I´d like to know the best photoreal scenery today for FSX and prepar3Dv2 for UK, any hints ?

Right this very second you have four choices.

1. Horizon GenerationX -in 8 volumes (full uk coverage). This is getting quite old now, some people feel it's out of date and has some colour issues, but it's relatively solid.

2. MegaScenery Earth -in 1 volume (England and Wales only). Good value for money in terms of area covered but not the best quality product IMHO. Newest on market, but has issues around colour corrections and water masking - covered in other threads

3. Make your own -using FSEarthTiles or similar utility - time consuming to do and variable results. IMO it's possible but easier to buy something!

4. Earth Simulations PhotoGenESis -in multiple volumes (intended to be full uk coverage, first volume release imminent) The gold standard being set for photoscenery products, with seasons, full custom autogen, colour corrected, water masks, custom road traffic etc td etc. Not the cheapest, but the quality speaks for itself.

 

Which is best for you depends on your budget, how accurate you wish your visual experience to be and how you want to fly really.

 

I can swear hand on heart that the absolute best experience will be through (4), but whether you need/want that level of quality is a question only you can answer....

I'd agree with all the comments above and I would emphasise that if you can't stretch to the Earth Simulations version, the I would go down the MegaScenery route. If you do go down that route, you'll even get a further discount as it's classed as buying two countries.

 

Let us know which way you choose!

 

All the best

Phil Murfin

Right this very second you have four choices.

1. Horizon GenerationX -in 8 volumes (full uk coverage). This is getting quite old now, some people feel it's out of date and has some colour issues, but it's relatively solid.

2. MegaScenery Earth -in 1 volume (England and Wales only). Good value for money in terms of area covered but not the best quality product IMHO. Newest on market, but has issues around colour corrections and water masking - covered in other threads

3. Make your own -using FSEarthTiles or similar utility - time consuming to do and variable results. IMO it's possible but easier to buy something!

4. Earth Simulations PhotoGenESis -in multiple volumes (intended to be full uk coverage, first volume release imminent) The gold standard being set for photoscenery products, with seasons, full custom autogen, colour corrected, water masks, custom road traffic etc td etc. Not the cheapest, but the quality speaks for itself.

 

Which is best for you depends on your budget, how accurate you wish your visual experience to be and how you want to fly really.

 

I can swear hand on heart that the absolute best experience will be through (4), but whether you need/want that level of quality is a question only you can answer....

 

Thank you very much, kevinfirth and Phil Murfin. That´s the exact kind of perfect answer to anybody wanting to know what exists on the FSX world right now. I wasn´t aware of so many options. I´ll see each one, look at the pictures, then decide. The problem with MSE always is the colors. Seems that their raw material obtained is not top quality. I own almost complete USA, and some parts are really nice, and some are terrible. UK, here I go...

I have the full Horizon scenery and I find it really nice. I also have treescapes and find it to add a lot of realism for me

 

The English and Welsh part of the uk is however at lower resolution (the standard MSE2.0 resolution) while Scotland has Ultra-res cities resolution. The Scottish isles are really stunning with really great water masking. It really looks very close to how things look when you fly over it for real. I use it together with Scotflight and find it a great combination.

 

You get terrain mesh together with the Horizon product as well, but you might have FSGlobal Ultimate Europe already. Having the better mesh helps a lot with making it look real. There are a few annoying mesh anomalies in a few places that I've discovered that takes away the closeness to reality in a few places, some if them are only seen if you know what the real deal looks like. But FSGlobal has the same anomalies though so it must lie in the source data they use.

 

Haven't used the other UK photo sceneries so have nothing to compare against.

Not quite 4, there is TileProxy, I'm not suggesting its the best but its an option at a very good price!

 

Enjoy what ever you go for

 

Rich

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I have the full Horizon scenery and I find it really nice. I also have treescapes and find it to add a lot of realism for me

 

The English and Welsh part of the uk is however at lower resolution (the standard MSE2.0 resolution) while Scotland has Ultra-res cities resolution. The Scottish isles are really stunning with really great water masking. It really looks very close to how things look when you fly over it for real. I use it together with Scotflight and find it a great combination.

 

You get terrain mesh together with the Horizon product as well, but you might have FSGlobal Ultimate Europe already. Having the better mesh helps a lot with making it look real. There are a few annoying mesh anomalies in a few places that I've discovered that takes away the closeness to reality in a few places, some if them are only seen if you know what the real deal looks like. But FSGlobal has the same anomalies though so it must lie in the source data they use.

 

Haven't used the other UK photo sceneries so have nothing to compare against.

 

Thank you, I didn´t know about this, I´ll check and tell you what I thought later.

Not quite 4, there is TileProxy, I'm not suggesting its the best but its an option at a very good price!

 

Enjoy what ever you go for

 

Rich

 

Yes, Tileproxy would be the best price, perhaps combined with a good mesh scenery. All things to consider. Thank you.