FSX-MS FTX: Global openLC Europe Released

[TrafficPilot 121]

I've just bought it but can't download. None of their servers appear to have the full installation files. Just getting 0 bytes and downloads hang. Will update.

[SolRayz 392]

GEX and UTX are way too outdated

 

Couldn't agree more, were talking apples and oranges now. FTX global, vector, and lc are far beyond what those products could ever deliver. Plus the vector lighting which has virtually no performance impact. Some may complain about the price, but, imo price is about what I would expect and worth it. I just wish they would hurrry up with North American LC. NA needs LC bad!

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Couldn't agree more, were talking apples and oranges now. FTX global, vector, and lc are far beyond what those products could ever deliver. Plus the vector lighting which has virtually no performance impact. Some may complain about the price, but, imo price is about what I would expect and worth it. I just wish they would hurrry up with North American LC. NA needs LC bad!

 

openLC North America is coming out this year as well.

[SolRayz 392]

+1

[zmak 331]

Picture speaks but I cant find a single pic even on the ORBX forum. Anyone care to post the 4 layer effect?

[nickpap89 2]

Picture speaks but I cant find a single pic even on the ORBX forum. Anyone care to post the 4 layer effect?

All the preview screenshots at orbx forum consist of FS Global 2010, FTX Global, FTX Vector and openLC Europe, so there you go.

[BrianT 54]

For those complaining about the ORBX pricing It's simple economics. Market your product at a price you think the market will accept. If you get it wrong in one direction you will have very few sales, if you get it wrong the other way you may not recover your costs (bear in mind future support)

ORBX like any other is a business not a charity. yes everybody is entitled to their opinion but you should base your opinion on whether the product is expensive based upon what it is or contains not on how deep or shallow your pockets are. 

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

+1

 

Just looked at the roadmap again and it must have been updated because openLC Asia is slated for 2014 as well. So I guess openLC North America will come out well before the end of the year.

[nickpap89 2]

Just looked at the roadmap again and it must have been updated because openLC Asia is slated for 2014 as well. So I guess openLC North America will come out well before the end of the year.

I think that's a quite optimistic estimate. I think OpenLC NA will be released in late 2014, and in 2015 the other regions will follow, but we'll see.

[sascha 314]

 

 

much much more

What is the "much much more"? I thought landclass controls textures to be displayed in a certain area? Does OpenLC  also include textures and custom autogen?

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

I think that's a quite optimistic estimate. I think OpenLC NA will be released in late 2014, and in 2015 the other regions will follow, but we'll see.

 

John Venema said that the creation of the other openLC regions will be much faster compared to Europe, so the roadmap might be accurate. Besides, in 2016-2017 they will be introducing the openLC 2.0 regions.

What is the "much much more"? I thought landclass controls textures to be displayed in a certain area? Does OpenLC  also include textures and custom autogen?

 

Yes, both custom autogen and custom textures, as well as a photoreal area (Mt Vesuvius).

[twharrell 38]

While anyone can decide whether they want to purchase Orbx products or not, consider this when weighing the price:

 

1. All future upgrades are at no additional charge. And you can be assured there will be upgrades to Global, Vector, and OpenLC.

 

2. The money you pay for Global and Vector gives you coverage for the entire world. Last I checked, UTX and GEX were sold by region. So, the price really isn't much different between Orbx and Flight1 if you want to talk world coverage. OpenLC is sold by region, so you only need to buy those you want.

 

3. If you choose to move from FSX to P3D or if you already use both, your license is good for both platforms. So, no need to purchase a separate license for each sim. Like all Flight 1 products, if and when UTX and GEX are ever made available for P3D you will likely have to purchase separate licenses for both FSX and P3D.

 

4. Many people who have FSGenesis mesh are using it successfully with FTX Global and Vector. So, while FSGlobal Mesh (which is produced by Orbx's partner company Pilots, not Orbx, by the way) is endorsed and recommended, it isn't a must have. Mesh is not even necessary for Vector, Global, and OpenLC to work.

 

Todd

[TrafficPilot 121]

Spent an hour waiting for a 3GB file (on a 50MEG connection!) and it now says 522 error in the download manager. Grrr

[FLighT01 3]

Threads like this always make me shake my head. You get what you pay for people.

 

Why do you think MS charged $75.00US (and heavily discounted at that at most sales outlets) at release for FSX. Because the product and its development was finished? Or, they just pulled that number out of a hat?

 

More likely because the marketing folks told the powers that be that the majority of the potential number of buyers might not be willing to pay much more, and then the accountants told them that investing more than X$ in R&D money into it would seriously damage the profit model laid out at the start of the project based on that projected initial price point and the projected number of potential  buyers  at release and over time. And knowing that some “fixing” expenses would need to be incurred after the release (SP1 and SP2). So, many simmers got what they wanted because of the price they were willing to pay.  These are fiscal facts of life people and some of us just had to go along with the majority or have nothing.

 

How much more should they have spent and charged to get the bugs out: a proper functioning DX10 model with better ATC, multiplayer, fps performance improvements, better modeled planes, and taking into account future updates and ongoing development, etc. $100.00US? $200, $300?

 

So we have what we paid for. Every time I get exasperated as some performance or function bug raises its ugly head I lean back, take a breath, and marvel at how much I did get for my $75, bugs and all. The whole world at my finger tips modelled at an incredible level of detail for just $75, not just a few square miles of pretty terrain to play in. And that's just with default FSX, throw in all the terrific addons available and ...

 

I personally am willing to pay a lot more for a sim platform that offers a lot more because I am passionate about the experience. I am not a gamer, I don’t  get involved with any other simulation types be it war games (once you’ve “played” the real thing the virtual one is a joke), car racing, or any X-Box, or Playstation  games, etc. I also accept the fact that the majority of simmers aren’t willing to pay more, and some can’t pay more, so we’ve got what we’ve got.

 

I repeat, I do understand not everyone has the wherewithal to come up with the disposable income to buy “all” the flight sim stuff that,s available, neither do I. Software developers price a product at a point where they think they can garner the widest possible audience, recoup development and investment costs and most importantly, make a profit, or they are out of business in a hurry. If they are forced to close up shop and providing support because they couldn’t make a profit how does that make you feel about the nice cheap software package you purchased? And, how many (ultimately) vaporware project announcements have we had in the flight sim community over the years? Why do you think that is? A lack of interest  or lack of money or lack of ability to insure some level of profitability.

 

I’m retired now and living on a fixed income. I recently had to replace my car. I had a 2002 BMW X-5, the finest automobile I’ve ever owned. At 99,600 miles it was costing me not nickels and dimes but $500 to $1000 every 6 months to replace all the things that were wearing out as a matter of normal wear and tear over the years and miles. I paid $50K US when I bought it new, but I’m retired now, making half of what I did when working. (Tip for all you still actively employed, rest assured that when/if  you retire your monthly income will go down by X%, your monthly overhead will not be reduced by anywhere near that same amount of % if at all). To replace it with the same identical model and features today was $65K. I ended up with as close to comparable as I could come up with, a new, leftover, 2013 Nissan Murano at $38K. All same the bells and whistles, and even 1 or 2 new ones, but no, it’s not the same, can’t be, but I only put on 5K miles a year now, not 15K. So I felt it was a better decision to down scale based on all my personal factors considered (like getting more enjoyment out of spending some of that differential saved on better PC hardware and more flight-sim software). But I didn’t go back to BMW of NA (or anybody else) and complain about how they owed me anything or felt I was being mistreated after buying the car and having it serviced for 12 years at the same dealership. Or whine that they should sell it to me a price I felt was fair. And I didn't go to the internet to whine about it.

 

Complaining didn’t make any sense to me.  I felt it prudent to get a less expensive car, maybe my last, and hang on to the difference in cost for other things. That was my decision and I’m satisfied with that.

 

I’d love to own a real plane, and I could, at the expense of a “lot” of other tradeoffs in my lifestyle, which I choose not to make. No reason for me to whine about it. For significantly less money I figure I could (if it were to be developed) get a really top notch flight sim software package (if someone would develop it) with, almost, maybe, no or very few minor bugs. But that’s just me and I don't expect anyone else to agree with me on that.

 

So, sorry to the p-ss and moan crowd, somehow I can’t feel your pain.  We pretty much got what we paid for with FSX and all the addons for pretty much self evident reasons.

 

Interesting to note, Microsoft just announced it’s going to lay off 12,000 to 18,000 employees (depending on what news service you look at). I wonder why that is happening?  Let me think.

 

That's right, I'm old, I'm ornery, I'm retired, so now I kick a-- instead of kissing it!

 

Happy Flying

[klamal 282]

 

 

Couldn't agree more, were talking apples and oranges now. FTX global, vector, and lc are far beyond what those products could ever deliver.

 

Can you show proof to this?  Did you buy this already?  Can you show comparison screenshots between the two that back up this statement?

 

I'm not trying to say you're wrong or anything.  But I have UTX Europe and am very skeptical at buying this, especially at $40.  I have Global and to me, it was ok.  Better than default but not FSXI as some people were saying.  Then Vector came out and from what I have gleaned over all the posts that I have read is that it is just good.  Not great.  Good.  And, from posts I've read elsewhere and as has been mentioned here, their data for both Vector and now this is "Open" and not as accurate as the paid source that UTX used.(Yes, UTX is now "old" in comparison).  Open data isn't necessarily better or worse per se.  But, I've used OpenStreetMap products and can tell you that it is just hit or miss as to what's there and what's not.

 

How close to reality is this(fully understanding that it's land class and can't come anywhere really close)?  If I'm flying over an area in Europe that I don't have photo real scenery for, will I see pretty much something representing what's really there and not just green?