AWG Sim - Sky Environment XP Development

[account641]

We are very pleased to announce that we have begun development of a sky environment package for X-Plane 10 called 'Sky Environment XP'. It will feature a range of different themes to enhance your X-Plane 10 sky environment.

We have been working for quite some time on this project. This product is done in-house rather than outsources like our X-Plane sceneries.

 

Overview

The heavens have always been one of man's greatest wonders. When you look up you see them, when you take flight you see them so it would only be natural to have the sky look great. Flight revolves around the sky, it is what you see and it is always there.

Sky Environment XP brings the dull skies to live with 5 life-like and beautiful themes designed for X-Plane 10. Each theme has been made from real world images of skies across the globe and contains a fantastic assortment of pastels and hues which will bring life to the sky.  It has never looked so good!

 

Features

• 5 beautiful themes (Austrian Aurora, Chilled Air, Holiday Blue, Nordic Purple and Sweet Summer).

• Realistic skies combined with soft hues and pastels to create an unparalleled visual experience.

• Automated Installation

• Continued updates and more themes

 

At the minute the inclusion of 5 themes is not guaranteed, we may (and probably will) add some more prior to release and many will follow after release.

 

Why themes after release?

We are a small team and we can not think of a themes for everybody. We want you to have an active input in development and post-development about what themes you would like to see.

 

Sorry for the very short post, it is better to let the product speak for itself than spend time on words which 80% of people don't read! lol

 

More information - http://www.awgsim.com/sky-environment-xp.html

 

I welcome all feedback on this and hope to have your input on development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POST YOUR THEME REQUESTS NOW!

[Colin S]

What about a cold feeling alpine colour set? The kind of sky you see up North during a cold and slightly hazy time of year?

[account641]

What about a cold feeling alpine colour set? The kind of sky you see up North during a cold and slightly hazy time of year?

 

Hi Colin,

I will add that theme to the 'to-do' list. Expect some preview of it soon.

[account641]

What about a cold feeling alpine colour set? The kind of sky you see up North during a cold and slightly hazy time of year?

 

Hi Colin,

after some work I have a rather nice 'Alpine Flair' theme.

 

It is composed of icy blues and oranges which change sweetly throughout the day.

 

Any feedback on it?

 

 

[Airbus]

Looks pretty good! How would cities look with this? How about smoggy skies, within cites like Los Angeles? I rarely fly X-Plane with visibility maxed out; It never really looked plausible".  

[account641]

Looks pretty good! How would cities look with this? How about smoggy skies, within cites like Los Angeles? I rarely fly X-Plane with visibility maxed out; It never really looked plausible".  

 

I will go to London or Paris and take a picture with low visibility to show you. They work like default X-Plane skies.

 

The product is basically as follows;

1) Open the Sky Environment XP User Interface.

2) Select the theme you want.

3) Install it and you are good to go.

[account641]

We have another theme, this one is called 'Bold'.

 

It includes an array of punchy, bold hues of blue. Not the most realistic one but it can be pleasing to the eye.

 

We have found the optimal visibility range for our themes to be 15-25nm. That is when they look best.

 

 

The same theme but in poor visibility.

 

All feedback welcome.

[account641]

Ahoy everyone!

Got a new beautiful theme to share which will be part of the product.

 

It is called Intense.

 

The theme features a combination of hot red and rich blues.

 

 

 

All feedback welcome and remember to leave theme suggestions.

[maple-syrup]

Windows only? :/

[account641]

Windows only? :/

 

Yes sadly the user interface in Windows only at this time however that does not rule out manual installation on Mac or Linux. We will supply documentation on how to do it.

[Tom Knudsen]

This is exellent news, but except from a few sets, this just looks like an overkill of adjusments.

I would suggest a more gentile approach with a bit more realistic color schematics

[account641]

This is exellent news, but except from a few sets, this just looks like an overkill of adjusments.

I would suggest a more gentile approach with a bit more realistic color schematics

 

Hi Tom,

we can't please everybody. Some people want really vibrant colourful ones others prefer natural.

 

There are a few more natural ones available. We will delay release to include 2-3 more natural themes rather than offering them for download after.

 

Would folks be willing to switch from SkyMAXX to our Sky Environment XP?

[Peter T.]

Hmm it looks great, but a similar set of skycolours are offered from EPORT Aviation, and SkyMaxx has more features including new cloud textures and a skybox add-on feature that makes the sky look more real..

[account641]

Hmm it looks great, but a similar set of skycolours are offered from EPORT Aviation, and SkyMaxx has more features including new cloud textures and a skybox add-on feature that makes the sky look more real..

 

Hi Peter, 

we will offer around 15 themes and many more to download upon release and we are playing with the idea of cloud textures at present.

[account641]

Hi all,

per request I have added a few more 'natural' themes.

 

We want to suit as many customers as possible, no point shunning half the user base over Mac compatibility or not include a few more themes!

 

I need more input on what other natural themes you guys want, more orange/red sunsets or more yellow sunsets, more blue skies or more smoggy skies?

 

Now...Ladies and Gentlemen here is our theme called Simplicity

 

 

[JohnMAXX]

Why windows compatibility only? From the looks of this all you are adding are different sky colors. Why not just have the user install them into the proper folder.  Seems like you are complicating this add-on.

 

Additionally are you adjusting the colors of the sky or are you working on or also the ambient lighting to include cloud color and sunlight color?  These are affected by the skycolor.png

 

The reason I ask is because all I see  in your images are clear skies and to put together a nicer set of colors one should look at all the ways those PNG's are working in the sim. 

 

And the effort of adding an installer does not justify a pricetag my friend......

 

 

Now please refrain from ever mentioning me and any of my stuff in a post ever. I am not threatened by what you have going but you operate as someone who manipulates others to do all the work for you.  You have no interest with being part of the community, only to profit from it and I have serious doubts you know how to properly develop at all.   Aaron I have kept my distance from you, I advise you to do the same...... 

 

Folks he tried manipulating my time and effort out of my hands to include  I offered a version of UrbanMAXX with his OSM add-on but was insistent on trying to take credit for it . His glacier textures included in the OSM package are mine, I told him go ahead when I cut ties with him.  The OSM add-on is freely available BTW and his version does nothing to warrant a price tag.

 

 

I am seeing my name thrown around by you on different social outlets and to be honest I am starting to get tweaked. 

 

I refrain from posting anything even though I know you are a fraud because it will seem self motivated.   It isnt guys and I am sincerely trying to keep an eye out on the community.  I see how he operates.....

Edited August 6, 2013 by JohnMAXX

[Peter T.]

I love AWG's cheesy marketing techniques as you can see here-

 

He reviewed his own product and praise it etc even by going as far as saying it is recreated with great detail

from the review=

 

"One thing that struck me was the amount of detail that has been added to the airport. It looked superb. All the buildings look good and are custom modelled as far as I can see. The models are of a high polygon count and have sharp textures which something most free ware sceneries do lack."

 

http://asn.aerosoft.com/?page_id=9110

 

 

And from his site (AWG intro/description)

"At AWG Simulations we make standards and then we redefine those standards with our next project. We have unrivaled experience in this area of simulation, but don't take our word for  it - look at the reviews."

http://www.awgsim.com/

[account641]

Why windows compatibility only? From the looks of this all you are adding are different sky colors. Why not just have the user install them into the proper folder.  Seems like you are complicating this add-on.

 

Additionally are you adjusting the colors of the sky or are you working on or also the ambient lighting to include cloud color and sunlight color?  These are affected by the skycolor.png

 

The reason I ask is because all I see  in your images are clear skies and to put together a nicer set of colors one should look at all the ways those PNG's are working in the sim. 

 

And the effort of adding an installer does not justify a pricetag my friend......

 

 

Now please refrain from ever mentioning me and any of my stuff in a post ever. I am not threatened by what you have going but you operate as someone who manipulates others to do all the work for you.  You have no interest with being part of the community, only to profit from it and I have serious doubts you know how to properly develop at all.   Aaron I have kept my distance from you, I advise you to do the same...... 

 

Folks he tried manipulating my time and effort out of my hands to include  I offered a version of UrbanMAXX with his OSM add-on but was insistent on trying to take credit for it . His glacier textures included in the OSM package are mine, I told him go ahead when I cut ties with him.  The OSM add-on is freely available BTW and his version does nothing to warrant a price tag.

 

 

I am seeing my name thrown around by you on different social outlets and to be honest I am starting to get tweaked. 

 

I refrain from posting anything even though I know you are a fraud because it will seem self motivated.   It isnt guys and I am sincerely trying to keep an eye out on the community.  I see how he operates.....

 

Why Windows compatible only?

We have a UI which is only available on Windows. It offer automatic installation, checking for updates, downloading and installing textures. It is all for ease of use. As I have stated before we will support manual installation on Mac and Linux.

 

I have also stated that the textures are work-in-progress. Nowhere did I ever say they are complete. We are ofcourse tweaking the light colours on the .png file. Why only do a half job?

 

I think the product does justify the price for the time taken to create textures, time taking images, testing and we are now adding cloud textures. You thought your add-on SkyMAXX justified a price tag.

 

I have said on several occasions stated that you made the glacier textures. I suggest you read the posts on our Facebook wall were we clearly state you developed them. We are not taking any credit from you.

 

Onto your next point, if my only interest was to profit from it I would be in a different industry. The FS add-on market is not all that large and often what little revenue is made from it does not pay the bills. It is best not to jump to conclusions John.

 

As for calling me a fraud...you are treading very fine legal lines. I am sure users are able to make up their own minds.

 

Regarding the past, yes we have made ill judged decisions and perhaps not been as clear as we should have been and we regret that but that does not justify the post which you made.

 

I have the greatest respect for your skill and products John and I have nothing against them but sometimes it is best not to interfere with other peoples threads.

Edited August 6, 2013 by AaronG

[account641]

And from his site (AWG intro/description)

"At AWG Simulations we make standards and then we redefine those standards with our next project. We have unrivaled experience in this area of simulation, but don't take our word for  it - look at the reviews."

http://www.awgsim.com/

 

 

Peter, we are referring to the AVSIM and Mutley's Hangar reviews.

 

AVSIM - http://forum.avsim.net/page/index.html/_/reviews/awg-simulation-cfm56-3-sound-set-for-boeing-737-r708

Mutleys Hangar - http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/rob/cfm/cfm.htm

[Peter T.]

I believe its a little rude to specifically mention someones product's user if they want to change to your sky environment addon. It creates tension and rivalry which we do not want here. And potential damage someone's sales.

Apparently, its you only Aaron in the team, im not so sure about the other devs since you stated that they dev for MSFS. I have seen much better work from others, what i see here is simply random tones of skies with a pricetag because a installer for windows only is available. As you said that this is a work in progress, i dont see anything else to "improve" on a set of sky colours rather than adjusting the colours in Ps. SKYMAXX Extreme has some innovative and distinct features, its not simply a bunch of sky textures and cloud textures, a plugin was programmed to implement skyboxes, a first in X-Plane, which allows great cloud illusions, the programming probably costs so therefore to cover up the expenses it is payware.

As for your remark on the glacier textures, i have to ask you on the comments page in your facebook to make you reply that John has made the textures, your first reply simply stated that the textures were made from AWG. So you are trying to hide the fact that John made the textures, and stating that YOUR TEAM made them.

You tried to be a developer, running a proper team and brand, but you rocked the boat many times, causing most customers to walk away unsatisfied with their purchase. The fs market is pretty big, and many developers made quite a good living out of developing add ons.

You are a fraud. Using John's texture without mentioning him in the first place, until users at the org notice a similar texture style from John then you go ahead and stated that John made them. Simply put: You used him.

He has the right to comment on this thread because he is trying to protect his product. Next time, you shouldnt ask such a question. Nobody ask "Would folks be willing to switch from ______ to our ______product?

[Colin S]

Forget my input... I'm a Mac user.

[account641]

Manuals are currently being written and we are winding down major development of the product. It will be entering beta testing and refinement.

[Peter T.]

I have seen your pavement textures, thinking how is it related to a sky enhancement addon.

[Tom Knudsen]

I think http://www.awgsim.com/images/a320_14.png has a very nice day color and http://www.awgsim.com/images/737_19.png has a nice colorset for both dawn and dusk

Edited August 11, 2013 by Tom Knudsen

[account641]

I think http://www.awgsim.com/images/a320_14.png has a very nice day color and http://www.awgsim.com/images/737_19.png has a nice colorset for both dawn and dusk

 

Thanks for the positive feedback.

 

Sadly we are unable to mix and match different sky textures because of an X-Plane limitation. Each theme and texture for the time of day is stored on the same texture.