Hello F. Simmers: I've been hearing about Sim Savy for several months and I was wondering if I can obtain some feed-back from those of you who own this product. It looks good from high above on the screen-shots; but how does it look, say from 1,000 feet or 500 feet? Do you see a flat picture-like image or can you actually see buildings auto-generating at a low altitude? --- And how does it look at night? --- Can you see water movement or is it static? By-the-way on my salutation "f:" stands for "fellow". Just in case someone may have caught it and think that I meant someting else. Regards, Johnny

Hello F. Simmers: I've been hearing about Sim Savy for several months and I was wondering if I can obtain some feed-back from those of you who own this product. It looks good from high above on the screen-shots; but how does it look, say from 1,000 feet or 500 feet? Do you see a flat picture-like image or can you actually see buildings auto-generating at a low altitude? --- And how does it look at night? --- Can you see water movement or is it static? By-the-way on my salutation "f:" stands for "fellow". Just in case someone may have caught it and think that I meant someting else. Regards, Johnny

There's a Photoreal Scenery Forum here on AVSIM and I think you'll find a lot of discussion there on this topic and this product. Best regards,Jim

Hello F. Simmers: I've been hearing about Sim Savy for several months and I was wondering if I can obtain some feed-back from those of you who own this product. It looks good from high above on the screen-shots; but how does it look, say from 1,000 feet or 500 feet? Do you see a flat picture-like image or can you actually see buildings auto-generating at a low altitude? --- And how does it look at night? --- Can you see water movement or is it static? By-the-way on my salutation "f:" stands for "fellow". Just in case someone may have caught it and think that I meant someting else. Regards, Johnny

Hi, I have posted 2 screenshots taken at very low altitude in the photoscenery forum, simsavvy question thread. For me it looks good at dusk. At night what is the point of hi resolution textures? Having said that SS works very well combined with ultimate terrain, it looks great. You can't see water movement but it is something which larry thinks of adding as an upgrade. You can download samples from the SS website to judge by yourself , you won't be disappointed. As Firehawk, wrote, visit the photoscenery section for more info.Take care.

It looks good from high above on the screen-shots; but how does it look, say from 1,000 feet or 500 feet?

It looks good, but it hits the sweet spot at around 1,500ft AGL. At 500', it's passable, but it's not ideal. This assessment is based on the 2m/px original SimSavvy scenery - the 1m/px scenery upgrade will make it look better. It is completely usable and enjoyable at 1,000'.

Do you see a flat picture-like image or can you actually see buildings auto-generating at a low altitude?

SimSavvy (and most other photoreal packages) do not have any autogen. The only buildings which will appear will be part of airports, or the larger "custom" placed buildings found in cities and such. The generic houses, trees, and other buildings are not there across the countryside. This is only really noticeable on takeoff and landing, where you no longer have the 3D objects adjacent to the runway and approach to gauge your speed. With a little creativity and the right tools, you can add in this ambiance to certain airports. I added some trees, buildings and other local items to NH69 (Windsock Village, New Hampshire) to give it a little more realistic feel. Although this is a manual process (Instant Scenery), you can do this for the airports you frequent the most and really amp up the realism! Extra scenery added to NH69...

And how does it look at night?

Dark. Photoreal scenery does not have any night lighting. It is single season (whatever season the photos were taken), and daytime only. Users with Ultimate Terrain report that the night lighting for UT roads might shine through, but this is only part of the equation - the city/town glow is not represented.

Can you see water movement or is it static?

There are no water blends/masks in SimSavvy - water is represented photographically. The creator (Larry) is investigating ways to overlay such blends so that water can be made to look more like the native FSX water, but currently it's photographic in nature. ~~~ While you've seeming hit questions to all the shortcomings of photo real scenery, the effect it provides overall is second to none. I love flying over my local areas and seeing truly local things. The warehouse up the street, the neighborhood I grew up in, etc. etc. Just last night I took the stock FSX F-18 out for a spin and tore A@#& up some of the river valleys in Vermont. Even at 300' AGL, ripping up these river valleys and following highways over photo real scenery is something that traditional scenery, even Orbx in my opinion, cannot compare to. SimSavvy is an investment no doubt, but if you are a VFR pilot, it is an investment which will change flightsimming for you. Personally, I would recommend it less for those who only fly airliners. That style of flying doesn't take full advantage of the scenery... but holy heck does it look great looking down from 20,000' onto the world.... -Greg ~~~ Smugglers Notch, Stowe, Vermont. (Appx. 700' AGL)