Turnip Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Saw another post on FEX. I was of the mindset that I should wait for REX and FSWC as not to clog up the drive with something that would not get used again. Is FEX going to be part of the REX add-on or is it a totally differant add-on. If so, i will just wait for REX / FSWC. I do like the videos and screenies of FEX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 FEX is a completely different addon. Actually the developers, Peter Wilding and Chris Norris among others, were the first back in the FS 9 days to bring the community a texture replacement addon to enhance the look of the sim. FEX is their FSX version, which will gradually be updated with new and better textures for clouds, sky, water and airport environments. Eventuelly a weather engine will be included. Their idea was good, because the developers of REX saw a market and jumped in to show the community their upcoming package for FSX. In the end REX does basically the same thing as FEX. If you want fantastic looking textures now, go get FEX. The competition has not yet released their product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 A matter of personal taste (and bank balance) I guess. I had no idea what all your abbreviations referred to so I just took a look at the websites.. The clouds look OK I guess.. but the surrealistic water textures look dreadful in my opinion.. I run activesky 6.5 (the FS9 version) in FSX and I am happy with the results.. great clouds.. great overcast and mists.. and to be honest the default stuff in FSX is not too shabby anyway..plus the fact that activesky downloads weather that is very close to the real thing in real time.. So considering all this, personally, I would keep my money in my pocket, but as I said..it's a matter of personal taste... Teecee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Private-Cowboy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Amen brother. I'm the same using ASX and XG. Some textures in FEX look great, others way over the top. REX looks very similar. For me the ASX is more important because it actually does challenging weather. And the textures form XG are not too shabby either. And XG enhances many other things besides clouds and water - airport environments, runways, taxiways, sun, moon, etc etc. FEX (accordings to marketing gibberish) will also do that some day but the snails pace of development does make me cautious. The patch that was supposed to bring the weather engine was long overdue and now degenerated to a texture update as the weather engine was taken out to come in a future patch. REX is also coming soon for ages now and nowhere near release. As said, it's a matter of taste but atm I would not take either one. The REX previews look great but I can't fly with previews can I. I enjoy ASX+XG in the meantime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Did I miss it.... WHat is XG? hehe I'm going to look for active sky now. Are these payware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Ooops Found it. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solareagle Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Did I miss it.... WHat is XG? XGraphics, by the Active Sky people. I tried XGraphics for a couple week, uninstalled and never touched it again. Horrible interface and ussuability, so much so that I have been afriad to spend money on FEX for fear it will be more of the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Hall Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 At the moment I use ASX (active sky X) and FEX together, seems to work great. I get real weather with the FEX clouds and water, very simple to use. So now The FEX update can come whenever, likewise REX, I have real weather to keep me going. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Private-Cowboy Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Did I miss it.... WHat is XG? XGraphics, by the Active Sky people. I tried XGraphics for a couple week, uninstalled and never touched it again. Horrible interface and ussuability, so much so that I have been afriad to spend money on FEX for fear it will be more of the same. Really? I never saw the interface of XG in a bad light. I find it very easy to use. My problem with FEX is that for every shot I see that look very nice and beautiful I see two that look over the top, unrealistic and more 2d than ever. That's what's turning me away from FEX, the amount of tweaking it might need to get where you wanna be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimshot Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 My problem with FEX is that for every shot I see that look very nice and beautiful I see two that look over the top, unrealistic and more 2d than ever. That's what's turning me away from FEX, the amount of tweaking it might need to get where you wanna be. It's always a matter of taste ofcourse, but with REX shots I have that same 'unrealistic and more 2D than ever' feel. Besides that FEX offers a lot of softer cloud looks. Those are the ones I use, because I also don't like the extreme edges we see in some FEX themes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Private-Cowboy Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Yes but if there any benefit then over XGraphics clouds??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolb Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 I think that is one on the nice features of FEX is that you have an unlimited ability to change the texture of the clouds to your personal taste. Not sure how other programs do it though. I guess the bottom line is that if the program your using works, keep using it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwheeler Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Which ever you decide... you can use FSWC with both! Its fully compatible with FEX, REX and X Graphics too! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Not sure if everyone knows, but XGraphics was made by Tim Fuchs, the same developer who is working on REX. He parted company with the ASX folks some time ago and formed the REX team. If you enjoy XG, then REX will be similar but on steroids with a lot more detail, from what I can gather from Tim's screenshots. My advice: get all the environment addons (if budget allows) - you can easily mix and match and get the best overall result. For instance, the new FEX interface allows you to choose which part of their environment to add when you choose a theme. That means you can add only their water, or only their clouds etc, and use another addon to add different aspects of the environment. The beauty of these sort of addons is that they generally all affect the same set of FSX textures, and it really is up to the user as to which aspects of each package they use. Orbx has to remain "environment addon agnostic" - it is not for us to give recommendations either way, as the artwork is completely subjective and what appeals to one person may horrify another. As for me, I will use all the addons in whatever combo works for me. Currently on my sim I have a hybird of FEX/REX(alpha) and some of my own stuff. Oh, and the last thing I want to see here on these forums are "cloud wars" type of threads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triton Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Not sure if everyone knows, but XGraphics was made by Tim Fuchs, the same developer who is working on REX. He parted company with the ASX folks some time ago and formed the REX team. If you enjoy XG, then REX will be similar but on steroids with a lot more detail, from what I can gather from Tim's screenshots. My advice: get all the environment addons (if budget allows) - you can easily mix and match and get the best overall result. For instance, the new FEX interface allows you to choose which part of their environment to add when you choose a theme. That means you can add only their water, or only their clouds etc, and use another addon to add different aspects of the environment. The beauty of these sort of addons is that they generally all affect the same set of FSX textures, and it really is up to the user as to which aspects of each package they use. Orbx has to remain "environment addon agnostic" - it is not for us to give recommendations either way, as the artwork is completely subjective and what appeals to one person may horrify another. As for me, I will use all the addons in whatever combo works for me. Currently on my sim I have a hybird of FEX/REX(alpha) and some of my own stuff. Oh, and the last thing I want to see here on these forums are "cloud wars" type of threads Well Said John, I concur, and currently have a mix of environment textures from the various packages available at this time. many add-on packages can alter the texture sets (and not just the environment packages, roads,railways and other things get set), you'd have to keep your wits about you to stay in touch with what comes from where at times. The good News is that most environment add-ons allow you to select what gets installed and what's left alone. What it all comes down to is. What's your Taste, your Pocket, and "your" Decision. Whilst you can sometimes learn from the choices of others, you don't have to go with the flow! Happy Flying Maurice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca22au Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I read somewhere that XGraphics bumpmaps and FEX don't go together. At the moment I am using the ASX - XGraphics bundle and it is fine. However I am looking at the FEX with its HD update as a possibility to run with ASX. There is an interrogation box in ASX which lets you choose whether you install the XGraphics or not. This morning I chose a sunrise flight from YMEN to Merimbula straight over the mountains with real weather and graphics from ASX and XG. I bumped and banged in the northerly and went through much cloud at 17000 in the Pilatus. It really was as real as it gets. I used to fly IFR real world and I almost pulled my seatbelt tighter as we entered cloud over Hotham. And then landed in a fresh NW at Merimbula complete with cross-controls to slip on with the upwind wheel. With FTX, as good as it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 I just read on the REX site that they posted some FS9 screenshots. I guess they haven't started working on the FSX version? Or are they cross compatible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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