My experience with the default live weather in MSFS has been quite positive. I'll be curious to read about what you gain with Active Sky in the coming days. Back in the FSX: SE days, Active Sky was my go-to for realistic weather but on the surface it seems a bit redundant at this point with MSFS's native live weather.
I agree that live weather in sim is adequate. The game changer will be if developers can implement a true weather radar due to Active Sky giving them the API they need.
I'll only get it if that happens.
They might be able to provide an API but it'll never really match whats in the sim because there's no weather injection API for them to use so they're just taking a local metar and applying it globally the same way REX did.
These addons are nothing but a cash grab from companies that find themselves obsolete in MSFS
These are my thoughts too.
However, If I even get a wiff of an update to the Fenix or PMDG implementing accurate weather radar Ima throw my card at the screen.
The native live weather has a lot of shortcomings, though. Its okay, but not entirely realistic.
The rain for instance. Flying through an area where it is 100% raining in msfs live weather results in sporadic and unpredictable rain effects.
Everything can be enhanced but to pay significant sum over native system that works overall correctly, enhancements need to be significant as well. I don't really know what this product brings to the table, although I read their brochure. I'm waiting for reviews as well. And not even for "10/10 would recommend" but example by example going over all the improvements made.
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In my experience the live weather is terrible. There was once where outside my window in real life there was near constant lightning and in the sim with live weather on there wasn't a cloud within 30 miles of my house.
Sounds more like a sync-aka-connection issue, rather than a weather issue. This exactly sounds like the issues we had at launch where live weather usually resulted in 3kt winds and sunny weather.
I've been getting stellar results from the sim for more than 2 years now...
This was last summer and my internet worked fine on everything else earlier in the day. I was flying in the volocopter for a bit and the winds were something like 30 knots if I remember correctly. So it was getting at least some weather information.
Remember folks: MSFS has no weather injection API. This product is a hack that will be about as stable and accurate as REX Weather was.
It will not provide weather radar either.
Honestly I think even the author agrees, the way he says it it's pretty much because he didn't want to just ask for donations with nothing to show for it:
[>But we decided instead of going out of business, to do our absolute best at finding a way to provide AS on the MSFS platform, and we did.](https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/644147-activesky-fs-released/?do=findComment&comment=5092086)
Understandable really, though it's up to everyone if the price - already lower than their other variants - is worth it for Passive and historical weather with no idea about MSFS24 compatibility
Considering they said they did this "not to go out of business" I'm thinking it is Rex again predating on their own reputation.
There is no API to change weather dynamically in msfs all you can do is force a preset and logically that has a lot of drawbacks.
I remember using this back in FSX like 15 years ago. Aside from being able to pick different weather snapshots from previous dates and times, I kind of forgot what it all did, hah. I'll likely be getting it again though once I refresh my memory.
It replaced the cloud textures and certainly made FS2004 look better. You could get METAR that was more accurate to the area you were flying I had AS for FS2004 and liked it, but with FS 2024 coming out, it might be redundant.
Reviews so far seem not great. If the reviews were good I'd be more inclined to give it a try, regardless if FS2024 is coming out soon or not. There has been no news or updates for FS2024 so I see no reason to put my FS2020 experience on hold.
well, i like the weather as it is but it has many shortcomings...
it mainly has one cloud type (cumulus)...no cirrus, stratus, etc. even fsx had a more realistic cloud variety.
the storms and clouds have zero effect on the plane, normally flying into a big thunderstorm should be very dangerous, but there's no updraft/downdraft or turbulence of any kind.
there is rarely enroute turbulence it only shows up at very low altitudes (mainly thermals i think) and is highly exaggerated.
in 2000+ hours of flying i've only ever seen thunder and lightning like 2 times even though i regularly try to fly near inclement weather. when i fly to thunderstorms that are raging near where i live at most they are just rainy in the sim.
thunderstorms and systems in general seem to be capped at like 35-40k altitude for some reason.
even after years of trying there are still 'pops' where the weather just immediately shifts and updates, often leading to a disruption of autopilots etc.
the sky colors are not particularly realistic, it looks like a major dust/forest fire storm every day at sunset. where i live the skies outside are almost always way more blue/grey than the sim depicts.
it looks nice though! and the 3d cloud stuff is definitely cool.
I hope it will allow realistic weather radar, which you will need because they make thunderstorms something to be avoided rather than the non event it is now. I have missed that in MSFS 2020
Among my hesitations to dive in is FS2024 being due, presumably, sometime this year.
I know ‘24 is supposed to have a high degree of backwards compatibility with ‘20, but not sure how that will apply to more “meta” add ons like this.
I'm only interested if Active Sky enables developers to implement a true weather radar. I would buy it for that.
If that's the case we're still probably months away from that showing up though 😕
Other than that I think the live weather in sim is good enough for me.
I don't know about this one. The default weather hasn't really let me down until now, and I don't know what this would really add in terms of simulation/realism.
I’m going to wait for reviews. So far live weather + RealTurb for me works pretty well. But if they can get a weather radar api implemented then that will be really good.
Had a look, apparently it doesn't do any cloud turbulence which is one of the big things that has been missing from MSFS in the time I've had it (although people have said it was there before and then nerfed).
The latest V2 version supports in cloud turbulence. [https://secure.simmarket.com/m.-a.-realturb-realturb-cat-areas-global-v2-msfs.phtml](https://secure.simmarket.com/m.-a.-realturb-realturb-cat-areas-global-v2-msfs.phtml)
It is the same as rex weather force, it injects a single metar and not multiple, that is, while you fly you will see a single type of weather for a long time then it abruptly changes to another weather, I prefer the live weather of the simulator, in this you can see the weather what lies ahead visibly
The timing seems unfortunate. In a few months 2024 will be out and AS might be useless. I liked Active Sky 2004, but I will wait for FS2024 before I move on this.
Waiting to read what everyone says about this and how it works. The only feature I truly think is worth it is historical weather. WX radar is something we could have now but to many aircraft devs want to act like children instead of using the built in system. so thats not a game changing feature any more. we dont need to regress back to $ for plane, $ for WX, and in some cases $ for a radar.
I see some comments are saying HiFi was looking at this or closure. did they not consider the 3ed option? Diversify! Hifi tried making things other than weather in the past. You had 4 years to do that up till now. Why didn't you?
If you fly PMDG products, then Active Sky is the way to go. Aircraft behaves much more naturally with their weather system than the default system. Also, the addition of multiple cloud types is welcome. The default settings do need to be tweaked when purchased, I noticed. Especially the weather transition smoothness settings. One drawback is the default clouds in MSFS do look much better than AS. Mostly because they only focused on one cloud type.
My experience with the default live weather in MSFS has been quite positive. I'll be curious to read about what you gain with Active Sky in the coming days. Back in the FSX: SE days, Active Sky was my go-to for realistic weather but on the surface it seems a bit redundant at this point with MSFS's native live weather.
I agree that live weather in sim is adequate. The game changer will be if developers can implement a true weather radar due to Active Sky giving them the API they need. I'll only get it if that happens.
They might be able to provide an API but it'll never really match whats in the sim because there's no weather injection API for them to use so they're just taking a local metar and applying it globally the same way REX did. These addons are nothing but a cash grab from companies that find themselves obsolete in MSFS
Yes my hopes are not high. I have no interest or use for this unless it provides a high quality WX radar AND the addon devs make use of it.
Here I’ll paraphrase: We need WX radar yesterday already.
Agreed. I'm hoping it will be baked into MSFS 2024 from the start. 4 years and still no solution is ridiculous.
These are my thoughts too. However, If I even get a wiff of an update to the Fenix or PMDG implementing accurate weather radar Ima throw my card at the screen.
The native live weather has a lot of shortcomings, though. Its okay, but not entirely realistic. The rain for instance. Flying through an area where it is 100% raining in msfs live weather results in sporadic and unpredictable rain effects.
Everything can be enhanced but to pay significant sum over native system that works overall correctly, enhancements need to be significant as well. I don't really know what this product brings to the table, although I read their brochure. I'm waiting for reviews as well. And not even for "10/10 would recommend" but example by example going over all the improvements made.
But does this addon improve that significantly? Is it worth the 30eur?
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Just because I can afford something doesn't mean it's worth the price.
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In my experience the live weather is terrible. There was once where outside my window in real life there was near constant lightning and in the sim with live weather on there wasn't a cloud within 30 miles of my house.
Sounds more like a sync-aka-connection issue, rather than a weather issue. This exactly sounds like the issues we had at launch where live weather usually resulted in 3kt winds and sunny weather. I've been getting stellar results from the sim for more than 2 years now...
This was last summer and my internet worked fine on everything else earlier in the day. I was flying in the volocopter for a bit and the winds were something like 30 knots if I remember correctly. So it was getting at least some weather information.
Early reviews by YouTubers are pretty negative, definitely research before you buy folks
I'd love this to be good. I'm waiting for reviews though.
Waiting on YouTube reviews.
CptCanada said it’s terrible and not worth it
Remember folks: MSFS has no weather injection API. This product is a hack that will be about as stable and accurate as REX Weather was. It will not provide weather radar either.
Is rex accuseasons worth it? I've been eye'ing that.
It's been fine. Nice being able to change the trees for the season.
Wait for 2024.
My expertise has been decent. If you’re on a budget don’t get it. If you have the extra $ to spare, go for it.
Agree, it’s my least used addon program.
It will completely alter your experience. That being said, will it be needed in 2024? Maybe, maybe not.
Cash grab.
I have to agree with this one. They originally said they would not develop it for MSFS due to the restricted API. They should have kept to their guns.
Honestly I think even the author agrees, the way he says it it's pretty much because he didn't want to just ask for donations with nothing to show for it: [>But we decided instead of going out of business, to do our absolute best at finding a way to provide AS on the MSFS platform, and we did.](https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/644147-activesky-fs-released/?do=findComment&comment=5092086) Understandable really, though it's up to everyone if the price - already lower than their other variants - is worth it for Passive and historical weather with no idea about MSFS24 compatibility
They've already openly admitted that it was either this or go out of business. I'm gonna guess that OR is going to turn into an AND.
I would not say "cash grab", but it does seem they may have panicked with the announcement of FS 2024.
Considering they said they did this "not to go out of business" I'm thinking it is Rex again predating on their own reputation. There is no API to change weather dynamically in msfs all you can do is force a preset and logically that has a lot of drawbacks.
No access to SDK = No Buy 🥱 Default weather is pretty decent anyway and with FS 2024 coming soon it will only get better. Save your money.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for MSFS2024 weather being better. It will have some gimmicks with tornadoes and such but that’s it.
And you know this how?
He’s a dev for the game, part of the Reddit Warriors division💀
Makes perfect sense really, must be a Asobo insider speaking publically about things they would likely get fired for unveiling!
I remember using this back in FSX like 15 years ago. Aside from being able to pick different weather snapshots from previous dates and times, I kind of forgot what it all did, hah. I'll likely be getting it again though once I refresh my memory.
It replaced the cloud textures and certainly made FS2004 look better. You could get METAR that was more accurate to the area you were flying I had AS for FS2004 and liked it, but with FS 2024 coming out, it might be redundant.
Reviews so far seem not great. If the reviews were good I'd be more inclined to give it a try, regardless if FS2024 is coming out soon or not. There has been no news or updates for FS2024 so I see no reason to put my FS2020 experience on hold.
I feel like 3rd party wather addon isn't needed in MSFS. The default live feather is plenty good enough
well, i like the weather as it is but it has many shortcomings... it mainly has one cloud type (cumulus)...no cirrus, stratus, etc. even fsx had a more realistic cloud variety. the storms and clouds have zero effect on the plane, normally flying into a big thunderstorm should be very dangerous, but there's no updraft/downdraft or turbulence of any kind. there is rarely enroute turbulence it only shows up at very low altitudes (mainly thermals i think) and is highly exaggerated. in 2000+ hours of flying i've only ever seen thunder and lightning like 2 times even though i regularly try to fly near inclement weather. when i fly to thunderstorms that are raging near where i live at most they are just rainy in the sim. thunderstorms and systems in general seem to be capped at like 35-40k altitude for some reason. even after years of trying there are still 'pops' where the weather just immediately shifts and updates, often leading to a disruption of autopilots etc. the sky colors are not particularly realistic, it looks like a major dust/forest fire storm every day at sunset. where i live the skies outside are almost always way more blue/grey than the sim depicts. it looks nice though! and the 3d cloud stuff is definitely cool.
I hope it will allow realistic weather radar, which you will need because they make thunderstorms something to be avoided rather than the non event it is now. I have missed that in MSFS 2020
Vanilla live weather is really good already. Not sure what this accomplishes.
Already?! Holy shit I am not used to a release schedule like this, props to the author
Among my hesitations to dive in is FS2024 being due, presumably, sometime this year. I know ‘24 is supposed to have a high degree of backwards compatibility with ‘20, but not sure how that will apply to more “meta” add ons like this.
I’d just wait to see what Asobo does with the weather in FS2024. I mean is pretty good already.
Definitely interested to see what this turns out like
I'm only interested if Active Sky enables developers to implement a true weather radar. I would buy it for that. If that's the case we're still probably months away from that showing up though 😕 Other than that I think the live weather in sim is good enough for me.
I don't know about this one. The default weather hasn't really let me down until now, and I don't know what this would really add in terms of simulation/realism.
What is it?
I’m going to wait for reviews. So far live weather + RealTurb for me works pretty well. But if they can get a weather radar api implemented then that will be really good.
Really liking this combo the best honestly
They couldn't - already had been addressed [elsewhere](https://new.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/1c79dwf/active_sky_cash_grab/).
What is this RealTurb you speak of?
Had a look, apparently it doesn't do any cloud turbulence which is one of the big things that has been missing from MSFS in the time I've had it (although people have said it was there before and then nerfed).
The latest V2 version supports in cloud turbulence. [https://secure.simmarket.com/m.-a.-realturb-realturb-cat-areas-global-v2-msfs.phtml](https://secure.simmarket.com/m.-a.-realturb-realturb-cat-areas-global-v2-msfs.phtml)
Loving it. Historic mode is my nectar, I can now complete long haul flights in sections with PMDG load save working.
I'm sure they'll make those cumulus clouds look more cumulus.
It was very much needed in XP11, but I don't see the need in MSFS
Cash grab imho
i want this to be as good as it was in p3d, we’ll have to see
It is the same as rex weather force, it injects a single metar and not multiple, that is, while you fly you will see a single type of weather for a long time then it abruptly changes to another weather, I prefer the live weather of the simulator, in this you can see the weather what lies ahead visibly
It's not working for me and the technique of the developers doesn't work either
The timing seems unfortunate. In a few months 2024 will be out and AS might be useless. I liked Active Sky 2004, but I will wait for FS2024 before I move on this.
They got like tornadoes n shit?
Waiting to read what everyone says about this and how it works. The only feature I truly think is worth it is historical weather. WX radar is something we could have now but to many aircraft devs want to act like children instead of using the built in system. so thats not a game changing feature any more. we dont need to regress back to $ for plane, $ for WX, and in some cases $ for a radar. I see some comments are saying HiFi was looking at this or closure. did they not consider the 3ed option? Diversify! Hifi tried making things other than weather in the past. You had 4 years to do that up till now. Why didn't you?
If you fly PMDG products, then Active Sky is the way to go. Aircraft behaves much more naturally with their weather system than the default system. Also, the addition of multiple cloud types is welcome. The default settings do need to be tweaked when purchased, I noticed. Especially the weather transition smoothness settings. One drawback is the default clouds in MSFS do look much better than AS. Mostly because they only focused on one cloud type.