FS ATMOSPHERE 98 v.0.1 (alpha) is FREEWARE Add-On for Microsoft Flight Simulator 98.

Copyright by Vladimir Davidovsky, 2002, 2003.

DESCRIPTION

FS ATMOSPHERE 98 is a stand-alone add-on utility for Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. It sets atmospheric conditions in MSFS 98 for realistic flying. For this purpose it uses hourly METAR reports provided by the NOAA/National Weather Service (USA). FS ATMOSPHERE 98 interacts with MSFS 98 via the interface module FSUIPC by Peter Dowson.

FEATURES

FS ATMOSPHERE 98 sets the following atmospheric parameters:

• up to two cloud layers;
• visibility;
• surface temperature and dew point;
• surface presure;
• surface wind speed and direction.

FS ATMOSPHERE 98 allows to use either your favorite METAR report file or METAR cycle, updated every hour.

USER'S MANUAL

REQUIREMENTS:

• MS FS98 + Patch + Converter installed;
• FSUIPC module installed.
• METAR report file from NOAA/National Weather Service website. Sample report is provided with this software.

OR/AND

• METAR cycle, i.e. a set of 24 files: 00Z.TXT, 01Z.TXT, ..., 23Z.TXT stored in a directory on your hard disk.

INSTALLATION:

Create a directory on your hard disk and unzip the content of fs_atm98.zip into it.

FIRST STEPS:

• Start MSFS 98;
• Make sure that FSUIPC is properly installed - check the MSFS 98 main menu item "Modules", FSUIPC must be there.
• Start FS ATMOSPHERE 98 (just execute fs_atm98.exe). Small icon will appear in the system tray (near the clock). At this point the add-on is not active yet.
• Click the right mouse button on FS ATMOSPHERE icon in the tray. Popup menu will appear on the screen. Select "Select File ..." item from the menu. In standard "Open file" dialog choose METAR report file (that was downloaded by you previously).
• Switch to MS FS98 window and in a few seconds (up to 10 sec) FS ATMOSPHERE will set the weather and show an information about reporting station and weather parameters. If there is no meteorological station within reasonable distance the message "No weather for your current location" will appear.
• FS ATMOSPHERE 98 will automatically track your flight or switches between airports and set the weather.
• You may choose another METAR file as described above. Or you may select METAR cycle directory and thus switch FS ATMOSPHERE 98 to the cycle mode by clicking the right mouse button on FS ATMOSPHERE icon in the tray and selecting "Select Cycle ..." item from the menu. You will be asked to select the directory that contains METAR cycle, i.e. a set of files i.e. a set of 24 files: 00Z.TXT, 01Z.TXT, ..., 23Z.TXT. In this mode FS ATMOSPHERE 98 will automatically change METAR report file every hour. If some of METAR files are absent, FS ATMOSPHERE 98 will use preceding one.
• If both single report file name and METAR cycle directory have been selected, user may check/uncheck the item "Cycle" in the menu to switch to "cycle"/"single report" mode.
• IMPORTANT! FS ATMOSPHERE 98 does not contain INTERNET download module. Instead, use your favorite download manager to update METAR cycle directory every hour or download new reports occasionally.
• To finish FS ATMOSPHERE 98 select "Exit" from the popup menu.

=========== VERY IMPORTANT ==============

THIS IS ALPHA VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE. IT MEANS THAT THIS SOFTWARE WAS NOT TESTED ON VARIOUS PLATFORMS AND CONFIGURATIONS. THIS SOFTWARE MAY CAUSE SOME UNEXPECTED AND UNINTENDED PROBLEMS ON YOUR COMPUTER.

AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY NEGATIVE AND UNDESIRABLE RESULTS OF USING THIS SOFTWARE.

==========================================

Nevertheless, author believes that you will enjoy this addon and it will NOT harm your computer.

NOTE

Special thanks to those who will find a few minutes to write about this software (bug reports, improvements, your impressions) to author:

e-mail: odavi@ukr.net

FUTURE

Versions for MS FS2K and MS FS2K2 are in development.