Glass half empty? Not for me...

[Paul J 349]

Hi Paul J,You said:"That video must have been done on some powerful pc.... "I didn't think I could run FTX on my machine so I never bought it, until they put out a free demo. Believe it or not, I get smoother and more useable performance with FTX than default FSX. I only fly in FTX areas, it is fantastic (period). Hope this helps.

Why - thanks for the pointer, Mr. Caribou! It looks like I'm going to give it a shot in a week or so, for sure. It is impressive, and I do have an 80 year-old Australian buddy who loves his flight sim, but hasn't got too many downloads... I'll just see if I can't make his day! :( Most of my flying is done between Seattle and Portland, and right now I'm working on making the two old FS9 Flight Scenery products work in FSX, since revisiting their forum earlier yesterday. After the removal of about 36 of the Portland tree, tarmac, dirtrwy bgl's I have a real Portland once again! This is one great hobby, ain't it?http://www.flightscenery.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1051

[maxter 0]

Believe it or not, I get smoother and more useable performance with FTX than default FSX. I only fly in FTX areas, it is fantastic (period). Hope this helps.

I have to totally concur with this sentiment... Their optimisation of textures and autogen seems to have produced a visual treat several orders of magnitude better than the default with a FPS price in the bargain basement... Remarkable stuff really.Cheers and happy simming,

[datter 0]

I've read (somewhere) that this Orbx Australia scenery will not work properly if you have any version of UTX installed, which is a deal breaker for me. Any idea if that's true?

[Orbx 123]

I've read (somewhere) that this Orbx Australia scenery will not work properly if you have any version of UTX installed, which is a deal breaker for me. Any idea if that's true?

No FTX works 100% fine with UTX, in fact most of our US based customers have UTX + FTX +GEX installed. The key is this: just ensure you turn FTX Mode (a tiny little app we provide) to [OFF] anytime you install new addons. Even so, in the event that UTX's terrain.cfg entries get foo-barred, you just run the UTX config tool again and all their entries are restored - problem solved.We will soon release a new GUI for FTX which does the same as UTX and VancouverX, and "plays nice" with terrain.cfg so all our entries live together like a happy family :)BTW, thanks for the link Chris, that was a nice gesture.Thanks for the all the comments folks, it's appreciated. To get to the point of making that video took about 24 months of development, so we'll very satisfied so many people are enjoying their low and slow VFR experience "down under". USA PNW is not too far away, perhaps April.

[CanadaOne 36]

USA PNW is not too far away, perhaps April.

April? But we want it noooooow!!! :( In any case, I don't mind that FS might stop with X. It will give a chance for the add-ons and the hardware to come to terms with each other. Maybe in a year or two we'll have ORBX quality scenery across North America, some FZ02 quality airports, and the hardware to run it all full blast with lots of AI in major airports. That in itself would be like an FS11.I, for one, want to see some good fantasy scenery for FSX, like the FS9 Things-to-Come lunar base in Florida. That was a riot. I'm all for realism, but there's nothing wrong will good old fashoned fun either.

[JayKae 1]

Oh, it will be worth waiting for, don't worry about that :)

[Guest Aviator4life]

Now that I have a relatively new machine that is up to the task, I finally bit the bullet and did some upgrading to my FSX installation a couple of months ago. GEX, UTX, & REX along with some payware aircraft and other add-ons as well. After doing some research and tweaking I have FSX running at a solid 35fps with no stutters while enjoying some jaw-dropping eye candy. The view out of my simulated windscreen is just fine, and I say that from the perspective of a realworld pilot.FS9 still resides on my XP boot drive but I have rarely fired it up since my last round of upgrades to FSX. Aces or no Aces I will be enjoying FSX for a long time to come. I don't let things I have absolutely no control over dictate my outlook on life. There would be a lot more happiness in this world if people would only quit worrying about what they don't have and enjoy what they do have instead. I don't think I'm the "lone ranger" when it comes to this point of view on these things either, not by a long shot, and the sentiments expressed in this thread so far prove just that.Couldn't agree with the OP of this thread and the replies in it more, except to say that as far as I'm concerned the glass is still topped off. Best Regards to All! :(

[Noel 4,486]

Oh, it will be worth waiting for, don't worry about that :)

OK, why the heck haven't I heard about FTX til now? I visit this place daily and this is the first I've heard of FTX. Cool!

[Guest Alphahawk3]

OK, why the heck haven't I heard about FTX til now? I visit this place daily and this is the first I've heard of FTX. Cool!

Noel, I bought my first FTX region on 7 November 08 when I had an P4. There was not going to be an upgrade for my PC until FS11 but FTX changed that. I now have all of their products and seldom fly in the US anymore. I want to fly here at home...and hopefully when they come out with their PNW version I will.....but once you get used to FTX it is hard to fly in the US. I have GEX....FEX...XGraphics...and it looks OK and it is far better than FSX default....and I don't mean to put anyones product down but no scenery I have seen can compare to FTX. If they do as I think...cover the US with it....it will change FSX for all who use it. Even though I own and use their pay products, the free side of that or maybe it is just a developers club for Australia...OZx does several hundred airports that are made to blend in perfectly with FTX...and FTX and OZx are always updating their products....and they have great support. I know none of them and am not affiliated with them in anyway...it is just a great must have scenery. I never ventured into Australia to fly until FTX...it is just that good. Regards

[maxter 0]

At the risk of sounding like an Orbx shill, a further evidence of just how full the glass is... Check out this video...Awesome video.Cheers and truly, I am not affiliated with either organisation.

[Toys_R_Us 0]

Did Orbx and others "hit the jackpot" with Microsoft's cancellation of the series ? Now these third party developers can invest. And they are ! After viewing these video's, it looks to me like MS's well laid future plans for FS may backfire. Their third party friends may ultimately blow them away on a world-wide basis and one-time charge.And then there also is Tileproxy, as we move forward with XX terabyte hard drives at the price of a banana ! And ESATA !I wonder if they actually bothered to do any market research about who their customers really are, and do most of these customers actually consider FSX a game, or something else.Bob (Las Cruces, NM)

[gman! 1]

Guess I'll have to ask for tons of money on a VISA gift card for my birthday this year. This sounds sweet!!! That video has already sold me and its just a matter of time before I can get my hands on the package coming in April. April would be an ideal release date for me anyway, because I won't have to wait as long till my b-day and that is mid spring, which is when the US really brings out its beauty. I don't know about you guys but the default winter US textures in FSX are a big turn off because they are just so BLAND! No color, which just makes VFR dull. Set the time to spring or summer and this problem is almost gone and it gives me complete nostalgia. Speaking of nostalgia, I remember those times I just started getting into simming (which introduced me to aviation, thanks Microsoft!) last year with the warm spring air in the US, beautiful skies with different hues than winter do to temperature changes in the atmosphere, I also remember the beautiful summer and spring textures which look MUCH better than winter. Got off topic a bit there, anyway like I said April is PERFECT because I enjoy spring in the US very much and I miss it a lot (the beautiful spring environments in FSX, the ability to go outside [in real life] :( and play sports), but its coming back soon, I already feel the temperature changes (in real life).

[maxter 0]

OK, why the heck haven't I heard about FTX til now? I visit this place daily and this is the first I've heard of FTX. Cool!

Have you downloaded the free demo? The whole state of Tasmania and one fully featured regional airport...Free Demo.Cheers,

[Orbx 123]

Got off topic a bit there, anyway like I said April is PERFECT because I enjoy spring in the US very much and I miss it a lot (the beautiful spring environments in FSX, the ability to go outside [in real life] :( and play sports), but its coming back soon, I already feel the temperature changes (in real life).

Hi gman, we hope to ship FTX PNW in April ;)Just back to the half-glass empty topic .. I think several posters have hit the nail on the head. As disappointing as the closure of ACES is, without the shadow of FS11 looming over developers' shoulders, it really is now a golden age for FSX and I hope that we see many, many developers seize this opportunity to make FSX an enjoyable platform for a decade or more. Think about this: Grand Prix Legends (GPL), one of my favourite titles of all time, still has addons being made for it and a huge user base, about 10 years after Papyrus stopped work on it. I think the future's bright for FS on the Windows platform to be honest. Just my 0.20 worth :)

[Christopher Low 5,332]

I think the future's bright for FS on the Windows platform to be honest.

Well, it will be if Horizon wakes up and gets VFR Scotland photographic scenery released :(