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lateagain

Whilst we impatiently wait for any news.

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I've just got back into FSX after a while away, I'm mostly a combat sim user, ROF and DCS. I finally seem to have a PC that handles FSX well and ORBX NA and REX have me really enjoying MSFS for the first time.

 

I think its noticeable the problems FSX still has with large cities and ORBX scenery in particular. Some of the older ORBX stuff runs very well but I've been disappointed by the Anacortes and Skagit combo. Whatever I do (other than uninstalling the scenery...) I get poor fps over that area, not unplayably so but really not enjoyable, around 20fps. I wonder how the UK airfields will perform, especially as there will pretty much always be large cities nearby.

 

You also notice the difference between PNW and the newer NA scenery packs. PNW is fantastic but I find PF, CRM and NRM although still great they are noticeably more generic, maybe turned out by a faster process. Once again I wonder if ORBX UK will be like PNW or more like CRM with high detail areas like KJAC and the surrounding mountains added later.

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Hello

I think I will be sticking with GenX + UK2000+Treescapes for the accuracy.

ORBX stuff can only be a generalised view of the UK, I suppose it will be fine for those of us who do not live here though.

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Well I'm surprised nobody has commented on this from the man himself!

In response to request for info or screenshots on the UK on the OFFICIAL ORBX Forum.

Screenshots coming very soon, just placing housing, pubs and churches as autogen. Trees and forests done.

 

We don't want to show a half baked product but let me tell you that FTX England will stun you guys, it's that good and made by locals to boot.

 

Also had a great meeting with Darren and Vicki Vincent from EarthSimulations and we will be making a joint announcement with them soon.

Regards,

JV

I have to say I'm intrigued by the "Joint Announcement".

 

The Earth Simulations Alderney I have is about as close to a mix of ORBX and Photoreal as you can get. If that's what they've done for the Mainland it should be impressive?

 

I do have concerns that with so many "recognisable" architectural features packed so densely into such a small geographic area that they are that close to release. Too much generic autogen could really spoil it? Against that it has to run in the Sim and not slow things down too much?

 

Pure conjecture till we see some shots and a video.

 

Geoff

 

Here's one of Earth Simulations Alderney

 

 

For those of you who haven't seen any of Earth Simulations stuff before this project is the closest thing to ORBX. Read the blurb and check out the screengrabs.

http://earthsimulations.com/shawbury-fields.html


Geoff Brown

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I own Alderny but FTX UK won't be like that, I am sure. Alderny uses photoreal textures and FTX doesn't. Alderny is a very small island: all in all it's even smaller then a regular Orbx airport addon and that's what it should be compared too. That's why it wouldn't surprise me if the announcement will be that EarthSimulation will be developing airport addons for FTX UK.

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You may be right. However there are a good few airfield designers for the UK and Airfields have not been Earth Simulations main thing? Granted the islands they've done to the standards of Alderney are small the area covered by Shawbury Fields is bigger. http://earthsimulati...ury-fields.html

 

Still until the announcement it's jsut speculation? Earth Simulations involvement in existing UK sceneries would give them more input than a few airports I'd have thought? There's also some logic in joining forces rather than competeing over the same product?

 

Geoff

 

PS I still think that believable 3-D renditions of the UK's many dense urban areas is going to be the biggest challenge?


Geoff Brown

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Im not a fan of pure photoscenery at all. So as an English expat, I am very much looking forward to Orbx UK.

 

I have a sneaky feeling that they have been working on something very special for the UK series..... I fully expect to be 'wowed'.

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I have a sneaky feeling that they have been working on something very special for the UK series..... I fully expect to be 'wowed'.

 

Special in what regard...? I have flown above England using Horizon's photoreal scenery and apart from Wales EVERYTHING looked the same. When you looked at the topdown view it almost seemed Horizon was using landclass, so repetitive the scenery was. :wink: So I can't see I am looking forward to at least Orbx England because if it's already boring in real life, how boring will it be using landclass...? :wink:

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hhmmm J, I was going to tell you what I thought of your "England boring" thoughts, but after thinking about it........England is flat only Wales and Scotland has the type of mountains you like in PNW so in that respect you could be right.

 

I do think if they get the colours of the seasons right it could be amazing, "our" mustard fields in spring/summer for just one example. To see them bright yellow fields is stunning IRL.

All the vivid greens and other big range of colours that run thought England.

 

But at the end of the day England is flat and nothing like PNW. So your terrain follow is not going to be working hard for you.

 

As for flying ATM, I love all the Hawaii island apart from the biggest one(it's not out yet) I have them all in photo real with all the FSDreamteam airports, imo photo real works so well for them, just love it atm. :wub:

 

Photo real used in the right places is breath taking

Hawaii

4842a.jpg

on route to KLAS, sand and rock like this looks amazing.

523122.jpg


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Special in what regard...? I have flown above England using Horizon's photoreal scenery and apart from Wales EVERYTHING looked the same. When you looked at the topdown view it almost seemed Horizon was using landclass' date=' so repetitive the scenery was. :wink: So I can't see I am looking forward to at least Orbx England because if it's already boring in real life, how boring will it be using landclass...? :wink:[/quote']

 

Boring?

 

You are welcome to your opinion of course....but I would heartily disagree.

 

In terms of "special" it will be interesting to see how they handle the diversity of England. Rolling fields one minute, urban sprawl the next.

 

Add in amazingly picturesque areas like the Cotswolds, lake District, Cornwall, etc and the landclass system will be tested to the max.

 

Yes....in fact anything but boring.

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LOL I didn't mean to insult anyone with my 'boring' remark. :wink: But as I said, when I fly above Horizon's England, it seems it's ALL the same... It's an endless row of irregular shaped small farmfields. Maybe I've been flying above the wrong area's. :wink: Or maybe indeed it's simply because everything is flat.

 

But anyway, I wonder how you can create something exciting using landclass only when the original country already looks like it's made up out of landclass. :wink: The same goes for my own country: the Netherlands. I'd love a good photoreal version of it (and no, the freeware version isn't imho) because then you can actually see what it is like in real life, but even if Orbx would release my own country as an addon, I doubt if I'll buy it...

 

(In fact, I can't imagine ANY landclass product of your own region being any good, but I know that's a personal thing because there are a lot of people who live in PNW and who says Orbx's PNW is great. Personally I find it real odd to fly above a country I know well and still not recognizing anything! I liked UTX Europe but apart from the Netherlands! It's so weird recognizing roads but seeing totally wrong textures around it...)

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As a Brit I share some of our Dutch (got a first name we can use?) friends concerns. Compared to the PNW or even NZ the UK has a massive amount of cultivated land that does look like "Landclass". Don't shoot the messenger! Look at Google earth or Virtual earth and you'll see he's quite right. It does have some interesting regions and the issue will be whether ORBX can produce a subtle enough mesh and textures to make those recognisable? The mix between Urban and Countryside is extremely intense and the challenge will be for them to produce something that is better for us VFR pilots. At Airbus and 737 altitudes the existing Photoreal with some key airport add-ons (already available) are probably OK. Take it down to 3000' (and a lot ot the UK is controlled airspace much above that) and you've got to come up with something special to really be able to fly visually? Add to that the prevailing low cloud and haze from urbanisation and it's going to have to be very good.

 

Boring? Well done well we have a good few challenging locations and fields! Loads of controlled airspace with very active commercial traffic ...and VERY changeable weather.

 

In my experience most PMDG jockeys need not apply! just set your cloud base at 2000' and buy some of the existing airport add-ons. That's you lot sorted :lol: ?

 

Geoff

 

PS I'd like a more detailed criticism of the freeware photoreal scenery for Holland? Apart from the limitations of photoreal ANYWHERE, are there other specific issues?


Geoff Brown

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Im quite excited for Orbx UK but i do hold back because i dont know how its going to look when i fly above my home, will they have my street, will they have the hill i live on as fsx does not and the 4m horizon genx v2 mesh has it as a slight slope. The UK is pretty flat but when everything looks the same how do you navigate when all you see out the windows is farm land and small villages ( when you turn the gps off ). :)

 

I hope the do a good job of Bournemouth and Poole :)

 

I also hope they add the abandon/dug up ww2 airfields like this one instead of some random ground texture.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=50.804796,+-1.503546&num=1&t=h&vpsrc=0&ie=UTF8&z=15&iwloc=A

 

I hope it shows for you


-Paul-

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Latest news for any unable to log in (?) or can I take it that silliness is resolved now? Anyone here STILL banned?

 

We try to feature at least one photoreal city area in our newer major regions (like Seattle, Auckland, and freeware releases like Portland), but in this instance we are determined to release FTX England by October/November so we may defer a photoreal London (1 mile each side of the Thames) for a service pack. JV

 

So probably December? "I love deadlines! I love the whooshing sound they make as they flash by!" B)

 

I was hoping the "joint announcment" mentioned previously would entail some use of photoreal textures enhanced by custom 3-D autogen ...with trees of course! This seems(?) to dash that idea? :unsure:

 

Also as a Londoner I'd have to say that a mile either side of the Thames would look odd! In fact VERY odd in view of it's winding course. It might excite FSX chopper pilots who'd travel over the Thames in real life ...but would look very odd otherwise. In reality VFR pilots around London outside of the TCA's are restricted to 2500' anyway. The FSX London TCA is ...er...rubbish and nought like the real thing. There's already a London VFR package out there that covers a slightly more useful area but even that is limited :huh: .

 

We'll have to wait for some screenshots.

 

Geoff


Geoff Brown

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As an Essex boy I should be gagging for this release. Apart from Alice Springs (didn't buy it, have you seen where it is?!) and I was a bit slow with NZNI, I've jumped on everything else Orbx. This time I'll be watching for screen shots, screen shots and more screen shots. I got burned with GenerationX. All twelve DVDs sit on my bookshelf...unloved.


Eva Vlaardingerbroek, an inspiratiom.

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As an Essex boy I should be gagging for this release.

SNAP! From Ilford originally Ron. I'm particulalry interestead in how they'll handle the salt marshes and mud at low tide around Maldon, The Crouch, Mersea Island, Walton and the Naze? Hope they do some decent low tide textures (as they have in one of the PNW airfields and also in the excellent Plumb Island - the latter not by orbx) as these are very atmospheric.

Geoff Brown

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