Hi AllBefore i start i looked to see where was the best place for this post all i could think of was here so appologies if this is in the wrong place.Anyway i'll try to be brief , what it is is i have to spend a lot of time at home for health reasons and flight sim is what i use to pass the time so i decided to buy some addons to make the experiance better,the only thing is i realy dont know if they are working right as im not very good with manuals.I will list what i have got and all i want to know is do these programs just start on thier own when i start my flight sim (FSX) or do i have to do anything before i get going anyway this is what i bought:1.Ultimate Terrain X Europe2.Ground Enviroment X Europe3.Real Enviroment X4.Active Sky Evolution5.FS Altitude EuropeOr have i wasted my money and they all basically do the same thing cause i dont see much improvement.Any help would be realy appreciated.ThanksPaul

I assure you that the first four are great selections and all work well together. I am not familiar with the 5th because I don't have it and don't fly that high with the aircraft I use. From what I do know, the fifth is an important addon if you fly airliners at very high altitudes.Enjoy FSX and good luck on improving health.

Hi AllBefore i start i looked to see where was the best place for this post all i could think of was here so appologies if this is in the wrong place.Anyway i'll try to be brief , what it is is i have to spend a lot of time at home for health reasons and flight sim is what i use to pass the time so i decided to buy some addons to make the experiance better,the only thing is i realy dont know if they are working right as im not very good with manuals.I will list what i have got and all i want to know is do these programs just start on thier own when i start my flight sim (FSX) or do i have to do anything before i get going anyway this is what i bought:1.Ultimate Terrain X Europe2.Ground Enviroment X Europe3.Real Enviroment X4.Active Sky Evolution5.FS Altitude EuropeOr have i wasted my money and they all basically do the same thing cause i dont see much improvement.Any help would be realy appreciated.ThanksPaul

The key to addons is "layering". UTX Europe should be layered just above Propeller Objects in the Scenery Library and below any addon scenery layered above that in the Scenery Library. It basically tells what textures to call up as you fly over scenery areas. GEX Europe replaces your default textures for Europe. They have been optimized by the developer to provide more realism plus better performance than the default. REX should be layered above UTX but I believe the textures will replace any of the GEX textures for certain environments. It also has a weather engine and clouds as does Active Sky Evolution. I like ASE so do not own REX. I heard REX is an outstanding addon though! I just decided to go with GEX and ASE. FS Altitude should be layered above UTX too but it is at its best at high altitudes. If you're flying low over Europe, I would disable this program as it may conflict with UTX and GEX textures. One of the good things about FSX is that you can disable scenery "on the fly". So, while flying over Europe you can go to the FSX menu and pull up the Scenery Library and disable (uncheck), say UTX, then click okay and check to see what differences occurred. The same with REX and FS Altitude. I think there are a lot of similarities with GEX and REX but many use them both. I think there are a lot of similarities between ASE and REX too as far as weather is concerned. That's why I decided to just stay with Active Sky. Lastly, if you don't think there's any improvement with the addon programs you purchased and you think you might have wasted your money, just disable them all (you'll have to go into the GEX config and restore the backed up default textures) and revert back to the default textures and I think you'll see major improvements to textures and the total FS environment. If not, your addon scenery is not properly installed or layered properly. Even so, GEX Europe textures should be awesome just standing alone. Hope this helps!Best regards,Jim

Hi Jim,I might be wrong but as far as I know REX does not have a scenery layer in the FSX scenery library. Replaces textures, just like GEX, but also have a weather engine.

They do not do the same thing (although 3 also has a weather option, so you might have skipped 4. although 4 is better at weather).In short (very short!): 1 (gives you real roads and waters), 2 (gives you better generic ground textures), 3 (gives you better environment textures) and 5 (gives you realistic groundtextures at very great heights) are programs you can install, setup and forget about (unless you want to use the weather option of 3 and unless you want to change some options). 4 (gives you realistic weather) has to be run before you start FSX, otherwise you won't get the weather it provides.

I believe the textures will replace any of the GEX textures for certain environments. It also has a weather engine and clouds as does Active Sky Evolution. I like ASE so do not own REX. I heard REX is an outstanding addon though! I just decided to go with GEX and ASE. I think there are a lot of similarities with GEX and REX but many use them both. I think there are a lot of similarities between ASE and REX too as far as weather is concerned. That's why I decided to just stay with Active Sky.

REX does indeed have a weather engine, but that's the only similarity with ASE. ASE only gives you weather data: not better looking clouds! Also, REX has absolutely NOTHING to do with GEX!!! REX gives you realistic cloud textures, skies, waters and airport environments. GEX gives you better generic ground textures. ASE only gives you real weather data, but in order to really enjoy it, you should get REX, because REX clouds blow the default FSX clouds out of the water! So if you indeed like ASE, you REALLY should get REX too!So the ONLY similarity between REX, GEX and ASE is that REX has a weather engine and that ASE is a weather engine. That's all: those addons are three totally different addons.

REX does indeed have a weather engine, but that's the only similarity with ASE. ASE only gives you weather data: not better looking clouds! Also, REX has absolutely NOTHING to do with GEX!!!

Yes, I know that and agree with you. Like I said, I don't own REX. Best regards,Jim

Hi GuysThank you very much for your replies they are all very helpful and appreciated.Since reading your comments i have reloaded everything from scratch and the graphics have blown me out of the water they are amazing and made the the flying experiance even more realistic.Once again thanks.RegardsPaul