USA Roads released!

[B777ER 2,489]

They just posted a msg in theri forum about 8 minutes ago announcing the release. They have not even updated their site yet. Get it via the forum msg. Just bought mine!

[Guest ba747heavy]

Fantastic news!

[Guest JimC1702]

Wahoo! I had a feeling it would be tonight. I'm downloading it now!Jim

[Guest]

It looks good, cant wait, but the 330MB size download frightens me.

[Guest ba747heavy]

330 mb!? I wonder what they have in there that requires so much space.

[michal 44]

>330 mb!? I wonder what they have in there that requires so>much space.Every single tiniest road in the US with every curve and bend. In my opinion it is a miracle that you can fit it into 330 Mb only.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

[Egbert Drenth 250]

>> I wonder what they have in there that requires so much space <

[michal 44]

>It looks good, cant wait, but the 330MB size download>frightens me. My DSL worked on it for about 40 minutes.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

[Guest ba747heavy]

>>> I wonder what they have in there that requires so much>space <<>>A lot of bricks and concrete :-lol LOL!! I guess after thinking about it the whole thing it makes sense, but my first reaction was 'whooo'.

[Guest A_Delta_Sierra]

We have been using the Deloorme "STREET ATLAS USA" coupled to Fs8 and now Fs9 via "gps out" on a second computer for the last couple of years for a moving map display. This new release is exciting and it appears, from a quick check, using the Little Rock screen shot they have posted, that the detail, if you know what to look for, is right down to the city street level. I took an obscure corner of the Little Rock screen shot and cranked up the Street Atlas and started drawing red lines over the streets I could find. All I can say is WOW. Here is the work I did.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/80723.gifAfter finding such a perfect match, I stopped the overlaying process feeling confident they had the product of year, for us who enjoy VFR. I think you will find VFR flight even closer now. HARDER, you are going to have information overload unless you know exactly where you are. Fs8 and Fs9 per my experience coupled to the Delorme movng map had the interstates, and US level roads where they belonged. Now that you have even more detail, you are going to get lost flying true VFR ... no gps.I hope MS will take this data and include it into the next version. Sure they will have to pay more for it from the source, but that is the cost of enhancements. I these folks "own" a legal copy they have used.Good luck and enjoy the VFR experience!Regards,BobS.. We are not a spokesman for them, shucks we don't even havc the data, all we did was work off of the screen shots to see what they have. Now I need to calculate how long my download time is going to be. ;-)Seems the rage to talk about the "size and speed" of each others computer. Beat this if you can for solving novel/unique problem anywhere in the cosmos. ..Have K&E and know how to use it!

[Guest SoarPics]

This from the advertising at Flight1:"USA Roads have been carefully optimized for FS2004 to have little impact on performance..."Could someone please define "little impact"?Thanks,Greg

[Guest JimC1702]

Wow, this is a great add-on! Of course, the first thing I did was take off from my home airport, NY0, Fulton County, NY. I was able to follow State Rt. 67 into Johnstown, NY and fly right to my street. Then I flew north over Gloversville, Mayfield, and the Sacandaga Reservoir. There I saw a couple of spots where the road ran over the water, but Flight1 warned us this would happen.After reaching Northville, I swung back to the south and down over Broadalbin and picked up the Mohawk River at Amsterdam. This was my biggest disappointment with "USA Roads" so far. State Rt. 5 runs right down the center of the Mohawk River. This is not Flight1's fault, of course, but the erroneous placement of the river by MS. State Rt. 5-S and the NYS Thruway were on the south side of the river where they belong.I was easily able to pick out I-890 through Schenectady, NY, also Central Ave. and Rt. 7. I flew past Albany Intl. airport, picked up I-87 (the Adirondack Northway) and followed it north. Once again, there was a spot where the Northway crosses the Hudson. The actual road from USA Roads ran beside the bridge that MS placed there.Again, Flight1 told us up front that these things would happen. In spite of these glitches, it's a fantastic add-on, especially for VFR pilots.I'm off to see how they look at night now.Jim

[B777ER 2,489]

I just took a trip from KORL to KDAB (Orlando Exec to Daytona). This time I wanted to see how good this product was so I took off looking for the Beeline (SR 528) I found it exactly where it was supposed to be. I followed that east till I saw the exit you take to get to I-95. I then followed I-95 north. It led me right where I wanted to go. The raods curve just like they do in real life. I took a detour and even found the bloody residential street I live on! Wow is this some product or what!

[Guest nutmeat]

I just finished my first test flight..used the FS2002 Cessna 182RG (modified for FS2004) 'cause it can handle high altitudes and is slow enough and stable for nice sightseeing. Noticed no frame rate hits, even over the metropolitan Reno area (and yes, all of the streets could be seen and in the proper locations)(running an XP2600 and ATI Radeon 9800). Fantastic, is all I can say! It even has fire trails in the mountains (dirt roads for 4WD only). As a possible drawback, these look like regular paved roads but, I suspect that these will go away when running the program with just the major roads depicted. This is a great piece of work!Oh, BTW, I'm running 1 degree SRTM mesh and the roads in the various terrain areas I checked follow the valleys and curve around the terrain exactly as it does in real life. Now if we could only get the streams to do the same :-).Larry S.

[kerosene31 349]

I have been waiting for this one for a while now. It is simply amazing. I just took off from Buffalo Niagara Int'l, followed the streets right to my house (I live right by there), turned south and followed I-90 West (it goes south there because of the lake). I just found where it splits to Route 219 which goes due south to Bradford. I am still following I-90 along the lake which will eventually hit Cleveland. I am just amazed. I can just navigate with my real-life knowledge of the highways and roads. This addon is a must-have for VFR flyers, and probably some IFR types too. I just can't get over it, George Urban Blvd even has that little curve in it which runs exactly parallel with the approach to runway 5 for a very short stretch.This product is not without downsides, but they are minor. Roads kind of cut through airports. Roads also stretch over rivers and lakes and kind of "walk on water" with no real bridges. These are minor problems for me, and the tradeoff is well worth it. Also, as was expected, the performance hit was minimal (if any). This makes sense as the textures aren't that complex or big.