The first UK product was released in November 2012, has 3 years passed already??

 

Southern Alaska was released in March, was that 3 years ago???

 

I'm losing track of time!

 

No, Southern Alaska was not released 3 years ago .......... Bonchie is getting his Orbx product facts very mixed up.

 

I'm sure we'll soon all have plenty more US sceneries to enjoy, from this developer and others.   The argument about more focus on European sceneries doesn't stack up ...... Maybe you're not aware of the developers who are creating North American airports and sceneries, but there are plenty.   Ok, Aerosoft do a good job with the European side but Americans are hadly hard done to where FS coverage is concerned! .......... PS... I'll say again this not about any sort of silly nationalism or patriotism on my part;  on the most part the Orbx UK products are weak in my view (Scotland apart), and I fly in the US more than I do in the UK.    That doesn't mean blanket statements about no-one being interested in Northern Ireland, and that 'people' want more American sceneries are representing the truth, or fair game though.

+1

 

Maybe people should back off on the insults in there comments like calling people ignorant based on their opinions. Every one is entitled to one!

I said the comment was ignorant, not the person ........ there's a big difference, so maybe you should lay off mis-quoting people... :wink:

For those of you who haven't bought Northern Ireland, you're definitely missing out. Not going to get into a discussion about price or mesh, but this region has taken the superb work they did on Scotland and improved on it even further. The atmosphere created is an extremely good representation of Northern Ireland - ok, so I am originally from there (lived there till I was 18), so I am a bit biased

 

Cheers

Jack

Absolutely agree with this. They can also "Holgermesh" NI in the future if they see fit, or release mesh when they release the South. Or better, their upcoming FTXG LC can improve the whole area in one fell swoop.

 

I have little concern.

 

Plus Belfast is worthy of a separate airport release, certainly. Ditto with POIs.

 

The detailing is phenomenal, like Scotland. It's ideal VFR and helicopter flying terrain.

 

Have they included all of the wind farms in Northern Ireland? Wind turbines make excellent visual landmarks in FSX.

this is the difficulty Orbx now faces. even with all the explanations about what Global is and is not and how it is not anywhere near the full fat region packs you still get comments like this.

 So what is the perk of ORBX Global if you already have a region pack for the region you commonly fly in? Shouldn't I rather spend my money on region packs? I mostly fly in a couple of regions - I get the impression that most people interested in VFR sort of stick to their home regions whereas the long-haul guys don't seem to care as much for what the ground looks like in between their airposrts

 

Cheers,

Sascha

 So what is the perk of ORBX Global if you already have a region pack for the region you commonly fly in? Shouldn't I rather spend my money on region packs? I mostly fly in a couple of regions - I get the impression that most people interested in VFR sort of stick to their home regions whereas the long-haul guys don't seem to care as much for what the ground looks like in between their airposrts

 

Cheers,

Sascha

 

Hi Sascha, sure, there is no benefit in flying FTXG over a region. Regions have additional specific textures to a given region that may not be present in FTXG. A region has a lot of handplaced autogen, it's own landclass, vector roads, detailed rivers, coastlines, upgraded airports, some of the new 'flow' technologies and in most cases their own mesh. FTXG has none of these, as it is purely a texture replacement addon, except a sample area including some landclass (and mesh?) in the Balkans area. To all intents and purposes, you are right, if you only fly in a specific area and that area is covered with an Orbx region, then of course the region pack will offer the best experience. However, I think FTXG comes into it's own when flying tubes longer distances from country to country or in areas that may not be covered by an Orbx region pack.

Sascha,

 

If you stick to flying around only a couple of regions of the world, then FTX Global would almost certainly be a waste of money (unless you intend to expand your horizons).

I just looked at the sales pitch and to me Ireland lools quite nice! It says all airports are upgraded too, so I guess you get a lot for 30$.

 

I suppose the problem with releasing  scenery portioned into smaller regions makes it easier for people to skip sceneries they are not really interested in.

 

Now me, I would be willing to pay 100 $ for a UK scenery but I am more interested in Scotland and Wales because of the rugged scenery, and the various islands. So I'd skip England and Ireland.

 

Of course this is true for larger scenery packages too, if somebody only flies in Europe they won't buy US and vice versa.

 

So I guess the more products you have the less customers will buy each release.

 

One should not underestimate the novelty factor. A couple of years ago this quality was not heard of and people were desperate for the reality ORBX products provided.

 

But now we are spoiled for choice - and people even come down like a ton of bricks because a release like Ireland is a bit smaller than another release or not as good in their perception.

 

Now I have been complaining myself about the hype and attitude that ORBX puts around but to be fair they always have and will probably continue to provide us with high-quality products,

 

Ireland sems no different. To me Ireland also seems quite reasonably priced for a whole country with seasonal textures and improved airports.

 

I think that ORBX deserves some slack here - it is next to impossible to make each product perfect. There will be some ups and downs in any company, after all, it is run by people.

 

So while I think it is perfectly all right not to buy Ireland if you are not interested in it saying that standards are dropping seems absurd when they just have released a quality scenery like Scotland!

 

Just my 2c.

 

Cheers,

Sascha

 

 

So while I think it is perfectly all right not to buy Ireland if you are not interested in it saying that standards are dropping seems absurd when they just have released a quality scenery like Scotland!

 

Seems to me, compared to Scotland, Northern Ireland does look like a drop in the usually high Orbx standards.

It's only Northern Ireland. Southern Ireland is yet to be done

I just looked at the sales pitch and to me Ireland lools quite nice! It says all airports are upgraded too, so I guess you get a lot for 30$.

 

I suppose the problem with releasing scenery portioned into smaller regions makes it easier for people to skip sceneries they are not really interested in.

 

Now me, I would be willing to pay 100 $ for a UK scenery but I am more interested in Scotland and Wales because of the rugged scenery, and the various islands. So I'd skip England and Ireland.

 

Of course this is true for larger scenery packages too, if somebody only flies in Europe they won't buy US and vice versa.

 

So I guess the more products you have the less customers will buy each release.

 

One should not underestimate the novelty factor. A couple of years ago this quality was not heard of and people were desperate for the reality ORBX products provided.

 

But now we are spoiled for choice - and people even come down like a ton of bricks because a release like Ireland is a bit smaller than another release or not as good in their perception.

 

Now I have been complaining myself about the hype and attitude that ORBX puts around but to be fair they always have and will probably continue to provide us with high-quality products,

 

Ireland sems no different. To me Ireland also seems quite reasonably priced for a whole country with seasonal textures and improved airports.

 

I think that ORBX deserves some slack here - it is next to impossible to make each product perfect. There will be some ups and downs in any company, after all, it is run by people.

 

So while I think it is perfectly all right not to buy Ireland if you are not interested in it saying that standards are dropping seems absurd when they just have released a quality scenery like Scotland!

 

Just my 2c.

 

Cheers,

Sascha

One of the things I really enjoy doing with the more recent (post-AU and NZ) ORBX region releases is to save their included .kml file into my Google Earth Places, and then explore around the area I plan to fly in Google Earth before I launch FSX.

 

What is astonishing is how spot-on and detailed the ORBX renditions prove to be! In fact, NI has more detail than Google Earth for the area it covers. Which might say something about the challenges of having created that detail given the source materials to work with.

 

I don't see ORBX going "down in quality" at all; in fact, they are experimenting and expanding and optimizing what they can do with an increasingly modularized set of technologies and resource materials. This gives them the chance to offer more, actually, in finer detail, with more granular choices available to customers, so you are not paying for what you don't want or use, and are getting things (like Peopleflow and Creatureflow) in smaller airports it would have been far too time-consuming previously to add to an airport, much less a region.

 

As to FTXG vs. regions, yes, FTXG is redundant if you limit your flights to a region; though it upgrades things like trees and vector lights, depending on the region, that can add additional flavor and experience to a region (depending on what options you can tick on or off for the region if you have FTXG installed). I can see ORBX easily extending advances they make this way in FTXG over time, to "improve" existing regions as well as future regions. In other words, a later stage of deeper integration between the way a region and FTXG work together. For now, though, yes, you don't "need" FTXG if you stay in a region.

 

OTOH, I love being able to head off, unfettered by the shock and horror of the majority of default FSX texture work for all but a few places in the world, to enjoy flights in areas I would previously have avoided. I can enjoy São Paulo more, or Santiago now, and want to fly there. I don't have to wait until I'm on my deathbed to imagine flying around the Amazon, hoping for an ORBX Amazon region effort in time before I die.

 

So FTXG is utterly necessary for that, especially as the LC efforts start to come online (these basically adjust the landclass to "tie" the right textures to the region so that it looks more characteristic in detail; if I understand correctly, though, an area still needs a special mesh to improve elevation accuracy and roads/rivers placement, which is what, say, UTX will do in concert with ORBX's FTXG work).

 

I'd love an FTX Africa region though, btw, for Bush Pilot fantasy, with Creatureflow being showcased in such a product.....

No, Southern Alaska was not released 3 years ago .......... Bonchie is getting his Orbx product facts very mixed up.

 

I'm sure we'll soon all have plenty more US sceneries to enjoy, from this developer and others. The argument about more focus on European sceneries doesn't stack up ...... Maybe you're not aware of the developers who are creating North American airports and sceneries, but there are plenty. Ok, Aerosoft do a good job with the European side but Americans are hadly hard done to where FS coverage is concerned! .......... PS... I'll say again this not about any sort of silly nationalism or patriotism on my part; on the most part the Orbx UK products are weak in my view (Scotland apart), and I fly in the US more than I do in the UK. That doesn't mean blanket statements about no-one being interested in Northern Ireland, and that 'people' want more American sceneries are representing the truth, or fair game though.

 

 

I said the comment was ignorant, not the person ........ there's a big difference, so maybe you should lay off mis-quoting people... :wink:

1) I clearly said more mainland European scenery would be interesting and have mass appeal as well. I even mentioned Germany specifically. You seemed to ignore that so you could try to bash me as some arrogant American.

 

2) I've already corrected the statement about Alaska in another post. By saying mainland I meant them continuing the lower 48. I wasn't thinking about SAK and corrected myself.

 

3) You claim my facts about Europe vs US addons are mixed up. Go ahead. Stack up the European payware airports out there with the US ones. I mean products of actual quality. There's a huge gulf which was all I said.

 

4) Stop assuming things about people you don't know. If I were an arrogant American with no concept outside the US I wouldn't like to fly in Australia more the anywhere. In real life I've been to 5 different continents. I travel out of the country at least 3 times a year. Believe me, I think the US is dreadfully boring to fly in sometimes.

 

My point about Ireland was not about Ireland being a nice place or not. It was about the region being tiny, under developed, and not having mass appeal compared to their larger regions.

 

It's just a fact that something like Northern California or Norway is going to draw more customers. Why you took such offense to pointing that out is beyond me. I can only guess you are from the area.

 

I was just opining on business strategy and what, in my opinion, would create the most demand in relation to what regions they make.

 

Wasn't trying to offend anyone from Ireland or whatever.

My point about Ireland was not about Ireland being a nice place or not. It was about the region being tiny, under developed,

Oh Hell No! Did you just call Ireland Under Developed???  :Waiting:  :Bring It On:

Oh Hell No! Did you just call Ireland Under Developed??? :Waiting: :Bring It On:

*******. Some of you need to settle down...lol

 

I meant Orbx didn't include mesh like some other regions or as many POIs.

Let me clear a few things up here... ^_^

 

 

 

Or better, their upcoming FTXG LC can improve the whole area in one fell swoop.

 

No, it won't improve the whole area, meaning NI, because OpenLC won't have an effect in FTX regions. It will only have an effect with FTX Global.

 

 

 

(and mesh?)

 

FTXG has no mesh!

 

 

 

If you stick to flying around only a couple of regions of the world, then FTX Global would almost certainly be a waste of money (unless you intend to expand your horizons).

 

However, it does make flying near the borders of FTX regions more fun. I always tried to stay away from the border when I was fying in PNW or when I flew in England near Wales, but now you hardly notice it when you reach the virtual border. Of course this alone isn't worth the 90 bucks. I have to say that FTXG did make me fly in other parts of the world, which IS nice!

 

 

 

A couple of years ago this quality was not heard of and people were desperate for the reality ORBX products provided.

 

Very true. In the beginning there only was AU and 'everybody' bought it: I also bought two AU regions. But when PNW was released I moved there and I never ever flew down under anymore... So yes, the more regions they make, the more choice you get and the less people may buy everything: they will wait for only those regions the really dig. I now use FTXG for parts of the world where I maybe would have bought a region for if FTXG hadn't been there. Releasing FTXG really changed how I look at regions.

 

 

 

As to FTXG vs. regions, yes, FTXG is redundant if you limit your flights to a region; though it upgrades things like trees and vector lights, depending on the region, that can add additional flavor and experience to a region (depending on what options you can tick on or off for the region if you have FTXG installed).

 

No, it doesn't. FTXG does NOTHING with FTX regions. It doesn't upgrade trees or lights and it doesn't add flavor or anything. They are completely seperate. (Hybrid does make them all work together but at a (small) cost so you could even say FTXG hybrid REDUCES the quality of regions, which is the opposite of making it better ^_^ )

 

 

(Hybrid does make them all work together but at a (small) cost so you could even say FTXG hybrid REDUCES the quality of regions, which is the opposite of making it better ^_^ )

 

Which is one of the reasons I removed FTXG from my system.