UTX USA out for P3D

[Nemo 1,305]

I have found it to be an excellent product

 

I am happy with the product so far. The beaches included in UTX are worth the product alone for anyone flying in Florida and similar places.

 

Since I don't live in the US I won't bother comparing it with real maps and aerial/satellite images. It is surely a lot better than stock scenery.

 

Are there any conflicts with ORBX FTX NA Region titles like PNW or CRM?

 

I remember that prior UT versions being used with FSX and FTX NA PNW were not completely compatible. It was necessary to disable quite a lot of .bgl files to have full compatibility with FTX lights. This could be done manually or using a tool provided by ORBX. I doubt the latter will be possible as ORBX has its own Vector product now.

 

Another point will be how UTX will behave with the upcoming ORBX OpenLC US.

 

Cheers,

Harry

[CFIJose 5,485]

I took the plunge and installed the updated UTX over FTX Global and Vector and I have to say it looks pretty good imo. It adds quite a bit of detail that the global products don't have. I'm not quite sold on the lights yet since I have not messed around with it too much but the supplied configuration tools are pretty in depth and some tweaking is in order. Performance seemed pretty solid as well. If anyone is interested in seeing a specific location before they purchase I will be streaming quite a bit 11/27 through 11/30 since I'm off work...send me a PM if your interested.

 

Ryan

Tampa & NYC dusk please. Thx

[vgbaron 3,508]

Are there any conflicts with ORBX FTX NA Region titles like PNW or CRM?

 

I remember that prior UT versions being used with FSX and FTX NA PNW were not completely compatible. It was necessary to disable quite a lot of .bgl files to have full compatibility with FTX lights. This could be done manually or using a tool provided by ORBX. I doubt the latter will be possible as ORBX has its own Vector product now.

 

Another point will be how UTX will behave with the upcoming ORBX OpenLC US.

 

Cheers,

Harry

I have had no issues with any ORBX products. The lights are now installed as a separate install and are extremely configurable. I'm sure there will be *some* anomalies but, rest assured, they will be corrected quickly.

 

OpenLC should have no effect other than insuring the scenery entries are in the correct order.

 

Vic

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

I have had no issues with any ORBX products. The lights are now installed as a separate install and are extremely configurable. I'm sure there will be *some* anomalies but, rest assured, they will be corrected quickly.

 

OpenLC should have no effect other than insuring the scenery entries are in the correct order.

 

Vic

 

Exactly

[TrafficPilot 121]

Does this new UTX come with an uninstaller so it can be removed without destroying my P3D installation?

 

If so I may buy instead of the future USA OpenLC.

[vgbaron 3,508]

Does this new UTX come with an uninstaller so it can be removed without destroying my P3D installation?

 

If so I may buy instead of the future USA OpenLC.

Yes. When I was testing it, I installed and uninstalled frequently with no issues with my P3D installation. 

 

Vic

[TrafficPilot 121]

 

 

Yes. When I was testing it, I installed and uninstalled frequently with no issues with my P3D installation. 
 
Vic

 

Thanks Vic. Off to get it now!

[cvearl 60]

Does this new UTX come with an uninstaller so it can be removed without destroying my P3D installation?

 

If so I may buy instead of the future USA OpenLC.

 

USA OpenLC has nothing to do with Vector data products like UTX and FTX Vector.

 

ORBX FTX Global BASE replaces FSX's base texture (pallet/colors and look) library (Grass, rock, agriculture, forest, jungle, desert, tundra and so on)

 

"UTX" is the competitor to FTX Global Vector (Roads, Rivers, Lakes, Golf Courses, Parks, Railroads and Coastlines). 

 

FTX Global OpenLC USA will be landclass data (Tile types - agriculture? desert? jungle? Forest? Dense City? Industrial? Urban?). UTX does not do this with a small exception. They do include a reshape of Urban and have added Urban/city landclass and Urban Vegetation like park areas and greenspaces.

 

If your favorite area to fly looks like grassy hills but in real life should be desert, UTX does not fix that. Landclass like OpenLC does.

 

It's all layered. The map is made of tiles. The sim assignes landclass types (OpenLC) to each of the tiles and colors it with the textures. The sim then overlays the VECTOR roadmap data stuff (FTX Vector or UTX) on top of that to give you the roads and rivers and such.

 

Charles.

[Bunkers 52]

 

 

USA OpenLC has nothing to do with Vector data products like UTX

Are you sure about this? I've always thought UTX is not only a vector addon but includes landclass enhancement, thus being an alternative to OpenLC and Vector.

[cvearl 60]

Are you sure about this? I've always thought UTX is not only a vector addon but includes landclass enhancement, thus being an alternative to OpenLC and Vector.

 

100% sure. It includes URBAN (City) landclass only. That is landclass (type of ground) within cities. It does not include landclass data (tile type data) outside of cities (Agriculture, jungle, forest, desert and so on). From the website itself... 

 

http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=utxusa

 

Ultimate Terrain X dramatically improves the accuracy of cities in FSX using our proprietary "Synthetic Landclass" generation system, which generates urban landclass based on recent commercial data sources. In the USA, there are basically 6 different sets of landclass textures available to represent the different levels of urban sprawl. These textures are used in the wetter, more seasonal areas. There are also 5 urban texture sets available for dry regions. 

 

In Short... UTX does some corrections to City Border Shapes and placement of Inductrial versus housing versus commercial within the city. It will also add a handful of missing towns to your world. But does not correct the rest of the land surrounding the cities and towns. For example. With UTX I will fly over somewhere I know is farmland in all directions but in the sim it is a forest below me. That is what OpenLC and Scenerytech try to correct.

 

To clarify further...

 

TEXTURE PRODUCTS 

 

GEX (Ground environment Extreme)

ORBX FTX Global

 

 

Vector Products (map overlay)

 

UTX (Ultimate Terrain X)

ORBX FTX Global Vector

 

 

Landclass Products

 

Scenery Tech 

ORBX OpenLC

 

Before ORBX got into the game, people bought GEX+UTX+Scenerytech. Now orbx is in the game with Global+Vector+OpenLC.

 

some of us have mixed and matched. I have UTX USA+FTX Global and it looks great! I am waiting on OpenLC NA.

 

Last piece I have not bothered with is mesh. The topographical shape of the ground below. FSGenesis is one. Can't remember the rest.

 

Charles.

[simmerhead 885]

FS Global is the other major mesh developer.

[cvearl 60]

FS Global is the other major mesh developer.

 

There it is. Forgot that one.

 

I mainly live in FTX full "regions" which are a full on commercial grade blend of Textures, Landclass, points of interest, custom buildings, Vector data and mesh. But to me the best part is they fix all the airports in region to look close to the real life version. Or at least not a sterile strip of grey with a box next to it.

 

Me having Global + UTX USA is just so when I leave a region, I almost cannot tell except the land class will start to look wrong (until they release OpenLC NA). And then of course when I land at some airport, it is a dead give away I am not in a fully developed ORBX region.

 

C.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

100% sure. It includes URBAN (City) landclass only. That is landclass (type of ground) within cities. It does not include landclass data (tile type data) outside of cities (Agriculture, jungle, forest, desert and so on). From the website itself... 

 

 

Great explanation - well done has helped me understand what UTX is providing vs Scenerytech - thank you

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

00% sure. It includes URBAN (City) landclass only. That is landclass (type of ground) within cities. It does not include landclass data (tile type data) outside of cities (Agriculture, jungle, forest, desert and so on). From the website itself... 

 

 

The new UTX USA version (2.1) claims to have all new land class data for both urban and vegetation:

 

http://www.simforums.com/forums/utx-usa-v21-release-official_topic52190&SID=95240491388ac9az8df816e468fa18606481481.html

 

Can anyone confirm this, before I install it? The previous version (2.0) did not impact the vegetation LC, so I uninstalled it, as mostly UTX duplicates what FTX Vector provides.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

Well, since no one was adventuresome, I tried it and UTX USA 2.1 does have much more accurate vegetation LC than the P3d default LC. But the differences were not that astounding, so I disabled UTX USA for the time being. Having it installed along with the whole ORBX suite seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. The good news is that I didn't see any impact on performance with UTX USA 2.1 installed, one way or the other.