Dear Simmers,

 

I am interested in buying a VFR UK scenery product however I am really confused which of these mentioned in the title is the best.

 

I also read that they both have night lightning texture problems ( which means scenery will be pitch black) but i'm not sure if these issues have been solved.

 

I'll leave up your advice to you guys :)

 

Thanks,

 

Bus 320

Hi

 

AFAIK they are three different products.

 

I believe Horizon Gen X is for FSX but the other two are definitely for FS9 and work well together. VFR Terrain can also be used standalone if you wish. There is no night lighting for the photographic scenery itself.

 

I used to use the photographic scenery but not any more, although it is a huge download and install. As for VFR Terrain I now use FSGenesis products as I find them better.

 

Hope this helps.

 

David

Hi

 

For what it's worth, at one stage I had used the Just Flight VFR Photographic scenery for all the available areas of the UK, but when I had to reinstall FS9 after a hardware meltdown a few years ago I decided not to do so again and just make do with enhanced default scenery. The reason for this was that I felt the definition really was fairly poor even when flying relatively slowly at 4000 feet or above and although you could identify roads, towns etc (even individual houses including my own) these really were just a blur and the colours seemed to have an unappealing matt effect. Also on approach to an airfield at lower altitude everything seemed very flat and featureless which detracted from the sense of realism and, as David mentioned, there is no night lighting.

 

Don't get me wrong, if you like VFR navigation and following landmarks, roads, rivers etc then this may be for you and I have enjoyed doing just that in the past with JF VFR Photographic Scenery, but just don't expect too much. It is certainly worth trying if you can get a copy of one of the areas relatively cheaply but I would think twice about rushing off and paying full price for all the available UK scenery areas without first trying just one. To be fair, the standard of VFR photographic scenery for the UK has improved with FSX but this may reflect the improved capabilities of FSX itself. .

 

With regard to terrain, I too now use FSGenesis, having previously used VFR Terrain.

 

Hope this helps you to make a decision!

Bill

Hi Bill

 

That is a very fair and accurate summary. Exactly my reasons for abandoning the product and using enhanced default scenery and FSGenesis.

 

David

Generation X has both FSX and FS9, I run both.

Regards

Echofox

Generation X has both FSX and FS9, I run both.

Regards

Echofox

 

Thanks for this - I didn't realise it works on both platforms.

 

David

Generation X has both FSX and FS9, I run both.

Regards

Echofox

 

Can you clarify does Horizon VFR Generation X runs on both FSX and FS9?

 

I understood that it only worked on FSX - have I got that wrong?

 

Bill

I think echofox is wrong!

 

Have a look here:

 

http://www.playhorizon.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=18&zenid=a2aaontklhvj1uvgtkr6onklg2

 

Generation X is for FSX only - and they've sold out of everything just in case anyone was thinking of buying!

 

David

Hi Guys

 

I can definately assure you that Horizon VFR Photographic Scenery works in both FS9 and FSX. On the box front it says "For Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004". I bought Version 2.0 and used the upgrade discs to bring it to Version 3. I have it working in both sims. As the better visual clarity is in FSX I suspect that although they are on the same discs, FS9 could be missing some enhancements. However if you have both sims, it is worth the money, in my opinion. " Flightstore" was selling them at the Sim Show at Weston-Super-Mare, the guys are very helpful and will probably give you any further advice.

 

Regards

Echofox

Hi

 

How good do you rate it in FS9? Have you experience of the old VFR Photographic Scenery for England and Wales for FS9 and is it significantly better than that?

 

Regards,

Bill

I have a problem comparing as I have just had a new Alpine Systems computer built (3.53G,i7,Nvidia GTX680) , so I would say that it depends on your system.On my old computer I had the original Photo Scenery which I changed for Generation X v2 and at the time thought the latter was better. I am now running v3 installed into FS9 and X, there is a difference, for example, as U.K. simmers will know Blackpool has three piers and a big tower, In FS9 there is a trace of the piers, but nothing in FSX, as far as the tower is concerned there are addons in the Avsim library (and EGNH), which does enhance the scenery. I think this photo scenery is a personal choice, good for entertaining friends etc, it makes your local outside world look nearly real, but it's your cash so you may prefer alternatives which may lurk somewhere in European sceneries.

Regards

Echofox

_{you may prefer alternatives which may lurk somewhere in European sceneries}

 

_{By this perhaps you are referring to France VFR sceneries. I am not sure if these are true photo sceneries at all or whether they are photo sceneries with a huge amount of carefully placed autogen added (which avoids the 'flat' effect of photoscenery, but these must be the best scenery addons for VFR flying in FS9. I have all of them and love VFR flying there because of their quality but only wish something similar was available for the UK and Ireland.}

 

_{Although I used Just Flight VFR Photographic scenery for the UK, as there was never any photo scenery developed for Ireland for FS9, I bought the Generation X scenery for Ireland and installed it in FSX. It is certainly very good but I was not aware Generation X functioned in FS9 so perhaps I should try installing it there.}

 

_Bill

To all post above

Horizon (Playsims) Have nearley all uf the UK done + all of Ireland Scotland is one heck of a large download and comes in 2 parts South. North should be out end of July No lighting is envisaged for Scotland But why have photographic scenery if flying in the dark???.