UTX questions before I uninstall !

[jjaycee1 0]

I have tried using UTX but each time I install it and run it I get really annoyed at the ridiculous roads that plough thru houses, industrial estates and anything in its path. I also have GEXen installed for USAPlease help me ! I must be doing something really wrong. I have for UTX USA installed as per the correct "sandwiching" procedure US Landclass by Genesis, same for UTX Europe except here I use SceneTech. Is what I am seeing i.e. these roads thru buildings etc what I am supposed to see ? I keep reading about the beauty of using UTX alongside GenXen and keep trying to see the effects that are being praised but to date I get nothing but annoyance ! Is it a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder and that no-one else sees or gets irritated by the roads?Please help before I uninstall !!!

[Geofa 108]

I have tried using UTX but each time I install it and run it I get really annoyed at the ridiculous roads that plough thru houses, industrial estates and anything in its path. I also have GEXen installed for USAPlease help me ! I must be doing something really wrong. I have for UTX USA installed as per the correct "sandwiching" procedure US Landclass by Genesis, same for UTX Europe except here I use SceneTech. Is what I am seeing i.e. these roads thru buildings etc what I am supposed to see ? I keep reading about the beauty of using UTX alongside GenXen and keep trying to see the effects that are being praised but to date I get nothing but annoyance ! Is it a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder and that no-one else sees or gets irritated by the roads?Please help before I uninstall !!!

I guess some are more interested in having roads that match reality draped over a "generic" texture surface who's roads don't match any reality. The bad part of that as you pointed out is they don't always match up with the random roads in the textures themselves or the landclass. This is one of the beauties of using photoreal scenery-you get both.If this bugs you-you may want to experiment with turning features of utx on and off. Utx isn't only about roads.

[Guest JimC1702]

The problem is not really with UTX. It places roads accurately, so where they show in FSX is where they are in real life. The real culprit is the underlying textures which have buildings and roads painted on them and can cause a jarring conflict.Try turning off minor roads in the UTX setup tool, at least minor residential streets. It will lessen the problem and help with frame rates as well.Jim

[jjaycee1 0]

The problem is not really with UTX. It places roads accurately, so where they show in FSX is where they are in real life. The real culprit is the underlying textures which have buildings and roads painted on them and can cause a jarring conflict.Try turning off minor roads in the UTX setup tool, at least minor residential streets. It will lessen the problem and help with frame rates as well.Jim

Thanks to both you & Geoffa. I realise now that what irritates me is actually nothing to do with UTX except that it amplifies the problem.

[gbogeaus 0]

If I don't like it, does UTX have the option of completely uninstalling it?

[Guest JimC1702]

If I don't like it, does UTX have the option of completely uninstalling it?

Sure. Or you can enable/disable any of UTX's features to match your personal tastes or requirements.Jim

[quantumleap 1]

The real culprit is the underlying textures which have buildings and roads painted on them and can cause a jarring conflict.

Exactly. Here is how I have explained it a few times on the UTX support forum.The ground textures (whether default or an enhanced version like GEX) are painted onto the underlying mesh and are what contain the fake, randomly placed pictures of houses, buildings, etc..This is the way FSX (and FS9 and FS2000 and ...) works. The ground textures have no knowledge of what vector features like roads, railroads, water features, etc., will be drawn on top of them or scenery objects which will be placed on them either. They cannot be rotated. They cannot change or be redrawn underneath depending on what is above them. They are fundamentally dumb 1 km by 1 km squares with pictures painted on them.Think of it this way. Take 256 square carpet tiles. Paint them to match the default FSX or GEX ground textures for each different land classifications. They will therefore show things like fields, or wet lands, or low-rise urban, or high-rise urban, or rural, etc.. These will have fake, flat pictures of houses and roads and trees painted on them. Put them to one side. Now, get a sheet of clear plastic, lay it on top of a real map of an area and draw on the plastic where the real roads, railroads and water features are. Now get some building blocks (which you will use to represent buildings) and glue them on top of the plastic sheet to match where the real buildings are.Now throw away your real map of the area and instead pick some of the painted carpet tiles and lay them out next to each other to try and give the best representation of your area using these fixed tiles. Note that you cannot repaint them as that is fixed.Now lay your clear plastic sheet with its accurately mapped roads, railroads, water features and building blocks on top of the carpet tiles. Guess what... in some places a road on the plastic sheet goes directly over a flat, fake house painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places a lake on the plastic sheet cuts in half a flat, fake sports field painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places a building block on the plastic sheet sits over a road or building painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places ...Hopefully by now you get the idea of why things happen as they do, and that this is a limitation of FSX vector scenery and 3D objects being placed on top of fixed 1 km by 1 km ground textures.Jeff

[jjaycee1 0]

Exactly. Here is how I have explained it a few times on the UTX support forum.The ground textures (whether default or an enhanced version like GEX) are painted onto the underlying mesh and are what contain the fake, randomly placed pictures of houses, buildings, etc..This is the way FSX (and FS9 and FS2000 and ...) works. The ground textures have no knowledge of what vector features like roads, railroads, water features, etc., will be drawn on top of them or scenery objects which will be placed on them either. They cannot be rotated. They cannot change or be redrawn underneath depending on what is above them. They are fundamentally dumb 1 km by 1 km squares with pictures painted on them.Think of it this way. Take 256 square carpet tiles. Paint them to match the default FSX or GEX ground textures for each different land classifications. They will therefore show things like fields, or wet lands, or low-rise urban, or high-rise urban, or rural, etc.. These will have fake, flat pictures of houses and roads and trees painted on them. Put them to one side. Now, get a sheet of clear plastic, lay it on top of a real map of an area and draw on the plastic where the real roads, railroads and water features are. Now get some building blocks (which you will use to represent buildings) and glue them on top of the plastic sheet to match where the real buildings are.Now throw away your real map of the area and instead pick some of the painted carpet tiles and lay them out next to each other to try and give the best representation of your area using these fixed tiles. Note that you cannot repaint them as that is fixed.Now lay your clear plastic sheet with its accurately mapped roads, railroads, water features and building blocks on top of the carpet tiles. Guess what... in some places a road on the plastic sheet goes directly over a flat, fake house painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places a lake on the plastic sheet cuts in half a flat, fake sports field painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places a building block on the plastic sheet sits over a road or building painted on your fixed carpet tile ... in other places ...Hopefully by now you get the idea of why things happen as they do, and that this is a limitation of FSX vector scenery and 3D objects being placed on top of fixed 1 km by 1 km ground textures.Jeff

Thank you so much for the fully comprehensive laymans description. I understand the workings now and will decide whether or not to live with the "irritation" or not. You know what it's like when somehing bugs you, you tend to only see what bugs you and ignore the good bits. I had hoped, in ignorance, that my aversion to the horrible rendition of roads in FSX would be improved by UTX. Flat grey lines just dont do it for me, let alone "enhanced" flat grey lines !Many thanks to all who have taken time to respond to my query.