The FS2004 WMaker.exe is very poorly documented, as in almost nothing to guide you. I have been using it
for some time to create weather themes for use by the 91st Bombardment Group on our missions. External
weather engines are 'out' as not all of our pilots can afford a payware weather engine and even if we all could have
the same engine, frequent upgrades to add new bells and whistles creates a logistics problem and often further
expense to stay up to date. Thus the use of the FS2004 WMaker program.
The biggest issue I have with it, beyond documentation, is limited range over which you can define weather.
It is +/- 32 16km cells. Your spwn point is always the center of the 64 x 64 grid. Since we fly our missions
from Bassingbourn, England to 'Occupied Europe', less than half of the definable area is usable.
Also, on the missions deep into Germany or Southern France we are beyond the definable area and the weather
resorts to that which is defined in a single cell for each type/layer that is defined. I use the upper-left cell.
This deficiency means that, using this program, I can not define specific weather at a 'primary target' and different
weather at a 'secondary target'. many of the 91st missions in WWII, which we try to replicate, found 10/10
overcast at the primary and they then went on to a secondary or target of opportunity that was not totally
obscured.
I have recently been experimenting with creating a weather theme and loading it, then using the free flight
'custom weather' utility to define weather at various weather stations along the flight plan route and have
successfully created a 10/10 overcast situation at a target and different weather at a secondary, as long as
there were separate weather stations in the area of the two targets.
It is a rather tedious exercise but id the only method I have found to 'extend' the defined weather for our missions.
Each pilot has to save a flight in free-flight with his aircraft at UKBA. Then replace the saved WX file with the
one I create via my 'hybrid' approach. I've not had the chance to test this approach on a mission yet but wil
be doing so in January or February. Meanwhile, we continue to use the weather theme I create with WMaker,
which I distribute with the mission files. Again, a pilot must spawn in free-flight at UKBA, load the specified
weather theme and then save the flight.
Upon entering the multiplayer 'lobby' the pilot then loads the saved flight which causes the server-provided weather
to be overridden.
In multiplayer, when trying to fly in formation with other aircraft over the course of 4 - 6 hours mission, it is
imperative that everyone has the same weather, with the wind direction and velocity being the most critical
element. Even with our current use of a pre-defined weather theme, occasionally a pilot will have completely
different weather than the majority of the group at some point in the mission. I've not been able to determine
what might be causing these issues as none of us use external weather engines during missions and always
verify our winds, barometer and temperature once in the server at UKBA prior to takeoff.
In the quest for a solution to our needs I did a brief test of the payware Weather Architect found that program
lacking in many facets. I am hoping that in the future that program will be updated to address the deficiencies.
Paul
