Is Active Sky Really Better Than MSFS Weather? | Full Review & Live Weather Comparison for MSFS 2020
Active Sky was a must have program years ago for virtual pilots using FSX, X-Plane and p3d. These flight simulators could'nt do live weather injection very well. MSFS 2020 however, is another matter and so, is Active Sky really better than MSFS's default live weather? In this video, we compare the two against real live weather from around the world and find out.
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wow this is the absolute BEST way to compare the 2 by showing the live real world pictures. Genius my friend. have always trusted and respected your input
wsg blu
No.... The portion of Sky you see live Is NOT that of both programs.... comparison was a non sense
Thank you for this. TOP compare! I'm staying with MSFS.
Saving the money for the PMDG 777.
I live in Montreal and many times after flying, I’ll leave the house and see the exact same weather in real life as in the sim. Often, right down to the colour. I’m one of the 80%. No need to pick up active sky for me.
Staying with MSFS weather. Thank you for the comparison!
Thank you for this video. You've just saved me the cost of buying the Active Sky package. The only element that would be of benefit would be to have a save facility to capture my favourite weather systems I've flown so I'm able to replicate this again at some future point.
Thank you for the review. Been waiting for someone to do a proper review. I was in 2 minds but now I will wait till October(heard rumours this is a possible release date) to see what MS 2024 is like.Cheers.
Thanks for the comparison. Thanks for keeping everything as objective/real/honest as possible. The footage speaks for itself, will stick to default for now. I'm sure AS will improve with updates eventually. I think the MSFS default uses a lot more data from meteoblu weather models to supplement the METAR, whereas AS seems to use a METAR only approach. The METAR data in a lot of places will give the minimum detail necessary regarding the weather, ie. I've seen a lot of CAVOK metars with zero info on clouds whereas in actual fact there are multiple cloud layers present that do not affect the ability to carry out VMC approaches. I think that this is where MSFS weather wins.
Got it on day one just for Historical. If Weather Radar comes within the year (for PMDG injection, I mean) then so much the better. MSFS default weather is fine. I don't use AS for that (yet, until improved). I had AS for all sims going back to FSX, X-Plane, etc. I guess it's akin to supporting my sports team. For me it's for fun and imagination. Wonderful review. Really good! Barty
Its fair to say that AS is going to improve over time as all other iterations did and its still early days. For me the historical weather feature is the real biggie. You do probably need to read the manual and apply the settings that you prefer in order to get the best experience. Did you ever do a comparison video with Rex Weather Force ? That would be equally interesting. Well thought out and crafted video though.
this is a complete waste of money who are you kidding
@@umbreonpokemon8190 You may well be right, but if we are ever going to get a proper working weather radar, this program has the best chance of succeeding in that aim. Just looking at how many clouds are depicted is missing the whole point of the program. Its the flying experience that makes the difference and this wasn't explored in the video at all. Time will tell if I'm right. Just my opinion, but to my eye MSFS weather is over dramatized to the point of where it looks stupid. Ask a real pilot what they think.
@@umbreonpokemon8190stick to playing pokemon mate leave simulation stuff to the adults..
Thanks for the comparison! i think im gonna wait since we are so close to msfs 2024
Amazing video as always! Awesome editing!
Thanks for the video. I think I will sit on the fence a while longer.
Great comparison video, thanks! I'll keep saving for the triple I think.
I was waiting for this, thanks!
Now this is doing a comparison the right way. Active Sky may have bells and whistles people will be interested in but for me I’m looking for the closest representation of live weather, I don’t expect perfection and MS delivers in this video.
Having had active Sky for Xplane some years ago was thinking about getting this but watching your video it’s definite no. MSFS weather does a great job I’ve always thought and this video confirms that belief. Just saved some money. Thanks.
Nicely done comparison. I have to say though that i was surprised to hear you criticize Active Sky for injecting clouds that were "flat" or "lack depth", when the real world picture we'd just seen was of stratus layers. Stratus clouds, by definition, are flat and DO lack vertical development... And have been entirely missing in MSFS live weather for ages (excepting a fog layer). It's nice to see actual stratus clouds in the sim where they should be. Certainly, which sky appearance anyone prefers is subjective, but it does look to me like Active Sky's depiction of those clouds was the more accurate, anyway.
i agree, and i have been using activeskyfs for the past few days. it looks much better cloud layer wise and stratus layer wise. also i fly in alaska alot and the TAT temps have been way off using msfs live wx at fl350 it shows -21 when it should be -65. day one of using activesky it showed the temps correctly as i have known activesky to be. i enjoy it
Thanks for putting this together. The thing I miss about Active Sky is the historical weather, the fact that the real time weather in MSFS looks to be satisfactory puts AS down on the list of things I want to get.
It's great for augmenting the live wx with all those effects. In a GA airplane, the air is moving the whole time. But the main reason for me to buy it is the historical wx. Sure, it's just metar-based, but that's better than no historical wx at all!
What a video!! Excellent job!
I'd have to say that the MSFS live weather coupled with RealTurb CAT app makes for a great combination. even has cloud turbulence.! while not perfect, it's a whole lot cheaper and more user-friendly. With Active sky (user since fsx days), the sudden weather shifts due to the point to point weather station injection was rather brutal, with msfs live weather, the transition feels seamless and smooth.
The MSFS Live Weather had its issues, yes. But as it is now, MSFS Live Weather is actually fairly accurate. Still not perfect, but definitely a pretty significant improvement. In my personal opinion, and as much as it hurts to write this (I was very happy with Active Sky in FSX), I don't think it's needed at this moment.
Everything is always "it will get better over time" or "it has potential" how about just release good products from the get go?
@@masso392 Microsoft will never implement the weather API from Meteoblue. Until then you cannot experience real life tornadoes, hurricanes or extreme weather events.
@@masso392 I think it has something to do with a lack of patience, amongst a number of people in the simming community. And I won't blame the developers in any way. My opinion : The more time they get to invest in the product, the better the product we're going to get (usually). 😉
@@JGE_DK three years after the fact is a perfectly reasonable time to run out of patience, stop being a bootlicker
@@doltBmB I think you should work on YOUR patience. Or maybe stuff it to MS and solve all these issues in a weekend with a laptop and a flashlight. You have no idea how pushing a next gen platform goes with growing pains. So maybe you should try being a bootlicker. It might give you some perspective.
Nice video Gavin as always. I’ll be sticking with MSFS. I’ve always felt right from day one that the default weather system is so well integrated into the sim that any outsider that tries to add to this will never succeed. I’ve always been a REX supporter myself and I think that they greatly improved the weather experience in FSX and P3D but they have not really been able to get a foot in the door with MSFS. We’ll see what MSFS 2024 has to offer, but to be honest, personally I won’t be rushing to upgrade to that in a hurry with so much good stuff still being produced for MSFS 2020, Beyond ATC being one of them. It’s taken 4 years for this sim to become somewhere near mature already. Will we have to go through all that again and then get MSFS 2028 arrive?
Thanks for the great video! For me, the historic weather is the biggest advantage. Since I usually only have time to fly in the evening, I always have "evening" weather situations in "live weather" mode. This often means less turbulence, cloud patterns that have dissipated during the day due to the sun, etc. The possibility that now exists with AS to simply set the time in the sim back a few hours and to have the weather situations in the morning or at noon, I find outstanding. For this reason, the purchase was worthwhile for me. Happy landings to all of you and thanks again for the detailed video.
I'm about to purchase it for the same reasons. I fly mostly in the evening and when I'm in many coastal areas, I can get a lot of fog that you would experience in real Live Weather with Live Time. If I can change the time for today back to perhaps 1pm, then my chances of seeing less fog and something closer to real weather would suit my needs just fine. I think it is worth the gamble to see how it goes.
I have gone and purchased AS and i agree with what Gav said about the MSFS live weather being overall better in depiction in most scenarios, i do feel though that AS might be worth it for the effects alone to a degree, now dont get me wrong i have only done 1 flight so far with AS and the MSFS live weather complimenting each other (in other words in Passive mode within AS) but i did experience CAT and turbulence within the clouds although i will say i did also notice that sometimes the METAR's were different for each injector IE (AS and MSFS Live weather) if you have purchased it the best way i would say to use AS is in passive mode at the minute as it has the MSFS Live weather depiction but with the AS effects IE (Turbulence etc) and they way to check to see if these effects are taking place is on the debug tab in AS, My flight was with the FBW A32NX from Manchester to Frankfurt and i can say that i also experienced what Gav did at Manchester with the no thunderstorm with CB's option ticked.
Thanks for the comparison! I think for me the historical weather is still an essential feature - and maybe this will nudge Microsoft to incorporate it as a feature in some way, at least for 2024 when it comes out. I like flying in places that aren't necessarily in a timezone compatible with my schedule, and it's a real loss of immersion when the weather is clearly for the wrong time of day. Even a 24-hour cycle of history would be useful. I was a happy ActiveSky user for a decade, and I think I'll make the jump back here, even if I do agree that MSFS weather depiction does look better in most places.
Nudge Microsoft? It will take more than nudging to get them to listen to the customers.
@@MegaPeedee And yet with EVERY single dev blog, they are adding things the community wants. But simmers like you will probably bash them endlessly if they just fail to bring in ONE thing you "need above everything else". They listen to their customers ALL the time. but they will not bend over to every simmer's unrealistic demand. So please, for once be a simmer who don't flat out lie with a statement like this.
Thank you. I will stay with MSFS Live Weather for now ✌🏻
I'm sorry as I'm sure you could ask this a lot and I checked the video description, would you be kind enough just to tell me which AI traffic program you use? Your traffic looks awesome
For the only reason i got active sky is for history weather. Im from Argentina but i like flying in europe or new zeland. So this is a hugh adventage to simulate traffic and weather whatever time i want jaja .
Hey Gavin, any chance to compare it with REX? May you already did a comparison. Good video as usual !
Very useful and well executed comparison with the perhaps one observation i.e. that maybe a more diverse selection of weather conditions would help with the comparison. However I'm one of the 80% who was quite happy with the MSFS weather so I see nothing to get excited about with AS.
hmm i don t know . As a meteorologist I could say that not the cloud depth and contrast matters here . i think what matter is the right type of layer clouds avalabile . so in that particullary case which you say that the clouds are too flat i thing that is exactly what should be as stratocumulus are not vertically clouds. so depends of what you see in the sky . i will try the app and see it by myself .
would love to see a video on the turbulence, windshear, and other effects that active sky provides that msfs is currently lacking a lot. I use realturb for the turbulence effects but it still won't simulate a microburst.
With active sky the turbulence are better I’m happy now
@@mattiabarchi9982 i use msfs weather + active sky turbulence, i thinks its called passive mode
Another well balanced comparison thanks, I think MSFS might win for now👍
Excellent comparison, thank you very much for your work! What about the in-clouds turbulence? Is ActiveSky able to replicate it?
Goid so i dont need AS unless i hear PMDG and Fenix talking about a weather radar. Thnak you!
In all fairness, I think you need to look through the settings, read the 50 page manual. I saw one setting that enhances cumulus due to the way weather is reported at different weather stations.
Very good comparison 👍🏼
Please make a comparative video with sky force weather and default weather of msfs 20020/ active sky. Thanks!
Great video, thanks!
I purchased Active Sky two days ago excited by what I read. But so far, I am finding it hard to see any real difference. I use it for GA flying around the UK in a 172. You said the clouds looked flat by comparison to MSFS weather but I went to into General Options to check my graphics settings were configured the best they can be for my specs and I didn't have the cloud issues in Active Sky that you mentioned. I am not unhappy with it, but for $25 I would have expected more of a wow factor.
I remember 3rd party addons' wheather radar in prepar3d only worked with Active Sky. Will developers implement now the wheather radar in fenix or pmdg to use it with Active Sky? I only will purchase active sky if they bring the chance to have a functional weather radar. If not, I'm very happy with the default msfs wheather.
It’s only $25, not terrible.
I bought it only because I am hoping they do what they had done with P3D plus we can have functional weather radar inside aircraft. In addition, you can use passive mode if you don't like the weather injection. It is fairly new, do you remember the early days of GSX?
Dang, and to know active sky used to be the beast back on fsx, I'm shocked. Like other people have said, I'm saving my money for pmdg 777
The biggest issue with AS is that it still can't handle more than one weather cell - which is not the plugin's fault thanks to MS. But like in WF, this leads to loading a weather scenery at the beginning of a flight, then after the refresh interval completely and most importantly VISIBLY unloading it until the sky is completely clear, then loading it again. It's simply no use buying it. Other than that, the side-by-side comparison is nice but maybe a bit unfair as both solutions struggle with an almost correct weather depiction
MSFS live weather wins by far for me
Except for snow coverage
Yep, by far
Play with the settings in AS. I've done about 20 hours with it. It is by far superior and more "realistic" compared to the default weather. It's not even close.
True
@@david_____62532right. Bro is trippin’
Personally I still think MSFS has the edge and I don't see any advantage using Active Sky. However the windshear, wake turbulence etc is interesting. Gavin you mentioned in you stream the other night how as soon as it stops raining the ground dries out. Like you this has bugged me a bit. Hope they can sort this out in 2024. Good review though.
API. This is the advantage of AS if this API will allow to create weather radars for 3rd party add-ons (pmdg, Fenix, etc.)
@@AVlad-eg3ds It won't however. Stated by Asobo and the dev already.
@@AVlad-eg3ds Yes. I remember 3rd party addons' wheather radar in prepar3d only worked with Active Sky. Will developers implement now the wheather radar in fenix or pmdg to use it with Active Sky? I only will purchase active sky if they bring the chance to have a functional weather radar. If not, I'm very happy with the default msfs wheather.
@@nalesnikgames3010Meteoblue i would imagine wouldn't allow weather API
MSFS does not have the edge. It's not even close. Turbulance system is by far superior in Active Sky. Also, having multiple cloud types is a big advantage with AS. Everything works, looks and feels better in it. I've done 25 or so hours on 3 continents with it. Most of these reviewers spent an hour or two with it and didn't adjust any of the settings.
Great review. You're absolutely right, the clouds in AS look very flat. They have an FSX feel to me. MSFS looks much better.
I would like to see you revisit this after a few updates and after you get more familiar with the program. Even I think MSFS looks better with your comparison and I've flow easily 100 flights with ASFS and it is far better in most areas , turbulence, wind effects and realistic cloud levels and types included - cirrus, stratus are not necessarily pretty but they are accurate. Not every cloud is cumulus - but they are dramatic.
Following all the positive comments on the MSFS Facebook groups, I was on the verge of buying this but having now seen it for myself, I think I’m going to stick with MSFS. Thanks for the great comparison.
MSFS Live Weather looks amazing to me, especially if you're able to have Ultra Vol Clouds. I'll stick to MSFS weather, can't wait to see what MSFS2024 has stored for us. Thank you for the video!
Active Sky adds historical weather, which is its main feature, and will probably allow for a weather radar in sophisticated add-on planes. Why is this not possible in MSFS after four years?
It is possible, addon developers are just too pissy to use it.
They are having an issue to depict 3D weather in space due to the fact that THIS platform is next gen and does not work like previous platforms. It is extensively data source driven in the background and the weather radar needs to be developed on a data source delivery platform. I think this is proven to be a bigger challenge than us uninformed simmers can comprehend. There is a WXR but it is only a 2D representation which devs DON'T want to use, which is a pity. But they are working on this, and we might only see it in FS2024 initially.
To both of those that responded: If it’s too complicated, impractical or whatever for ANY devs to integrate into their products, nor does Asobo themselves by default, then it essentially doesn’t work. The original commenter is right, 4 years in and Asobo still hasn’t integrated weather radar or implemented historical weather… there’s no excuse for that.
It’s a technical limitation right now in MSFS. If they could figure a way around it they would. There are signs it is being worked in for 2024
I remember 3rd party addons' wheather radar in prepar3d only worked with Active Sky. Will developers implement now the wheather radar in fenix or pmdg to use it with Active Sky? I only will purchase active sky if they bring the chance to have a functional weather radar. If not, I'm very happy with the default msfs wheather.
I do not fully agree, but that is partly about what things are important for me personally. Historical weather is very important to me, being able to watch and edit my recording of an approach I made the night before. That live weather mode of MSFS is not letting me skip back (or save it properly as far as I know). Not having a normal way of setting groundvisibility has always been a very big annoyance for me. About the weather depection being more accurate in MSFS: I found it hard to tell. Did you ever have 9KM visibility in the METAR of a Thailand airport and watched how MSFS shows this? It is almost like CAT II conditions. I hope AS will help me more with this, especially when newer versions are developed (in FSX and P3D it also needed some development). I look forward to more control on the turbulence in- and outside clouds. MSFS live weather might be beautiful skypainting wise, but it is too much black box for me and I prefer to have more control and insight what is happening. May be that is my older history with FS2->FSX and P3D I don't know LOL. Finally: it is important to put all your settings right including download interval which might make comparing difficult in vids like this. Starting AS after MSFS launch may also have a negative effect om some details.
When AS is just recently released I don’t think it was far off MSFS live weather. I’m a huge fan of AS and think it has great potential consider that Live weather has been with MSFS from the beginning. The great advantage is that maybe we can get the weather radar in PMDG finally to work when AS is now out on the market.😊
MSFS engine really putting up a fight, that’s nice to see, it’s a waiting game for me now, PMDG 777-300ER, and flying out of DXB to everywhere is on the horizon soon 😬 can’t wait for that
Just wanted to make a point that you can have MSFS live weather and Active Sky turbulence engine which for me is a win win 👍 Option is called passive injection or something like that.
Explain more. If this is the case then I’ll definitely buy AS
@@bravocharlie24 That's all there is to explain. You can use AS in two modes 1) total weather injection and 2) injection of air effects (4 types of turbulence, including wake turbulence! drafts, thermals etc.) combined with MSFS live weather. Easy to switch with one click.
Sim Depiction option in WX control. You need to set to passive for MSFS weather and AS turbulence and stuff
Or just buy real Cat turbulence and use that with default weather for a lower cost….
@@ianrivaldosmithprogram is buggy and makes some add on aircraft uncontrollable
I personally do not see any major advantage of active sky, it’s just another application running in the background and to setup where as MSFS gives you an accurate presentation maybe not quite real life but considering it’s built in i prefer it. Maybe for VFR it may be more beneficial
For the most part I thought default looked better in your comparison shots. That said planning on a tour of Africa, so might get it for that as last time I tried MSFS & P2ATC never agreed on the weather at all.. ..
From watching this video, I get the impression that Active Sky is still based only on METARs (ie. "weather islands" around medium to large airports, with interpolation for anything between them), while MSFS Live Weather combines METARs with a comprehensive global weather forecast. At least HiFi Simulations has the self-awareness to sell this iteration of Active Sky for half the price. I'm gonna stick with MSFS weather for now.
Thanks for saving me 30e :)
You should include also REX weather Force as it has been around for along time in msfs
Great stuff as usual. However, the biggest benefit I hope to get from AS is the removal of the benigning effect of low qnh conditions that Asobo do to make the game "manageable" by the majority of players. I want to have to manage wind sheer etc with the real jeopardy. So, its not so much the look, it is the impact I want. Thx
Hi Gavin. Thx for the video. How do I update the AIRAC cycle?
For many users no app seems to be able to overcome MSFS's lack of proper cloud types and shapes/textures. Until MSFS comes up with proper towering cumulous, stratus, cirrus and all the variants of those types, I can't see any point in any software written on top of the standard weather. It is the VISUAL qualities of the clouds in MSFS that need an overhaul. As much as the default weather is impressive in some ways, every single cloud in MSFS is a variation on the standard approximation of rather indistinct cumulus. There is no classic crispness in cumulus and no classic mares tails in cirrus.
Did you try the passive mode?. I understand it that it uses msfs live weather but gives you the air effects from AS.
One thing many people forget to remember is that the MSFS model is about 15 mins or s behind what the actual weather is outside from what you'll see in the sim. I've seen this many times over my MSFS usage. People expect live to mean NOW but the reality is there's a delay. That delay in depiction is about 15 or so. Factor that is and things change, somewhat. Not saying who is more accurate or not, but in some cases maybe things get flipped.
I bought it and I think the clouds look more realistic and less cartoonist than the clumpy cumulos clouds in MSFS. Active sky does a better job of representing stratus and cirrus and the effects of flying in cloud is much more ethereal and realistic. I'm a former ATCO and weather observer so I have seen lots of clouds over the years. I think from a pilots point of view there is no contest. Possibly Easyjet sim pilot didn't have the best settings, but on my system AS looks much better and thr transitions are smoother.
100% agree. i noticed it on day one of using activeskyfs the clould layering and stratus layers were ahead of the default wx. Also msfs wx doesnt get winds aloft TAT temps correct in Alaska at fl350 TAT shows -27 on msfs wx, with activesky it shows correctly of -50+.
Not sure if its needed as I haven't brought it, but few streams ive seen have set MFS weather to clear skies, maybe that would help things? But going from your video I think mfs default weather is a winner
When I had FSX I used REX and it was leaps and bounds better than FSX generated wx.. MSFS weather is much improved and I'm sticking with it for now.
I use msfs live waether and i'm very happy with it.never used activesky for any versions of msfs.
For me, the one thing that really add realism and immersion is seamless weather transition between area. Simple METAR injector is a thing of past. Even if the turbulence or windshear is simulated properly. If it is injected abruptly with no simple transition is just deal breaker
I wish msfs would work with active sky as partners with meteoblue etc... They could really dominate in terms of atmospherics if they allowed it to happen.
ASOBO with Meteo Blue realy nailed it concerning weather depiction in MSFS period.!
Would be awesome to compare it to Rex weather . Am using rex and for me it’s more accurate than MSFS default weather So let’s see Thanks for the video, for now am keeping Rex 😊
would love a comparison with REX as well
great video , but you can run Active sky with the new passive mode under sim depiction mode which will turn on msfs live weather automatically while active sky is running , this option will give you what you are looking for : (clouds , visibility , temperatures) controlled by msfs combined with all non-weather depiction like air effects and more controlled by active sky while the other mode is active sky preset control which turns off msfs live weather automatically makes active sky takes full control of everything which needs some improvement and fixes , so i think active sky with passive mode is better than msfs live weather alone ( read active sky user guide page 24 )
well done, thanks
Active Sky is a waste of money for MSFS 2020. I bought AS as soon as it was available. I got caught up in nostalgia as AS was simply the best weather add on for FSX. Save your money and just stick with the default weather. The weather engine in MSFS is truly incredible and an underrated feature of MSFS 2020.
No, default weather lacks of historical weather and no one can use their weather data for aircraft radar
@@lha987let's be real. It sucks Asobo/Meteoblue still doesn't provide historical weather and proper radar. But there is absolutely no sim in the market right now who does weather transition between rain to clear to fog etc. They're all simple METAR injector. I give MSFS credit where it's due
I am only really interested in realistic turbulence, MSFS it is pretty much non existent. If active sky adds this I don’t really mind if the weather is 100% accurate or not. The game is really missing that, tnx for this great comparison. Maybe realturb and default weather is just as good.
MSFS2020 live weather for the win. I also use weather preset pro so I will stick with what I have now.
The free MSFS weather is great as it is. In FSX and P3D days you purchased AS because those older platforms had zero live weather depictions at that time.
fsx did
I am trying to remember, but didn't Active Sky have a setting to increase the amount the cloud cover? I haven't used AS since 2019 and I believe that there was a slider to increase cloud coverage to help reduce FPS drops on lower end simulations. I am wondering if there is a setting difference in AS vs MSFS that is reducing the overall cloud coverage in AS vs MSFS.
The turbulence and icing modeling in active sky is what appeals to me. No more loading into clear skies and having an airplane turn into an icecube on the ramp. 🥳 I also expect vast improvements over time... my biggest wish so far is for it to inject a larger area of weather and have a gradual change in conditions would be cool to see it inject the weather say 10-15 minutes behind so it can show a gradual change in conditions rather than a sudden update over 5 seconds
I'm quite happy right now with MSFS live weather + RealTurb CAT Areas Global for turbulence.
Definitely MSFS engine is better. However the cloud colors in MSFS are too gray and dark. Looks more like smoke from a fire than clouds!
I was really disappointed by the texturing of Active Sky when I used it. The ONLY thing I found that was nice for added immersion was how the rain shafts actually slowly move over top of you, and can see clouds actually moving, versus default weather being static. Maybe it will get better but I kind of wish I saved my money.
Metars have a focus on lower level cloud relating to msa/5000' and below, regardless of their technical definition. I suspect that higher cloud is somehow being overlooked by both programs. For example, low level SCT cloud can look benigh by itself, but with a OVC above it can look troublesome. It is also an amazing contrast to a ground observation and from the pointy end of an aircraft. The emphasis of one more to the vertical compared to the other with a horizontal focus is significant.
What time were the live videos?
I'll stay with MSFS live weather. Tnanks fo rthe comparaison
Note active sky is very in much still in the works was just released cause people want it badly. So I know they will be working on it constantly
Lot of ppl including myself hoping that As would have thei6own full API for 3rd party plane developers to finally add the WX radar. Active sky said thay plan to have the API, so just having another weather injection not worth it for me till they can hopefully do the weather API.
I think there is always a degree of 'the emperor's clothes, with new releases. For me, I have always been reasonably happy with MSFS weather. I probably will get AS at some point, but I would need more serious convincing.
Thanks Gavin, but the £30 is better of in my pocket, MSFS default weather is much better.
I wish I checked your video before buying it. MSFS weather looks much closer to real weather (when using Live Weather). However MSFS weather seems off when let's say it's already night in real life and you want to fly during the morning of the same day.
it was just released.. it will improve.. like all active sky products...
thank you so much
This preview doesn't do justice. METAR data which Active Sky uses is more precise to an actual airport weather (temp, pressure, wind direction, gusts/direction), than a simple look at the cloud depiction. But I agree that visually at least, MSFS default looks better and more "believable".
MSFS uses METAR data for temp, pressure, winds, too, it's exactly the same. It just doesn't use METAR for the clouds coverage.
While I agree that, in general, the live weather looks prettier compared to Active Sky based on what we saw in this video, I really don't think either one of them is doing a very good representation of live weather based on the live feeds that we were shown. For that matter, I compared Active Sky to msfs at a random airport in Alaska and afterwards pulled up the METAR and active sky was definitely closer to representing what was going on there. There was supposed to be light rain but Microsoft didn't have any rain or snow at all. Anyway, I bought this knowing that live weather differences would be a gamble, but I still wanted it for historical weather, custom weather, and maybe, if I was lucky, somehow better cloud depictions. I'm still very irritated at Microsoft for refusing to open their weather api. They say it's about licensing or they can't expose the API or whatever their excuses, but other simulators do it so I'm not sure what the problem is. Anyway, in any case, it bugs me because people will dish on Active Sky and Rex and it's like, it's not a fair fight here, they are developing at a disadvantage.
Absolutely agree, i also fly in alaska, msfs also doesnt give proper TAT winds aloft. they are drastically off. Activesky fixed that for me. Works well
you have saved me several dollars
I feel like msfs2020 live Weather are using too much cumulus in stead of status.. In stable cold cold front scenarios its almost always a stratus layer at my location. But in msfs2020 its more cumulus. Rex force does this right. Seems like active sky also use more right timed stratus