Quote - ... speaking of special effects like Godrays. Godrays can be generated with any AP setting. In fact it has nothing to do with AP setting, but with the amount of particles in the air and the obstacles that the sunlight encounters. 

Sorry, Dick. You are wrong with this assumption. The generation of Godrays is also a function of scale of the object generating the Godrays. In the case you show, you have massive clouds, which generate the appropriate Godrays with an AP of 1. But, in the case below, there are a few columns, of a scale much smaller than your cloud, which I want to generate Godrays coming into an area. In order for them to be visibile, it is necessary to create an AP of greater than 1. The only difference between these two renders is AP settings.

AP=1:

AP = 5:

Furthermore, this image of Dax's is very difficult to render with an AP setting of only 1 (assuming the trees are real scale). Both Dax and I work a lot with Godrays without using clouds. In these cases, the scale of the object generating the Godrays is important-- and if not large enough, we need to bump up the AP setting to get the effect needed.

My point is simple. Different people use Vue different ways. You like using an AP of only 1. That certainly isn't a restriction for others. Many of Vue users pay only basic attention to scale, and end up using their eye as a final arbitrator. I suppose it may have something do to with an engineering versus artist approach. A hundred years ago in my graduate design classes, we were taught to trust our eye more than the ruler for spatial relationships. 

You are an amazing FE programmer and have skills beyond 99% of all Vue users in that regard. I have looked at your complex cloud functions, and they are most spectacular, and complex. Not something many can follow. Your skills regarding cloud generation are unsurpassed. When you do release your product, I hope you will consider keeping the Metanodes unlocked so folks can see the brilliant and methodical way you handle cloud building!