Before I decide to get X-Plane, I'm trying to decipher all this "stuff" available for X-Plane. It is CONFUSING. OSM, OSM + Autogen, Mesh for Photoscenery, Mesh V2 OSM Scenery, European Library, and more even.

 

 

And on top of that, there is just too much info out there. If I search on Google or the various forums I am literally inundated with too much information it become overload.

 

 

 

With that said:

 

 

-I want to fly photoscenery exclusively

-I want to fly Europe photoscenery.

-I want ALL the excellent and latest buildings, forests, European objects.

-I want the latest and greatest MESH.

-I want whatever else I don't know I want.

 

 

 

And what I understand is this:

 

 

-I will download ZL17 tiles from SimHeaven for Europe.

-I will download "HD Mesh V2 for Photoscenery" from Simheaven.

 

 

Beyond that I am clueless.

I think the procedure should be like this:

 

1) Download and install OpenSceneryX (required for 3D objects of OSM scenery): http://www.opensceneryx.com/

 

2) Download and install "Osm Europe osm+autogen": http://simheaven.com/?page_id=23

 

3) Download and install the mesh v2 for Europe photoscenery ZL17 (HD Photoscenery Mesh v2 Europe ZL17): http://simheaven.com/?page_id=14

 

4) Download and install the ZL17 photoscenery for the area you're interested: http://simheaven.com/?page_id=238

 

5) Download the Europe Library (R2_Library) http://xplane.cz/en/r2-library/

 

Please someone correct me if there's any error.

 

It's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you read the installation instructions for every package and also the FAQs for installation at simheaven ( http://simheaven.com/?page_id=338 ). Probably you'll be required to change the order of scenery priority inside the scenery.ini file.

Well if that's all there is to it... nice. Just going through all the threads and download options becomes quite confusing. Especially when all I want is exclusively photoscenery textures with autogen (think FranceVFR for FSX), sometimes people are saying things that apply to landclass only.

It's important that if you want to use the HD Mesh with the photoscenery from Simheaven, you don't just drop the folder into your custom scenery folder, but you overwrite the DSF files inside each photoscenery package you download. The readme should contain info on how to do this, or if you get stuck, send me a PM and I'll go through it with you. I have a habit of not reading the README files, and then wonder why nothing works :-)

 

Also, I tend not to use the "Osm Europe osm+autogen", but just the plain OSM Europe, mainly because it adds too many buildings everywhere. Obviously it depends on your system, but the main difference is that

1) OSM Europe + Autogen shows the default X-Plane autogen (with a Euro theme) when there are no real buildings available in OSM. This is good in areas not very well covered.

2) OSM Europe just shows buildings/forest and objects from OSM. I personally use this one, as the buildings and woodland fit perfectly onto the photoscenery below, and it doesn't kill my computer in the process. 

 

For OSM, I find the following countries are covered well and don't require the autogen (in this order):

1. France and Switzerland (Very detailed)
2. Netherlands (Very detailed)
3. Germany (Detailed, but can be patchy)
4. Austria

I also fly the following countries, but generally coverage is patchy

1. UK (Even some big cities are empty, but this is improving everyday and I'm an active contributor for my region here)
2. Poland (Growing quickly if you follow OSM, again I also contribute to my home area here)
3. Spain (Coverage is pretty bad)
4. Portugal (As in Spain, seems very patchy)

So I have already downloaded some scenery from Simheaven including the V2 Mesh for Photoscenery.  This large 9.1GB folder of mesh contains lots of Nav Data.  If I only download one area of Switzerland ZL17 scenery, then all I need from the Mesh V2 folder is the one that applies to Switzerland area that I downloaded?  In other words, I won't need all the 9.1GB of mesh if I only have one photoscenery area in Switzerland.

?  In other words, I won't need all the 9.1GB of mesh if I only have one photoscenery area in Switzerland.

In theory yes, but since this download is only essential for older sceneries he probably won't break this file down, since he plans to upgrade the normal sceneries, too.

 

But be carefull. The HD Mesh 2 data for the photosceneries is currently only in a beta stage. There are still several bugs inside.

 

 

But be carefull. The HD Mesh 2 data for the photosceneries is currently only in a beta stage. There are still several bugs inside.

 

Yes, and don't forget to read the README that comes with it, specially in what concerns to errors generated, when you load X-plane, by missing terrain files. The author gives a temporary fix while a new version for each photo scenery with those problems doesn't get available...