FlyAgi2

All those screens show that the gpu could also be the limiting factor. If this is the case you should try the "fast clouds" setting an see if that helps. Also make sure that vsync is set to off when you push your gpu like that as it kills performance as soon as the gpu can't provide the desired frame rate (usually 60 fps or 30 fps if set to half refresh rate). And, don't forget to force threaded optimization to ON in NV control panel. That can also help the gpu being more independent from the cpu and is currently increasing performance significantly for me.

Aren't those brownish red triangles an artifact of the X-Plane lighting and/or fog? I have seen this often before in X-Plane 10 and 11 and I thought it was related to X-Plane itself.

I have more or less the same performance as I had before but, when the GPU is limiting (mine is slightly in the limit with the AFL C172 in XP11) the fast clouds are improving performance greatly. The only thing is I like the crisp cloud style so my question is: Is it somehow possible to get fast clouds also with crisp cloud textures in a future update?

Try the following: - uninstall smp using the installer - check the plugins folder and if neccessary remove silver lining and gizmo if the folders are still there - uninstall vcredist 2015 and 2017 using the windows control panel - finally try again installing smp4

This is strange... what does the gizmo log say? This problem was solved by cameron last night, mybe it's up again.

Oh sorry... you are on a mac... I did not notice. So my solution will most likely not work for you. Sorry for that.

- Did the smp installer run without error? - are all files in the silver lining plugin folder (if there are only 2 folders and no files, there's something wrong) - did you use the vc 2015 that came with the smp installer?

In normal cases I install those runtimes manually from microsoft, but it could not find a download for the 2017 version. And I don't know where it comes from. The problem here ist the SMP installer quitting if it can't install the runtime so some files for silver lining are not copied. If you have the 2017 installer somewhere (maybe in a steam game in the redist folder) you should be able to reinstall it after the smp installer was succesfull. Also, the SMP installer brought me a newer version of vc 2015 than I had installed before, so regarding this version I should not get into troubles. If the 2017 version is needed by some apps, I have to find out where the installer is. Or does anybody know a link to an official vcredist 2017 download form Microsoft?

I had this also when I run into the troubles regarding VCredist installation. The installer quits if it can't install the vcredist 2015 and the there are missing files in the silverlining plugin. This is more a fault of the vc installer. In the past, there where no troubles installing those runtimes in parallel, but in this case the 2015 runtime installer seems to need a newer version uninstalled before it can be run. So I had to uninstall a 2017 vcredist before. For me it seems as if the 2017 runtime identifies itself as a 2015 version internally and only shows up as 2017 version in the windows software control panel. I also think the problem could be solved if the SkyMaxx installer would not end if the runtime can't be installed so all silver lining files are copied.

Indeed... it's really a huge difference. The new clouds are looking more natural now. I love it.

It is solved for me.

I also have both problems. The vcredist stuff can be solved by uninstalling any vcredist x64 2015 and 2017 and then try again. After I had successfully installed I got the activation popup all the time and it does NOT list skymaxx pro. Also, I have no clouds at all, plugin admin finds smp though. Everything is finally solved. And, the new clouds are really awesome.

Did you buy version 4?

Oh... so it's not just me...

I can't download the update... the link is not clickable...

If that's right I think this time soon is really soon. :-)

It should be downloadable in your x-aviation account once it is released. I just checked there, it is still on version 4.01 so we will have to wait some more hours I think.

Looks very promising... :-)

I am interrested in a release date too... and I hope SMP 4.5 will also work with XP10 because I am still flying there because of it's better performance compared to XP11. Agi

So... a working wing fade effect is the difference between volumetric and non volumetric clouds? I did never look out for fading parts of the aircraft I fly so I would not notice if clouds where volumetric based on this definition. Anyway... the main problem skymaxx pro has, in my opinion, is the cloud diversity. As most cloud formations are based on cumulus textures it looks somewhat similar under most conditions. It looks beautiful all the time but there could be more diversity in cloud styles. I think this is a reason why many people prefer the new default clouds or xEnviro over SMP4 - both don't look as good as SMP4 but people consider their visuals more realistic and natural.

Regarding the volumetric clouds I also have this question: What is the difference between the SMP4 volumetric clouds and non volumetric clouds? It seems as this has nothing to do with three dimensional cloud modelling so the term is missunderstood somehow. So, what is this about? Don't get me wrong, I really like SMP and I don't think the new XP11 default clouds are better in any way. Performance is not an issue for me, SMP4 clouds run faster for me even since the default clouds got their performance improvement - SMP4 clouds are still a bit faster. I am looking forward to the 4.5 update, the screenshots are very promising.