sundog

Hmm... it's possible that the issue is related to storm clouds being removed from the scene - that would also explain some of the odd rendering artifacts being reported in stormy conditions. We're looking into it - thanks for the info.

That's potentially useful... we're still looking into it, but if true that narrows it down considerably.

This log doesn't actually say that SkyMaxx Pro caused the crash, but it was the last thing to write a log entry before it did. It's possible you ran out of memory. Or, there is a hard-to-reproduce bug we're trying to figure out associated with cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds. If you were flying into stormy weather it might have to do with that.

The log file doesn't implicate any add-on at all. The ATC system seems very unhappy though. Maybe associated with custom scenery? Hard to say.

There was a known issue associated with lightning (which I see in your screenshot) that I thought we had fixed in 5.0.6. We'll take a closer look here.

Keep in mind SkyMaxx disables X-Plane's built in clouds, so you have to subtract the time it took for X-Plane to draw clouds from what it being reported for SkyMaxx Pro for a fair comparison. That said 30 FPS seems high, especially if you're not using volumetric clouds in VR. Turning down the cloud draw area setting is probably the best thing you can do to boost performance for now. We *do* have a rather substantial performance improvement for the non-volumetric clouds in the works, though. It's about 20% faster in our tests so far.

The volumetric clouds will consume less memory if you lower SMP's cloud draw area setting. Or, you can select something other than volumetric for the cumulus and/or overcast representation; the non-volumetric clouds use less memory.

It's not RAM that's the issue, it's VRAM - the memory available for textures on your video card. Things like lowering your anti-aliasing setting, lowering the cloud draw area setting, removing custom scenery, or switching off HDR can help free it up.

Have you updated to SkyMaxx Pro 5.0.6 yet? I think that fixes this.

Hopefully other VR users will chime in with what has worked for them. I think it usually involves lowering your resolution or supersampling settings for your headset. Lowering the cloud draw area setting in Skymaxx Pro can also help. We do still have some performance improvements coming for non-volumetric clouds, so if that doesn't work just hang on a bit...

VRAM would be the issue here, if it is memory related. 8GB fills up fast, especially at high resolutions and/or with custom scenery installed.

Did you install the Real Weather Connector 1.2 update? You need that version for it to work with SkyMaxx Pro 5.

Yup it just went out.

It looks like your metar.rwx file was empty or corrupt somehow. Double check the RWC manual for instructions on setting it up with ActiveSky XP; there are settings in ASXP, X-Plane, and RWC that all need to be just right for it to work.

OK I think I see what was causing this; I'm betting you were using the volumetric cumulus option and not using real weather connector. In this case there was some old code to adjust the base altitudes of non-volumetric cumulus clouds that was affecting the volumetric ones, and it shouldn't have been. I've fixed this for a future release (version 5.0.6 has already been delivered, so it will be in the one after that.) Thanks for the report.

Did anything change between when it last worked and now? New drivers? Updated X-Plane? Added a new add-on? Upgraded an add-on?

In part you're seeing our simulation of "scud" - we don't represent the clouds as being totally flat on the bottom, but allow a range of variation there. I think that's what's driving the discrepancy in overcast bases. Cumulus sounds like it's a bit off though. Are you using the new volumetric setting for cumulus clouds, or some other setting? Knowing that will help me reproduce it. You may also find that using Real Weather Connector in association with real-world weather will result in more accurate weather depictions in general.

Well I have a feeling ASXP is doing more harm than good in your case for some reason. Try setting RWC to "always" instead of FSGRW/ASXP mode. That will force it to use raw METAR data from NOAA instead of what ASXP is generating (but ASXP will still control your winds, visibility, etc.) You might also consider upgrading to SkyMaxx Pro 5; it ensures overcast and broken clouds look consistent at least.

Active Sky has a special mode for SkyMaxx Pro you have to enable... if you refer to the manual for Real Weather Connector 1.2 it walks you through the steps. Might be something's not configured quite right there.

FXAA will give you the best performance, while not totally giving up anti-aliasing.

My guess is that memory was getting tight... when you change that setting, it causes all of the clouds to get deleted and recreated, which might alleviate memory fragmentation issues that may have been building up. You might have to pull back a bit on your cloud draw area setting.

We did just find and fix a bug here that could lead to rendering errors and possibly even a crash if thunderstorms (cumulonimbus clouds) are present. If you crashed after flying through stormy weather, that might be why. I'll be handing off a 5.0.6 build soon to fix that. Apart from that issue, you should be able to find a compromise between AA and performance that works for you.

Maybe, but I think you've just managed to find some very unusual METAR reports where you are flying that we can't quite smooth out. Are you running any other add-ons that might be affecting the weather conditions X-Plane sees?

Try reducing your anti-aliasing and/or resolution settings. Certain anti-aliasing modes do not play well with volumetric rendering, and this is usually the cause of poor performance.

What version of SkyMaxx Pro are you using specifically? Is it really 4.0? (It should say the version on the main configuration screen)