Can one use MS Virtual Earth

[STUART_H 12]

Using www.flashearth.com, it is apparent that for some areas of the world Microsoft VE aerial images have greater definition than GoogleEarth ones. This is certainly true of parts of the UK. My question: Is it possible with TileProxy to load images from MS VE rather than from Google, and if so how does one go about this?Regards,Stuart

[Dented34 0]

Yes, it's very possible. :)But from what I've flown so far, Google remains superior. Haven't flown the UK yet to be honest. For the correct url, try the generic TP topic. I'm at the moment flying the Hwy 1 route in california which is a blast (Many thanks Christian!).Google gave me serious issues when getting around the Santa Maria area where the highway goes inland. Google somehow booted my (fixed) IP and i wasn't able to download any from them. There i switched to MS maps, with a lot less quality. I am making reports of the flight, in legs, at another forum. You can check it out and compare the images. Unfortunately it's all in Dutch, but the images will speak for them selves. :)http://www.dutchfs.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2734 I believe you do need to register to be able to view the screenshots section, so that's a bit of a bummer. (Leg 3 is where i'm using MS Earth)

[STUART_H 12]

Henk,Thanks for the reply. I havn't yet tried TileProxy so don't really know that much about how it works. I'm currently going through the process of repairing FSX in prep for installing the SP1 update. Meanwhile, would someone be able to clarify a few things concerning TileProxy:a) How does one go about switching IPs / setting up the URL to use?:( Do you have some examples of ini settings that can explain?c) Does TileProxy have any subsequent effect on FSX, if one decides to turn off in Scenery.cfg?d) Does TP clear out downloaded/converted textures at end of session or does it fill up disk space after a while?I am just alittle concerned having spent so much time installing the SP1, I would not want to then muck it all up.Your help in educating me would be appreciated.Cheers,Stuart

[Guest cbuchner1]

We're just about to figure out how TileProxy respectively FSX can be configured to get good performance with SP1. Maybe you wait a few more days until we have some feedback on the more recent findings. Right now there is a chance that SP1 won't give you a good texture loading performance (a.k.a. "the blurries")

[Dented34 0]

Hi Stuart,i can't really help you with the technical stuff. Things like that go way over my head. :)I bet Christian can tell you alot more then i can, but i'll give it a shot based on how i get certain issues to work. a) The switching between servers is done in the ini file. Accessed through the start menu/Tileproxy. Switching locations in the library is someting i haven't been able to accomplish. Instead i simply uninstalled and reinstalled. :( I'm not sure if it's fully ok to mention those according to the readme file. But the servers are mentioned in the generic topics, sorry about that. c) Besides the seriously incredible scenery you get. There is no impact on the frames. In fact it gets better since you can totally switch off the autogen and water effects. d) TP does not clear out the files as far as i've seen. Downside is that you get a huge folder full of texture files. But then again, you won't need to redownload the areas you've been flying over. One level above the FSX directory in the 'TileProxy Photoreal World' folder, you'll find a file called cleanup.bat. This will clean up your drive. Hope this helps you out. :)

[STUART_H 12]

Thanks Henk and Christian for your advice. Guess it may be an idea to hang on a few days post SP1 and see what transpires, before I branch out into trying TileProxy. I'll keep a watch on the forums and come back to this in due course.Thanks again,Stuart

[Guest cbuchner1]

That is one of the best series of screenshots ever made with Tileproxy. I see you've been using Beta 2 of TP for this trip. Signing up on the forum was well worth it.You can certainly switch to Beta 3 of TP, but I would not recommend it in conjunction with FSX SP1. FSX SP1 does not always seem to load terrain fast enough. But with sp1_mode=No in proxyUser.INI and the RTM version of TileProxy you should have no problems.One more thing. If google blacklists you, changing your IP address should give you access again. Most home DSL connectins do that just by resetting the DSL modem.I would like to know you got that realistic haze over the terrain despite the clear weather. Did you use a weather addon for FSX?Cheers.

[Dented34 0]

Thanks, but images like those aren't able without TP in the end of course. :)The first 3 legs i used TP beta2. For the 4th leg, which is done now, not yet online, i have used SP1 and beta3. Both worked pretty well. GE also started letting me in again. In the case of blacklisting, for me, there is no real solution since i'm on a cable connection with a fixed IP. About the haze. I'm using Activesky 6.5. That's the one responsible for the weather effects. Some issues occurring with TP beta3 i found out are the following:In some occassions i had to pause over 15 minutes to get the scenery sharpened. Not so much due to FSX needing to catch up, but more due to the Failed messages in TP. Now i don't know if it's due to higher res images not being avaliable at GE for specific locations or if it's a connection issue, aka 404's.The 2nd issue i encountered is the following:I decided to uninstall FSX in order to install a clean SP1. I uninstalled TP. Loaded up the default flight to find myself in a mix of TP GE scenery combined with the default FSX scenery. TP seemed to have left over some data after an uninstall. Unfortunately i'm not that tech savvy to find out which or what files are left.

[Guest cbuchner1]

> Now i don't know if it's due to higher res images not being avaliable at GE for specific locations or if it's a connection issue, aka 404's.The 404's are attempts to access tiles on water. These are often only available only at a low zoom level.The main performance hit problem comes from TileProxy first checking inside the cache folders if the related JPEG files exist. Only then it tries to access the network. The network module remembers the location of the 404 errors, such that it does not need to access the servers again. However the lookups in the cache folders are repeated thousands of times. This is currently a huge inefficiency in that code which I plan to address soon.Have you considered putting the "Refresh Scenery" action on a key or joystick button? It is (by default) an unassigned action, but it helps a great deal in getting sharp terrain for screenshots. And it certainly does not take 15 minutes.

[Dented34 0]

Yep i actually have a key assigned. :) But i didn't find it too useful. Panning around when TP stops loading works better for me, as FSX will try to get the missing/blurry textures, say, behind me.The 15 minutes waiting is indeed an excess, but i did occur. This will probably be a combination of reasons as i fly along the coastline with some areas not being the full res on GE. Normally, in most occasions, the loading time is far less. But hey, i'd rather wait for the scenery to get fully sharp then go back to the default FSX scenery. :(