So I puirchsaed X-Plane 10 and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I installed it about a week ago and have been fiddling with it to get the controls just right. X-Plane gives me that sense of realism that Flight wasn't giving me (keep in mind I'm keeping Flight and will purchase DLC for that program as I would like to see where that program is going). With Flight I feel like I was flying . With X-Plane I feel like a pilot (I'm not one in real life). What I would like to know from the expereienced aficianados here is what they would recommend to improve the scenery in X-Plane. I saw a paid add-on called Urban Maxx Extreme. Would this help the overall appearance of urban areas? I know purchasing/downloading scenery packs/airports will help specific areas but I was just wondering what people would recommend for a general application? Thanks for reading.

May not be quite what you were looking for but, here goes :1. Clear, concise documentation of ALL available commands and options available in the X-plane program for use by aircraft/scenery/plug-in/utility developers.2. Tools for scenery development - Object viewer/editor/texturizer, dsf editor, including editing all land and water features and texture application, whether on a small custom scale or on a more general larger scale. WED or making some of the code available to-date are steps in the right direction but hardly adequate. If anyone should know, Laminar should !3. An ironclad guarantee that whatever is developed in the way of tools and 3rd party scenery development will be usable and/or a conversion utility made available for updating to the next version of X-plane, including a promise to update the current tools to the next version. The reason why this is important is because the current scenery engine and data formats are based on X-plane v8, which are or may be outdated and the next generation may be a complete do-over, hence leading up to a waste of all the current and past efforts at development. And we have been here before.If Laminar expects users and 3rd party developers to spend the necessary time and effort to contribute to X-plane by enhancing the "plausible world" to the contemporary "real world", that is the least they, Laminar, should be expected to do.What Laminar has failed to completely understand in the past is that each 3rd party effort, whether individual, group, freeware or payware, at scenery, aircraft, utility or other creative developments and add-ons enhances the value and reputation of X-plane and the said developers need all help they can get !

:(

fs_av - I'm getting tired of seeing your (what appears to be malicious) drivel all over the place. If you are not going to answer his question wouldn't it have been easier to keep quiet instead of trotting out the usual crap we have been getting from you the last few weeks.To the OP I don't think there is a definite answer to that. WED seems to be what you are looking for but it is still in development. The beta has been made available if you want to give it a try.

fs_av - I'm getting tired of seeing your (what appears to be malicious) drivel all over the place.

Frankly ? Ask me if I care whether you are tired or not !I made a clear remark about what would be good overall that everybody could use and add to the overall X-plane experience. I have been around and have used X-plane long enough to feel comfortable in my skin in making the remarks I do - all with the intention of making X-plane better. Someone once remarked that I may be able to catch more flies with honey - may be so, but I am afraid I don't have that much patience left in me considering the hours and years I have devoted to X-plane.I am not here to please anyone, just say my piece, FWIW.You don't like my answer, TOUGH !

Hello and welcome !

What I would like to know from the expereienced aficianados here is what they would recommend to improve the scenery in X-Plane.

I'm recommending OSM2XP + photo sceneries if OpenStreetMap is detailed near your location. There's a topic here about improving the sceneries:http://forum.avsim.net/topic/355739-improving-the-credibility-of-the-plausible-world/Screen shots here:http://forum.avsim.net/topic/363752-vfr-test-flight/http://forum.avsim.net/topic/364546-vfr-to-nancy/http://forum.avsim.net/topic/365689-t-28-trojan-in-france/http://forum.avsim.net/topic/363688-alsace-and-clouds/http://forum.avsim.net/topic/363657-vernon-bonnieres-sur-seine/http://forum.avsim.net/topic/363513-near-evreux-with-the-bonanza/You'll find airports here:http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=30718http://xpfr.org/?body=scene_cartes&cover=francehttp://www.opensceneryx.com/blog/scenery-packages-using-opensceneryx/http://www.scenery4xp.com/http://www.jrollon.com/Matacan.html...Converting FS sceneries to X-Plane:http://marginal.org.uk/x-planescenery/tools.htmlhttp://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=44099Happy flying ! :(

Also you should check out Simmon's and Chip's blog http://xplane10.wordpress.com/ these guys are constantly reviewing scenery and planes for X-Plane.

What I would like to know from the expereienced aficianados here is what they would recommend to improve the scenery in X-Plane.

Although I am not entirely experienced (*which probably disqualifies me from your question), the only thing I can recommend is patience. Not entirely the most legitimate piece of advice after you've purchased an $80 flight simulator, but it seems to be the only thing Laminar Research is trading on these days.In many locations, X-Plane 10 looks absolutely fantastic, but in many others, X-Plane 10 falls well short of what is expected - specifically in urban areas or with seasonal (spring, fall, winter) textures, among others. Patience is really the only thing which can be prescribed if the visual world is important to you. There are some improvements to be downloaded and installed as listed above, but there are also some desperately needed core improvements which can only come from Laminar Research and aren't expected to happen any time soon.Good luck!-Greg

May not be quite what you were looking for but, here goes :1. Clear, concise documentation of ALL available commands and options available in the X-plane program for use by aircraft/scenery/plug-in/utility developers.2. Tools for scenery development - Object viewer/editor/texturizer, dsf editor, including editing all land and water features and texture application, whether on a small custom scale or on a more general larger scale. WED or making some of the code available to-date are steps in the right direction but hardly adequate. If anyone should know, Laminar should !3. An ironclad guarantee that whatever is developed in the way of tools and 3rd party scenery development will be usable and/or a conversion utility made available for updating to the next version of X-plane, including a promise to update the current tools to the next version. The reason why this is important is because the current scenery engine and data formats are based on X-plane v8, which are or may be outdated and the next generation may be a complete do-over, hence leading up to a waste of all the current and past efforts at development. And we have been here before.If Laminar expects users and 3rd party developers to spend the necessary time and effort to contribute to X-plane by enhancing the "plausible world" to the contemporary "real world", that is the least they, Laminar, should be expected to do.What Laminar has failed to completely understand in the past is that each 3rd party effort, whether individual, group, freeware or payware, at scenery, aircraft, utility or other creative developments and add-ons enhances the value and reputation of X-plane and the said developers need all help they can get !

Thanks, I think. While I am not sure what you are talking about are you saying Laminar is somehow preventing thrid party developers from releasing their product?

Hello and welcome !I'm recommending OSM2XP + photo sceneries if OpenStreetMap is detailed near your location. There's a topic here about improving the sceneries:http://forum.avsim.n...lausible-world/Screen shots here:http://forum.avsim.n...fr-test-flight/http://forum.avsim.n...6-vfr-to-nancy/http://forum.avsim.n...ojan-in-france/http://forum.avsim.n...ace-and-clouds/http://forum.avsim.n...eres-sur-seine/http://forum.avsim.n...th-the-bonanza/You'll find airports here:http://forums.x-plan...showtopic=30718http://xpfr.org/?bod...es&cover=francehttp://www.openscene...g-opensceneryx/http://www.scenery4xp.com/http://www.jrollon.com/Matacan.html...Converting FS sceneries to X-Plane:http://marginal.org....nery/tools.htmlhttp://forums.x-plan...showtopic=44099Happy flying ! :(

Thanks MdMax. Much appreciated.

Also you should check out Simmon's and Chip's blog http://xplane10.wordpress.com/ these guys are constantly reviewing scenery and planes for X-Plane.

Thanks carrotroot. An excellent blog.

Although I am not entirely experienced (*which probably disqualifies me from your question), the only thing I can recommend is patience. Not entirely the most legitimate piece of advice after you've purchased an $80 flight simulator, but it seems to be the only thing Laminar Research is trading on these days.In many locations, X-Plane 10 looks absolutely fantastic, but in many others, X-Plane 10 falls well short of what is expected - specifically in urban areas or with seasonal (spring, fall, winter) textures, among others. Patience is really the only thing which can be prescribed if the visual world is important to you. There are some improvements to be downloaded and installed as listed above, but there are also some desperately needed core improvements which can only come from Laminar Research and aren't expected to happen any time soon.Good luck!-Greg

Thanks Greg. Anyone with a valid opinion is experienced in my book. I am in this for the long haul, so I'm more than happy to sit and wait for Laminar to improve, develop and release. However I also acknowledge I'm a little late to the dance, and there's a lot of content/planes/scenery available for X-Plane 10, so any guidance to root through the coal to get to the diamonds would be appreciated.

Thanks, I think. While I am not sure what you are talking about are you saying Laminar is somehow preventing thrid party developers from releasing their product?

Not quite.What I am saying is that over the decade that I have been fiddling with X-plane, Austin's, (X-plane author), attitude has been and I quote "you can do whatever you want", implying that Austin has no interest whatsoever in what you do to develop whatever you develop. That is evidenced in the absence of tools or utilities coming out of Laminar from versions 4 thru halfway thru version 7! He saw 3rd party development as an invasion of his independence and encroachment on his turf rather than seeing the 3rd party development as actually enhancing X-plane's credibility and adding value to X-plane.Hence my statement and I quote :"If Laminar expects users and 3rd party developers to spend the necessary time and effort to contribute to X-plane by enhancing the "plausible world" to the contemporary "real world", that is the least they, Laminar, should be expected to do."In fairness, I must say that things started changing for the better in the latter part of v7 and became somewhat stable after Ben Supnik was hired. However, that "could care less attitude" still lingers to an extent. This is where the "compatibility" issues between versions also become relevant.Here's to hoping that the Laminar team understands that ANY 3rd party development adds to the value and credibility of X-plane, which ultimately benefits Laminar as well as it's customer base.

fs_av -->I guess I was a bit harsh in response to your original post here, sorry. But the first thing I saw was the last few lines attacking Laminar again so I guess I lost it. The first part of your post was ok and to the point tho.

@ jasonX,i care more about issues than personalities. If any one has an issue with what I posted, by all means challenge my post with your own, but slipping into character attacks doesn't interest me.Thanks.

Read it again - I attacked what you keep posting not you

fs_av - I'm getting tired of seeing your (what appears to be malicious) drivel all over the place.

I rest my case.

In fairness, I must say that things started changing for the better in the latter part of v7 and became somewhat stable after Ben Supnik was hired. However, that "could care less attitude" still lingers to an extent. This is where the "compatibility" issues between versions also become relevant.

Well, I would say you are pretty much out of the loop if I consider Laminars Blog and especially the multiple comments after the developers conference in Mallorca. It is pretty much obvious that they are talkiing the same language.And if I consider that Ben Supnik wrote in the Blog a few months ago that they have to establish a deprecated procedure, it is obvious that you pretty much live in the past. Instead you always demand things, that no sane developer would give to you...