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FSXA Making Weather

Hangar32

Hangar32

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Hi,

I'm starting an FSX mission-based project where weather will play a prominent role. I see to recall that many FSMS iterations ago there was a map-thingy where you drew in clouds, rain, temperatures and things like that. (I know X-plane has that function.) The Weather SDK in the Wiki is blank and the only salient point I could find after some forum searches was from Arno who in 2009 said: "Except for thermal areas for gliders, you can not force weather from the scenery."

Well, IMHO Arno is as definitive as it gets.

Yet I see commercial programs like REX Architect where you can model your own weather, albeit you must be running their program to see it.

There are other products out there but most are just additional "Weather Themes"

I have used the User Weather section in FSX for previous projects (most noteably Missions 1, 2 & 5 of the simNovel Pilate's Ghost). It is clunky, but if staying in one area, it is fairly usable. The problem comes in when you are trying to develop different weather conditions along a flight plan (Mission 5). Then it is a guessing game as to which weather stations will impact the different parts of the flight plan, without changing the weather for another part of the flight plan - which translates to many hours of trial and error testing - the FSX equivalent of solving an equation with several unknown variables.

My two Questions:
1 - Is there a product that can edit FSX weather to greater detail (i.e. a line of clouds moving to the east) and store it in the default FSX format?
2 - Is there a way to see the area that each FSX weather station covers?
 
Hangar32 said:
Hi,

The Weather SDK in the Wiki is blank

There are other products out there but most are just additional "Weather Themes"
Click to expand...

What do you mean blank - the setup exe is there in the download button. - what don't I understand?

Have you tried simconnect and SimConnect_CompleteCustomMissionAction

with

SimConnect_WeatherSetModeCustom
SimConnect_WeatherSetModeGlobal

SimConnect_WeatherSetObservation

There is a weather theme program out here http://www.g-daehling.de/fs2004/modules.php?name=Content&pid=9
 
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Hi rohn,

Thanks for the quick and helpful response.
This is the wiki page I went to:

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?title=Weather_SDK_(FSX)&action=edit&redlink=1

It is blank. So this obviously is not the page I need - the page you describe - if you could direct me to the correct page I would be much obliged.

With regard to SimConnect - no I have not tried it - I have been avoiding having to use SimConnect as much as possible. Why? No reason other than "we fear what we don't understand."

So what you are tell me is that it is time to take the plunge - Copy that.

Also I'll check out the program you mentioned.

So you have given me at least a week's worth of homework! :yikes:

This is the thing I love about this site - its the whole "Give a man a fish and he is fed for the day. Teach a man to fish and he is fed for his life."

Thanks for the "fishing lesson" rohn! :)
 
Ah the Wiki. I found the fs2004 Weather themes in the resources. :banghead:

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/resources/weather-themes-sdk.42/

FS2004 should be the same as FSXA, for the WTB, WT files format etc.

You should be able to create a guid for a custom action in your mission. The custom action should trigger a simconnect DLL/EXE to say load a GLOB METAR and/or a specific ICAO weather station METAR. I am working on adding weather injection to my LivingWorld program. I'm working mostly in P3D. Not sure if simconnect weather works (I heard there was a bug). I will test and let you know.

Hmm time to develop a little weather injection utility.:scratchch
 
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OK - now we are on the same page! Thanks.

Re testing - appreciated greatly if you have the time but no rush - I'm currently visiting my parents in Boca Raton and only have my MacBook Air - will be back on my test rig come Thursday.

Yes…a Weather Injection Utility - if you build it I can think of a snappy acronym…I'm good at acronyms; not at programing. :D
 
I now have a simple prototype of my weather injection utility. Now for the interface and the usability.

You build a mission. The mission will have one or "any" number of CustomAction objects. Each custom action has two things: a GUID and a Payload (string of characters - optional). Since you build missions and these custom action GUIDs are generated by the mission creation program. My utility will have to be able to know what these GUIDs are. The payload will be some sort of METAR or weather theme that is injected into the sim.

I'm looking for some input as to how users would like to use the utility. What functionality would you like to see? I am concentrating on Missions and my Livingworld program.

Functionality like:

1. inject METARs on a timed basis (x minutes)
2. inject weather themes on a timed basis.
a cold front/squall line that actually moves across the terrain.
3. Mission triggers (timed, goals, proximity etc.) will trigger a weather change via METAR or Weather Theme
 
Wow - Sounds great.


I'm focused on missions.

I was thinking of #2 - your example is pretty much what I was thinking of - specifically a front moving across an airport with visibility decreasing and precipitation as the clouds move in–making taking off or landing more difficult as the front moves in - maybe a 30 min window between marginal VFR and IFR conditions.

That said, #3 option would open up a bunch possibilities - for example, a storm that kicks off when you pass a specific Lat or Long - unexpected WX en route type of thing.
 
Here is a link to the LWWTSetup.exe file that will install a Mission weather injection utility. It's a simple console program that you run via the usual exe.xml file for both FSX and Prepar3D.

You add a (up to 10) custom action trigger(s) to your mission. Record each GUID. Copy the GUID to the LivingworldWT.cfg file, add in the Weather theme and/or METAR(s) to the cfg file that the custom action GUID will trigger. The setup file contains an FSX mission and Prepar3d scenario that will trigger cfronts weather theme and two METARs for CYXU and CYKF.

The link is here. it should go to my one drive where you download LWWTSetup.exe (intsallshield installer)

The readme file has more information.
 
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