FTX Global, is it worth it?

[Kuragiman 227]

That's because there is autogen and then there is AUTOGEN. Simplistically, your CPU draws the autogen wireframe and the GPU paints it in. For example, 3D lights are generally simpler and buildings/trees etc. are more complex. Depending on the balance between your CPU and GPU and the complexity/density of the autogen, you could see a performance hit.

 

I shutdown the lights part of it and was able to slide the Autogen up to almost max.     So to those who get FPS loss like I did that is an option to you to try and recover lost FPS.   This is disappointing to me because I thought I saw one of the selling points as being 3D Lights with hardly any or no FPS loss at all?   That may have been another product.   I am happy.   Shockwave lights is handling my lighting now anyway.    Those two products may not like each other and that's what may have caused the loss.     I can give up 3D lights in the city to keep my lights on my aircraft.  It's more important to me.   Thanks for the suggestion.    I am now running pretty darn smooth with FTXG and PMDG 737 NGX maxed out on sliders.

[DarkstarF16 72]

The textures themselves already are DX10 compatible, but the night lighting needs a fix and that will come from a guy names Steve who created all DX10 fixes that made DX10 popular. I think it will still be a week or two, three before he releases his addon that may solve the night lighting problem. FTXG will get updates for certain but not for this DX10 problem.

I was under the impression that FTXG was marketed as being DX10 compatible. We now know that the night lights are an issue in DX10. Before reading your post I was under the impression that ORBX were working on a fix for this. Are you saying that ORBX are NOT going to fix the DX10 night lights problem? If this is the case, then this is gross abdication by a leading developer. I find it hard to imagine that this is the case, but your post appears to be leading me to think so. Sorry if I'm missing something, but am now a bit confused.

[frostynz 1]

I still cant decide on this release from ORBX as when I think about it generally I just fly within their specific regions such as NZ or Eng which are apparently a step above the overall FTXGlobal release.

 

Even if I fly outside of these regions I am just going to be landing at a destination such as Hong Kong or Singapore which I have specific scenery for anyway.

 

The one thing that does interest me is the comment that some people are experiencing improved frame rates using this addon, but is that only if you are flying over an existing 'FSX default area' rather than within an FTX region?

 

I guess if I am honest  when I think about all the addons I have bought over the years and counted which ones I had say spent 5 hours or more on actually using it would be an economic disaster similar in magnitude to the GFC!  :lol:  

 

 

cheers Dave

[Phillip Gallagher 101]

If you're not going to buy FTXG then you may as well not buy the T7 either.  That's how significant this upgrade is IMO.  I mean what are we doing here anyway?  FTXG has taken FSX to a new level of realism.  AND the FPS is improved over the competition.  I researched it for a week and was back-and-forth not wanting to spring for it but I'm sure glad I did.

 

I flew out of Vancouver in the NGX with FTXG and ALL sliders (except water) on maximum right, with OPUS, FSC, Radar Contact, FSCaptain  all running same time and no stutters.  Of course by the time I got to SFO it was running out of memory and things were disappearing but still no stutters.   

[frostynz 1]

its funny you should mention the T7 Phillip, I was pondering this as well :wink:

 

That's one I will definitely wait until the FS2Crew addon is available as well ..... it saves on the learning curve!  lol

[JRBarrett 3,209]

I was under the impression that FTXG was marketed as being DX10 compatible. We now know that the night lights are an issue in DX10. Before reading your post I was under the impression that ORBX were working on a fix for this. Are you saying that ORBX are NOT going to fix the DX10 night lights problem? If this is the case, then this is gross abdication by a leading developer. I find it hard to imagine that this is the case, but your post appears to be leading me to think so. Sorry if I'm missing something, but am now a bit confused.

No confusion. Steve and the ORBX developers are working directly together to come up with a solution for the DX10 night lighting issue in FTXG.

 

ORBX contacted Steve for assistance with this issue, as he is probably the single most knowledgeable person in the FS developer community regarding the inner workings of DX10 as implemented in FSX.

 

 

[DarkstarF16 72]

No confusion. Steve and the ORBX developers are working directly together to come up with a solution for the DX10 night lighting issue in FTXG.

 

ORBX contacted Steve for assistance with this issue, as he is probably the single most knowledgeable person in the FS developer community regarding the inner workings of DX10 as implemented in FSX.

Thank you for clearing that up, collaboration is a good thing.

No confusion. Steve and the ORBX developers are working directly together to come up with a solution for the DX10 night lighting issue in FTXG.

 

ORBX contacted Steve for assistance with this issue, as he is probably the single most knowledgeable person in the FS developer community regarding the inner workings of DX10 as implemented in FSX.

Thank you for clearing that up, collaboration is a good thing.

[Shug 210]

I read somewhere that the installation of FTXG is quite large. I've only got 9Gb left on my C: drive where FSX is installed. Would I be able to install FTXG on my E: drive where there is acres of space?

 

I've got to consider installing the PMDG 777 on the C: drive too.

 

I have every GEX region installed but if the majority thinks FTXG is better then I'm willing to forfeit GEX.

Thanks.

[Nurmblitz 59]

So, am right that if I have FTXG, special landclass like UTX and mesh in place, there is no sense of buying Orbx areas/regions any more?

[Guest]

I read somewhere that the installation of FTXG is quite large. I've only got 9Gb left on my C: drive where FSX is installed. Would I be able to install FTXG on my E: drive where there is acres of space?

 

I've got to consider installing the PMDG 777 on the C: drive too.

 

I have every GEX region installed but if the majority thinks FTXG is better then I'm willing to forfeit GEX.

Thanks.

 

You cannot install FTXG on another drive: it has to be installed into the FSX folder. FTXG replaces the default textures so in the end you only need some 2 GB more than FSX default takes. 

 

9 GB left on your C drive isn't much... Your C drive will also be used to extract the data before it is installed so there is a big chance you won't be able to install FTXG at all, even if you could install it on another drive. If I were you I would make some space on that disk because only 9 GB left will result in problems one day or another.

 

If your C drive a normal hard disk or an SSD? If it is the same type as your E drive which has acres of space you could consider moving the entire FSX folder to the E drive and then use the Windows junction option to link it to the original location (Windows will think FSX is still on your C drive but will run from and install onto the E drive).

 

 

 

So, am right that if I have FTXG, special landclass like UTX and mesh in place, there is no sense of buying Orbx areas/regions any more?

 

Wrong. Although FTXG with UTX and mesh comes close to what FTX regions offer you will be missing region specific textures, region specific autogen/buildings, upgraded and added airports and so on. I own FTXG and UTX Europe and even have freeware landclass plus mesh plus airports for Norway but I will STILL buy FTX Southern Norway when it will be released because it simply offers all in one package and at a higher quality. Having said that... I must admit that for regions where I don't fly too often I won't be buying FTX regions anymore because FTXG plus UTX (and the upcoming OpenLC) is good enough for me!

[jabloomf1230 2,452]

You cannot install FTXG on another drive: it has to be installed into the FSX folder

 

 

You can copy any FSX or P3D subfolder to another drive like an SSD and then use the Windows command MkLink (or one of the many GUIs  like SymLinker that act as a front end  to MKLink) to create a folder junction. I have most of my large FSX and P3D subfolders on a separate RAID0 array of two SSDs. It doesn't improve frame rates, but it does save disk space on the default disk and reduce load times at the beginning of each flight. It is a feature built-in to Windows 7 and 8, so it isn't some kind of hack or cobble.

 

You install FTXG to the default sim folder, then copy the bigger subfolders like SimObjects and Scenery, etc. to the SSD. Change the names of the original subfolders that you copied to something like SimObjects.old and then create a folder junction called SimObjects in the flight sim default folder:

 

Example with SimObjects subfolder:

 

1. Copy c:\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\ SimObjects ----> d:\FSX\SimObjects

2. Rename c:\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\SimObjects ----> c:\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\SimObjects.old. 

3. Create a folder junction  c:\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\ SimObjects pointing to ---> d:\FSX\SimObjects

4. Copy c:\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\SimObjects.old to a backup DVD and delete it (or leave it for a few days, if you want to be conservative in order to see if anything "bad" happens) 

 

This approach is  not for anyone who doesn't like "tinkering". If you search the AVSim forums for MKLink, you will find some threads that give a short tutorial on how to do use hard symbolic links such as folder junctions. If you mess up your sim installation by not RTM, etc., then it is not my responsibility.

[Piper9t3 25]

I have FTXG and I am very pleased with the texture upgrade it gives to FSX. But beware, it may not always be compatible with other dev's scenery addons....

 

http://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/204-ftx-global-second-impression/#more-8172

[Shug 210]

Thanks Jeroen and jabloomf1230 for your suggestions. My C: drive is an SSD and E: drive is HDD. Have been meaning to look into creating junction links for a while now so it's probably about time I did this. Will look at shifting the Scenery and SimObjects folders. Will certainly be keen to free up space on the SSD.

 

Do you have to move the whole root folder e.g. SimObjects or can you just move subfolders if you wish e.g. SimObjects/Airplanes/b737_800 and link them?

 

Thanks

[RamonB 449]

Do you have to move the whole root folder e.g. SimObjects or can you just move subfolders if you wish e.g. SimObects/Airplanes/b737_800 and link them?

 

You can do either :

 

1.- If you move the whole SimObjects Folder  then you need to create the Symbolic Link using mklink /J

Read jabloomf1230 post #71

For Example:

Once You copy the entire SimObjects folder to  E:\FSX\SimObjects, then rename your original SimObjects folder to SimObjectsOld

 

If your FSX is installed in C:\FSX then

 

Open a command prompt and navigate to C:\FSX

C:\>CD C:\FSX

 

C:\FSX>mklink /J SimObjects E:\FSX\SimObjects

Junction created for SimObjects <<===>> E:\FSX\SimObjects

You are done, Once you are satisfied and all things work you can make a backup of that folder and/or delete it.

 

2.- You can move individual airplanes and link them too. (Same as above)

 

3.-Or If you move individual aircraft subfolders then you won’t need a Symbolic Link.

In this case create a Folder in your E drive and place some planes there.

I suggest E:\FSX\Aircraft or to keep the same folder structure E:\FSX\Simobjects\Airplanes

(Just make sure whatever you choose matches the line in red at the end of my next quote)

 

One thing to note is that some planes (can't remember which ones) might not find the Effects and Gauges folders so I would just copy those folders to E:\FSX\.

AI planes won't have that problem.

 

You then have to edit the FSX.CFG file and add  a path to the SimObjectPaths under [Main]

Something like this: (See the last line)

 

[Main]

User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft

SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats

SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\MiscSimObjectPaths.6=MyTraffic\aircraft           // (<- Relative Path)

SimObjectPaths.7="F:\ORBXAIPlanes"  // (<- Absolute Path)

SimObjectPaths.8=”E:\FSX\Aircraft”  // (<- Absolute Path Don't forget the quotes)

 

 

 

Cheers.

[jabloomf1230 2,452]

Or you could move the whole sim default folder. :lol:  and symlink to it from the original location.