I have always had this idea that the next version of flight simulator would have an option (default will use scenery on disk) to use satellite imagery (probably from Bing) to populate areas of the world and to generate trees and buildings based upon that imagery. This already exists using 3rd party tools including TileProxy for FSX and also the technology for objects for tree placement was implemented into their 3D Bing maps. This looks to be less likely now viewing the screenshots, but im not complaining as it does look like a nice upgrade regardless. I am just wondering why they haven't decided to provide this option?There are some restrictions I can think of that would make this hard, but not impossible including:- Server and client bandwidth required- Increase in machine resources to cope with downloading, processing the images and autogen scenery objects.Solutions to these could be:- In terms of bandwidth, when viewing bing maps / google maps, the higher the altitude the less detail and images are displayed. The same could be applied to MS Flight as when you are closer to the ground, you could have a LOD around the aircraft which increased the detail of images for those in the near vicinity and then gradually gets less detailed the further the land gets. Also, if you lose connection, it could swap to the default MS Flight scenery or both could be used to complement each other to reduce the amount downloaded.- In terms of machine resources, you could have options to only download the images and turn off autogen which would help machine speed greatly.I am sure there may be other issues, but do you think Flight Simulators will go this way in the future? I think as home connections and machine speeds improve, it will probably eventually head in this direction.

I think that flight simulator's in general will someday go this route but I dont see it happening with MS Flight or X-plane 10. When you look at Google buildings in 3D with textures and from any angle or height, it does look very impressive and I can imagine, as bandwidth gets faster and HD space get cheaper, that this could be a possibility for most. Of course if you look at how big one photo scenery airport can be, into the mid double digit MB size, try doing that for the planet and see how may 100's of TB's of HD space you would need.Now if you want satellite scenery for the whole USA today there is a company that will send it to you on a USB 3.0 external HD for about $150 right now but there is no autogen with that so no 3D objects.

I use Tileproxy just about every time I fly in FS2004, and I love it. BTW, it does use LOD with the scenery, and you can even adjust what scenery resolution it uses at each level.Besides autogen; the other problem with Tileproxy is that it doesn't work at night; everything on the ground is black. The developer tried to implement something that approximates street lighting, but I don't think he every got it to work satisfactory. You already mentioned the overhead in processing the scenery tiles.MS already includes satellite imagery with buildings and autogen in the major meto areas; but it would be nice if it could be extended outwards.Best solution I have found to date is the MegaScenery offering for major cities; the below shots are taken with the MegaScenery DFW scenery in FSX. The results if you are a virtual tourist are amazing.-James

I use Tileproxy just about every time I fly in FS2004, and I love it. BTW, it does use LOD with the scenery, and you can even adjust what scenery resolution it uses at each level.Besides autogen; the other problem with Tileproxy is that it doesn't work at night; everything on the ground is black. The developer tried to implement something that approximates street lighting, but I don't think he every got it to work satisfactory. You already mentioned the overhead in processing the scenery tiles.MS already includes satellite imagery with buildings and autogen in the major meto areas; but it would be nice if it could be extended outwards.Best solution I have found to date is the MegaScenery offering for major cities; the below shots are taken with the MegaScenery DFW scenery in FSX. The results if you are a virtual tourist are amazing.-James

I don't really care about the satellite imagery for to be used as scenery any more... that plane is fruiting hilarious!!!! I want it, like now!! But seriously, as long as the scenery looks good, and somewhat authentic... I'm not too bothered if it doesn't use satellite imagery , I would rather I have my 500GB of HDD space used for other things, since my internet is useless. Jamie ♥

I don't really care about the satellite imagery for to be used as scenery any more... that plane is fruiting hilarious!!!! I want it, like now!!

It's the DFW T-28 Floh. Only one was built in 1917; it was too radical and hard to land for the German military's taste.I originally developed it for FS2002/FS2004. But, there is a nice, affordable payware one out now, so I shoved it into a corner of the hanger and nearly lost it in the a series of hard disk failures.http://blutwerks.com/default.htmI recovered mine thanks to "Slide" at the Old Hanger website, and am releasing it for CFS2. (He also did the wonderful weathering job you see here on the texture.) I decided to try it out in FSX "just because;" the flight dynamics are fine; but the Sopwith Camel gauges it uses apparently date back to FS98 and do not work in FSX.A bridge too far. Still, it looks stunning, as you can see; as Microsoft says, it nearly looks "As real as it gets." I could see my house, the shed in the back yard, the church, the local mall, the place where I work, the.....-James

OMG it's real? :Big Grin:I see even the real one had the face...like ThomasVery cool!

OMG it's real? I see even the real one had a face...like ThomasVery cool!

Yep; brought to you by the same wacky aircraft factory that gave the FS community steam powered aircraft and a duck (the Curtiss-Goupil Duck), in addition to the Early Fairchild Series. A flying submarine and a giant seaplane with a 500 foot wingspan (both concepts that were never built) are still being worked on.-James

I think the problem with photo-scenery for all the word is that they have to make many layers for the seasons, night, snow, and also correct the colors of most part of pictures, delete bridges (eventualy cars, trucks, planes on ground, etc).I did that for small areas (less than 100 km2), but i think it's not yet possible to do for all the world.But in the future, with dated photo-layers and dated objects (it's possible to make differents versions off an airport), it'll be fun to return flyin in the past, discovering how was kenedy airport in 1975, etc.

It is also hard to find decent aerial photographs for some parts of the world. Some areas are not covered with high resolution photographs; while photographs from the equatorial region suffer from a constant cloud cover.I also encountered the following while flying around Isreal; the lighter color tiles are high resolution images while the fuzzier tiles are low resolution. But notice the disjoin as well. Changing image providers for different parts of the world helps.In the packaged sceneries they fix things like this and color correct when needed as well; along with adding the seasonal, weather, and night textures.-James

It is also hard to find decent aerial photographs for some parts of the world. Some areas are not covered with high resolution photographs; while photographs from the equatorial region suffer from a constant cloud cover.I also encountered the following while flying around Isreal; the lighter color tiles are high resolution images while the fuzzier tiles are low resolution. But notice the disjoin as well. Changing image providers for different parts of the world helps.In the packaged sceneries they fix things like this and color correct when needed as well; along with adding the seasonal, weather, and night textures.-James

What is that cone looking thing at the edge of the scenery?

What is that cone looking thing at the edge of the scenery?

Herodium; a fortress and palace which King Herold the Great built on top of a man-made hill. Herodium is located roughly 2.5 miles SE of Bethlehem. I believe it is part of some Jersuleum scenery I have installed in FS2004.-James