One of the most anticipated addons in the history of X-Plane 11, Active Sky for X-Plane, officially named Active Sky XP (ASXP) is on track for release in December. It is currently in release candidate testing.

From their website, ASXP will have plenty of features to enhance your experience in X-Plane 11:

• Active Air Effects: Replaces internal X-Plane turbulence and air effects, providing enhanced turbulence, drafts, thermals, terrain-based wind effects, surface friction, gusts, variability, wake turbulence, microbursts and more
• High-Performance Weather Depiction: Uses internal X-Plane 11.2x/11.3x cloud depiction for maximum performance and smoothness, with multiple weather depiction modes including theme cell “real weather” mode and global static mode – VR compatible and optimized!
• Active Sky Weather Engine: An evolved version of the Active Sky platform brings the core features that made Active Sky the leading weather engine for other platforms: Advanced weather synthesis and interpolation, high-resolution global winds aloft, realistic air and atmosphere effects, a comprehensive weather data network, integrated visual mapping and planning, and much, much more
• Voice Weather Delivery: Active Sky ATIS and Flightwatch are available at any time by listening on 122.00, 122.02 or 122.03 for closest station, actual/current interpolated conditions and destination weather reports, respectively
• Surface Crosswind Attenuation: Optional, for better ground handling in crosswind conditions while preserving headwind/tailwind component for performance accuracy
• Mobile Companion App: Use any device/browser to connect with Active Sky over your network and view and control the weather

It should be noted that cloud replacement textures will not be available just yet:

• We have put our previous X-Plane visual cloud replacement efforts on hold (until next year) due to performance considerations and changing API environment/tools that are not yet finalized
• We expect our visual cloud replacement technology to debut in Q4 2019, subject to change based on many factors
• ASXP features high-performance cloud depiction with a focus on conditions accuracy, utilizing the X-Plane internal cloud rendering via a hybrid API approach, with two different modes available
• ASXP also features an optional high-performance photo-realistic cloud texture replacement with a simple texture installation wizard

Additionally, only Windows 64-bit from Windows 7 upwards is supported:

• Mac, Linux and 32-bit X-Plane/Windows versions are not supported
• In a networked environment, the ASXP application/client may run on Windows 32-bit (7 or later), but X-Plane must be 64-bit on Windows 64-bit (7 or later)
• We hope to bring additional OS/platform support in the future
• X-Plane version 11.26 or later (64-bit for Windows) is required

And also provided, the list of requirements:

• X-Plane v11.26 or later, 64-bit Windows Version (Mac and 32-bit Windows versions are not compatible)
• Windows 7 or later, 64-bit Version
• Active internet connection (broadband recommended)
• 500mb available hard drive space
• 1GHZ+ CPU
• 2GB+ RAM
• nVidia GTX 500 series or later Graphics Adapter (or equivalent)

The price will be US$39.99.

Find the development news update here.

Note: the cover and UI image used in this article is from AS16 & ASCA for P3D.