I'm still a bit of an FSX noob so forgive any silly questions that may follow. I have purchased a whole bunch of airplanes and am pretty happy with them for the most part. I now find that an enjoyable FSX experience is being held back due to the stock scenery. To that end, I've purchased GEX North America and UTX-USA. I haven't had a chance to install them yet so I have no idea what North America will look like but in my searches online, I keep coming across topics that mention adding land classes as "a must" to really take FSX scenery to another level. My questions are:

 

1. How much of an improvement will these adding land classes make?

2. Are there any recommendations for land classes? Doesn't matter if its freeware or payware.

 

Any feedback would be welcome.

The UTX part of your purchase will add landclass definitions, among other things which will improve FSX in that region you've bought. No need to add some more unless you are unhappy with the result.

 

Just take your time and install GEX and UTX. Make sure to read a bit into the manuals on the various options and the handling of the UTX setup tool. Either way, my guess is that you will be pleasantly surprised about the outcome.

 

If there was a need for another sort of landclass definition, Scenery Tech sells some more widespread titles. Could be a matter of taste, but I only have Scenery Tech for areas where no UTX is available.

The UTX part of your purchase will add landclass definitions, among other things which will improve FSX in that region you've bought. No need to add some more unless you are unhappy with the result.

 

Just take your time and install GEX and UTX. Make sure to read a bit into the manuals on the various options and the handling of the UTX setup tool. Either way, my guess is that you will be pleasantly surprised about the outcome.

 

If there was a need for another sort of landclass definition, Scenery Tech sells some more widespread titles. Could be a matter of taste, but I only have Scenery Tech for areas where no UTX is available.

 

Thanks for the response. The reviews I've seen concur with your assesment about what to expect after the install. I spend a lot of time flying around South Florida and the keys so it will be interesting to see if the roads and airports are now where I expect them to be.

 

I was also a little unsure of the install process but the consensus seems to be UTX -> GEX. I'll see what happens when its installed.

I think the GEX setup will offer an extra option for replacing some UTX textures, so your installation order sounds good. There should be some update check in GEX, make sure to run that one too. UTX lists the updates on their page or in the forums. This is just in case and may be a redundant step though.

I think the GEX setup will offer an extra option for replacing some UTX textures, so your installation order sounds good. There should be some update check in GEX, make sure to run that one too. UTX lists the updates on their page or in the forums. This is just in case and may be a redundant step though.

 

Thanks for your response. Are the GEX textures significantly better than the equivalent UTX textures?

You may also wish to look at some photoreal scenery for South Florida. I have a pack that covers the Ft. Lauderdale area and I have all of the USA on a State by state basis from Sim-Savvy. There doesn't seem to be a best scenery approach for FSX. The GEX/UTX will give you the best look, but none of it is what is really there. The photoreal scenery will give you the real world view but it has its own shortcomings.

 

Keep reading, keep asking questions, keep trying various add ons. It just gets better and better each day.

 

A lot of the final deternination for scenery depends on the altitude you tend you fly and the speed. Low and slow or high and fast. Seems the answer for each is somewhat different. On the opposite corner of the US you will find some ORBX scenery. They have a nice demo that you really should try. Of course, you can fly in both areas with no problem with FSX. It really doesn't care whether you start in Seattle or Miami.

 

I have some other photoreal scenery for the Florida Keys but I can't recommend it at all. If possible, try to find a demo or a good comprehensive review of a product to avoid disappointments.

 

Ray

You may also wish to look at some photoreal scenery for South Florida. I have a pack that covers the Ft. Lauderdale area and I have all of the USA on a State by state basis from Sim-Savvy. There doesn't seem to be a best scenery approach for FSX. The GEX/UTX will give you the best look, but none of it is what is really there. The photoreal scenery will give you the real world view but it has its own shortcomings.

 

Keep reading, keep asking questions, keep trying various add ons. It just gets better and better each day.

 

A lot of the final deternination for scenery depends on the altitude you tend you fly and the speed. Low and slow or high and fast. Seems the answer for each is somewhat different. On the opposite corner of the US you will find some ORBX scenery. They have a nice demo that you really should try. Of course, you can fly in both areas with no problem with FSX. It really doesn't care whether you start in Seattle or Miami.

 

I have some other photoreal scenery for the Florida Keys but I can't recommend it at all. If possible, try to find a demo or a good comprehensive review of a product to avoid disappointments.

 

Ray

 

Thanks for your response. I have the ORBX demo for PNW and the KPDX City Scape and it's quite nice when compared to the rest of FSX. If ORBX comes down to my neck of the woods, I'll be buying it for sure. I've tried some photoreal scenery of the area around KLAX and was not impressed. Granted, it was freeware so that could have been the reason. I tend to fly between 3000 and 8000 ft when flying low and above 20k when doing very long flights (gotta love my Eaglesoft Citation X). Hopefully, UTX and GEX will help improve both types of flying until I decide to really throw money at FSX.

There are a couple of scenery reviews in the avsim archives for South Florida. Both have lots of screenshots at various altitudes. Search on my name to shorten the list.

 

Ray

UTX landclass only covers cities/urban landclass. Scenerytech will give you more widespread changes. I'd recommend using both.

I've downloaded the Scenery Tech North America install file but I'll wait and see how GEX/UTX looks before purchasing and installing. The before and after comparison on their website looks pretty good though.

One thing looking at your system specs, your cpu (1.73Ghz) will not be strong enough to run FSX with any kind of detail. You need a system with minimum 2.66Ghz, and preferably 3.0Ghz+. Just to warn you before you spend money on detailed addons you probably won't be able to use to their full advantage, if at all without a significant performance hit!

Just completed the install and made a quick flight from North Perry (KHWO) to Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International (KFLL) and noticed a huge difference in the scenery and the roads. I could actually follow the Turnpike to the airport and passed over something that represents the Seminole Hard Rock hotel and casino. Frame rate didn't make a huge hit as I'm still averaging over 25fps but that is without REX Essentials running. I'll see how that goes in the morning.

I would like to know how you run all these addons smoothly, and over 25 FPS, with a 1.73 GHZ CPU and that video card? One out of every three threads around here are from people with water cooled 5.0 GHZ rigs, with dual 680's, that can't get above 15 FPSS and have major stutters.

 

The world wants to know!

 

Dave

I'd say he's telling porkies or else he's doing his FPS measurements at 30,000 ft over water.

I would like to know how you run all these addons smoothly, and over 25 FPS, with a 1.73 GHZ CPU and that video card? One out of every three threads around here are from people with water cooled 5.0 GHZ rigs, with dual 680's, that can't get above 15 FPSS and have major stutters.

 

The world wants to know!

 

Dave

 

My old Macbook pro managed to do the same for FSX default areas. GEX amde the FPS better, then UTX brought it down a little, and that was all on medium-high settings. It's possible to keep this FPS up, too, if you don't install any FPS intensive third party sceneries.