Which Addon Is Better Active Sky X or Real Enviroment X

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Permalink Reply by Tom Riley on February 8, 2010 at 3:41pm

Hi Warren....i had Active sky and Xgraphics before REX came along...although both were good at the time REX does such a better job (with no FPS hit) ...and for the price...well you can not beat it. With regards to FPS it does depend on what settings you have FSX on. I average 45-60FPS and that is everything set to high but i do have many tweaks in place to get it there. Regular defragging helps with the loading times..i set the defragger to make FSX priority so loading times become quicker. Some of the tweaks i have used can be found at http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041. Hope that kinda helps.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Wilson on February 11, 2010 at 10:45am

Hi Warren...... Long time no speaks.... Too long..... Just haven't had alot of time to get on here..... Hope you're well.....

About Active Sky and Real Environment. I can't speak for Real Environment, but I do have Active Sky X. As a package it's really comprehensive and initially it will seem a bit daunting, but I didn't let that put me off, Because to get the benefits from it, you don't actually have to use every nook and cranny of it. I just load it up before loading FSX; it then downloads the real weather information from all the Metar Stations it can contact; once it's done that, just ask it to load it's data to FSX and then ask it to start FSX and you're away. From a stand point of realism, it really does improve the weather big big time. Clouds are much more substantial and fluffier and wispier and loadz more of them.... It really looks much more like the weather outside. It also has extreme capabilties of hurricanes, but I must stress I haven't tried my capabilities on this level yet! There's also heaps better turbulance and wind shear - really makes your plane vibrate and shake. Frame rates are actually better than default!! So. that's my view of it. I think it's money well spent. The downside, which I don't think was to do with Active X, is Vista didn't like it :-(. But I think I solved that now too - see my comment/discussion in Tips and Tweaks.... Hope this is of help, Warren. Speak soon

Ian

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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Greenhouse on April 5, 2010 at 11:38am

Hi Ian
Where do I purchase Active sky from is there anyone in the uk selling it or is it just by download from the US

Many thanks

Jeff Greenhouse

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Permalink Reply by Tim Krahmer on February 12, 2010 at 11:59pm

I've had really good luck with ActiveSky and X-Graphics. The Real-World weather is vastly inproved over the default, and if you use the smaller cloud textures, your FPS don't take such a hit, but still look fabulous.

Worth the money.

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Permalink Reply by Warren on February 13, 2010 at 7:28am

Hi thanks for the replies, its was almost the ultimate question time as to what is the best settings for gfx in fsx but ill refrain from that for now, who know's and depends on what setup,. What I have found is The Real Enviroment X is a very handy piece of kit as it has so many setting you can alter and again it can be a FPS killer if your not careful so if you have a mid- low range pc just play around with it, Real Enviroment X can be a little daunting at first with all the settings and you can stilll play around with the setting's in FSX just to confuse you a bit more but, I am slowing getting to a Balance of ying and yang within the settings so hope fully ill post some before and after shots....

Thanks again

Warren

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Permalink Reply by Nye Jones on February 14, 2010 at 3:26am

I was woundering about the real enviromrnt addons my self great question and anwsers want to know more my self _()_

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Permalink Reply by Junior "James Holland" on February 26, 2010 at 4:57pm

REX is way much better!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Monty Staddon on April 3, 2010 at 12:13pm

Rex2 is here, does it do it for you?
It's birthday time and I am considering it as my first commercial addon for FSX. Is it really that good and can it be recommended or otherwise ?
Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Mitchell on April 5, 2010 at 2:19pm

Monty, I speak as a relatively newcomer to the addons and with just a handful of years simming so that said - I heartily recommend REX2 - it was a devil to download (go for their back up disc service) as its such a huge file and I took a little while to read through their excellent manual (although that was after a time just using it as best I could). The main advantage? - its an add on that works anywhere and anytime in the world, wherever you fly. It transforms your experience in the clouds and it makes water look wonderful. The weather engine that comes with it is heaps better than the FSX real world weather. There are a lot of options (or themes as they call them) but take care, its possible to produce rather unlikely colour schemes, but if you like everything very red at sunset then thats what you can have. And you can keep changing the 'themes' so your flying environment subtly changes in a number of ways. For me REX2 made me realise that flying was about being in the air and tackling the varying conditions there - as much as it was about handling the aircraft. If you are a bush flyer like me you will still want to look at the scenery but its great seeing it from the REX2 environment - for me its the best add on anyone could buy - but others might have different priorities.

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Permalink Reply by Monty Staddon on April 6, 2010 at 7:07pm

Thanks Brian. Sorry for the late reply - just said goodbye to the Easter weekend guests...
I'll go for it ASAP as I find the FSX environmnet too synthetic although very good considering FSX generally.
I had various other 3rd party environment addons for FS9 and the extra realism was big step towards immersion and that's what I personally enjoy.
Has anyone following this thread tried/is using, the ATC Chatter software and can comment on it?
Is there a special place on the site for addon discussions?
I fly mainly VFR, light aircraft, around the Cherbourg penninsula and north Brittany, the Channel Islands, and the occasional trip over to southern UK.
I have become a bit hooked (if you pardon the pun) on carrier landings just lately, using AI Carriers 2 - the T-45 Goshawk and an F-14. This is really quite diffficult and a welcome change (well for me it is ;-)
The FSX Water Configurator http://www.fswaterconfigurator.com/features.htm goes a long way getting the colour of the sea right.

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