HiFi Technologies - Active Sky FS

Active Sky FS (ASFS) brings direct MSFS 2020 (and MSFS2024) integration. Brand new features and functionality are made specifically for MSFS and designed to improve your weather simulation experience.

Focused on comprehensive weather realism simulation, ASFS includes high-fidelity weather data and synthesis, planning, briefing, mapping, live weather, optional historical weather with playback, custom weather, scenarios, API, multiple depiction options, active air effects, snow depth data control, voice features, Navigraph and SimBrief integration, and much, much more.

FEATURES

• Direct MSFS Integration
  Using a combination of techniques for weather lookup and control, ASFS integrates directly with MSFS 2020 and MSFS2024.
• ASFS Preset weather and Passive weather depiction modes
  Using Preset weather depiction from ASFS or Passive weather depiction (from MSFS live weather), a variety of weather visuals and depiction methods, offering various levels of realism, control and visual quality are available depending on your needs. Transition control and configurable smoothing is also provided in ASFS Preset mode.
• Active Air Effects
  Customizable clear air turbulence, thermals, drafts and wake turbulence effects work in tandem with existing MSFS effects to provide and enhance realism. Air effects are provided in any depiction mode.
• Cloud Turbulence
  Cloud turbulence is now fully implemented and works in both preset and passive modes.
• Advanced Historical Weather
  In addition to including Live and Custom weather modes, we also offer Historical mode with comprehensive global weather data in hourly archives. Dynamic historical playback provides realistic changing weather as per the archived historical timeline. Optionally lock the historical time to your configured simulator time for easy date/time synchronization and control through MSFS.
• Enhanced Cloudscape and Thunderstorm Depiction
  Using ASFS Preset weather depiction, sky conditions control enables cloud types including multiple stratus, cumulus, towering cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratocumulus and cirrus variations. Thunderstorm scene handling also works to increase the visual realism, height and overall visual cloudscape of multiple cumulonimbus variations.
• Active Sky Weather Engine
  24 years of active development of weather simulation for MSFS and other platforms culminates in a mature and refined weather engine system that natively includes advanced weather data analysis, lookup, mapping, planning, briefing and more.
• Advanced Data Collection, Synthesis, Modeling and Interpretation
  Active Sky constantly downloads and analyzes conditions, providing world-wide high-fidelity weather conditions and effects, utilizing surface airport conditions (METARs), Forecasts (TAFs), Upper air data (GRIB), Significant Weather information (Sigmets/Airmets), Tropical storm data and more. Weather data is offered in live real-time or historical modes, with a dynamic historical weather playback feature.
• Ground Snow Simulation
  Using actual global ground snow depth data, ground snow cover is controlled and smoothed at all times in AS Preset depiction mode.
• Comprehensive Custom Weather
  Easily create multiple custom weather areas using the map screen, customizing by METAR text or through our weather setting wizard. Custom weather is supplemented by the previously loaded weather, enabling precise, variable and realistic saved weather scenarios that can be recalled at any time.
• Scenarios
  Fly different weather-based scenarios, or create your own.
• Voice Features
  Get Voice weather briefings and in-flight weather updates on your radio via our simulated ATIS/ASOS and Flight Watch service.
• 3rd-Party Integration Features
  Navigraph data integration, SimBrief flight plan integration, PMDG wind data export and our universal common data export features provides integration with multiple popular 3rd-party add-ons.
• Active Sky API
  Advanced API features are available to everyone to integrate directly with AS features including weather lookup, effects, mode control and weather conditions control.

ASFS WEATHER & CLOUD DEPICTION SPECIFICATIONS

ASFS Preset Weather Depiction Mode
ASFS Preset weather depiction mode features advanced weather preset conditions control for the best accuracy within the preset depiction capabilities, and full use of the Active Sky weather data and synthesis system including historical and custom weather options. This is recommend for those desiring the highest levels of conditions realism and challenge, especially for IFR ceilings and visibility, as well as long distance route planning, wind and fuel calculations:

• Available with LIVE weather, HISTORICAL weather, and custom weather
• Wind, gusts and variability control (surface and aloft, up to 60,000ft)
• Cloud layer control
• Precipitation control
• Ground snow cover control
• Temperature and humidity control
• Barometric pressure control with advanced temperature-adjusted pressure effects (appropriate corrections required for safe and/or expected IFR terminal procedures in colder or hotter temperatures)
• Visibility simulation through advanced humidity control, fog layer generation and intelligent visibility graduation and smoothing
• Smooth cloud and conditions transitions with configurable smoothing rate
• Cloud scene scattering and variation control for variety within the preset depiction area
• Sky conditions control for multiple cloud type variations
• Thunderstorm scene handling for improved visual height and realism
• Weather-cell-based presentation with surface data prioritization based on flight plan
• Transitions handling (updates conditions smartly depending on flight plan and flight stage)

Passive Depiction Mode
Passive mode is used with live weather and allows MSFS’s internal live weather depiction to take full control of weather depiction in the simulator, while Active Sky FS provides Active Air Effects and all other non-depiction features (mapping, planning, voice features, conditions report, web companion app, etc.) This can provide better regional variation and cloud variations outside of Preset control, recommended for LIVE WEATHER VFR and casual flights where visuals and effects are more important than weather conditions accuracy.

Active Air Effects
Provided in either depiction mode, Active Air Effects enhance your flight with turbulence, drafts and more:

• Clear air turbulence
• Internal MSFS turbulence compatibility (for combined ASFS-applied and internal MSFS-applied turbulence effects)
• Updrafts
• Downdrafts
• Microbursts
• Thunderstorm vicinity turbulence and draft effects
• Gusts, wind variation and gust-related turbulence
• New: Cloud turbulence with in-cloud detection

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024 (PC only, X-Box not supported)
• Windows 10 / 11 (64 bit)
• 4 GB RAM or greater
• 2 GHz x64 processor or greater
• 1 GB+ free storage space
• Minimum processor and memory requirements per MSFS 2020 product information is recommended
• 1024×768 minimum screen resolution
• Stable internet connection (broadband recommended)
• Online activation and login system requires online connection – this product cannot be used offline**

**Active Sky FS is an online product that will require the creation of a new user account. You must be logged in to use the software. One login per user account is permitted. You can install the software on multiple machines and/or move the software to other machines, but may be logged in only once at a time.

Update 120624 (SU1) B9106 (1.0.9106.22861)

• Fixed weather control script bug that could cause script and depiction failure for users using METERS for altimeter units setting

Update 120324 (SU1 Beta 3) B9103 (v1.0.9103.19141)

• Fixed units issue with MSFS2024 that could cause improper pressure and other settings in some languages/units settings
• Attempted fix for some multi-network-adapter users where script may not function correctly and weather may not depict in sim
• Added weather control script detection and warning/log messages as well as warning indicator (to right of connection status in main screen) if script not found running
• Attempted fix for occasional lack of weather depiction in some cases and additional logging to troubleshoot any remaining cases

Update 112424 (SU1 Beta 2) B9094 (1.0.9094.40127)

• Fixed issue where METAR-specified cloud layers at or above 24000ft would cause cloud layer corruption and potential low/below-ground layers
• Increased visual depicted coverage of very thin layers as specified in METAR for more expected results
• Removed SayIntentions.AI weather updated skipped messages from log
• General performance and stability improvements
• New experimental redesigned cloud smoothing processes:
  • Generally reduced full layer clearing instances during transitions for a better and more full cloud coverage experience
  • Removed transition strategy of clearing layers when a large altitude transition was required
  • Fixed issue where some layers could become mis-ordered/corrupted
  • NOTE: Due to removal of "clearing layers for large altitude changes strategy", layers will occasionally transition altitudes significantly, and this can cause pulsing (or breathing effect) of apparent coverage due to MSFS cloud patterning logic during these large altitude changes - Reduce smoothing rate to make this effect less visible
  • NOTE: This is for preliminary testing of this new experimental smoothing processes and may be problematic in certain conditions or situations

Update 112024 - (SU1 Beta) B9090 (1.0.9090.40431)

• Added MSFS2024 compatibility – ASFS is now dual MSFS2020/2024 compatible and will install for any/all installations of 2020/2024 (Store, Steam or CD) as found (AS_FSConnectorInstall.exe, or a new ASFS installation must be run after MSFS2024 installation in order to install on MSFS2024 or any new MSFS 2020/2024 installation)
• Adjusted cirrus generation to prevent too high coverage and too many cirrus layers in some cases (was also possibly causing reduced performance)
• Slight reduction in general cirrus generation (approximately 10%)
• Increased cloud thickness minimum when precip exists to prevent precipitating cloud layers from being too thin in some cases
• Increased surface attenuation of turbulence and adjusted high altitude threshold to 250ft AGL (was 100ft AGL) for less overall turbulence near ground especially during flare/landing
• Reduced minimum Download interval (option) to 10 (vs. 15) minutes for even quicker updates if desired
• Changed default Download interval to 15 (vs. 30) minutes for quicker default updates
• Added Force DataNet downloads for live/recent weather option - When enabled, HiFi DataNet downloads are used instead of NOAA for live and historical weather (within 10 days) - Can provide quicker updates including 30 minute interval updates, but does not include snow depth data
• Docs updated
• Additional attempted fixes for potential thunderstorm clouds not depicting properly after departure in some cases
• Rework of cloud transition smoothing/synthesis processes regarding thunderstorms to fix occasional thunderstorm depictions and missing/too small CB clouds
• Fixed issue with weather depiction when a duplicate Active Sky preset existed (by user manually copying, add-ons misbehaving or other unexpected duplication of presets)
• Increased coverage of certain thunderstorm scene cloud layers to reduce lightning effect cloud jumping anomalies in certain Anti-Aliasing modes/levels
• General tuning of thunderstorm depictions
• Fixed issue host/port updates from default not properly reflecting in script, causing potential failure to update issues when localhost IP/hostname changed or port option changes were made by user
• Fixed issue with IPv4 disabled for "localhost" host name, causing listener/web errors and failure to depict weather issues in some cases
• Adjusted uninstall process for AS FS Connector to remove any Active Sky FS weather preset files accordingly on uninstall
• Fixed issue with fog layer generation related to previous tstorm depiction fixes
• Reduced SayIntentions.AI status message frequency