Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
virtualstuff

FSLandclass experience?

Recommended Posts

Hi,Have some of you experience with Fslandclass and the Europe pack.How those it work with add-on Airport Scenery?What should I'll buy SP or DP?Compared to the default scenery of FS2002 how would you rate the product in terms of 1 bad < 5 average > 10 excellent?Framerate friendly?Thanks for any advice...awfEHAM


 

André
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What I will say applies to any landclass update, whether via FSLandclass or my app, Landclass Assistant.>How those it work with add-on Airport Scenery?Landclass updates integrate seamlessly with add-on airport scenery. The underlying airport ground textures have priority over landclass cover, so one can surround the airport even with city textures without encroaching on the airport area itself.>What should I'll buy SP or DP?If you want to tinker with the landclass, the DP would be required. You could also use my app, which costs nothing, but the process would be more complex. It also doesn't update FSLandclass bgl's directly--it instead adds its own landclass bgl's, which need to be installed in a specific manner so that they seamlessly merge with the FSLandclass files. I've seen pics of the user interface for FSLandclass, and it looks quite slick for updating of the DP's--much better than my app if you plan on doing a lot of updates.>Compared to the default scenery of FS2002 how would you rate the product in terms of 1 bad < 5 average > 10 excellent?I've seen and loaded some of the freeware FSLandclass style files floating around. They are excellent, but not always 100 percent accurate. Regardless, they are a huge improvement in some regions--IMHO Europe, especially. Most of my users use my app and FSLandclass, as the FSLandclass updates don't always catch smaller cities, but they do a great job of improving landclasses in general. >Framerate friendly?This is where the concept behind my app and that behind FSLandclass begins to differ. My app is for local spot updates of scenery...fixing cities, adding touches of farmland, etc.... Most of my users never update more than 100-200 textures per project. At least that's the largest project I've ever done, and I don't notice any degradation in FS2002 performance. FSLandclass scenery sends a large update to FS2002--65536 texture updates for each grid. Initially, it takes longer to load the textures in the area improved by one of the FSLandclass data packs--I'd say 2 to 3 times longer. FPS per se' doesn't suffer, but I have noticed some pauses as FS2002 loads the textures on larger updates while flying. I have a lower end system by today's standards, and that may factor into my performance observations.In conclusion, I think FSLandclass is a great tool--one where you can really transform the look and feel of a country or continent. I feel it may be a bit "pricy" if all you want to do is make a small area look like it is in real life, and that's one of the reasons I made my own freeware app. Regardless, my app can't compete with the scope of FSLandclass and it wasn't designed to (to the disappointment of some who want me to spend almost all my waking time on updating my app). If you are after large scale changes, go after FSLandclass. The good news is it's scalable--you can buy an SP, and move on to a DP as funds permit. Download and install these files:http://ftp.avsim.com/library/sendfile.php?DownloadID=16252(Swiss Landclass Scenery)http://ftp.avsim.com/library/sendfile.php?DownloadID=14641(Pacific NW Landclass)http://ftp.avsim.com/library/sendfile.php?DownloadID=16212(KS/MO Landclass)I don't know it they originated from FSLandclass data, but the concept is the same. They are large scale landclass updates, and will give you a good idea of the performance of your system with FSLandclass files...Regards,John, Author - Landclass Assistant

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest nhill

Hi- I will echo John's thoughts. I am the one who did the Pacific Northwest Land Class and have 100+ hours working with FSLandclass. The files are only as good as the info you put in. For the PNWLC mentioned I used a GIF provided by Matt Fox which was from a Government land class source. I now am using a different idea, modifying the files the FSLandclass exports as a .bmp based on its internal landclass database. I'm primarily revising the city textures to US only and adding detail around them (also adding towns that were missed) and other details based on living up here near Seattle. I am very pleased with the results so far and it's fun to "fly" VFR and know exactly where you are. The learning curve is with FSLandclass is fairly quick. I use the Windows built-in paint program to make my changes so the cost was only getting the DP (designer program) itself.If you want to make large changes get FSLandclass, if you want to make small changes use John's free program FS Assistant, it's excellent, though not quite so easy to use.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Based on your great explanation thanks John and Neil, I'll just bought FSLandclass and download John's program Landclass assitant... :-) couple hours ago.Your are right John it needs longer to load however it doesn't affect FPS in my case :-)For me it's whole new Europe what a difference a huge improvement :-)Will start tonight discover - learning your program John :-)Thanks again for sharing your experience...awfEHAM


 

André
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Lobaeux4

So you'd recommend the Europe pack? I don't do much VFR flying, mostly airliner flying between major airports in Europe, but it is nice to look down on the scenery. Right now it just looks like one tile that's copied endlessly over and over again. If people recommend this, I think I'll have to get it as well.Lobaeux

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Lobaeux4 that was my experience also, yesterday a flight from LEBL to EHAM... fl390Hence the Mountains between Spain and France (Pyrenean) was a whole other experience :-)In the past the landscape on France was the most boring peace to fly over only via the MFD displays and heading etc.. you had your awareness of which part you where flying...Where the heck is for example Paris was a hell of job to find visual...But for now it look closer to the real thing, and in the real world I'll have been on this fl over Paris a lot of times :-)Notice only with VFR flight low altitude fl020 a degree in FPS over city areas (with Autogen 4) however for me still acceptable (between 16 / 20 FPS) IFR/VFR normal 20/30 locked at 30 fpsChecked also several major airports (EGLL/EBBR/EDDM/EDDF) and it looks great... :-) Use also the freeware Mesh from Josiah Haut (mesh has a resolution of 3.75 Arc-seconds and the LOD is 10)(http://kghhd.tripod.com/cgi-bin/index.htm)The approach to EHAM is a whole different experience see link below:http://flightsimvets.edirectamerica.com/FS...lass_Review.asp Success Lobaeux4 with your decision...My System specs for referenceXP2000+A7V3331 GB DDR 333rpm 7200 hdV7700TI 64 MBWin2K Proetc....awfEHAM


 

André
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...