The latest X-Plane 12.1.0 Beta 4 update brings significant enhancements to the weather system, including voxel-level cloud blending to eliminate unnatural shapes, improved METAR station blending, and a rewritten weather downloader for faster updates. A new weather server enhances resiliency and allows replaying flagged weather. Additionally, world space cloud shadows improve registration with the environment, and turbulence around cumulus clouds is now smoother. Icing effects have been updated for several aircraft, introducing directional icing and freezing rain, and the icing system now supports overlapping thermal sources.
Graphics improvements are substantial, with enhancements to the core engine, depth of field, and VRAM management. FXAA is always enabled with MSAA, and new particle effects have been introduced for ground contact and various aircraft operations. Water rendering has been refined with a new turbidity model, and cloud shadows are now more visible on water surfaces. Autogen updates include improved European urban buildings and better spawning of parked aircraft at airports.
The update also brings advancements to systems and avionics, especially the G1000 enhancements, which include new data displays, traffic maps, and weather information. The Johnson bar flap system and Dial-a-flap feature have been added, offering more realistic flap control for specific aircraft. The S-Tec ST-360 altitude pre-selector and alerter has been integrated with the System Fifty-Five autopilot, providing pilots with more precise altitude management. Overall, these updates aim to enhance the realism and functionality of X-Plane 12.1.0. Click here for the complete release notes.
