Jump to content

Pilot's Global Real Weather for P3D v5, reviews-opinions


n697dt

Recommended Posts

I just recently deleted P3D v4 and installed v5. I had Rex Skyforce and Active Sky for v4. Just wondering if anybody has tried out the first v5 offering by Pilot's? I'm wondering what Active Sky can do with TrueSky besides adding a weather engine, which is all Pilot's does. Can they improve anymore on the clouds? Rex? I'm ready to get started with "real weather" using one of these add-ons. But, maybe I need to exercise patience and see what AS and REX come out with, hopefully soon. Any thoughts out there?

Jack T.

MSI Z370 SLI Plus, i7-9700k, 32 Gb DDR4 3600 MHz memory, PNY RTX 4070Ti

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just recently deleted P3D v4 and installed v5. I had Rex Skyforce and Active Sky for v4. Just wondering if anybody has tried out the first v5 offering by Pilot's? I'm wondering what Active Sky can do with TrueSky besides adding a weather engine, which is all Pilot's does. Can they improve anymore on the clouds? Rex? I'm ready to get started with "real weather" using one of these add-ons. But, maybe I need to exercise patience and see what AS and REX come out with, hopefully soon. Any thoughts out there?

 

Tried it, binned it. Might try it again when the Hotfix is out, but it doesn't work right now. Wait for Rex Skyforce or Active Sky ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a long-time user of Active Sky and REX. Both have provided improved experiences with weather and clouds. I know nothing of Pilots, and would be unfair to compare. My point, I enjoy still both AS and REX. I currently use AS for weather, and REX for clouds. I think the combo works well.

 

How it works for me, I pre-select the REX Sky Force textures (then close it), then start REX Environment Force (run in background), then start Active Sky, then P3D4.5 (I don't have v5). This combination requires RAM, and a video card, but it works, and looks great with real weather. I almost never see visual artifacts, I don't run out of memory, my video card doesn't get too hot, and crashes just simply are rare.

 

I also use PMDG 737NGXu and 747-400/8 QOTSII (w/ their respective FS2Crew), along with Navigraph manual up-to-date download database installs for AS, Carenado, Simbrief and PMDG. The experience is (imho) great. It is a lot, and more than you asked, but this works well, for me.

 

Lastly, I have ORBX base sceneries and many addon areas and airports, as well. I truly don't like to think about the $ I have spent, but it is, after all, a hobby.

 

PS: I don't see the jump to v5 worth the immediate loss of my current addons. Not yet, any way. If this wasn't helpful, sorry.

Edited by Timberleaf

Timberleaf

Win 10 | Area 51 R5 | i7 9800x 4.5 GHz | RTX 2080 8GB | 32GB 2666Mhz DDR4 | HP Envy 34c

"One woman's chop is another man's turbulence"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Appreciate the comments. I read today that Active Sky will be releasing P3D v5 in the next few days, so I'm going to wait on it. I'm curious to see what they can add to TrueSky besides a weather engine. So far, I'm happy with the default clouds in v5.

Jack T.

MSI Z370 SLI Plus, i7-9700k, 32 Gb DDR4 3600 MHz memory, PNY RTX 4070Ti

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Appreciate the comments. I read today that Active Sky will be releasing P3D v5 in the next few days, so I'm going to wait on it. I'm curious to see what they can add to TrueSky besides a weather engine. So far, I'm happy with the default clouds in v5.

 

I'm not reluctant in expressing my opionion: Pilot's entered the market, late, and deserve ANY comparison levelled upon them. Its not ready from prime-time as it stands.

Things may change with the Hotfix of P3Dv5, but I won't be risking any change to my sim UNTIL a week or two has passed and the Hotfix has proved itself... I will NOT risk my sim at the hands of a late-breaking upstart!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not reluctant in expressing my opionion: Pilot's entered the market, late, and deserve ANY comparison levelled upon them. Its not ready from prime-time as it stands.

Things may change with the Hotfix of P3Dv5, but I won't be risking any change to my sim UNTIL a week or two has passed and the Hotfix has proved itself... I will NOT risk my sim at the hands of a late-breaking upstart!

 

Entered the market late? If you’re going to post aggressive statements, you should really know what you’re talking about. In point of fact, FS Real Wx predates all other wx engines; to that point, they were the first to enter the market almost two decades ago. Their V5 wx engine is simply a port of a product that’s been available for almost 5 years. They are far from a ‘late-breaking upstart.’

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FSGRW does what it says on the tin. It is very pleasant and simple to use, no flashy interface and a plethora of options to adjust like Active Sky or REX. And the weather representation has always been very good in my experience. It is the engine I'm using currently for V5.

 

The main catch with any weather engine at the moment is seemingly a bug in V5 with extreme upper wind shifts. Only work around right now is to simply disable upper weather layers in FSGRW or other weather engines.

 

So, it's a fine product. Price might be a bit on the high side nowadays though if you are purchasing new and not upgrading. So yeah, wait and see what HiFi will bring or what REX will do. But it is definitely not a waste of money or a "late upstart". They've been around for years and know what they are doing. My first purchase of FSGRW was in 2013!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Entered the market late? If you’re going to post aggressive statements, you should really know what you’re talking about. In point of fact, FS Real Wx predates all other wx engines; to that point, they were the first to enter the market almost two decades ago. Their V5 wx engine is simply a port of a product that’s been available for almost 5 years. They are far from a ‘late-breaking upstart.’

 

Pilots add-on did NOT exist prior to P3Dv5. Did it? That makes it `late` in my book, when a perfectly adequate role has been performed by Active Sky, REX and a wide variety of freeware products for YEARS. That's late, by any standard!

And it's still not right, is it..?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pilots add-on did NOT exist prior to P3Dv5. Did it? That makes it `late` in my book, when a perfectly adequate role has been performed by Active Sky, REX and a wide variety of freeware products for YEARS. That's late, by any standard!

And it's still not right, is it..?

Where are you getting it from that it did not exist before P3D V5? Pilots FS Global Real Weather goes back to FSX times as well. I can literally show you my purchase mail from 2013 and I was not even an early adopter.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pilots add-on did NOT exist prior to P3Dv5. Did it? That makes it `late` in my book, when a perfectly adequate role has been performed by Active Sky, REX and a wide variety of freeware products for YEARS. That's late, by any standard!

And it's still not right, is it..?

 

I had FSGRW before Active Sky AND REX, but dumped it when REX was released.

FSGRW needed mods I wasn't happy making...

P3dV5 and Pilots doesn't make the slightest difference and it is still borked... Waiting on a Modded REX Sky Force.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ALL the weather engines work. Some work better than others and AS has proven to work the best of all. It really depends on what you are looking for in a weather addon. If all you want is some reasonable approximation of current weather with pretty clouds - they all do that. All except AS use a "themed" approach which is outlined in the P3D SDK. It looks fine but has some limitations. AS developed their own weather API. If you are looking for accurate depiction and are the type who calculates your fuel load based upon weather and wind - AS is the only one that is accurate enough to do that.

 

Simply put, the others place the clouds generally (theme) while AS places the clouds specifically and knows where they are in relation to the aircraft.

 

IIRC FSGRW has been around for years - if you just want clouds and general weather it's a good way to go and it's free (at least it was).

 

AS said they're shooting for a public beta this week.

 

Vic

P3D Rig

I7 7700K @ 5.0ghz Asus Maximus X270 16G G.Skill 3600 15-15-15-18 2T EVGARTX2080ti Corsair 1000W PSU 1TB Samsung SSD for P3D - 2 - 256G OCZ Vector SSD - HAF X - Corsiar H100i V2 Liquid Cooler W10 64 Pro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are looking for accurate depiction and are the type who calculates your fuel load based upon weather and wind - AS is the only one that is accurate enough to do that.

 

FSGRW gives upper winds and puts them in the sim just fine, you can plan your fuel load with the weather it provides no problem.

 

I don't really know where these kind of misconceptions are coming from. I think some products are getting confused here. Pilots FSGRW was never free, it has been around since ~2013. There was a demo which allowed you to use it for like 10 flights. Perhaps the free version you are thinking of is FSRealWX which used to be free but is now payware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps the free version you are thinking of is FSRealWX which used to be free but is now payware.

 

 

Sorry you are correct - my bad.

 

Vic

P3D Rig

I7 7700K @ 5.0ghz Asus Maximus X270 16G G.Skill 3600 15-15-15-18 2T EVGARTX2080ti Corsair 1000W PSU 1TB Samsung SSD for P3D - 2 - 256G OCZ Vector SSD - HAF X - Corsiar H100i V2 Liquid Cooler W10 64 Pro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...