Cameron Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 Hello All, This will serve as a formal forum announcement that we have released the version 4.9.0 update for SkyMaxx Pro. All customers who have purchased SkyMaxx Pro v4 up till now have been sent an e-mail by X-Aviation with complete instructions on how to obtain your update. We have made this a very simple process! For those that purchase SkyMaxx Pro v4 from today forward, your purchased download will already be updated to version 4.9.0 for you. What if I didn't get the update e-mail? If you did not receive your update e-mail don't fret! X-Aviation has updated our system to allow all customers to update with ease, regardless of whether you received an e-mail for the update! Here's what to do: 1. Login to your X-Aviation account here: https://www.x-aviation.com/catalog/account_history.php 2. Find your original SkyMaxx Pro v4 download and re-download the file. It will download as the latest version! This release brings experimental support for Vulkan if you are a Windows user. For Mac users, please be aware Metal is not supported. You can still enjoy this v4.9.0 update when running X-Plane in OpenGL mode. The following is a list of additions/fixes included: What's New / Changed: Lower default scattered coverage from 40% to 30% when weather data does not specify a coverage value Increase max number of precipitation particles Fix fog and cloud/terrain blending in VR Added new "force weather reload" menu option More accurate cloud altitudes when used with Real Weather Connector METAR cloud heights converted from AGL to MSL using the elevation of the reporting weather station, not the elevation of the viewpoint Experimental Vulkan support for X-Plane 11.50 As always, thanks for purchasing from X-Aviation!
Wendy Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 Cannot install on Mac Catalina, produces an error warning about CPU not supported.
Cameron Posted April 2, 2020 Author Report Posted April 2, 2020 5 minutes ago, Wendy said: Cannot install on Mac Catalina, produces an error warning about CPU not supported. I'm assuming this is happening after you get through some of the installer screens? Sounds like you have updated to Catalina after already having SkyMaxx Pro installed, which means your uninstaller is from old architecture. In this situation you will need to take the following steps: 1. Go to X-Plane/X-Aviation folder and delete the following file: Uninstall SkyMaxx Pro 2. Go to X-Plane/resources/plugins and delete the following folder: Silverlining 3. Re-run the v4.9.0 installer
owine Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Cameron said: I'm assuming this is happening after you get through some of the installer screens? Sounds like you have updated to Catalina after already having SkyMaxx Pro installed, which means your uninstaller is from old architecture. In this situation you will need to take the following steps: 1. Go to X-Plane/X-Aviation folder and delete the following file: Uninstall SkyMaxx Pro 2. Go to X-Plane/resources/plugins and delete the following folder: Silverlining 3. Re-run the v4.9.0 installer This worked - thanks. 1
Chase911 Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 21 minutes ago, Cameron said: METAR cloud heights converted from AGL to MSL using the elevation of the reporting weather station, not the elevation of the viewpoint I am confused with this statement. If a weather station is reporting an overcast layer at 1000 feet. That means at 1000 AGL there will be an overcast layer. So like Denver Int. for exp is 5000 something MSL. So an overcast layer would actually be at 6000 MSL. So how will this new code work with METAR reports? If I was landing into KDEN, I would look to break out at around 1000 feet above the runway. Has this changed? Thanks for the Update, and I'm ecstatic that this is working with 11.5. However, I do not run Betas, but it's good to know once it goes to release, my weather will still work. : ) Dave.
sundog Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Chase911 said: I am confused with this statement. If a weather station is reporting an overcast layer at 1000 feet. That means at 1000 AGL there will be an overcast layer. So like Denver Int. for exp is 5000 something MSL. So an overcast layer would actually be at 6000 MSL. So how will this new code work with METAR reports? If I was landing into KDEN, I would look to break out at around 1000 feet above the runway. Has this changed? Thanks for the Update, and I'm ecstatic that this is working with 11.5. However, I do not run Betas, but it's good to know once it goes to release, my weather will still work. : ) Dave. It will work exactly as you describe. What changed is that in previous versions of SMP/RWC, if a METAR report was affecting our representation of weather some distance away from the reporting airport, we would use the elevation of the local terrain to determine MSL instead of the elevation of the airport that reported the conditions. It could lead to discrepancies around airports in mountainous terrain, which we fixed.
Chase911 Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, sundog said: It will work exactly as you describe. What changed is that in previous versions of SMP/RWC, if a METAR report was affecting our representation of weather some distance away from the reporting airport, we would use the elevation of the local terrain to determine MSL instead of the elevation of the airport that reported the conditions. It could lead to discrepancies around airports in mountainous terrain, which we fixed. Ah I see. Outstanding. Thanks for the quick reply! Dave
donoscar Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 thanks for the very fast update! one issue though, installing RWC gives an error on SMP version
Cameron Posted April 2, 2020 Author Report Posted April 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, donoscar said: one issue though, installing RWC gives an error on SMP version Re-install SkyMaxx Pro v4.9.0 by re-downloading the installer, then try RWC again.
donoscar Posted April 2, 2020 Report Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) the installer ends with installation successful, but there was still a little error at the end of the process however, it seems to be working fine now again great support, thanks Edited April 2, 2020 by donoscar
Cameron Posted April 2, 2020 Author Report Posted April 2, 2020 20 minutes ago, donoscar said: the installer ends with installation successful, but there was still a little error at the end of the process however, it seems to be working fine now again great support, thanks Just means you already had that distribution installed. 1
dvanwig Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 Good Evening Cameron, Thanks for the diligent work to make this update. I had no problem uninstalling the previous version and installing the new version. However I do have a problem. I have tried every combination of settings and cannot see any rain drops even when flying through or sitting on the ground in manually generated heavy precipitation. I can hear the rain and see lightening in the distance but there are no rain drops or streaks either through the front window or out the side window. All the best, Doug VW
Wendy Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Cameron said: I'm assuming this is happening after you get through some of the installer screens? Sounds like you have updated to Catalina after already having SkyMaxx Pro installed, which means your uninstaller is from old architecture. In this situation you will need to take the following steps: 1. Go to X-Plane/X-Aviation folder and delete the following file: Uninstall SkyMaxx Pro 2. Go to X-Plane/resources/plugins and delete the following folder: Silverlining 3. Re-run the v4.9.0 installer I followed this but there are several errors that occur, such as not being able to download component because the file versions do not match. Thus, nothing gets installed in the plugin folder. Note the simultaneous downloads of the same size. Is this suppose to happen? Edited April 3, 2020 by Wendy
Cameron Posted April 3, 2020 Author Report Posted April 3, 2020 28 minutes ago, Wendy said: I followed this but there are several errors that occur, such as not being able to download component because the file versions do not match. Thus, nothing gets installed in the plugin folder. Note the simultaneous downloads of the same size. Is this suppose to happen? You need to re download the installer.
sundog Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 6 hours ago, dvanwig said: Good Evening Cameron, Thanks for the diligent work to make this update. I had no problem uninstalling the previous version and installing the new version. However I do have a problem. I have tried every combination of settings and cannot see any rain drops even when flying through or sitting on the ground in manually generated heavy precipitation. I can hear the rain and see lightening in the distance but there are no rain drops or streaks either through the front window or out the side window. All the best, Doug VW Thanks for reporting that; I'll look into it today.
Asgarmagol Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 The new version is working very good so far with 11.50 Vulkan. The performance is quite good and I can even have the range slider to the max without frame loss (was not possible in the past with OpenGL). Some things I noticed: - the procedural Cloud Types for Overcast are not displayed right if viewed from above the clouds. - if I set the weather to "stormy" the frame rate drops to low single digit numbers (while having 60-80fps on all other weather variants) and the clouds are not rendered right. If viewed from above it is just a flat white area. Also It seems the rain particles are broken. All tests have been done with RWC set to "never" to use only the parameters from the sim. For the first XP11 Beta with Vulkan all in all the result is very promising :-) 1
sundog Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 Thanks for testing @Asgarmagol. I just fixed the rain issues here and will look into your other reports now. When SkyMaxx Pro 4.9.1 comes out, it should be even faster - I also found an optimization problem that's been fixed. 2
xZone Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 What about an update for the cumulus clouds, sundog ?
sundog Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 1 minute ago, xZone said: What about an update for the cumulus clouds, sundog ? What's wrong with them?
sundog Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 Fixed the overcast issues @Asgarmagol for 4.9.1; thanks for catching that. 1
oldflyguy Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 I want to thank you folks for the latest update. SMP and RWC work just fine with XP11b1. And the nagging altitude issue has been solved as well. Nice work!
seth Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 First of all thanks SkyMaxx team for your fast update for Vulkan. Everything works fine so far but i had this issue while i was checking clouds from high altitude. thanks Seth
seth Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 On this preview the change is more visible . While moving on higher altitude clouds start to have weird strictly outlines and loosing their forms. While you are on the ground everything looks perfect.
sundog Posted April 3, 2020 Report Posted April 3, 2020 1 hour ago, seth said: On this preview the change is more visible . While moving on higher altitude clouds start to have weird strictly outlines and loosing their forms. While you are on the ground everything looks perfect. I think that's an artifact resulting from a bug in X-Plane itself; I've noticed similar things with the trees even with SMP disabled when using Vulkan. But I'll look at it more closely to be sure.
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