ORBX wins by far.......I don't think you have a good enough PC for either one. I am really enjoying FSX as never before with it.

 

GEX/FTX Global ground textures should not impact performance at all so really anyone who can run default ground textures with high settings should get either. 

 

I like to keep my autogen settings a bit away from the max which this computer could easily handle, I think the proper balance increases stability. 

Here are some shots of Stockholm city including some famous landmarks such as the Ericsson Globe, the City Hall etc.

 

 

 

Wahey...another default C172 user. I love that plane it is so easy to fly!

Well, I bit the bullet. Took a complete system image, backed up everything in sight, and installed FTXG. And I have to say I'm impressed. The area that I fly (UK/Northern Europe) now looks real - lots more trees (even in towns/cities, which is correct), and green fields stretching for as far as the eye can see. Except in winter of course, when the colours are correctly muted, and there are more muddy fields, some with a sprinkling of snow or frost. Lovely. And the night lighting is beautiful.

 

On the performance side, I'm not a FPS counter, but I don't think I've lost anything. Everything is as smooth as before, and if anything the scenery appears slightly more stable. One of my favourite flights is low and fast down the Derwent valley, and the scenery load has never quite been able to keep up. Now it's rock solid and crystal clear. No idea whether this is a feature of the FTXG instal or just some happy coincidence. And all this so far straight out of the box without even a defrag (running now).

 

No other anomalies noted so far. Given comments from others, I'm particularly relieved to find that my water didn't suddenly turn green :smile: .

 

For the record, I'm running FTXG with UTX (all roads disabled), FEX, FSWC, ST LC and FSG Mesh (not NextMap, tho I have that installed and may give it a try). Shade is also currently enabled. All scenery sliders maxed. For the install of FTXG I uninstalled GEX from the GEX UI (I didn't completely uninstall the product). I left UTX enabled throughout. I haven't had to change anything in the scenery library.

Wahey...another default C172 user. I love that plane it is so easy to fly!

 

:lol:

 

The truth is the only payware aircraft I currently have installed is the NGX so had to pick something for this short "mission" grabbing some screenshots of Stockholm from low alt so figured why not use the default 172 and I do agree, very easy to fly and very easy to start the engines...oups...engine :wink:

I never had a product of this kind, so I can't compare with GES, UT, etc..., but one thing is for sure worth the mention - I wasn't really confident of the impact it had on my P3D!

 

I know it's just textures and autogen, but heck, I see thing, for instance around LPPT, that I can't explain other then there being something more to it. Among the higher buildings around LPPT, for instance, I found a neighborhood ( Encarnação ) full of small houses, 1 / 2 floors high, exactly placed and realistically distributed around that area! Whow! This being Global, I wouldn't expect such detail....

I took some screenshots of the Derwent Valley with FTXG for another member. We both thought this one was particularly impressive, so I thought worth posting here:

 

Yeah, that's a beautiful screenshot!

Now all the hype has died down what do people think? So if someone without either GEX or FTX and flies mostly airlines, which one should they get?

FTX, easy choice, no questions asked.

Now all the hype has died down what do people think? So if someone without either GEX or FTX and flies mostly airlines, which one should they get?

 

I used GEX before getting FTX Global and I still like both the team befind GEX and the product itself alot but I'm happy I bought FTX Global because IMHO I think it looks even better than GEX for where I do my flying...mainly in Europe and I especially like the new and more greenish look of Scandinavia which I think is closer to what it looks like IRL.

I used GEX before getting FTX Global and I still like both the team befind GEX and the product itself alot but I'm happy I bought FTX Global because IMHO I think it looks even better than GEX for where I do my flying...mainly in Europe and I especially like the new and more greenish look of Scandinavia which I think is closer to what it looks like IRL.

 

+1

What does Southern China look like in FTXG. The default has the same textures for thousands and thousand of square miles from Hong Kong to Beijing AND there are no cities!  Does FTXG address this or will it just be different pastures etc.  I'm assuming China, Asia is still abysmal in FTXG?

I'm assuming China, Asia is still abysmal in FTXG?

At least Southeast Asia looks awesome as FTX Global tweaked it a lot, adding better landclass and region specific textures to the area. 

What does Southern China look like in FTXG. The default has the same textures for thousands and thousand of square miles from Hong Kong to Beijing AND there are no cities!  Does FTXG address this or will it just be different pastures etc.  I'm assuming China, Asia is still abysmal in FTXG?

 

If you post some coordinates + heading + altitude I could make a screenshot of a specific location so you can compare it to what you've got now.

I used GEX before getting FTX Global and I still like both the team befind GEX and the product itself alot but I'm happy I bought FTX Global because IMHO I think it looks even better than GEX for where I do my flying...mainly in Europe and I especially like the new and more greenish look of Scandinavia which I think is closer to what it looks like IRL.

I agree, where you fly is going to determine whether FTX Global is a step up or a step back from GEX. Where I fly the green grass of FTX Global was totally unrealistic. That being said, judging from the number of people with their gushing praise of FTX Global tells me that Orbx did the right thing for most areas. I'm sure that when the openLC addon packs get released, those areas that are suffering with too much green now, will look much better. When that happens I will gladly reinstall FTX Global.