Thanks for all the great feedback and links folks. I will definitely look at them all in detail. My plan is to have 2 setups, probably one that's "regular" FSX and the other will be FSX:SE, with one being purely photo scenery and the other with orbx world stuff (considering getting an ssd for the mse stuff if it will help with the time it takes for them to appear sometimes)

 

Regarding photoscenery, and mse in particular, do you use any night lighting product with it? Anything nice/decent or is it just not worth it?

 

Thanks.

The older MSE (v1) actually had night scenery, but the current MSEv2 doesn't.

 

I would stay away from Taburet's Night 3D lights, as they really bring down your fps and significantly increase VAS usage.

The better product is Night Environment by Chris Bell/Aerosoft: Better frames rates and the night light intensity/impact can be configured. You could try their Berlin demo; it's freely available for download from the NE product pages in the shops. The only drawback of NE is that it is sold per state, so it can get pretty expensive if you want to cover huge areas. (I use it for selected areas only like California and it grossly improves the night flying immersion for me.)

 

ORBX come with 3D night light poles and light splash textures already; that should cover your night flying needs in those areas.