I don't understand Megascenery

[Geofa 108]

You can turn the autogen down with the generics only and have only trees which is what I did when FSX first came out as I have always found the buildings to look like sim city.

 

Regarding the compare-of course it looks blurry from ground level. I don't often fly at that level

With the newer high res textures they look very sharp even from 200 ft. Ago-used to be you would have to get 1000 or so before they look good.

[yankeegolf3 52]

I really don't get the marketing strategy here. I did get the Sim Saavy U.S. scenery figuring that it was costing me about $6.00 per state. The lack of water masking in the product is a major flaw. The failure to adjust colors between states is something I can live with. The absence of night textures is a major omission. I have not used it enough to see if there are seasonal differences, but I suspect there are not.

 

I liked the Sim Saavy product best in landlocked states like Utah, Nevada and Wyomig where the lack of water masking was not a real issue. It's not so bad in coastal states if one adjusts the camera angle and does not fly too much over the coast itself. Florida, however, may be a lost cause.

 

To be quite honest, I really balked at the $300 price. I was not aware of the water masking problems. I was not aware that it did not include night textures. The reviews of the product lead me to believe that there would be more included than I actually received. I would not call it out and out fraud, but it was pretty close to the line. I certainly was deceived. I clearly was cheated. Had the product been properly described, and had the reviewers been honest, I probably would not have purchased it. (I would note that the demo area was over Colorado, a landlocked state where the water masking problems would not be apparent.)

 

It seems that this new product is fixing the problems with water masking, which will be nice for coastal states. However, in doing so, they are jacking up the price by a factor of three or four. This just strikes me as the wrong way to go. Also I am rather miffed at having been sold an incomplete and defective product, then being expected to re-purchase it again at a much higher price.

 

As I understand it, Sim Saavy's sales basically sucked. He reported like zero sales for the X\Plane version when it was first released. To me, the problem was obvious. He had a defective product which was grossly overpriced. People like me, who have more money than common sense, might buy it. But all but the most dedicated flight simmers are going to balk at paying this much for this scenery. Expecting $1000 to $2000 for a product which previously cost $300 is really pushing things. Especially when the $300 product did not sell well.

 

I actually think it would make more sense to lower the price. I suspect that if the product were priced in the $50 to $100 range, and was available as a download (to avoid the cost of buying a hard drive) it probablly would sell much better. At this price range, it becomes competative with GEX and UTX.

 

But at the $1000 plus price point, GEX does not look so bad.

 

If only you had read the product description:

 

 

FSX Only - This is daytime scenery without water masks or autogen.

Please try a sample if you are unfamiliar with photoreal scenery.

The product includes a 2TB USB hard drive

ALL states are NOW available in 1 meter (50cm source aerials) scenery!

 

Prettey far to fraud the line!

[High Plains Flyer 35]

Prettey far to fraud the line!

 

The site also contained the following claim:

 

"The bonus? If you read the fine print, you will discover that Sim Savvy has given you scenery for Canada and Alaska with your purchase at no cost!"

 

These bonus items were not included with my purchase. When I tried to inquire about the failure to include this, I received no answer.

 

Also, I did not realize how bad the product would look without the water masking. You see, none of the many screenshots showed the extent fo the problem. While I can understand a developers desire to present their product in the best possible light, taken as a whole, the screenshots are deceptive.

 

You see, I am rather new to the hobby and I am not as smart as you are. Quite frankly, I did not read all of the fine print, nor do I believe that including such fine print excuses a developer from releasing a substandard product. The consumer is at a disadvantage because he really cannot see what the product is like until he has turned over his money.

 

So my question for you would be, why do you insist on supporting developers who do not deliver what they promise and who charge a lot of money for incomplete and/or defective products? It seems like many members of this community believe that such behavior by developers is acceptable.

[Tom_G_2010 6]

They just released Rhode Island Megascenery II for only $9.95. I decided for that price I would try out the new scenery and see what I thought of it. I was hoping to do some flying this evening and post my opinion.

 

Well, That Aint Gonna Happen! Not tonight anyway. After the site took my money it provided me a broken link to the download file... :mad:

 

I've sent them a request to resolve it, but this is sure not a great intro to the new and improved downgraded scenery :excl:

[76496 17]

Yeah! They have had problems with the site since this past saturday. I purchased mega scenery earth washington state, and that is 66gigs worth of download. Cust support is really pretty good with about 24hr turnaround.

[Tom_G_2010 6]

Yeah! They have had problems with the site since this past saturday. I purchased mega scenery earth washington state, and that is 66gigs worth of download. Cust support is really pretty good with about 24hr turnaround.

 

24hr turn around on a customer inquiry is reasonable. Knowing about a problem since last Saturday and not alerting customers before they hand you money is NOT reasonable !

 

If I wanted to hand a vendor my money and wait for a product I would order the DVD via snail mail.

But when you pay for something with "Instant Download" as the delivery option you kind of expect, well, "Instant Download"

 

If they have a known problem it would be reasonable for them to put a notice up that warns buyers that delays may occur while they work to resolve such issues.

[dogtrack 18]

Thanks for the HU on broken links.....will leave it a while before trying.

[Tom_G_2010 6]

UPDATE: THey where quick to reply to my email that the link was broken. I received the reply about 6 hours after i sent the message. They apologized and said the link was now fixed and I should try again.

 

The download now runs, by ironically the download is happening on a screen that is still giving me a "File Not Found" error message :rolleyes:

 

So, I'm downloading the RI files now and will install them at lunch time or this evening.

[tttocs 301]

So, I'm downloading the RI files now and will install them at lunch time or this evening.

 

I'll be interested to hear how you like this when you get it running. While I've criticized the no-autogen decision and the delay in the night stuff, the fact that this will be Sim-Savvy with watermasking is certainly a plus, as is the fact that you'll be able to download and load up an area with a single install. Buying a larger area with previous MS Earth subdivisions has been a bit of a pain.

 

Let us know what you think.

 

Scott

[Tom_G_2010 6]

Well, I snuck in a quick flight during lunch. My initial reaction is Blahhh

 

Water Masking? Uhhmm, NO! But maybe it's a setting in my scenery complexity. I'll have time to check that this evening.

 

Download and install an area with a single install? Well, NO not that either! The tiny state of RI took 4 files! (3.36Gigg total)

 

I flew out of KPVD first with default scenery. Even with my scenery settings rather sparse the modest amount of Autogen around the outside of the airport grounds gave the landscape definition. Of course after a climbed a bit I was faced with the stock FSX scenery which is nothing to write home about for sure.

 

My second flight was with the new MegaScenery II RI. Sitting on the runway and looking out past the airfield it felt like I was at a field out on the plains of the midwest, flat and devoid of dimensional character other than the airport buildings in close. When I took off I was hoping to see something more impressive than the original MegaScenery in terms of quality. And, it was a bit better, but not enough to make up for the featureless terrain caused by the lack of Autogen. I'm a low and slow GA guy so that counts for a lot.

 

Again this was just a 10 minute flight while I ate lunch, I'll do some more this evening, but my first impression was not a great one.

[raymar 969]

Hey guys, I'm the one that did the Avsim.com review of SimSavvy when Larry went from 2m to 1m and bought the continental US source files. My position has never changed one iota. The scenery will never be sharp and look like what you see out of a real airplane window without some 3d buildings and some vegetation. In many cases it will be an improvement over the default scenery, especially out West where Microsoft got lazy.

 

It is the coastlines and any other body of water that look so gosh awful butt ugly. But, that was shown in the review along the Florida coastline.

 

Nothing looks worse than the Mississippi Sound unless it is the New Orleans area in SimSavvy. Take a look. I have all 48 states from SimSavvy and I am at the top of the list of those that would like for this new venture to succeed. My best to Larry and all others. I just wish they would spend some time with the BlueSkys guys and see how it should be done.

 

Evidently the US Cities - Los Angeles and the Miami City X scenery packages got it right also. It can be done.

 

Ray

[woodsonl 0]

I'm just a guy trying to make a living pleasing flight simmers.

I do my best like everyone.

The scenery I make has been described to me in the range of awful to excellent.

I failed with Sim Savvy and I am trying again with MegaSceneryEarth.

I am one of a few people willing and able to make photoreal scenery.

I am sorry if you think I ###### on you.

 

And our new scenery does have water masking. Larry

[Petraeus 147]

The scenery I make has been described to me in the range of awful to excellent.

I failed with Sim Savvy and I am trying again with MegaSceneryEarth.

 

I think you're being too hard on yourself there, Larry.

 

I fly all the time with your 1m scenery (almost invariably airline altitudes) and it gives me a pin-sharp rendering of what I would see for real. My only slight gripes are the occasional colour transition between states, and the lack of water masks (but I superimpose my own).

 

But as a product it was way ahead of its time, and very good value compared to other offerings (including the new Megascenery at its current pricing).

[raymar 969]

I think you're being too hard on yourself there, Larry.

 

I fly all the time with your 1m scenery (almost invariably airline altitudes) and it gives me a pin-sharp rendering of what I would see for real. My only slight gripes are the occasional colour transition between states, and the lack of water masks (but I superimpose my own).

 

But as a product it was way ahead of its time, and very good value compared to other offerings (including the new Megascenery at its current pricing).

 

DIdn't you work on a sample area for water masking using the MIssissippi Sound area a few months ago? Successful?

 

Ray

[raymar 969]

Agreed.

Bluesky seems to have mitigated the color issues, at least in CA. I live near SF and and very pleased with what they've done. I use Newport for the photoscenery around SFO and OAK which is better that Bluesky. Best of both worlds.

 

Have you tried the Aerosoft US Cities - San Francisco? On sale for about $10 on Tuesday.

 

Ray