Question regarding FSGRW vs ASXP

[FlyAgi]

Hi there,

first I want to thank you for the latest 4.8 update as it fixes some points I did not like in the 4.7 version especially regarding the overcast alike clouds, the new ones are more detailed and not just a plain greyish cloud so SMP is now my favourite again.

Btw, I still love the crisp clouds, not the most natural solution but still very beautiful. I was really impressed by this thick cloud formation, in flight it seemed massive an huge and something like this I've never seen with any default clouds based system (including my own one I developed more or less by accident): 

 

So, this is my question: 

I own ASXP and this seemed to work fine with SMP and RWC so far but I noticed ASXP is taking some fps (in general, not related to SMP) I would like to know if FSGRW also takes some FPS (compared to the default real world weather) or does it work differently? Further, as the visuals with ASXP are fine for the most part I would like to know what benefits does FSGRW provide over ASXP when used with SMP and RWC? Will I see more variety in clouds or something like this? Does FSGRW communicate directly with RWC and not just over the metar.rwx and provides more useful information than ASXP? 

I'm currently considering buying FSGRW but I need some more information if this makes sense and if this could possibly kill my FPS (my cpu is old and at its limits so losing 5 FPS compared to ASXP would be very bad for me). 

 

 

 

 

[sundog]

I haven't run any performance test between FSGRW and ASXP, so I'll have to defer to others to comment on that.

FSGRW does have a tighter intergation with RWC and SMP however. They also communicate via the METAR data, but they include extra information for us in their METAR that we know how to interpret in order to display specific cloud types that aren't part of X-Plane's default choices.

[FlyAgi]

Okay... that's a point... I think I will give it a try and hope performance will be okay (have some coupon for the pilot's so I don't have to pay the full price I hope). 

:-)

[FlyAgi]

I finally got FSGRW and the results seem to look even better than with ASXP. I have flown in a similar weather situation like on the ASXP screen in my first post but today with FSGRW this transition from scattered into broken clouds looks much more detailed, there seem to be more layers or vertical variety for the cloud puffs and overall I think this is the best one can get out of SkyMaxx Pro - very impressive overall.

 

Transition from scattered to broken with ASXP (seen multiple times like this)

 

Similar situation with FSGRW instead (not the same angle and altitude but I see clearly more vertical variety in scattered cumulus placement)

 

And this was the first cloud formation I've seen after installing FSGRW and it's why I think there is an advantage with FSGR over ASXP

[sundog]

Glad you're enjoying it! FSGRW knows that SkyMaxx Pro and Real Weather Connector can represent basically an unlimited number of cloud layers at distinct locations and altitudes, and I do think they take advantage of that.

[FlyAgi]

Well... I'm glad myself. As I did not like the 4.7 version that much because of some downsides (4.8 fixes all of them) I was messing around with other concepts and tried my own clouds system but I never get this feeling of correct clouds placement, feeling for the distance and position of the clouds in the air I always experienced with SkyMaxx Pro. I don't know what's the magic here but SMP is the only cloud concept (not only in the X-Plane space of things but globally) giving me this kind of volumetric feel. Performance is fine since the 4.7 performance boost, not the fastest available (modified default clouds even with high res textures are slightly faster) but very close. 

:-)