Hi folks. Thought I'd do a comparison between UTX Europe and the new FTX products namely OpenLC EU. Until now I'd been pretty happy with UTX Europe with FTX Global particularly as I tend to fly the 737NGX + Dash 8 but nevertheless after an upgrade itch I decided to get hold of Vector and OpenLC.

 

I chose a variety of areas, Nice Cote Azur, LSZS in the Alps, and two completely random areas in Norway and Holland. Done in FSX (DX9) with SweetFX. Completely unedited but resized. 

 

Decide for yourselves! However, personally for me the LSZS shot actually looks better with UTX rather than the new stuff (even without FS Global 2010) but LFMN does look ever so slightly better to me as do the others. I ended up getting a mesh product (Global 2010) and with that you can see it really does help improve the sim. Is this outlay worth the £107 I spent on Vector + OpenLC EU + Global 2010...I'm yet to be totally convinced especially as I tend to fly in an around Europe but given two of the three products have global coverage perhaps I'll be heading further afield with my VA. I think this is a testament to UTX too, for such an old product they really did get it right back then and with FS Global it improved things massively (much better then Ground Environment X IMO) but with hopefully ORBX continuing to update and upgrade their products I'm sure I'll be happy with my new purchase.

 

 

...ps only downside is I now need a bigger SSD!!! D**n you ORBX!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 201411 yr by firehawk44
Inappropriate language edited

Exactly the comparison I was looking for. 

Thank you very much!

following this thread, excellent work !

Thanks a lot for these excellent comparison pictures! Much appreciated :smile:

Something does not look right with your 2nd screenshot but I have to confirm it in sim. It looks like default land class. There is no reason why only adding the mesh in your 3rd screenshot would change the hill from bland to rocky. That is something the LC would do.

Something does not look right with your 2nd screenshot but I have to confirm it in sim. It looks like default land class. There is no reason why only adding the mesh in your 3rd screenshot would change the hill from bland to rocky. That is something the LC would do.

 

IIRC all mesh does is elevation correction.

Very interesting.  The first example (to me at least) is pretty clear cut, a winner for UTX, after that it becomes more difficult.  Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Great thread! A question for the OP - Can you comment on FTX Global + UTX Europe + OpenLC vs FTX Global + Vector + OpenLC? (This is the line-up I'm thinking of, at least for now until Vector matures a bit more)

Something is strange here  The 2nd screenshot does NOT show what my OpenLC EU looks like.

 

Here is what mine looks like in same area with UTX vector data, mesh and FTX landclass (OpenLC)

 

Something is strange here  The 2nd screenshot does NOT show what my OpenLC EU looks like.

 

Here is what mine looks like in same area with UTX vector data, mesh and FTX landclass (OpenLC)

 

Looks a lot like his screenshot with mesh.

Maybe just a little confusion with the names there.

In this particular case, I still prefer UTX actually. Don't know which one is more realistic, though. 

 

Thanks for posting!

I think if I had UTX I would just leave it and not bother with Vector however for first time buyers it may be beneficial to buy Vector as it will continue to be developed by the ORBX team

Looks a lot like his screenshot with mesh.

Maybe just a little confusion with the names there.

In this particular case, I still prefer UTX actually. Don't know which one is more realistic, though. 

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Yeah, your probably right with just a labeling error.  As for realism, if you look at Google Earth, UTX puts in too many fields but it gets the towns more accurately. (OpenLC does not show the two small towns around the lake)

I think if I had UTX I would just leave it and not bother with Vector however for first time buyers it may be beneficial to buy Vector as it will continue to be developed by the ORBX team

 

I'd agree but they look to be very close and Vector is the entire globe.  That's a big selling point if it's even close in quality.

 

 

I'd agree but they look to be very close and Vector is the entire globe. That's a big selling point if it's even close in quality.

 

Good point, didn't think of that and as you say a big selling point indeed

Thank you for all the feedback chaps and I hope its helped people who were looking for comparison shot between the two.

 

As far as I know it wansnt an error in labeling the shot which was why I too was so confused as to why the shot looked similar to default FSX landclass. I came to the conclusion that basically the scenery library order was incorrect on that particular shot and after installing FS Global 2010 mesh it has corrected itself in terms of the priorities.

 

After a couple of days now with the new setup and can firmly say scenery looks absolutely stunning and am slowly being won over by OpenLC and vector. Small villages aren't as accurate and neither are small streams and rivers in the Alps but major trunk roads and larger towns do seems correctly placed. The land class on the whole is better such as rocky mountain areas and no having fields on mountain tops at 6000ft plus! One thing missing however in the Alps is glaciers which UTX did quite nicely especially with FTX Global Base textures.

 

If anybody wants a sceenshot of a certain area then please just ask.

 

Something is strange here The 2nd screenshot does NOT show what my OpenLC EU looks like.

 

Here is what mine looks like in same area with UTX vector data, mesh and FTX landclass (OpenLC)

 

snip

Many thanks for posting that. Confirms my original suspicion that I think it was the default LC due to an error in the FSX scenery library order.

I think if I had UTX I would just leave it and not bother with Vector however for first time buyers it may be beneficial to buy Vector as it will continue to be developed by the ORBX team

Spot on. Its a really close call tbh especially if you're primarily flying in Europe. I hope Vector continues to be developed as UTX shows there's plenty of room for improvement. But then again it does offer world wide coverage.

 

Great thread! A question for the OP - Can you comment on FTX Global + UTX Europe + OpenLC vs FTX Global + Vector + OpenLC? (This is the line-up I'm thinking of, at least for now until Vector matures a bit more)

Sorry I didn't try this combination. I've heard it would offer good results but my gut reaction was to just get the lot and be done with it rather than messing around and getting Vector at a later date. On reflection UTX EU was a stunning product (esp after replacing GEX textures with FTX Global as the first shot quite nicely demonstrates).

I think the FTX Global textures are very good, but I don't really see much difference in the landclass products (one area UTX much nicer, other OpenLC) except the roads which look nicer to me with UTX generally.

 

Does Vector or OpenLC add the bridge seen in Nice? That would be an interesting feature!