Pilot's Global Mesh 2010 FSX edition review...for FSX/P3D

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Well folks,....this has been one of the roughest rides to download and install a piece of software, I have ever downloaded and installed.  It is done. It was a rocky road...corrupt downloads, bad installs...all of it.  But...I am now past that, and have FINALLY a certified install of Pilot's Global Mesh FSX edition.

 

Verdict....after I actually got the elevation/mesh files to install properly in both FSX and P3D?   

 

It will blow you away!  The places familiar that I enjoy flying to, and from....the islands of the Caribbean,  for one...have been totally and amazingly transformed. They are absolutely detailed, from the coast, into the mountain ranges..and not ANYWHERE, is the old 'hey...it's flat...then it rises to the mountains' deal that is generic FSX or P3D.  Nope...you have truly scaling ascents into the mountains, from the sea...to the apex. Details, like canyons, have extremely detailed shape, form, cascading sides to the canyon floor...all of it. Here is an example....on one of the islands, in either stock FSX or P3D, there is a canyon that runs to the mountains, with a river that formed it. Really?  Nope...but that is the way that FSX and P3D's stock mesh displays it.  In real life, it is a WATERFALL...that is still a few miles from the mountain side...but the water fall has eroded the plateau from the sea..back to form a canyon.  Well...with this product installed...the canyon...WATERFALL, and the not yet, eroded plateau towards the mountainside..is there just as it is in real life!!!!  That is what prompted me to come here in paused flight...and post this review of 'before and after'. 

 

There are now hills and dells, valleys, well defined; rivers that run their courses through beds that you can see, the river formed them ages ago.  The scenery is the most real to date, even since earlier, after having seen it through ORBX Global, VECTOR, and OPENLC.

 

Make sure that you have a certified install.  Some of my problems were...that I had difficulty getting a non corrupted download from the store. Then, had problems with WinRAR to unzip the orgin zip file, and its 5 containers. Then...when trying to install the wrapper and install, I would get a script that should be sent to the developer of files that did not transfer, due to a corrupted nature.

 

I then started all over again. I downloaded once more. I unzipped with WinZip. I installed...and in P3D got a clean install, but with FSX, not so.  I had been installing from my outboard USB3 drive.  I got a hunch 20 minutes back...and transfered the unzip wrapper and install files to my C: drive.  I then tried again, to load up into FSX.  The installer finished, and there were no log files generated this time.  

 

I took a flight out of the Caribbean, and am now here to tell you that in my opinion...even though it is steeply priced ($86.00 AUS), the transformation of the virtual world is as incredible a layer...as was first those many months ago...ORBX Global...then Vector, Then OpenLC.   This, in my opinioin (now that I have a true and working installation of Pilot's Global Mesh 2010 FSX edition), is that you DO NEED to spend the money...and you DO NEED to have custom mesh as the last 'layer' for the total ORBX 'vision' as designed.  Folks, I don't want to spend your money...but it is NIGHT AND DAY....in the Caribbean, and I imagine, where ever else I shall soon fly.  It 's not just about the mountains....but the WHOLE of plateaus, valleys, agricultural endeavors...all of it.  You can almost SEE the tropic/jungle environment now in the mountains on the islands....it is that real to the mind!

 

So...I had a very bumpy start...and that doesn't mean that you will...of course...but....is this 'layer'....mesh...worth it?   YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE IT~!

 

 

You will have to decide for yourself, if you wish to purchase this product for ($86.00 AUS) from the Flight Sim Store.  For myself?...after getting past my start-up bumps and grinds...it was totally worth it. It is the final transformation...for true and accurate depiction of topographical features, world-wide.

 

Happy flying, all.

 

Sesquashtoo 

[TracyQ 2]

If there ain't no pictures,  it didn't happen.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

If there ain't no pictures,  it didn't happen.

There's enough before and after pictures on both Pilot's and ORBX's sites. I only say that they are true..and not doctored up.  Look at the before and after..and then you decide accordingly.  I've shot enough pics now..I now wanna fly....

 

It is worth the price.  The world is flat....without this product.  

 

Be sure to use the VECTOR AEC auto routine and then apply save after installation. (!).

 

 

Bonus:  No FPS impact whatsoever. Lake Geneva is incredible...with actual land sloping upwards from the shoreline!  No more dead flat water bodies/land depictions. You know that all shoreline has an incline from ANY lake or stream. That is why there IS a lake bed and or stream bed.  Well...you have that now.  Lakes look fantastic! Where there are cliffs or aggressive ascents from the lake/ocean/stream shoreline...it is there now.  I know of a most beautiful Lake called Stony Lake, in Ontario, Canada that is a lake glacieralized (my word..lol) from the granite bed rock..and there are many islands...and cliffs surrounding this lake. To my SHEER JOY..they are now there...depicted as in real life.  Before...little, if any.  This product rocks!

 

Back to flying...and Tracy.. will actually post some pics...but not right away...want to see different areas...and having WAY TOO MUCH FUN to not want to explore the final 'layer'...of the ORBX visualized; Cake!  

 

Happy Camper.

[JSkorna 137]

If there ain't no pictures,  it didn't happen.

This isn't the Screen Shot Forum.

Mitch,

 

Just think if you had gotten the Extreme version!!

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

This isn't the Screen Shot Forum.

Mitch,

 

Just think if you had gotten the Extreme version!!

Jim....I am having a ball flying around Lake Geneva!   All I can say to everyone, reading this...is: you like what you see with your ORBX Global?  You like what you did when adding Europe OpenLC to the mix?  Yes?  You did?   "Well...you have no idea  YET...what adding the custom mesh built for this deal..adds to your 'eye joy '.  Nope...you have NO IDEA, ....YET!"   ))))))  

 

....no.............idea....unless you install...and go flying over your favorite haunts....

 

Post Edit: "Oh..and FORGET screen dumps.  They don't even COME CLOSE to seeing it play out within your live action.  Folks...screen shots SUCK, in showing the real deal....they are flat and dead."

 

Back to flying.....

[W2DR 1,860]

I couldn't agree more. I own everything that FSGenesis ever made and I can honestly say that the Pilot's mesh is better in all respects. Don't ask for screenshots. This is just the opinion of an old-timer who's been around since FS2.

 

Doug

[SKEWR 364]

Quick question: What is the difference between FSG210 and FGS Ultimate?

I have Open LC Europe and am currently using FSGenesis. Would it make sense to switch to one of the FS Global's?

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Quick question: What is the difference between FSG210 and FGS Ultimate?

I have Open LC Europe and am currently using FSGenesis. Would it make sense to switch to one of the FS Global's?

I can't truly answer your question, but bought what I did, so as to be assured that it would seam and meld with the ORBX products. I used the Vector AEC tool...right after install, and have no airport plateaus.  Geneva was a bad boy...but it fits beautifully within the scenery, driven above the new custom mesh.  I'm sure that Jim S will, or can tell you the subtle differences.Jim?....chime in.

 

Post Edit: I can tell you though, that the FSX version makes Global/Vector/OpenLC look stunning beyond all words....   It is the final and whole 'cake' you have...and the best part...you get to eat it forever....

 

'Stuffing myself silly' Sesquash

[CrownCityMisfits 58]

Yes this mesh is beautiful...

 

until you land at an airport. Virtually all airports sit on a plateau surrounded by cliffs. There is no fix for this, as FSX only supports flat airports.

 

This is a typical example:

 

 

Drives me nuts. Vector AEC tool does not help, even at major airports like KBUR.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

until you land at an airport. Virtually all airports sit on a plateau surrounded by cliffs. There is no fix for this, as FSX only supports flat airports.

 

 

This is a typical example:

I don't know about that....   Geneva was flat. I ran the tool...and Geneva is melded beautifully into the surrounding landscape. I am running Vector 1.15 and Global 1.20    

 

[Damien 4]

FSG Ultimate is the more recent version of the software released by Pilots.

 

Per the back of the FSG Ultimate box,

 

It's a Completely new development. FS Global ULTIMATE Has been completely redesigned and is a vast improvement over previous versions (FS Global 2010/2008/2005/SE)... ...High quality data brings resolution up to 2M!"

 

-Damien

[SKEWR 364]

Thanks Damien and Sesquashtoo.

I guess I'm stuck determining FSGU versus the FSGenesis i already have. If anyone has any recommendations I'm all ears!

[tzombie 0]

Hello;

 

I had a similar issue,I'd forgotten to remove the elevation tool I used for FS Global,now I just use the Vector Tool,oh yea,I had to remove all the changes the FS Global tool did.

 

 

Mark

[Damien 4]

Yes this mesh is beautiful...

 

until you land at an airport. Virtually all airports sit on a plateau surrounded by cliffs. There is no fix for this, as FSX only supports flat airports.

 

This is a typical example:

 

 

Drives me nuts. Vector AEC tool does not help, even at major airports like KBUR.

 

Vector's AEC tool is crap, but why would you expect a Vector tool to fix something that PILOTS software broke? Try the AFM tool to fix the PILOTS software problem.. Other than that, this is a FSX limitation.. FSX does not do anything other than flat airports. Even with modifying the scenery around the airport, it's not going to put hills on an airport so the airport has to adjust somehow.. Runways on cliffs is how it adjusts.

 

-Damien

Thanks Damien and Sesquashtoo.

I guess I'm stuck determining FSGU versus the FSGenesis i already have. If anyone has any recommendations I'm all ears!

 

I've got FSGU The Americas, Asia/Oceana and Europe/Africa. I'm absolutely happy with it.

 

-Damien

[JSkorna 137]

Ultimate was worth it for me.

 

AEC works great where it is meant to work.

 

Other tools work well for the non-AEC airports.

 

Any GOOD mesh is going to cause some airports to not sit right. That is just a limitation of the FSX scenery data system.