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strykerpsg
January 1st, 2018, 16:31
A beautiful day for flight simming indeed. First CS 757 and now SkyForce 3D. Curious if any discount will be available to REX owners of Enhanced and Soft Clouds...

http://rexskyforce.com/

(http://rexskyforce.com/)Apparently a 15% discount is applicable when you purchase Skyforce from the vendor you purchased other REX prodcuts from. This is how it is verified you own an former REX product.

PS, apologies for the underscored typing above, cannto get rid of it to post the update. (http://rexskyforce.com/)
(http://rexskyforce.com/)

strykerpsg
January 1st, 2018, 16:48
Price is $44.95 without prior REX products or $38.21 with 15% discount. Purchased and will download tonight when I get home. Looking forward to this add on.

cavaricooper
January 2nd, 2018, 02:29
Matt-

As a long time AS user, I’d be interested in your comparison... I have become increasingly happy with cloud/Wx depiction from the AS14/ASCA combo, however Reed and his team do great stuff also....

Happy New Year Mate!

C

strykerpsg
January 2nd, 2018, 03:02
Coop,

I will indeed play with her a bit over the week. I will try to post shots and comments but know I have not ever used AS, so my notes will be based off of what I know or remember of REX enhanced.

Matt

modelr
January 2nd, 2018, 06:18
A beautiful day for flight simming indeed. First CS 757 and now SkyForce 3D. Curious if any discount will be available to REX owners of Enhanced and Soft Clouds...

http://rexskyforce.com/

(http://rexskyforce.com/)Apparently a 15% discount is applicable when you purchase Skyforce from the vendor you purchased other REX prodcuts from. This is how it is verified you own an former REX product.

PS, apologies for the underscored typing above, cannto get rid of it to post the update. (http://rexskyforce.com/)
(http://rexskyforce.com/)

Just purchased it from the REX store, which I have previous purchases from, and the discount is automatically given once you signin, which is part of the payment process. No special processes required, such as previous order numbers, passwords, etc. Totally automatic.

Now off to read the manual and install.

manfredc3
January 2nd, 2018, 07:17
I saw the release email I received from REX last night.

I have been using the REX Texture Direct+Soft Clouds textures in combination with Active Sky Next as the weather engine for a long time.

I am looking forward to hearing your experiences Matt and Ron.

jeansy
January 2nd, 2018, 07:27
you can use Active sky with REX Skyforce or you can use just the skyforce engine

comparing both weather depictions today, they are the same very hard to tell the difference

the program, has some great textures however the main core selling point is how the program has rebuild the cloud cfg

you now can see twisters, coming rain squalls etc etc etc where before you couldnt


at the end of the day it doesnt matter what weather program being Active sky or rex or what else is out there, you will get the same effect, skyforce is not about weather injection, its about the new coding

as to the new weather and cloud coding, I love it and impressed with what they have done, for me im sticking with Active sky to download my weather due to extra weather input sources. Thats only the reason why

is REX Skyforceworth buying, yes the new cloud coding is a huge leap forward in weather depiction

manfredc3
January 2nd, 2018, 07:34
Thanks for sharing you first impressions.
Good to hear the AS weather engine works well with the new REX textures and features.

I'll keep following this thread for experiences from other simmers.

YoYo
January 2nd, 2018, 13:23
What about FPS?
I use REX Soft Clods (sometimes its a case of fps drop, for example with very cloudy day).

roger-wilco-66
January 3rd, 2018, 10:05
I bought it and use it with AS as weather engine. I had REX Essentials before because I liked the new texture sets, also regarding sky and ground assets. I must say, this is a whole new experience now. REX did a great job on the cloud system. Simply amazing.


Thanks for mentioning this!


Cheers,
Mark

YoYo
January 3rd, 2018, 10:53
I bought it and use it with AS as weather engine. I had REX Essentials before because I liked the new texture sets, also regarding sky and ground assets. I must say, this is a whole new experience now. REX did a great job on the cloud system. Simply amazing.


Thanks for mentioning this!


Cheers,
Mark

How looks full overcast with FPS? REX Soft Clouds has a problem with this with antialiasting higher than 2x.
The performance was improved?

jmig
January 3rd, 2018, 16:02
I went to The Flight Sim Store to purchase it. However, the store didn't give me the 15% discount at checkoput, even though I have purchased both REX Extreme and Soft Clouds from FSS. I sent them an email and am waiting on a reply.

jeansy
January 3rd, 2018, 17:27
yeah the flightsim store has rapidly gone down hill in the past 12mths since Orbx left them

Sorry to hear

from past experiences from them in the past 12mths, if you dont hear from them in 24hrs send a second email, then wait 48hrs and the raise a complaint from paypal, then they will answer and take action,

While I would like to support a local sim store, I now shop at simmarket

jmig
January 4th, 2018, 05:12
yeah the flightsim store has rapidly gone down hill in the past 12mths since Orbx left them

Sorry to hear

from past experiences from them in the past 12mths, if you dont hear from them in 24hrs send a second email, then wait 48hrs and the raise a complaint from paypal, then they will answer and take action,

While I would like to support a local sim store, I now shop at simmarket

Well, it has been 24 hours. No answer from the FlightSimStore. Luckily for me, I don't feel a need for it. I rarely use a lot of weather. I mostly wanted it for the cool clouds. I can wait.

roger-wilco-66
January 4th, 2018, 08:52
Sorry to hear that. It worked here. Also bought Texture Direct, Essential and Soft clouds before.

I hope you can get that sorted out.

I'm really hyped about it. It can depict the weather really good now, also difficult situations (image is in Laos, flying from Vientane to Luang Prabang).

Cheers,
Mark

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ok3sbfxuvy6psna/c-47-enroute-LS-5-1.jpg?dl=1

strykerpsg
January 4th, 2018, 16:41
Sorry to hear that. It worked here. Also bought Texture Direct, Essential and Soft clouds before.

I hope you can get that sorted out.

I'm really hyped about it. It can depict the weather really good now, also difficult situations (image is in Laos, flying from Vientane to Luang Prabang).

Cheers,
Mark

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ok3sbfxuvy6psna/c-47-enroute-LS-5-1.jpg?dl=1

Are you allowing AS16 to generate the weather for you or did you select that type for that run? Beautiful shot BTW!

docjohnson
January 5th, 2018, 04:36
I'm enjoying a more realistic IFR flight and I ginned up some "towering clouds" and I can definitely say that this is a big improvement in the Atmospherics.
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=56799&stc=1 http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=56800&stc=1http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=56801&stc=1

roger-wilco-66
January 5th, 2018, 04:58
Are you allowing AS16 to generate the weather for you or did you select that type for that run? Beautiful shot BTW!

Active SKY fed the realtime weather in - it's read from the weather stations nearby, and a host of other sources. It is not static, pre generated weather.

I must say, it seems very realistic. On that flight, you pass through different landscapes, like the flat area around Vientane with the Mekong, then pass through Karst foothills into the mountainous regions where Luang Prabang is situated. As one would expect the weather situation changes accordingly. Quite difficult to negotiate at times. I also like the flight planning option of AS. Helps planning the flights quite well.


That was money well spent!


Cheers,
Mark

strykerpsg
January 5th, 2018, 18:12
Active SKY fed the realtime weather in - it's read from the weather stations nearby, and a host of other sources. It is not static, pre generated weather.

I must say, it seems very realistic. On that flight, you pass through different landscapes, like the flat area around Vientane with the Mekong, then pass through Karst foothills into the mountainous regions where Luang Prabang is situated. As one would expect the weather situation changes accordingly. Quite difficult to negotiate at times. I also like the flight planning option of AS. Helps planning the flights quite well.


That was money well spent!


Cheers,
Mark

I am really on the fence about buying AS16 for my weather generator or just wait out REX's forthcoming weather engine. I could absolutely envision the challenge of trying to land in all of that fog, low cloud ceiling.

Thanks for sharing.

docjohnson
January 6th, 2018, 19:08
The above shots are with AS16, Rex TD + SC, Rex SF, and PTA. I disabled the cloud textures and any other graphics that SF already had in common in TD+SC. No fps problems.

manfredc3
January 6th, 2018, 20:39
The above shots are with AS16, Rex TD + SC, Rex SF, and PTA. I disabled the cloud textures and any other graphics that SF already had in common in TD+SC. No fps problems.

I am kinda confused. I thought Sky Force 3D is a replacement for TD+SC. Did I miss something?

docjohnson
January 7th, 2018, 01:39
I'm only using the textures in TD+SC that SF doesn't already have loaded. One example is the ground texturing in TD+SC. I disable the weather engine in SF and use AS16 as the weather engine.

jmig
January 8th, 2018, 05:26
I am kinda confused. I thought Sky Force 3D is a replacement for TD+SC. Did I miss something?

I believe I remember reading on the REX site that Sky Force does not replace the ground and water textures, just the sky.

YoYo
January 8th, 2018, 05:27
http://i.imgur.com/OJ5KCcuh.jpg (https://imgur.com/OJ5KCcu)

http://i.imgur.com/fKaCwv1h.jpg (https://imgur.com/fKaCwv1)

http://i.imgur.com/1pK484jh.jpg (https://imgur.com/1pK484j)

http://i.imgur.com/4DEcE32h.jpg (https://imgur.com/4DEcE32)

YoYo
January 8th, 2018, 13:38
http://i.imgur.com/HlLlHF8h.jpg (https://imgur.com/HlLlHF8)

http://i.imgur.com/vmaf5rLh.jpg (https://imgur.com/vmaf5rL)

http://i.imgur.com/z5OqE1Bh.jpg (https://imgur.com/z5OqE1B)

http://i.imgur.com/T2gxKXKh.jpg (https://imgur.com/T2gxKXK)

cavaricooper
January 8th, 2018, 14:36
YoYo-

Does this mean you have converted from ASCA textures...?

C

PS- How's SP-AMN doing ;) ?

YoYo
January 8th, 2018, 23:31
PS- How's SP-AMN doing ;) ?

Havent yet this An-2. Maybe Today, -10% on PCAvaiator + better price than in Aero store. ;).

Javis
January 9th, 2018, 09:42
Anybody installed the just released SF update ? ( 20180104/32 /64 )

Thanks!

cheese,
jan

YoYo
January 9th, 2018, 09:52
Yes, for sure. No any problem with installation. Just it needs to set up settings again.

https://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/46696-rex-sky-force-3d-hotfix-1/

YoYo
January 9th, 2018, 11:01
https://i.imgur.com/lzl9K1D.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zpVS1ad.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2TGrUTN.jpg

Javis
January 10th, 2018, 00:31
Yes, for sure. No any problem with installation. Just it needs to set up settings again.

https://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/46696-rex-sky-force-3d-hotfix-1/

Thanks YoYo! :encouragement:

Mighty handy because i bought my copy from Simmarket and would've had to uninstall, redownload and re-install the whole shebang again ! Now (hopefully) fixed in 10 seconds... :cool:

cheers,
jan

IanHenry
January 11th, 2018, 12:11
Is there any impact on frame rates? I'm a bit undecided whether to buy this or noy.




Ian

YoYo
January 11th, 2018, 13:48
Is there any impact on frame rates? I'm a bit undecided whether to buy this or noy.

Ian

Before Sky Force I used REX Soft Clouds + TD textures.
Dont worry about FPS, now is better. I recived +10 fps boost (or more) in the same weather (for example with overcast I have now 50-60 fps).
The biggest problem is the Weather engine, is a crappy: the main problem is transition effect (sudden!!!), not soft like with Active Sky. You have good weather, after 0,1 sec suddenly full overcast. Also no option to set up interval of weather injection (like 10, 15, 30, 60 minutes). This is poor idea.

Examples from my flight Today. The weather after take off.

https://i.imgur.com/1T7djB5.jpg

After 10 minutes is a little worse but still ok (visibility), notice is my final airfiled here:

https://i.imgur.com/V3tCSz4.jpg

And on approach I noticed fog, suddenly (?!), like magic:

https://i.imgur.com/YItq5BN.jpg

Fortunately You can use it with the other weather engine (like HiFi). The rest is ok (textures ect) for my (low and slow) and I don't regret. I hope also the weather engine will be improved here.

jeansy
January 11th, 2018, 13:51
Is there any impact on frame rates? I'm a bit undecided whether to buy this or noy.


Ian

no noticeable impact at 4096 with overcast and rain, where with rex essentials i did encounter an impact

IanHenry
January 12th, 2018, 00:48
Thanks for the replies, I'm very tempted. I have Active Sky and Cloud Art (both of which I like) so maybe the way to go is REX and Active sky.


Regards,
Ian

jeansy
January 12th, 2018, 03:12
Thanks for the replies, I'm very tempted. I have Active Sky and Cloud Art (both of which I like) so maybe the way to go is REX and Active sky.


Regards,
Ian

either way its a lot less demanding on the system than REX texture direct on clouds and has better definition than soft clouds or AS sky art, one thing I must admit, the rex weather engine depicts the thunderstorm towering clouds better than AS-P3Dv4

And living in the tropics where at the moment we we're having major monsoonal thunder storms and heavy rain each afternoon and evening, the rex engine is growing on me, but i have the best of both worlds with the 2 engines

LouP
January 12th, 2018, 08:43
Now I'm getting tempted. But I was hoping that using it with AS that I would finally see those towering thunderheads. Why is this lacking now using AS and ASCA? I swear I saw them adverised at one point with ASCA.

LouP

RobM
January 13th, 2018, 11:50
Now I'm getting tempted. But I was hoping that using it with AS that I would finally see those towering thunderheads. Why is this lacking now using AS and ASCA? I swear I saw them adverised at one point with ASCA.

LouP

It might depend on which ASCA cloud theme you use, and if you're in a weather situation where cumulo-nimbus are being produced.

Have you tried using the "Full Dynamics" theme? I think that's an automatic cloud selection theme, and it always seemed to produce
towering clouds and a flying in valleys in the clouds type of feeling for me (although I didn't always like the look of the clouds it produced,
a bit too hard edged at times it seemed, but that's just me).

- Rob

LouP
January 13th, 2018, 20:43
TY for the feedback, Rob. I'll give it a shot.

LouP

RobM
January 13th, 2018, 22:08
There's also two other settings for thunderstorms in AS for P3Dv4 under Cloud Options, which I haven't tried because, per AS, they
can impact fps (and my old system needs all the fps it can get). One is Maximum Cloud Layers, the default AS setting for which
is 5. The other is a tickbox for Multi Layer Thunderstorm Clouds, the default setting for which is off. I don`t know what would happen
if you increased the layers and ticked the box on. Maybe something that`s great for screenshots, but not for general flying.

But sorry, this is a bit OT, since the thread is about REX Skyforce release, and I am following with some interest. I always liked
the REX colours for sky themes, dawns, and sunsets in FSX. ASCA by comparison seems a little bit bland. The pictures for Skyforce
in this thread bear this out. But I must admit, I`ve had AS for P3Dv4 plus ASCA for the last 7 months, and they`ve both worked
flawlessly, not a single issue, not something I could always say for REX in FSX.

Anyway, I am following with some interest.

- Rob

boxcar
January 14th, 2018, 04:38
https://i.imgur.com/zpVS1ad.jpg




What a stunning screenshot capture! Simply wonderful, Yoyo, could live with that shot for a long while. Nicely done!

.

manfredc3
January 16th, 2018, 15:47
I'm only using the textures in TD+SC that SF doesn't already have loaded. One example is the ground texturing in TD+SC. I disable the weather engine in SF and use AS16 as the weather engine.


I believe I remember reading on the REX site that Sky Force does not replace the ground and water textures, just the sky.

Thanks for the clarification.

TG that I have not uninstalled TD+SC yet. Can use that for the ground textures, and AS for the weather engine as docjohnson mentioned.

Got the discount email from PCAviator, and Tuesdays is 10% off everything. Let's see if it also accepts the $5 discount coupon I have. That would make it a real bargain. Will have to have a look when I get home tonight.

docjohnson
January 16th, 2018, 20:29
So I had a spare moment to find and fly through a thunderstorm...one of the hardest landings I have ever done...

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=57136&stc=1http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=57137&stc=1http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=57138&stc=1http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=57140&stc=1

YoYo
January 20th, 2018, 23:19
Incoming:

https://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/43171-rex-sky-force-status-update/&page=56&tab=comments#comment-300410 :applause:

Dimus
January 21st, 2018, 07:48
I hesitated at first as I though I was pretty covered with REX4, soft clouds and AS16 P3D but I fell for it and am very glad I did. I use it with AS16 as engine and the result is spectacular, to say the least.

docjohnson
January 21st, 2018, 18:26
I hear you. I'm using it with AS2016 for V4, TD+SC, and PTA. All good money spent.

BendyFlyer
May 29th, 2018, 01:04
Guess this will bump up this thread. Anybody using this REX product with FSXWX?

From what I can ascertain with REX Skyforce 3D there are changes to the way cloud textures are displayed (the description is modelled but I am not sure how this could be done really) that being said perhaps they have a means of building textures up without one big dynamically changing texture file is my guess.

Anyhow I was interested to know if anybody is using this with another weather injection engine. In my case I already use REX 4 for textures etc, but got fed up with the weather engine, clunky is the only word I can find to describe it oh and unreliable as well, but their textures were great,

I am currently using FSXWX which is just fine, smooth loads textures or changes the weather clouds etc almost seamlessly on my system and improved the overall weather display significantly by doing the job of getting the textures up better I guess. I looked at some of the screenshots posted here and while I can appreciate some of the smoothing for stratoform cloud, my main question is - Does it really produce mid level cloud such as AC, AS and NS properly in levels and layers? Cumulus cloud display in my humble view is not an issue because it depends on the texture selections you make in the first place and any weather injection engine cannot discern what it looks like only the amount to try and display. I am just having a little trouble seeing any significant difference with my current setup and what is on offer by REX that's all.

Footnote - I am currently teaching aviation meteorology so I have a very good idea of what clouds should look like etc and the only thing I can say is one day is never the same as the other in generaly shape or cloud displacement and levels in the real world.

Dimus
May 29th, 2018, 02:08
I am using it seamlessly with AS16. My meteorology knowledge is limited to the PPL exam book content and that has been a few years back. However, what I see in the sim is that every day the sky is different and the cloud textures are dynamically changing based on the METAR description. You do not need to define the cloud textures that you prefer in REX4, Skyforce 3D injects them dynamically for you.

scotth6
May 29th, 2018, 02:18
I have been using Rex Sky Force since it was released, and it is an amazing program. It does "model" clouds (I don't know how they're modelled either, but they are) and produces a number of new models to give a much greater variety of cloud models. It just produces some amazing looking weather. It has many more features apart from just clouds too.

I have also been using the Sky Force weather engine exclusively in P3DV4, mainly just to test it out over a long period. That was a bit clunky, but still replicated real world weather very well. The only complaints I really had was that simconnect was used so when an update was injected in to the sim there was a slight pause, but worse than that the sky would suddenly change from thick overcast clouds to zero clouds in an instant. Also for some reason the baro pressure reported by Sky Force was never the same as that experienced in the sim. A massive update has just been released this week, so I'm hoping these issues have been fixed or improved.

Another thing it can do is generate sky textures that change over (I think) a ten day period, so you choose a set rather than a single theme. So each day you fly the sky will be changing. Same as with the weather generation. By using the various cloud models and textures the changing weather will dynamically be replicated in the sim as you fly.

There are too many features for me to continue with, so just check out a feature list (and an update list showing the new fixes). I can honestly recommend this program to anyone.

Cheers,

scotth6
May 29th, 2018, 05:02
The updated weather engine seems really spot on. I was just testing, and if you import a flight plan for your flight, the weather is very accurately replicated in the sim.

I just checked the latest METAR for Sumburgh, loaded up an old flight plan into Sky Force, and the results in the sim were identical.

I will stick with the weather engine, and hopefully they can sort out the smoothing issue,which in my eyes is the only slight downside to the whole program.

Dimus
May 29th, 2018, 05:16
I will stick with the weather engine, and hopefully they can sort out the smoothing issue,which in my eyes is the only slight downside to the whole program.

That is one of the points where AS16 is superior as weather engine. Transitions are smooth as silk.