Ok, so...I'm getting ready to drop on some FSX upgrades after a long hiaitus away from flight simming.I'm most likely going to purchase the FS Genesis FSX media bundle primarily for the LOD elevation data. I see it has landclass data as well, which is great. Thing is, I don't know what else yet to grab with it.I posted on the FSG forum and Justin replied a couple of times, suggesting Ultimate Terrain X as a solid add on, and one that apparently he works directly with the developers on, which is great. I also see a product out there called "Ground Environment X."Is the 'X' line the same company? Do these products accomplish the same thing? I'm looking for roads and coastline accuracy and such, and UTX seems to fit the bill for this, but apparently GEX does a lot too...I'm sorry that I'm blind, and I am trying to read about the products, but I'm just trying to figure out if I need to buy one or the other or both to get maximum fidelity. It's a chunk of change for sure.Are there any other widely-used and solid add-ons for terrain, roads, etc. for FSX? Sorry, it's been a couple of years since I've been heavy in to the flying gig, and with FSX having matured so much, there are a lot of products out there to research. Any help is appreciated.~Nate

UT does accurate roads, rivers, and coast lines, and it also provides very nice night lighting and its own landclass.GE replaces all default ground textures with much nicer ones, so they do very different things.The X in the name just means its made for FSX instead of FS9.

 

 

Ok, so...I'm getting ready to drop on some FSX upgrades after a long hiaitus away from flight simming.I'm most likely going to purchase the FS Genesis FSX media bundle primarily for the LOD elevation data. I see it has landclass data as well, which is great. Thing is, I don't know what else yet to grab with it.I posted on the FSG forum and Justin replied a couple of times, suggesting Ultimate Terrain X as a solid add on, and one that apparently he works directly with the developers on, which is great. I also see a product out there called "Ground Environment X."Is the 'X' line the same company? Do these products accomplish the same thing? I'm looking for roads and coastline accuracy and such, and UTX seems to fit the bill for this, but apparently GEX does a lot too...I'm sorry that I'm blind, and I am trying to read about the products, but I'm just trying to figure out if I need to buy one or the other or both to get maximum fidelity. It's a chunk of change for sure.Are there any other widely-used and solid add-ons for terrain, roads, etc. for FSX? Sorry, it's been a couple of years since I've been heavy in to the flying gig, and with FSX having matured so much, there are a lot of products out there to research. Any help is appreciated.

 

~Nate

 

UTX is landclass, waterclass, roads, railways, bridges, rivers, lakes, coast/shoreline placement, and night lights. GEX is textures--the artwork that's overlaid on the terrain mesh based on landclass, season, time of day, and elevation data.They aren't the same, and are made by different people (but both marketed by Flight1). The "X" derives from FSX.

 

Regards

So...Are these two things (UTX/GEX) definite buys? Do they both play well with FS Genesis terrain mesh? Is there any difference between UTX and FSG landclass data?I mean, it sounds like UTX is the buy to make for roads, among other things. Is the product fairly new?Are there similar programs out there for consideration, or are these pretty much definitive titles? I'm also looking at Real Environment Xtreme, which seems to replace a lot of textures in its own right. Would this be redundant with GEX?Any other products to consider that greatly (and realistically) enhance FSX?Thanks again for the help!~Nate

FSG landclass provides more accurate coverage of the entire landscape, including rural areas. I believe UTX landclass just optimizes urban areas and adds missing smaller towns and cities. John

What about the Scenery Tech landclass at Flight1 and UTX?In UT for FS9, you could remove the landclass and use the FSG stuff. I have the FSG FSX landclass but I really like the coverage with the Scenery Tech landclass - all of North America with Mexico and the Caribbean. Does anyone know what the quality is like?

Landclass is where each 1km x 1km texture tile goes. That defines cities, fields, forests. Textures are the actual earth that you see. So landclass (from FS Genesis) says put some small town tiles here. GEX says what those tiles look like. UTX has a set of textures but mainly urban areas. Its focus is roads and water.

Landclass is where each 1km x 1km texture tile goes. That defines cities, fields, forests. Textures are the actual earth that you see. So landclass (from FS Genesis) says put some small town tiles here. GEX says what those tiles look like. UTX has a set of textures but mainly urban areas. Its focus is roads and water.

So, if I order all 3, install order would be FSG, GEX, UTX?How does Real Environment Xtreme (REX) play in to this? I've heard great things about that program. Is it strictly weather? It seems like they have water textures too given their site screenies.~Nate

i have all the programs you have mentioned. this is why i got each one and how best to install them. BTW here is a link from Avsim where they did a very comprehensive review of both GEX and UTX:http://www.avsim.com/pages/0508/MultiScene/MultiScene.htmFSgenesis mesh and landclass, you can get the bundle with everything, make such a huge difference in the look of FSX for me. i primarily fly the USA east coast which has the Appalachian Mountain range. sure it's not the Alps but they are more then big hills, but the default FSX made them look like rounded off hills.. FSG made a big difference not only on those but on small elevation changes as well but they were very noticeable. The landclass is good, not perfect. no landclass is going to make your city or twon look exactly like reality unless you get photoscenery, but i personally dont like that because it is usually one season only and some dont have night lighting. also i find everything just looks kind of flat.UTX will make roads, rivers, coastline, urban areas, and more look better because for one it puts them in their actual locations. no more right angled coast lines. here is the FLight1 link for their demonstration-http://66.135.39.111/ultterrain/UtxUsaDemo.swf and again refer to the Avsin review as well. they cover it in great detail better then i can do here.GEX to me is another must have. it is so much better then the default textures and they have made some great updates to it as well. this should be installed after UTX and it is explained in the review from Avsim again much better then i have space for here.REX is weather and airport environment textures like runways and taxiways, water, clouds and the sun. I think it adds a wonderful visual, so much better then the default FSX weather textures. they are currently looking on adding cloud shadows to work in FSX as an update. I have been very happy with all the products, they all work very well together and all offer excellent online forum support so i think you can not go wrong with adding them all. Scenery tech landclass is the only one you mentioned that i do not have but i have heard great things about it. there is nothing wrong with having more then one landclass but you can only use one at a time. landclass gets put in the scenery library between the UTX urban and UTX veg options so you can check off which one you want to use or switch between the two if one represents your area better.I hope this gives you some idea of the products and i am glad i have them all.

In all then, looks like I'll need to be grabbing FSG, UTX, and GEX. If REX does clouds and such, maybe that too. Certainly a lot of people talk about REX.Well, ok then, thanks for the info... anything else to know about or look for product wise nowadays?~Nate

UTX has products for US (incl Hawaii), Canada, and Europe. Alaska is in work. GEX is designed for the North America region textures, with Europe in work. So if you are interested in other areas, they won't really help. there is another product, FTX, which is designed for Australia (four different products because of severe terrain appearance differences in different areas of Oz). They are working on a Pacific Northwest product that will obviously compete with GEX and UTX.Note that replacing the terrain textures also involves replacing the autogen placements, and replacing the terrain features involves moving various scenery objects such as bridges.scott s..