Orbx England released this weekend...

[HiFlyer 9,361]

Well there is a kind of uninstall routine. I think it involved setting FTX mode to normal FSX then simply deleting the Orbx folder.

 

It's been years since I thought about it, but I'm pretty sure full instructions are on the Orbx site. Most important is setting the mode to regular FSX before doing anything, since the other modes do modify some files.

[RCITGuy 35]

Speaks volumes really, when you need a set of instructions to uninstall something like this, and then go find that even just registering and trying to use their forum is the most off-putting and hoop jumping experience you have had to put up with just to ask for help.. Their method of help is extremely cold and abrupt, and as far removed from friendly support as it could ever get, and I haven't even figured out how to ask for support yet, I gave up after reading all the ways you CANT ask for help...

 

What it doesn't tell you is the registry entries in Windows... They don't say anything about that, but I just found several, and that was casual browsing, because they are not called ORBX, nor FTX!

 

Have finally got all my sliders maxed back up again and the ORBX disabled... Much prefer GEX/UTX... Not as nice to look at, but certainly more realistic in terms of accuracy of road placements, no houses in the middle of roundabouts, no main roads going right through car parks, and no bridges that cause every vehicle to do a U turn and looks like it has sunk into the ground :-)

 

When you trying to follow a real world VFR chart of the UK, ORBX don't make it easy at all, well, actually, for me, it was impossible, and I know my way around London by road pretty well too, but mostly by sight, not road names (VFR Driving)

Edited December 17, 2012 by RCITGuy

[oldsod 1]

First post here so I will be brief, Orbx England score out of ten five.

 

What a very big disapointment and yes I live in England so you guys and gals from the rest of the world enjoy but this is just not England.

 

Sorry Orbx it looks like too me a rushed out of the door job to get some quick money.

[kttd 12]

I seldom post, and I don't see any screenshots, so maybe screenshots are verboten in this particular forum?

 

So far, this looks nothing like any ORBX scene I've every purchased and I own all of them. I'm afraid first glance is very negative.

 

I'm confused about the coastal towns graphics after my one and only flight so far. The (housing tracts?) look flat and have no depth, like they were rubber-stamped onto the scenery? Completely out of proportion to the rest of the scene. Does anyone know what I mean?

 

Perhaps I've install incorrectly, I'm hoping that may be the case.

[RCITGuy 35]

First post here so I will be brief

 

No way man, don't be brief, we actually want to hear what your thoughts are mate, in detail, and the reasons for them...

 

For me, I couldn't care less if ORBX made the entire world, and did it really well, I wouldn't buy anything else from them as their support makes you feel like to have to fight for it and earn it.. I don't want to be told the 50 ways of how NOT to ask for help or tell them their software seems full of bugs. I just want a contact form that I can fill in or a support ticket, and its then logged.

 

I don't want to have to make 1 post in a verification forum just to double prove I am human, only to then find there forum asks me to verify myself again, later, and deny me access to the page it gave me the link to, to verify myself a second time over, and I definitely don't want to have to publish my private order number on their website for threat of being deleted or treated like a thief whole stole the software.

 

FTX:ENG > Very unrealistic, faulty Eye candy

ORBX (Or whatever their company name is) > A bloody nightmare.

 

Anything un-usable gets a 0/10

[SteveW 1,792]

ORBX ENG should be viewed as a replacement for the stock FSX autogen scenery, and as such is fantastic. I generally hate scenery but I can't go back to stock England. I want the rest of Europe fast.

 

Screenshots?

sunset

Warton to Southend

Dover Harbour

[tttocs 301]

ORBX (Or whatever their company name is) > A bloody nightmare.

 

Won't comment on England, as I haven't purchased it. I've formed some opinions based on previous products and screenshots, but there's no point in offering those opinions on something I don't even own. I will comment on this, however only for some measure of balance.

 

I've got all the NA regions, and most, but not all, of the NA airports and I find both their product quality and level of support to be good to excellent. Didn't have any problems getting registered back when I did it, and my handful of support questions have always been handled quickly, professionally and yes, even warmly. Orbx support seems to follow a pretty standard approach, used by virtually all of my add-ons, so I don't quite get the fuss. For my part, I prefer support forums as I can actually peak in 'em before I buy to see where things are at. Support in those companies that use ticketing and email systems is pretty much invisible to prospective customers.

 

Just a different perspective...

 

Scott

[RCITGuy 35]

Hi Scott

 

I haven't actually used their support yet...

Tried to, but gave up yesterday after being thrown so many "Dont do's" and Validate/verify's that the whole experience just felt like it was a battle..

[lateagain 45]

Scott, I own all of FTX's landclass scenery areas, all of their freeware airfields and several NA airfields. As yet I've not had cause to use ORBX's support but whilst I wholeheartedly agree that their forum approach (which means others can search problems and benefit from earlier advice) is good the "jump through hoops" and provide various numbers and submit verifications is obviously going to get the backs up of folk who've been struggling with errors that have appeared. FTX are not unique in requesting this, and indeed it's not unreasonable to ask for it BUT perhaps a friendlier way to deal with it would be to allow folk to post their problem and then acknowledge that they're looking at the problem. Such notification could "ask" that the customer look out the details whilst they're sorting out a solution. A mute point? Too touchy feely? Well in my book just good psychology? The customer knows you care. They know you're on the case, they know you'll get back to them and whilst you await that support you can then dig out the details. Same result. Friendlier approach?

 

As you point out you don't have FTX ENG yet. Well a lot of us who are FTX fans have and a good few of us are pretty dissappointed. Much of it is good but a lot needs work.

 

Ironically Steve's screenshots show some areas that could be improved. Criticism of the area has been constructive and specific. Unfortunately much of it has been shouted down by "overexcited users" with little regard (interest) to detail either in the software OR the specifics of the criticism.

 

A view of the FTX support forum shows that there are bigger issues that a few folk are having (which many of us don't have ....or maybe haven't found yet) and they are working on this. I haven't had any issues with the FTX stuff I own, but, IMO this is the weakest yet. FTX have a history of development and support and several areas have had a good few upgrades and patches so for me uninstalling isn't my choice but if I were having some of the problems some folk are having that might be me.

 

If you're a tube driver you'll love it. If you like Low n' Slow you may be less impressed.

 

Geoff

[SteveW 1,792]

Ironically I chose those shots because that's really as bad as it gets, no Dover Castle, no big deal, or Deal Castle. Maybe they can add a generic keep, prison, hospital... It's not going to be perfect but as autogen it is leagues ahead of stock. All scenery has got some kind of technical issue, I don’t know what the fuss is about really. I haven't flown over 4000ft since I got it.

[tttocs 301]

Criticism of the area has been constructive and specific. Unfortunately much of it has been shouted down by "overexcited users" with little regard (interest) to detail either in the software OR the specifics of the criticism.

 

Whoa Geoff! I have not offered up uninformed opinions on stuff I don't own. That's why I made it clear in my comments that I was ONLY offering a second view of the support mechanism and other Orbx products. I think I was pretty clear on that. As noted elsewhere, I'm interested in Orbx England, but as I've never even gotten around to installing NZSI after purchasing it last year, I realize I'm far better off waiting to see what the product will become before jumping in if I ever decide to start flying "over there". So I watch with some interest, but that's all.

 

As for criticism, I would say that while I've read a great deal of good, solid constructive criticism, I've also seen people grinding axes, just as you correctly note others trying to shout down any and all criticism. Such is the nature of stuff like this.

 

Scott

[lateagain 45]

Scott you misunderstand me. I'm not accussing you of being an "overexcited user" :lol: ...and indeed I'd be the first to say there are at least two sides to every argument <_< . Merely trying to explain why there were a number of issues with this release, it's usability, level of finish etc. that a few folk are unhappy with. As I said I personally have had no issues with previous releases. I have opinions as to how some of them could be improved, why some are better than others etc. Much of this has to be to do with the chronolgy of their release, the teams involved with developing them and the inevitability that most folks later work is an improvement over their earlier stuff.

 

That said, and again this is not aimed at you but a general observation, there are a few folk who post on these forums who's reactions to others problems are "...well I don't have that problem". Hunky Dory but not much help to those who do?

 

Steve I suspected that your choice of shots was as you state. IMHO The landclass alignment with roads, in areas with towns and villages in SOME areas is worse than the fact that the roads plough randomly through a few hedge rows. The boundaries with airfields I can't comment on because I had UK2000 fields active from the word go, and for me personally they "fitted" reasonably well if (as I am) you're happy with minor textural differences. The issue from my perspective with Dover is that it is a major landmark. Being a very large landmark it's inadaquecies are very obvious but there are quite a few "significant landmarks" that are either missing or badly represented. As you rightly say this isn't a question of custom scale buildings (unrealistic over such a huge area) but just better use of "generic" autogen in speciific locations. Power stations that are major landmarks are not particularly architecturally interesting? Many are missing or just a random chimney apparently growing in a grass field :huh: .

 

This is a new team, they learnt "on the job", they were tutored by visits from existing teams and online (all of that from the official ftx SITE) and they've done (IMO) a very large area in one go. I have to say I didn't expect to be even looking at this until early 2013. A few of us think it needed more work before release. I for one hope they'll tweak, patch and improve weak areas and release a patch as and when.

 

Personally it's in my library and it'll stay there. I've still a few thousand square miles of the NA region to explore as well as Tongass Fjords so no hissy fits from me. :lol: I'll just enjoy that region and come back to others as and when the interest leads me there. Maybe my real world experience makes me hyper critical and maybe my less detailed knowledge of the PNW makes me happier to believe in it? I always thought The UK and Europe would be a greater challenge and if they improve on what they've already achieved it's got to be better for everyone hasn't it?

 

Geoff

[AJT1967 1]

Hmmm,

 

I would like to add something here, but I do not want to sound like I am flaming, because I'm not.

 

I was previously using UTX and GEX Europe, along with REX Enhanced. I like to do short flights in Europe, as a result, I have virtually ignored any scenery add ons for the rest of the world. I even went as far as removing default aircraft that I do not use.

 

I purchased and installed FTX England, followed all of the advice about settings etc, and tweaked my system, and ended up with terrain spikes and stutters. I was a little miffed that there was no uninstall routine, so I manually uninstalled everything (I think). Problem is, I still have stutters when flying over the UK. Granted my system is not absolutely top end, but I simply cannot fly now because of stutters.

 

I'm starting to think that I should delete my FSX and format the drive it is on. A bit extreme I know, but I cannot think of any other answer. Shame, because I feel that this process will take a long time. My current specs and performance are:

 

CPU: Intel i5 Ivy Bridge 3.4Ghz

RAM: 16GB PC1600

MOBO: ASROCK H77M

VIDEO: GeForce 550Ti with 3GB VRAM

HDD: 3x Crucial M4 SSD 128Gb (1 solely for FSX)

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

FSX SP2

GEX

UTX

REX

UK2000

 

Carenado Commander 114 out of London city with no road traffic, 10% boats, and 20% AI is giving me 8-12 fps. 1920x1080 via HDMI. Sure I should be getting better than this with my rig.

 

Any advice welcomed.

 

Thanks,

 

Andrew.

[kannwar 47]

This is a new team, they learnt "on the job", they were tutored by visits from existing teams and online (all of that from the official ftx SITE) and they've done (IMO) a very large area in one go. I have to say I didn't expect to be even looking at this until early 2013. A few of us think it needed more work before release. I for one hope they'll tweak, patch and improve weak areas and release a patch as and when.

 

Geoff

 

It's a good point - these guys are new to it after all. Kinda makes you wonder though - they will probably be the same team that end up doing Wales, Scotland, Ireland and maybe even parts of Europe eventually unless Orbx plan to hire and train a completely new team for each area which I can hardly imagine given how much time and money it must take to train a team in this kind of development.

 

It just makes me wonder how much time they will spend improving this scenery before they get shifted onto their next region. After all, Orbx is a business that needs cash from new releases to keep itself going and unfortunately, being the niche market we are, there probably isn't a huge deal of profit to be made.

 

This is all just pure speculation of course.

[RCITGuy 35]

I was previously using UTX and GEX Europe, along with REX Enhanced. I like to do short flights in Europe, as a result, I have virtually ignored any scenery add ons for the rest of the world. I even went as far as removing default aircraft that I do not use.

 

I purchased and installed FTX England, followed all of the advice about settings etc, and tweaked my system, and ended up with terrain spikes and stutters. I was a little miffed that there was no uninstall routine, so I manually uninstalled everything (I think). Problem is, I still have stutters when flying over the UK. Granted my system is not absolutely top end, but I simply cannot fly now because of stutters.

 

Absolutely the same here mate, I like all the short EU hops, and also went with GeX / UtX EU, and have AS2012 too, and had everything running soooo perfect, 30FPS+ in any aircraft, anywhere, except heathrow in the 737NGX, which fell to 24FPS, but it was still super smooth which was the important thing, then along came ORBX!

 

I had non-stop stutters like crazy, even with the FPS still running @ 30fps+, I even tried leaving the scenery cache alone (Untick the empty cache on exit) to try to let it build up, that didn't work either.

 

I eventually managed to stop the mega stutters by setting FTX back to default, then re-run FSX and tell it to empty cache upon exit, run it, then exit, then re-run it..

 

My FSX seems OK now, I think, but after all that hassle, I didn't want to go near my FSX few a few days (I did, but it made me not want to). I haven't un-installed it yet, simply because their own documented un-innstall will not remove all of it properly, as there is nothing documented about the registry entries I found.

 

I really don't want to bash them at all, I would love to be telling you all how awesome it is, I really would, I want my £27 worth, but instead I'm on a -£75 with the time I spent fixing what it broke, plus the purchase cost to buy the FSX buster..

 

It looks nice, don't get me wrong, but VFR is sooo much more difficult than when using UTX/GEX Europe, because things are not in the right places, or the scale it horribly wrong, huge parks are small bunches of trees with houses on them, oh, and has anybody else had houses smack in the middle of roundabouts?

 

Maybe I leave it installed and wait 6 months... See if they fix the bugs... Not much else I can do :unsure: