NEXTMap ProMesh UK and other terrain mesh addons

[Guest darrenecm]

I just got back from a friend's house where I was kitting his computer out with two new SATA hard drives and doing a fresh install of Windows XP. His first priority after the OS install was to get FSX Gold up and running along with his newly bought NextMap ProMesh UK package.I've only just got back into FSX and haven't really scoped out any decent scenery add-ons yet but from what I saw of ProMesh UK in action, I have to say I'm still not impressed with terrain mesh add-ons since FS2004 days. I always had this impression that there was simply no data out there that gave a true sense of height of the various hills and mountains we have in the UK. I used to have FS Global for FS2004 and I was never impressed with that product's detail either. All that appeared to improved to a decent degree was UK coastline detailWith ProMesh installed I used the map view to position the airplane in the Lake District area at 2500 feet. What a total anti-climax. The terrain did look less flat than the default mesh but everything still looked bland in terms of elevation and definition. What was even more ludicrous was that there weren't even any bodies of water representing the lakes in the area.All areas of impressive real life terrains in the UK (Lake District, Welsh and Scottish hills etc) looked utterly bland, even with FSX terrain setting sliders at maximum. I went to the website for ProMesh to check out the screenshots there against what I was seeing but the website screenshots seemed devoid of any shots in the aforementioned areas. I found this kind of odd consdiering that the whole point of terrain mesh add-ons is to help make the UK in FSX not look so damned flat. I downloaded the patch while at the website and applied it but this merely bundled the BGL files into their own directory so that you could better isolate and position them in the Scenery priority list.Am I right in assuming that there is simply no terrain mesh add-on out there that can do justice to the higher level details that are achievable with the new FSX engine? If there are, could anyone please suggest a good product and point me at screenshots that show just what you get in areas like the Lake District and the Welsh hills and Scottish Highlands? Preferably with shots of the aircraft for a sense of scale?Compared to the 'WOW' factor that some of the VFR terrain texture products bring to the sim experience, terrain mesh detail addons appear to fall way behind, relying way more on hype with fancy talk about who they get their real-world elevation data from in order to woo simmers into parting with their cash. Once within FSX and looking out the cockpit though, they lack any real substance. I hope someone can prove me wrong and point me at a product that does some justice to some of the more impressive parts of the UK.

[meshman 109]

What I know about mesh... :( Yes, the effects are less pronounced in FSX than they appeared from within FS9. Part of that is the rendering engine.But I do have to ask, why are you posting in a scenery design forum rather than the general FSX forum? Are you looking to make your own mesh? If so, this is the place. If you're looking for opinions on products, the general FSX forum might serve as a better venue. IMHO, of course.

[Guest darrenecm]

What I know about mesh... :( Yes, the effects are less pronounced in FSX than they appeared from within FS9. Part of that is the rendering engine.But I do have to ask, why are you posting in a scenery design forum rather than the general FSX forum? Are you looking to make your own mesh? If so, this is the place. If you're looking for opinions on products, the general FSX forum might serve as a better venue. IMHO, of course.

You're probably right that I should have put this in the General forum. I was just drawn to the fact that if anywhere was going to be populated with people technically knowledgeable about scenery it would be here. It would probably have helped if I'd not rambled generically about this one product and asked the direct question of whether all terrain mesh products faced some technical problem with showing more impressive height detail than what I've seen in the few mesh addons I had seen (in FS2004 and now this ProMesh for FSX).Is there some limitations in FSX and/or real-world terrain data being able to handle vertical height detail? As far as my limited experience, goes I get the impression terrain data is mostly detailed in the lateral direction, largely reflected in the world as more accurate renditions of coastlines, rivers, lakes etc.If any moderators are out there, feel free to put this thread in its proper place.

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Mesh is just elevational data, it has nothing to do with lakes, rivers, streams, coastlines, etc...Dick

[meshman 109]

Is there some limitations in FSX and/or real-world terrain data being able to handle vertical height detail? As far as my limited experience, goes I get the impression terrain data is mostly detailed in the lateral direction, largely reflected in the world as more accurate renditions of coastlines, rivers, lakes etc.

As Dick points out mesh is just elevation data. FSX gives the ability to render that data in greater detail, but IMO they changed the rendering sphere where the visual effects are shown. So addon mesh was more easily enjoyed within FS9 than FSX. With respects to the marketing aspects, that's another discussion entirely... :(

[rhumbaflappy 113]

From a developer's viewpoint, FSX mesh is greatly improved as it allows multiple LODs in one compressed file. I don't know about rendering changes for mesh in FSX, or if there are differences between service packs to FSX.Dick

[Guest darrenecm]

Mesh is just elevational data, it has nothing to do with lakes, rivers, streams, coastlines, etc...Dick

Ah I see. So aspects of terrain appearance such as water bodies and general coastal outlines are not going to be improved at all in any terrain elevation addons?Is anyone using any products that provide accurate rendering of all water bodies that they can recommend? Do they generally blend well with terrain elevation addons?

[rhumbaflappy 113]

You need a terrain package that uses vector BGLs to alter the land/water masking, shorelines, roads...As noted above, the best place to ask for recommendations would be the FSX forum, rather than the Scenery Design Forum.Dick

[GHD 21]

Am I right in assuming that there is simply no terrain mesh add-on out there that can do justice to the higher level details that are achievable with the new FSX engine? If there are, could anyone please suggest a good product and point me at screenshots that show just what you get in areas like the Lake District and the Welsh hills and Scottish Highlands? Preferably with shots of the aircraft for a sense of scale?

Here are a couple of shots with the Horizon Generation-X photographic scenery and 5M mesh. Near Llanberis in Wales and Striding Edge in the Lake District:George