Looking to spruce up FS9

[scootersm 0]

Hey guys I have FSX and I can't up grade to a new system probly until FS11 comes out. I have FS9 and wonder what up grades to make my airports look pics that I have seen with all the other craft and parking and striping and things like that. I wonder why others airports look like FSX or better and all the differnt aircraft like AA, US Airways and all those come from. What about FS Scenery its good and active sky.I have a P4HT 3.2 Ghz, 1 MB DDR, NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 256mb card, ZS2 SB audio. Powerfull comp but not for FSX.

[GHarrall 494]

In no particular order:Ultimate Terrain, USA, Canada & Europe Ground EnvironmentActive Sky 6.5FSGenesis Terrain MeshFlight Environment (or Real Environment Pro if you want a freeware alternative)Any airport by FlyTampaAny airport / scenery by FlightzoneWorld of AI packages and installer (for real world airlines, schedules and aircraft)

[Ed_S_Pilot 227]

I think i confused myself,I thought Ultimate Terrain and Ground Enviroment were the same thing?What does Ultimate Terrain do?

[GHarrall 494]

Ultimate Terrain changes all water (lakes streams rivers etc), coastlines, roads, railways, landclass and other things to match real world geography.Ground Environment changes the textures that are displayed in these locations.Combined with FSGenesis mesh, the end results are nothing short of breathtaking.Glenn

[dfish 1]

Checkout this post.http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=5945&page=3Dave

[scootersm 0]

So what would step 1 be, Is there and order to what should be added first then next.

[CanadaOne 36]

For my money, Ground Environment and Flight Environment first. You'll see an immediate and huge improvement in eye candy at every level, every environment, and all times of day or night. GE will give you superb terrain detail and graphics at all altitudes and really spruce up the auto-gen, and FE will give you sky colours and clouds that will blow you out of your chair. Together they take FS9 to the next level.Download some of the FSGenesis freeware to get a taste of what FSGenesis mesh does. Try the Vancouver Island demo. Guaranteed you'll see the difference, and guaranteed you'll love it.Ultimate Terrain is nice, giving you nice coastlines, roads and towns, but I would not get it until you have the other products. Then it really shines. Kind of like putting a great looking frame on an already great looking painting.

[scootersm 0]

I like the real time weather do the weather add on's have that feature like the active sky. Will it do current conditions.

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,Yes, Active Sky does current conditions and can work with Ground Environment Pro to set ground textures.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

[scootersm 0]

Now where are the updated airports comming from. They look a lot like FSX airports, Lots of aircraft and ground markings things like that.

[GHarrall 494]

As I mentioned, check out flytampa.There are also many great freeware airports in the Avsim library.Glenn

[scootersm 0]

Does this change performance in FS9, Slow down Frame rates. All are maxed out now and usally get 40-60 FPM.What about FScene is it as good or what do you think.

[CanadaOne 36]

I'm running GE Pro + FE + UT + Genesis mesh and if my FPS has gone down, it hasn't gone down much. Impact is far less on FPS than improvement is on graphics. My flights are smooth and silky, though I have noticed some custom planes impacting FPS a bit more than before, as well as full AI over big airports. But nothing that stops me from flying. Also, this is at 4xAA and 16xAA.We're talking (maybe)20%% less FPS for 1000% better eye candy. Fair trade.(AMD64-3000/2G RAM/7800GS)Your CPU/GPU won't give you detail like this for free, but if it drops your FPS from 40 to 30, do you really care? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/horsesass/best2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/horsesass/best3.jpg

[Guest fyrestrtr]

I have a general question regarding these terrain upgrades and mesh -- how good is the coverage outside the US and EU?I mainly fly EU > Asia and Europe > US routes (with stop overs in the Middle East). So unless these bring some great detail there; they are not a real use to me.When I was in the US, I would have bought them because I can relate more to them; not so much now.Can you take some shots of other airports ... like say Dubai or Malaysia and the surrounding terrain?Love those screenshots :)

[scootersm 0]

Which one makes the moutains look real. GE or UT. Everything I found uses both.