FTX: Global VECTOR Released

[odourboy 1,290]

They will work together just fine indeed!

Agreed, they technically 'work' together but there is the issue of the TERRAIN.CFG hack you need to do to get the FTX Global vector road lights with UTX .

 

Does FTX Vector provide a similar 'illuminated' roadways that UTX adds to the night lighting? That's one thing I really like about the merger of FTX Global and UTX.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Here's my initial take. I installed FTX Global Vector in both FSX (with UTX already installed for USA and Caribbean) and P3d2 (no UTX of course).

 

1. In general (but see #2.), there is a slight hit (~10-15%) to frame rates in P3d2 and not much at all in FSX, which is not surprising since by itself UTX's causes about a 10-20% drop in fps over the default data. FTXGV doesn't add any more detail over UTX except in urban areas, so they seem to affect performance at the same magnitude.
2. In dense urban areas, between the AI Traffic and FTXGV's road mania, in P3d2, you can kiss any hope of getting a consistent 30 fps, without seriously reducing the P3d2 image quality settings.
3.  I've noticed a couple of anomalies, where small lakes and ponds are split into multiple polygons and some of the polygons are black, meaning the texture is missing due to an incorrect land class. Else, I haven't seen any of the other problems that have been reported, but I haven't had FTXGV installed long enough to say that they won't show up.
4. Shorelines, rivers, roads, etc., in geographic areas that I am personally familiar with are substantially improved over the default FSX and P3d2 vector data. No shock there, since the default data is Etch-a-sketch quality. However, for FSX I really can't see much difference at all (except in dense urban areas) between FTXGV and UTX.

If you have UTX regions installed where you fly with FSX, there doesn't seem to be any real point in buying FTXGV. On the other hand, until UTX decides to allow the use of its product in P3d2, you don't really have any choice other than to buy FTXGV. Keep in mind also, that this is release 1.0 of FTXGV. UTX USA is already up to version 1.6 and it took that much time and that many updates to fix all the bugs in just that one UTX region.

 

[Lawyer+Pilot 126]

Has anyone been able to get the 10% discount to work for owners of FTXG? Orbx said that FSS would automatically apply the discount, but I got all the way to the "Confirm Order" page, and the price is unchanged. Just curious if others have had any luck.

[meshman 109]

So how well is UTX working in P3DV2?

 

Right now? Or maybe in the near future?

 

http://www.simforums.com/forums/utx-and-p3d-v2_topic48210.html

 

Proper disclosure: I no longer have an affiliation with the product line. I'm ORANGE because of my own work.

[sascha 314]

 

 

Don't get me wrong about UTX - it has provided substantial benefits for me over the years but I'm all for moving forward

 

Will there not be a new version of UTX in the future?

[cvearl 60]

Agreed, they technically 'work' together but there is the issue of the TERRAIN.CFG hack you need to do to get the FTX Global vector road lights with UTX .

 

Does FTX Vector provide a similar 'illuminated' roadways that UTX adds to the night lighting? That's one thing I really like about the merger of FTX Global and UTX.

 

UTX lights had no hit for me and I prefer them so I used them with UTX when I had it. Looked fantastic! Not sure why everyone is so freaked out about making Vector lights work with UTX vector roads. Not sure it was really ever needed TBH.

 

C.

[Johan_Dees 84]

Where are all the fantastic screenshots ? I just saw a couple.

[odourboy 1,290]

UTX lights had no hit for me and I prefer them so I used them with UTX when I had it. Looked fantastic! Not sure why everyone is so freaked out about making Vector lights work with UTX vector roads. Not sure it was really ever needed TBH.

 

C.

Each to his own... but you never said if the FTX Vector roads look as fantastic at night as the UTX ones did?

[styckx 1,871]

I'm not saying a lot of work didn't go into this but... I still can't fathom spending $260 for Global + Vector when I only fly in maybe 5% of the world.. 

[SKEWR 364]

My two cents:

 

I have all of UTX regions. I was so impressed with FTXG that when I saw VECTOR I uninstalled all of UTX right away and installed VECTOR.

 

Ordinarily I wait for early adopters, but I felt this would be an A) enhancement and  B ) work well with FTXG. I cannot quantify if VECTORS works well with FTXG, but I do know I should have waited to purchase and install Vectors. UTX has been worked on and improved for years and did a good job. With Vectors, I'm getting trees and all sorts of things out of place.

 

It's not OrbX's fault. It's mine for not researching.

 

The only hope I have is that the updates for Vector will be fast and accurately fixes issues.

 

Bottom Line: IMO, If you have all of the updated UTX versions, in the area you fly the most, you may want to wait on purchasing VECTOR until the LC starts showing up.

[tf51d 284]

The problem with Vector, is its a all or nothing install. If you wan't to keep UTX for US and Europe but use Vector for the rest of the world, you can't.

[alepro21 154]

The problem with Vector, is its a all or nothing install. If you wan't to keep UTX for US and Europe but use Vector for the rest of the world, you can't.

Is that a fact? If so it's a deal breaker for me. I was looking forward to enhancing the areas UTX does not currently cover while continuing to use UTX where it exists.

[Severne 43]

The problem with Vector, is its a all or nothing install. If you wan't to keep UTX for US and Europe but use Vector for the rest of the world, you can't.

I totally agree.

If there was a "continent switcher" where you can enable or disable vector regions, it would be a great benefit.

[krazyk 157]

So, will this work with FSGlobal 2010 w/SP1 or do I need to start saving up for an upgrade to the FTX Compatible one?

[signmanbob 592]

I believe I will stay with UTX for now.  

This is a good discussion (previously posted) from Flight1, that makes sense, unless I find out otherwise.

http://www.simforums.com/forums/topic48058_post295446.html#295446

I can't see spending $60 for something that I already have.

 

Bob