I've downloaded a lot of free/pay photorealistic scenery. I've also recently started to create my own scenery - and this hobby is now growing to where I hope to release some scenery myself. But I also just today found out about Tile Proxy. I have yet to install and test it since the idea of basically streaming scenery seems a bit over the top.What are the pros and cons of the two methods? Obviously streaming scenery could be slower and requires quite a fast connection. But you get scenery for the whole world without doing anything more than installing/configuring one application. Downloaded scenery, on the other hand, can be spotty and inconsistent, but you get a faster system, I assume. Plus, you can have seasons and night as well as manipulated and adjusted scenery.So, is it pointless for me to continue developing my own scenery in light of Tile Proxy? Or should I keep up with my new hobby?

Problem with Tileproxy is that not all downloaded tiles are exactly beautiful... A lot of the world is only available in very ugly low res. And yes, it isn't exactly fast too. I gave it a try twice but didn't stick with it.If you like your hobby, just go on with it! But you aren't the only one who is creating photoreal scenery. If you plan on releasing it as payware, I wouldn't set your hopes too high.

Problem with Tileproxy is that not all downloaded tiles are exactly beautiful... A lot of the world is only available in very ugly low res. And yes, it isn't exactly fast too. I gave it a try twice but didn't stick with it.If you like your hobby, just go on with it! But you aren't the only one who is creating photoreal scenery. If you plan on releasing it as payware, I wouldn't set your hopes too high.

I had a feeling Tile Proxy was too good to be true. I believe it uses Virtual Earth and while that can be very high quality in some places, it can be quite lacking in others.If I get around to releasing it, it will probably be freeware/donateware, simply as payback for all the other great freeware scenery out there. But I think there is plenty of room for commercial scenery, considering all the current issues: lofty unfulfilled "coming soon" claims, low quality, low LOD, lack of night and seasons and huge price ranges.

But I think there is plenty of room for commercial scenery, considering all the current issues: lofty unfulfilled "coming soon" claims, low quality, low LOD, lack of night and seasons and huge price ranges.

Well, feel free to surprise us! :(

Check out the tileproxy forum and follow some of the screenshot threads and great places to fly threads, to see what you can achieve with Tileproxy. I think you will be very suprised. But it does take some setting up. However, once mastered, its probably better than a lot of commercial stuff out there. have a look and judge for yourself...most of the screenies in the link in my sig are taken using tileproxy...

I think,as MarkTurner suggests, that you should try TileProxy for yourself...You may be pleasantly surprised...I was..Lou

What are the pros and cons of the two methods?

You've answered most of your own questions in your post, actually...Self-made scenery is "preloaded" and immediately available - TileProxy does need time to stream in. Self-made scenery has the capability of reflecting seasons and nighttime textures (if you put the effort in) - TileProxy is daytime, restricted to the season of the source material. This is especially troublesome if you fly from one region which was photographed in the summer, and another photographed in the winter.Along the same lines, self-made scenery can be color corrected. TileProxy is what it is. There are some legal hiccups with TileProxy as well (*which is why Google images are no longer supported), but the other image providers are either looking the other way or ignorant of how TP uses them. Of course, if you download Google/Virtual Earth images and make scenery for yourself, you too are running afoul of the letter of the law, so I guess that's a wash. You'd have to purchase the rights to the photographs to be fully legal, and without those rights you could get into real hot water if you distributed your creations in any way (for profit or not). I'm certainly not trying to disparage TileProxy - it is a FANTASTIC technology demonstrator and for many users has really enhanced their simming. I personally prefer to fly over the standard landclass/textures in FSX, but having played around with TP in the past, it is a unique product no doubt!

So, is it pointless for me to continue developing my own scenery in light of Tile Proxy? Or should I keep up with my new hobby?

I don't think it is pointless - creating scenery from scratch is a great project... you get to learn a bit about the innards of the simulator, and you get to fly over what amounts to your own creation. While TileProxy is a fun little tool, but I don't think it will ever supplant "installable" photoscenery. Good luck!

Tileproxy is great but it does have the limitations stated above and loading times can be slow.Also, I've never been able to fly very fast, so have to keep well below 100kts.Tileproxy is great in some areas and poor in others due to low quality images from the service providers.Tileproxy also takes a bit of getting to understand, setting up, configuring and tweaking.Tileproxy looks great if you can get hold of add on mesh to go with it.Most of my flying is in the UK and this is covered very well in Virtual Earth.Most find that Yahoo maps are best for North America and VE for Europe.Watermasks are the NASA ones and so are not perfect. Also, you see a bit of a mess around coasts.There are problems with W7 as the driver is unsigned, thus you ned to use one of a number of workarounds.I've had some great fun with TP and all the effort for me was well worth it. Christian has done a great job in developing it to where it is now and has plans for further development work in the future.IAN