I have decided to stay with FS9 for a few more years, until the hardware catches up with FSX at least. I am sure most of you are in the same boat. I have Flight Environment, Ground Environment, Active Sky, and Ultimate Terrain installed. Still, however, there is something missing, especially on the ground. I want the general out-of-the window scenery to really look as real-as-it-gets as far as FS9 is concerned. What is the next move for general ground scenery? What works best with what I have installed? And, what benefits would be derived? Thanks in advance,RH

This is just my opinion but for general ground scenery, as you put it, you pretty much have the latest and greatest as far as dressing up FS9. From this point you start getting into your regionally specific addons. Not knowing how you fly (GA or heavy) or where you fly, its hard to make recommendations beyond what you have now.

Have a look at the many photoreal sceneries out thereSwitzerland Professionalhttp://www.horizonsimulation.com/shopuk/http://www.francevfr.com/http://www.megascenery.com/http://www.spainvfr.com/home.htmand freeware or donationware,http://mazzokan.altervista.org/http://www.blueskyscenery.com/or do a search for photoreal in the Avsim scenery library. But for general scenery you've pretty much got state of the art.John

I am not saying this because I wrote it, but because it relly helped MSFS look real to me after only a few hours' work--I am talking about Soft Horizons, here:http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID...misc&DLID=67829It isn't always the sharpest textures that make the mood, but the most natural transistion of textures towards the distant horizon. My shot here shows the effect:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=253692&page=Regards,John

Will it work with what I already have installed?Thanks,RH

It may work, but applications that adjust the sky appearance may have their textures overwritten. No harm will be done, you just switch back if you prefer the old textures. I have instructions in the add-on for backing up the existing textures, so if you don't like the appearance of the sky or wish to uninstall, you can simply restore the backup.I've never had any complaints from any end users, so what issues they find I believe they work around.-John

How about FS Genesis? How is that different from round Environment and Ultimate Terrain?RH

>How about FS Genesis? How is that different from round>Environment and Ultimate Terrain?It's a terrain mesh, and yes, it will improve the look a bit more. Your list of addons is state of the art for terrain, except that it lacks a good mesh add on (or maybe, you just forgot to mention it).

Thanks for your response.What is the difference between terrain and mesh? How can FS Genesis help in addition to what I already have?Thanks,RH

Thanks John. Do you know anything about FS Genesis?RH

No,I know they have mesh (to answer your earlier question, simply put it shapes the land). I can't recall if their packages include landclass or not.Regards,John

FS Genesis mesh products do not include landclass data. They have a seperate product from FS9 (and a new version now for FSX) that provides landclass data for the US.Matt Penfold

I am still confused on the terms. What is mesh and what is landclass?Thanks,RH

Hi,Mesh defines the terrein height.Landclass defines the terrain content (trees, buildings, etc)

Thanks for the response. I currently have FS Ground Environment Pro and Ultimate Terrain installed. I am thinking about FS Genesis. What aspects, if any, does FS Genesis cover that is not included in FS Ground Pro and Ultimate Terrain? RH