Our SkyMaxx Pro add-on for the X-Plane flight simulator is gearing up for a big update; version 4.5 is in round 2 of beta testing as I type. What’s new?
- Procedural sky box (based on the Hosek model) to accurately simulate sky colors for any time, place, and weather
- Improved blending of distant clouds into the sky
- Cloud draw distance increased by 20%
- Stutters with high cloud draw area settings reduced
- More realistic and distinctive representation of “HD cloud puffs” stratiform clouds
- More variety of cloud shapes and positions
- New, much-improved cloud textures for “crisp” and “soft” cumulus clouds
- Added glare effect surrounding the sun
- Our own ephemeris model, for accurate placement of the sun, moon, stars, and planets at night
- Accurate moon phases and orientation of the moon
- Various bug fixes and graphical polish
By replacing X-Plane’s skies with our own, it enables us to make the lighting on our clouds more consistent with the skies you see behind them. The screenshot above shows what you can expect. This results in better blending and color continuity, which makes the clouds seem much more natural and realistic. This is a big upgrade to SkyMaxx Pro, and will be offered free of charge to existing SkyMaxx Pro 4 customers running X-Plane 10 or X-Plane 11. SkyMaxx Pro is a joint project between Sundog Software and Maxx-XP.
