It was my brother in law that got me into FS and the other day I asked him why he didn't have some scenery packages on his computer that I had seen what was available in his library. He said he had no interest in them, that they weren't very good and that if I wanted them I could have them. As much as I'm sure I violated the EULAs I loaded them and found them to be absoulutely awful. I wondered how it was possible they could be so bad and my brother in law said they are even worse on his computer. The packs in question were Switzerland Pro, Mega Pacific North West and Mega San Francisco which wasn't too bad from a distance anyway. Packages like Georender, Mysty Fyords, Vancouver, VFR Airlfields, the new Porland stuff and Vancouver1 etc. will send me into heavenly bliss but those other costly packs left me terribly dissapointed. There is a whole lot of Freeware that is ten times superior to what I saw in those sceneries. I've found mesh to be the highest priority must have.Any other pitfall sceneries that I should be avoiding? So far in my young sim experience I'm reall enjoying scenic low level GA flying and the sceneries totally make that. I'm wonder if a program like GE Pro can be used to improve textures for those programs or do they just work as default scenery.What have your experiences been with payware scenery, any big dissapointments?

Welcome to the wonderful world of flightsimming, a world where grown-up men can live out their Peter Pan fantasies of "playing pilot".What kind of payware scenery you will enjoy, will depend in part on what kind of flying you do. If you're not a VFR flier, then buying any of the highly detailed vfr sceneries is really a waste of money. FS Genesis mesh is a good start, then build from there, depending on what you fly, how you fly, and where you fly it. Make sure to carefully compare freeware to payware, as you correctly state, many freeware sceneries are superior to the expensive pai.Unfortunately, not all scenery designers have the talent to produce both highly detailed AND frame rate friendly scenery. Vauchez and Fly Tampa have that talent, simflyers do not, Gary Summons is getting better at producing frame rate friendly high-detail sceneries. ricardo

>possible they could be so bad and my brother in law said they>are even worse on his computer. >>The packs in question were Switzerland Pro, Mega Pacific North>West and Mega San Francisco which wasn't too bad from a>distance anyway. I'm somewhat curious about the reason to call them very bad. For example Switzerland Pro is the most expensive addon I have ever seen so I never got it because of that. But the screenshot didn't look that bad. I have Megascenery PNW andtheonly problem I see with it is the blurries. It takes a minute or so to load them. I havethe same problem to a some what lesser extent in urban San Fransisco. I got both Megascenery NC and Megacity San Fransisco. Is the blurries your only issues with these titles?>What have your experiences been with payware scenery, any big>dissapointments?Blurries in Megascenery PNW (not only urban areas) and urban area San Fransisco but countryside looks fine in Megascenery.

Sounds as if you're not used to photo scenery. Photo scenery needs different tweaks in your FS9 setup to make it look good. Most packages that you mention come with instructions on how to do this.You get the best resiult from photo scenery if you fly around 3000 ft. When you fly lower there wil be more pixelation and the effect is ruined. Most photo scenery doesn't include builkdings or autogen.The best photoreal scenery package in in opinion is the France VFR sceries. This series does include autogen and accuratly placed base scenery.France VFR Parishttp://secure.simmarket.com/online/francev...ris_agn-001.jpgFrance VFR Alps Sudhttp://secure.simmarket.com/online/francev.../fasbp-02_b.jpg

Photo-sceneries are one of those things that some people love, while others don't. I've only tried a few demos, but honestly I've never been impressed with them myself. I prefer good landclass, mesh, and ground textures over photo-scenery. Others fly the sceneries and love them. That's why it is always best to demo before you buy. Not every scenery has a demo, but I think one of the Megasceneries offer one.

Wow those France VFR pictures look really nice! I must check this out! Thanks for posting them.--->>>>When it comes to addon scenery I personally hate "photoreal" stuff, the effect of a photo draped over mountains is too strong and unrealistic for me!

The San Franciso one is actually pretty good but there are areas that just look like they are out of focus or something whereas the patch of land right beside it is great. I just found the colours and textures in the Switzerland pack and the PNW pack to be quite un natural, not unlike watching a cheap cartoon.I guess what surprises me, although it shouldn't, is how the scenery and aircraft packages can differ so much where some are worth twice their price and some aren't worth half the price if that. Ah well, it always has been a world of "buyer beware" and that's why I'm greatful for the tremendous resources of Avsim et all and the community that evolves around them. Those that have been advising scenery add ons beginning with mesh, GE Pro, then Ultimate Terrain know of what they speak. The VFR Airfields are great too and I particularly recommend the Vancouver payware, can't remember the name, and not just because I live here.

>The San Franciso one is actually pretty good but there are>areas that just look like they are out of focus or something>whereas the patch of land right beside it is great. I just>found the colours and textures in the Switzerland pack and the>PNW pack to be quite un natural, not unlike watching a cheap>cartoon.>>I guess what surprises me, although it shouldn't, is how the>scenery and aircraft packages can differ so much where some>are worth twice their price and some aren't worth half the>price if that. >>Ah well, it always has been a world of "buyer beware" and>that's why I'm greatful for the tremendous resources of Avsim>et all and the community that evolves around them. Those that>have been advising scenery add ons beginning with mesh, GE>Pro, then Ultimate Terrain know of what they speak. The VFR>Airfields are great too and I particularly recommend the>Vancouver payware, can't remember the name, and not just>because I live here.That would be Vancouver+ from FSAddon.Although, I'd have to say the best photoscenery around is the Portland scenery from FlightScenery. ;)

Yeah.I paid for an airport scenery package last year. I disabled it after a while.I re-enabled it a week ago. I wanted to create some AI to use the airport. Looking at the AFCAD, the developer used the default MS AFCAD!The ramps were way off in size, parking spots were non-existent and the taxiways were off too. I was disappointed. Atleast put some effort into correcting the AFCAD!I made my own AFCAD comparing it to GOOGLE EARTH measurements. I haven't bought scenery since then.Jim