Active Sky Next released!

Kristoffer Aspen

Kristoffer Aspen

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Will try it during a flight from EDDK back home to ESSA tonight :)
 
So after a first flight I must say that ASN is great!

No flashing cloudshifts, no empty skies when updating weather. And you could see the weather up ahead.
Also while waiting on ground for passengers I saw that the clouds move with the wind!

For those that got AS2012 I say UPGRADE :) and for those that don't buy it anyway ;)
 
I watched the demo and to be honest these old eyes just can't see much difference in the clouds between ASN and REX essentials w/overdrive,which is what I use. It's my understanding that a lot of simmers use both programs. REX for textures, and active sky for weather. That being said, I will download the trial and give it a go! Can't hurt and will enable me to have a more informed opinion.

Cheers
 
Well it's not really how pretty the clouds are, but how it is inserted into the sim (read accurate weather radar).

And the fact the cloud layers never magically disappear to then reappear (after weather update).

Add also better wind simulation etc etc :)

And the fact that when you load a flight plan it automatically creates the WX-file for PMDG 777 :)

EDIT: Also read the feature list that is on the first link I posted :). Also note that ASN doesn't come with any textures for clouds. So you would need to pair it with AS2012 clouds or REX clouds.
 
I hate you Kristoffer :rofl: . I was perfectly happy just using REX. Since I downloaded the trial of ASN and played with it a little Im hooked! The trial is over in a couple days and I have to wait a little before I can get it :'( . Thanks for the post. I agree with your assessment of the program.

Cheers
 
Hehe, glad you like it :)

Just some sidenotes, I found that you really have to add speed during take off/landing in significant turbulence. My poor Dash 8 really had to struggle from ESSA yesterday :)
 
Hi Captains,

In my long (relatively) Air Child Captain career, I never had a deeper immersion since I use ASN.
A really good weather engine. :goodjob:

Thanks

Pierre ;)
 
Couple of questions. I always was told that vatsim weather had a bug. Should you check vatsim weather in ASN anyway or just stay with real weather? In FSX weather window , should user defined weather be checked or real weather? Does it matter?
 
1) Some use real weather online and some use VATSIM. Can't say about the bug, I tried both and didn't have any issues yet

2) You don't need to touch FSX weather :). User Defined is ASN's way of setting weather
 
David Higdon said:
Couple of questions. I always was told that vatsim weather had a bug. Should you check vatsim weather in ASN anyway or just stay with real weather?
Click to expand...
I don't have ASN yet, but the bug should be related to FSInn weather only, not VATSIM :) I've always used vatsim weather with AS2012, no bugs. Vatsim weather is always very similar to real weather, but pressure is often slightly different in real and vatsim weather, and since the ATC always give you the vatsim QNH, I think it's more realistic to use vatsim weather.

Aleksi
 
Hello fellow aviators!

While browsing through the stuff of "my" first and favorite VA I came across this thread. I am using OPUS as a weather engine it's cool and all... 'cept for the weather injection which sometimes causes a nano-second overspeed alert and a panicking FO in FSPax :roll: ASN looks mighty impressive. That froogle guy tested it and mentioned something about a massive hit on the fps. Can anybody share his/her experience with ASN in this regard?

Cheers,

Peter
 
Hello Peter, try the demo it's free and you'll be able to see for yourself what the frame rates do on your system. My system jumps all over. little above 30 down to 5 and back. But it did that before ASN so I'll have to say ASN didn't affect my frame rates. Seems smooth to me even with the fluctuating rate. I use ASN with REX textures. Very satisfied with it, it stopped the bucking bronco effect I had with the 737 NGX whenever REX injected weather. Really like the frooglesim guy myself! Let us know how it works out.

Blue sky
 
Hi Peter!

Just got the ASN myself, and no FPS hit caused by it. Before ASN I ran AS2012 for weather and textures. Since ASN doesn't have textures of its own, when installing ASN I uninstalled AS2012 and installed my old REX back for textures. So I now have the same setup as David.

Also, I wouldn't believe ASN could hit your FPS anyway. It's only a weather injector after all, and if it gives you too much clouds or something for your computer to handle, you can always tune down the amount of clouds generated from the ASN settings :)

Aleksi

P.S. So far, ASN has been a flawless weather engine, best one so far with experience of REX and AS2012 ;)
 
Hi David, hi Aleksi,

thanks for the swift replies! I checked out the demo and what can I say... it's indeed a new weather experience in FSX. OPUS is really good in depicting real-world weather in real-time (the MO I usually employ) but ASN - now that's a complete different tale to tell.

I did some flights with ASN and among the first things I realized was the increased "dynamic" of the atmosphere. Now you get the feeling, that you're actually flying through an atmosphere of a living breathing planet... to put it in somewhat poetic words. As user of FS Passengers I had quite some trouble dealing with the ever so frequent appearning turbulence and screaming PAX in the back.

Another feature that really convinced me with... well flying colors if you will... was the view outside my cockpit window. I am a PMDG Nut and hence low FPS can be an issue sometimes. But - using the standard cloud-textures of FSX - even with slightly increased settings, the cloud-scenery was amazing and levels beyond OPUS.

And there's yet another topic that sold ASN: the weather injection is practically not visible. With OPUS and the PMDG 737NGX I had some fancy overspeed issues, when new weather got injected (i.e. downloaded into FSX). That's history now :)

I'll use the remainder of the trial period to test further but that thing is a no-brainer. Easy to use, seamless weather integration and... boy, what a sunset! :fly:


Cheers,


Peter
 
Something I've noticed after 10+ flights with ASN:

It often crashes when trying to process long flightplans. For example, flying from Paris to Kuwait City, I wasn't able to change my altitude in ASN (clicking "refresh" in the flight plan section would crash it), nor was I able to look at the briefing. I'm sure they'll improve its stability further at some point, and clearly not everyone has this issue, but for now that makes the planning feature in it obsolete for long flights, when it would be the most important.

Also, it has, a couple of times, stacked multiple layers of same clouds on top of each other. Not often though, once per 5 flights :D

Still by far the best weather I've used. Just complaining for the heck of it. Nothing's perfect :p
 
Also - if using FSUIPC - make sure, that the latest version is installed. ASN caused a mean CTD a few times reporting it isn't able to "controll ambient weather". Aside from having updated FSUIPC one has to make sure that the modules of ASN (two .dll-files in the ASN folder in the FSX directory) are listed as an exception in any antivirus software current on the pc ASN is running on.
And somebody found out that the setting "read-only" for the FSX folder might prevent ASN from creating a log file causing a CTD. This can be changed in the folder properties. After I did all that I had no CTDs and superb framerates.

I took a flight with OPUS after doing a few flights with ASN... and I don't think, that I'll ever be able to go back... it just too cool to have such realistic weather :yes: Happy Landings!
 
Well, luckily no FSX CTDs for me yet :) Only ASN itself has crashed, and that is only a matter of restarting it again.
 
hi guys, but this product it's possible buy with discount from Air-Child?
 
:wonder: hmmm... good question. I've bought that baby some time ago now and though the price might cause a moment of pain it was worth every cent so far. Still it would be great if someone could look into the possibility of getting a "nice price" version of it...

Speaking of which... how does one participates in that "VA Discount" thingy? I read something about applying for it... but I sounded somewhat complicated... like PMing the owner of ACH or something. May anybody elaborate on this?


Cheers,


Pete
 
Peter Mueller said:
Speaking of which... how does one participates in that "VA Discount" thingy? I read something about applying for it... but I sounded somewhat complicated... like PMing the owner of ACH or something. May anybody elaborate on this?
Click to expand...
Should be pretty simple :) once you've gathered 50 or more points, go to: Pilot's Lounge --> VA Discounts. There you should be able to request a discount code. It'll take a while for you to receive one. From a few days to maybe a month. And if the page tells you "data error", then try again later :)

Aleksi
 
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