FS9 weather/clouds & 3rd. party weather engines - question.

As one or two may have read elsewhere in this forum, I was using AS6.5 until HiFi Sim plugged the (server) plug on it. As I also have REX2004, I tried that as a replacement, but as with the default FS9 weather, I have the frustrating problem of clouds being drawn and erased as I pan the sim. It looks, well, awful! I know that this is a known issue; it's not just me that suffers from it...

 

I have tried any number of combinations of sight distance/cloud draw distance and so forth, but in the end nothing works. With both AS6.5 and REX, I have tried opening with clear skies ("No weather" in FS9) and then loading the weather in AS6/REX, but it isn't long before I get the flashing clouds again. When you go back to the FS9 weather menu, you can see that there are now cloud layers there (in the advanced menu).

 

The only way I can (almost) eliminate this problem is to use FS9 weather to produce just one cloud layer, which goes down to almost ground level - the flashing clouds are then hidden from view.

 

I was thinking of buying FS Global Real Weather, but it seems to me that whatever 3rd. party software I buy, FS9 is going to continue creating these rogue clouds, which appear over the top (so to speak) of the 3rd. party weather - so I am wasting rather a lot of £££. May as well stick to the FS9 default in that case.

 

Any thoughts (or even better, definitive cures!!) please? Thanks!!

Hi Martin, As you may well know from the other threads I too was using AS6.5 and having the same problems as yourself.

I recently re-installed REX again, it seemed to be running not too bad, have problems of the firewall blocking it even though I set the permissions, then problems of it saying it needs the internet and has no connection etc.

 

Well last night I had more or less clear skies with the odd clouds here and there, all of a sudden the sim stopped and a mass of clouds appeared. I lost the aircraft I was following and after a bit of messing around I got it back.

 

So like you I wondered if to try FS Global but as you have said in the other threads it is a bit expensive if it doesn't work, it would be better if they gave free trial then you/we can decide.

it would be better if they gave free trial then you/we can decide.

 

My thoughts exactly. It's not a cheap programme (I know they have to pay to access weather servers). Only an 8MB download too! :-)

 

I have sent an email to the developers of FSGRW to see what they say about all this. I'll post any useful reply.

I know the external weather in the default FS no longer works but it would be nice if we could access another weather service through that even if we have to pay a little for the access program.

The engine must already be there so would it be too hard to change the weather service provider to enable it, or is it because FS9 is a bit out of date, just a thought?

Some time back you could trial FSGRW and have some limited wx downloads. Not sure if they still have that.

I know the external weather in the default FS no longer works but it would be nice if we could access another weather service through that even if we have to pay a little for the access program.

The engine must already be there so would it be too hard to change the weather service provider to enable it, or is it because FS9 is a bit out of date, just a thought?

 

The VATSIM weather server is free, try changing the Wx server address in your FS9.cfg to this one:

 

http://metar.vatsim.net/metar.php?id=all

 

Just a (second) thought - the raw data on this server might not be directly FS-compatible, I actually use this server with FSMetar which you can still download at:

 

http://web.archive.org/web/201203230...s/web/fsmetar/

Thanks Tiger, I posted in one of the other threads about using FSMetar but got no feedback on it, I will look in it.

 

I got two bad links when I clicked on the ones you posted tiger.

Sorry about that, the first one isn't actually a link but has been displayed as one anyway, it is actually the server address which you need to copy and paste into either your FS9.cfg or the FSMetar .ini file. I'll try and get an updated link for FSMetar later for you.

Both the links when entered into my fs9.cfg file gave errors (check your internet connection)..

The second one is or was the link to download the FSMetar program.

If the first one doesn't work then it's as I suspected, the VATSIM metar data isn't readable by FS2004 directly. I'll search around again for the working link to the FSMetar download.

OK, thanks. I miswrote my previous reply - the second URL lead me to a page which said 'The requested resource is not available.' :-)

Forgive my ignorance but I was always under the impression Vatsim and/or FSMetar was if you were flying online or with a VA or something, I will admit I never really looked in to it.

My apologies to all for the duff link to FSMetar earlier, here's the working one:

http://web.archive.org/web/20120323061633/http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fsmetar/

 

Copy and paste these settings into the FSMetar.ini file:

 

// Fichero de configuración de FSMetar

// Parámetros de configuración

// FSRefresh = Segundos

// Proxy: NO o dirección_proxy:puerto

// AutoRefresh=On u Off

// Language: Castellano o English

 

 

[General]

 

FSRefresh =60

InternetRefresh=15

IvaoURL = http://www.ivao.aero/network/metar.asp

VatsimURL = http://metar.vatsim.net/metar.php?id=ALL

NooaURL = http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/observations/metar/cycles/

Proxy =NO

AutoRefresh=On

IvaoOnline=http://www.ivao.aero/network/metar.asp?Id=

VatsimOnline=http://metar.vatsim.net/metar.php?id=ALL

NooaOnline=http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/mgetmetar.pl?cccc=

FSMessages=Yes

Debug=No

LanguageFile=English.lng

DefaultServer=VATSIM

StartDownloadingMetars=YES

ProxyUser=

ProxyPassword=

Well I got it working tiger, thank you for all your help, I updated the ini file as you posted plus i changed the setting in FSUIPC like the ones in the PDF that was in the zip file.

 

Just out of interest are your FSUIPC settings the same as the ones they suggest?

 

Any it is working well, in fact I have had to turn my central heating down lol.

Well that's an unexpected bonus! Yes, I use those FSUIPC settings plus I've set the Max. Visibility in the FS2004 Weather settings to 30 miles - it works a treat and looks great.

Great thank you once again, my first flight was in Africa, took off from Accra DGAA, the weather was clear but as I got near my destination I started to descend and I flew in to low cloud.

The thing was it didn't change like a like switch as the other weather did, it was a transition, which was very real, I just needed to come back to report.

I'll change my weather in FS to 30 miles as you suggest.

Yes, thanks from me as well! This seems to work well. The only problem I have had is with my main bugbear - I still get flashing clouds being drawn and erased as I pan. However, after forcing just one cloud layer in FSUIPC, the issue seems to have gone away - although I have only just done this, so I may be talking too soon.

 

People have their own preferences of course and I would prefer to have 'unreal' FS9 default weather, even if it is weather I choose, not downloaded, and stable cloud draws rather than current real-world weather with these flashing clouds all the time: after a few minutes testing, it just may be, with the settings you have posted, that I can get both real-time weather and reliable cloud draw... I'll post back after a few test flights.

 

Whatever the result, thank you for your help.

 

Martin

Well I just did a flight from Manchester to London and this time it is a very different report.

Each weather station produced different clouds and it wasn't a transition it was like the other thread, they changed like a light switch, from partial clouds to dense then partial again the scattered then dense and so on.

May be I need to tweak the settings somewhere in FSUIPC or in FS I don't know.

Oh, that's disappointing: I haven't done an actual flight yet. I'll see if I get the same.

 

The METAR is working though - I went, by chance, to BIKF, and it was snowing! Sure enough, I went online and looked at the current weather - and there's light snow in Keflavik right now!

Thank you gents, glad you've got it working - Col you're right about the weather changing with each weather station, you can change that in the FSMetar.ini file: in the [General] section, change AutoRefresh=On to AutoRefresh=Off.

Martin, the flashing clouds: maybe it's due to your cloud textures? I use HDEv2 by Pablo Diaz - search the library here for hde.zip - I'm using the 512x512 DXT3 set at the moment and don't get flashing clouds.

Thanks again tiger, I was just looking at that and wondering if the tweak might be in there,

Also in the PDF it gives a password for the ini file but it seems it isn't required.

I use REX clouds - but have tried a number over the years. The textures themselves don't seem to make any difference (I have used FlightEnvironment and ASG in the past too, probably others). So far, restricting the sim to show one cloud layer with FSUIPC seems to be OK, but as I say, I need a few more test flights.

 

Will check my FSMetar.ini file too - I was also getting sudden changes in clouds etc. in the sim as the wx file was changed to a new airport zone. But what does turning AutoRefresh off imply? That the weather will not be updated at all after the initial metar at the departure airport?

 

You also need to check that the following are set in FSUIPC.ini (as you have probably noted):

 

ClearWeatherDynamics=Yes

OwnWeatherChanges=Yes

 

Thanks again!

The AutoRefresh=Off setting means that FSMetar won't automatically update the FS weather whenever you get within range of another weather station, it will only update every 15 minutes as defined by the InternetRefresh=15 setting.

I've checked my FS9.cfg [Weather] settings (it's a while since I've done all this!) and found these settings which may be of interest:

MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=48280

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=8

3D_CLOUD_PERCENT=100

DETAILED_CLOUDS=1

CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=7

CloudsImpostorRingRadius=256000.000000

 

The max unlimited vis is equal to 30 miles, in meters. The clouds impostor ring radius is double the default distance at 256000 (meters again), these are your flashing clouds I think, which I've set to be well over the horizon and out of view.

I downloaded those clouds you mentioned and installed them, do any of those files alter the sea because now the sea looks like oily milk and in squares?

 

I also altered the ini file to turn off the auto, it kind of worked but as I got near the south coast of England it suddenly went clear.

There are no water textures in HDEv2, maybe you've installed a cloud texture set which is too HD for your setup - I've found that the 512x512 DXT3 is the optimum size for mine, but I also use a 256x256 32bit set which I've converted to DXT3.

I've also been flying over the UK and it went clear for me too, I think it depends on what the time difference is between one station's METAR data upload to the server and the next as to how drastic the refresh is in FS, whenever it happens. I usually leave the AutoRefresh=On and check that the FS weather change rate is set to MILD to be honest.