no airport station data. This TOTALLY removes the weather feature we all hate where you take off from a coastal airport and a few miles away, the weather suddenly and unrealistically clears.

Nothing against dynamic weather change, all for it. Ok, going to order the ASN (I'm well convinced, thanks!). Another radical nonsense I hope to go away is excessive winds. I was almost blown off the runway landing a 737 in KMIA with some rain, yesterday. FSX and AS weather engines are too radical, simulating a 600mph wind whenever there is a little rain is... not good.

Seriously, almost blown off the runway, 10 years and nobody ever complained...

Yes, going ASN.

I have been using Active Sky for many years and have never had a 600 MPH wind on the runway. By default (which can be changed) ASN restricts ground winds to 100 KNOTS (115 MPH)

Again, whenever you think you are getting weather conditions which don't exist at that location in real world time, take a look at the metar to see what conditions are being reported there. Take a screenshot of of the sim proving you have a 600 knot wind (or whatever) and send that together with the metar showing it should be something else to Hifi support and Hifi will pay very close attention and if it's a bug, will FIX it!

"10 years and nobody ever complained..."

You should visit the support forum once in a while. No shortage of people talking about wind anomalies in past products.

Glad you made the switch. You will LOVE the almost instant program load up compare to AS2012 wait and wait.

-Pv-

I exaggerated with wind (I got somewhat emotional there -)))) The wing was just - strong.

Generally I'm happy with FSX and how problems are being easily solved one by one with help/suggestions provided.

Will I have to uninstall AS2012? That's the most important question for the start.

You will not have to uninstall 2012. They are COMPLETELY independent. There will come a time when you discover you haven't used 2012 for a year or two.

There is one compelling reason to keep 2012 for now. ASN does not have a texture swapping utility, so if you used 2012 to customize clouds for seasons or conditions, you might want to jump into the 2012 custom texture utility once in a while. Eventually, there will be a new texture swapper by Hifi which will greatly enhance clouds for ASN.

For myself, I use 2012 for texture swapping once every three to six months. I just hate those long loads for something I can live without as long as my current textures work reasonably.

-Pv-

I purchased ASN yesterday, didn't try it yet because the interface is different and I had no time yet to study the minimums of it. The reason I bought AS2012 is exactly because of textures, knowing ASN doesn't come with it. I am yet to figure out how to "swap" textures, perhaps will even buy the REX for use with ASN, it is relatively cheap and peoples' feedback is good. Now however I have a problem with net framework which I desperately need to solve before going any further.

I just finished a flight and need a break, will monitor the responses.

Downloading the latest .net from the MS site should get you going. Once you have the latest version, the Windows auto-updates will keep it up to date.

-Pv-

The 2012 feature I'm talking about is "Graphics"

Click on "Clouds"

Choose the set you like the looks of the most. In the OPTIONS you can chose the resolutions and complexity of the cloud theme you chose. Even the lower rez and DXTS look great and can help keep your frame rates up.

Click INSTALL while FS is not running.

There. Simple. You just did a texture "swap."

-Pv-

"I had no time yet to study the minimums of it."

The absolute and undoubtedly most beautiful thing about ASN is it works right out of the box, clicking NOTHING! Start it. Go fly. Your jaw will drop. It's THAT simple!

By default, it's in full realism mode and frame rate optimizing mode. Best to try it out for a long time before you decide to tweak it (if ever.)

-Pv-