Another Great Global Texture Replacement for FS9

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Hi Mitch, I have been reading your informative discussions on this tread wiith intererst.  Like I said I did have BEV bought way back in 2006, but couldn't  find my old backups.  I really didn't get into BEV enough to really appreciate it's usefulness since I was using Enviro before the crash. I guess I will break down and go ahead and pick up the BEV usa and give it a try.  However, I am a little concerned with the install since some indicated they had problems. W7 was not even born back in those days.  I  do  use W7.  Since you got it to work with W7 that is an encouragement. Also concerning GePro I do believe Flightone still has the rebate for previous owners of GE2006.

 

Regards,

Carl...I'd hold off on re-purchasing...for I'm sure that you have the files backed up, SOMEWHERE!  Perhaps an older system's hard drive, or CD, etc.  I'd check everything, before you repurchased.  I hope you find your initial BEV files...but if not...for FS9, I think you will be most happy by whatever means you finally get them back!  I'd advise for sure, that you also get Hard Winter.  It is the best depiction of snow-covered fields and landscape for FS9 that I have seen to date.

[PittsS2B 33]

so would like your opinon on whether or not to GE PRO is that much better than GE2006? rather than spending $ for BEV?.   

 

I never had GE2006, as GE Pro was my second ground texture add-on for  FS9 after BEV, so I really couldn't say if it's worth the upgrade.  Flight1 does appear to offer a discount for upgraders as you saw, so it wouldn't be too expensive to try.  I've tried many ground texture options for FS9, but I keep coming back to GE Pro as the best overall option, or the one I'm most used to, anyway.  

[Appliance 51]

One of the things I miss most about AS6.5 is the ability to automatically set GEPro's textures to suit the weather depiction.  And I'm too lazy to change them manually.  :unsure:

[ctiger 49]

One of the things I miss most about AS6.5 is the ability to automatically set GEPro's textures to suit the weather depiction.  And I'm too lazy to change them manually.  :unsure:

Well I do have AS6.5 and at my age am kinda lazy so I may go ahead and get GEPro If I can somehow find BEV on one of my old CD's or HD's will have the best of both worlds. As Mitch indicated I gotta have BEV SOMEWHERE in my house.(lol) 

 

Thnaks John for your comments, based on the screen shots at FlightOne and the $30 upgrade I guess I will gve it a shot. They are one of the few folks that give you a 30 day return policy.

[Southwest69 0]

I want to try mesh next and thinking about getting my local aviation shop to order FS Global 2010 on disc for me.  Do you get any issues with elevations at airports (peaks and dips where they shouldn't be)? 

 

 

Not that I noticed, no.

 

Enjoy!

[Appliance 51]

 

 

Do you get any issues with elevations at airports (peaks and dips where they shouldn't be)? 
 

 

If I remember correctly Pilots offer a special tool/program which purports to eradicate such errors.  I can't endorse that as I run the 2008 version of their mesh.  I believe their website may explain further.

[Groovin_DC-10 50]

 

 

Here I am flying out of KFNT towards KMIA...in an American A321...and Graham...just look at the ground 'night life'.  WOW!  And this..is FS9?!????   Wow..... These pics are dumbed down from the crystal clear night departure....man, if you could see this on my monitor...your eyes would pop out!   FS9 is becoming KILLER!  Click twice on the pictures to fully open them up to detail....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks great, Mitch!  Awesome job.  I had to open in a separate window because the white background of avsim overpower the darker pics.  Maybe this is why some people had problems seeing them.

You really have a good eye for sky colors.  I noticed great looking skies on all your shots. 

[gwillmot 31]

Added ExperienceX Night Light for FS9 (by Beetle Print) to my GEPro setup yesterday.  Night flying never looked so good.  Some hit on frame rates but not so much that the sim became choppy.  I was really pleasantly surprised by this product.  Saved me time and money loading in new ground textures just to get decent 3-d night lighting.

[Appliance 51]

Grooving_DC-10 said quote

"I do have another global night light add on that give about 95% white light and 5% red/orange.  It's called Experience X for FS9.  I stopped using it because it affected the fps too much in very dense areas." 

Unquote

 

Added ExperienceX Night Light for FS9 (by Beetle Print) to my GEPro setup yesterday.  Night flying never looked so good.  Some hit on frame rates but not so much that the sim became choppy. 

 

I wonder whether you esteemed gentlemen would care to clarify/amplify your comments above?

 

Having relied upon stock GEPro lighting (I was advised against using UT's night lights) AND not doing much in the way of night flying anyway (old eyes) AND not wanting to waste A$20 (being on a miserable pension) exactly what improvement will I see ... or not (see Mitch's recent screenies?)

 

Thank you in anticipation.

[gwillmot 31]

Well first, I'm running GEPro WITH UT night lights (highways only).  That provided a great look as far as I'm concerned.  I then added ExperieneX Night Lights.  It added nice bright white lights throughout the city landscapes, much like I remember on "real" night flights.

 

Evidently, UT night lights override the ExperienceX lights on the streets.  I still had the UT night lights on the highways.  I then added residential streets and lighting in UT, and I had less ExperienceX lights in the cityscape.  I dropped the residential UT lights after that.

 

The program allows you to back up your FS9 textures before installing.  You then have the option to load city lights and/or street lighting.  You have the ability to change the color of the lights for both as well as the size of the lights for both.  In addition, you have the option to use normal, dense, or very dense light numbers.  If you desire to use street lighting, you can change the distance between street lights.  SOMEWHERE with all the options, you should be able to find a happy medium between a good look and sufficient frame rates to make yourself happy.

 

I'm running an i3, 3.06Ghz processor and ATI Radeon 5750 video card.  I have been locking at 30 fps without the ExperienceX addon.  After installing, I've been using Very Dense city lighting and usually get in the low to mid 20's fps.  This I consider very good.  It drops a little more in Los Angeles for instance, although New York area and Long Island/New Jersey stayed in the mid-20's.  Using just a Normal or Dense setting allowed me to get closer to my "locked 30" value.

 

I would love to provide screenshots but don't have a 3rd-party site to load them to.  I recommend going to the simmarket site and search for "BEETLE PRINT - EXPERIENCE X FS2004" and view the pictures.  There is also a good video of the product there.

I also went to the author's site and viewed pictures of the user interface.

 

Hope this helps.  I was really surprised that my system didn't have a greater hit on frame rates and I was VERY pleased at the effect of the lights on night flying.  It is MUCH more realistic now ..... especially when still using UT highway lights.

 

P.S.

I didn't do much night flying before either ..... but now have a new avenue to experience with FS2004!

[Appliance 51]

I am exceedingly grateful for your excellent explanation of ExperienceX for FS2004 gwillmot.

 

I had already visited SimMarket before making my request.  I'd much rather trust my friends reviews rather than others and certainly not the developer's propaganda.

 

I may well 'suck-it-and-see.'  Roll on pension day.  

[Groovin_DC-10 50]

Hi Appliance,

Gwillmot just gave an excellent description of the program.  I should have posted what I was flying when I used Experience X.

 

If I remember correctly, coming into Aerosoft Frankfurt with the PMDG MD-11, I think my fps was fluctuating between 18 to the mid 20's.  That's way too low, imho.  Mid 20's I'm okay with when it comes to big hubs, but when it dips below mid 20's, I start to notice it and it affects my enjoyment of the sim.   

 

Exp X will definitely hit your fps more than UT, because unlike UT lights, with Exp X, the autogen buildings and trees remain.  Now that I'm back to UT lighting, everything is super smooth again.  I'm running Win7/Phenom II @ 4ghz/8g DDR3/GTX560/250g SSD.  I will try Exp X again when I do a PC upgrade. 

 

I was running purely Exp X lights.  I had the UT lights disabled.  Of course, it's less of a problem when I'm flying GA or lite models.

[Appliance 51]

 

 

coming into Aerosoft Frankfurt with the PMDG MD-11, I think my fps was fluctuating between 18 to the mid 20's.  That's way too low, imho.  Mid 20's I'm okay with when it comes to big hubs, but when it dips below mid 20's, I start to notice it and it affects my enjoyment of the sim.   

 

Agree entirely Maurice.  Good to see you also fly the MD-11.  B)

 

My computer specs are a little higher than yours however I am reassured a Configurator is available which one can alter to suit the circumstances.  I fly mainly tubeliners these days and I presume flying into EGLL, KJFK, KLAX etc. would require a bit of judicious fooling around with the settings before taking flight at night.

 

We shall see.  Firstly I will turn on UT's lights and get a taste before making any decision.

 

Thanks for your post which I found very helpful.

[Appliance 51]

 

Well the above image is with both GEPro and UT(USA) lights set to white.  Clearly not ideal.  :(

[Groovin_DC-10 50]

Agree entirely Maurice.  Good to see you also fly the MD-11.  B)

 

My computer specs are a little higher than yours however I am reassured a Configurator is available which one can alter to suit the circumstances.  I fly mainly tubeliners these days and I presume flying into EGLL, KJFK, KLAX etc. would require a bit of judicious fooling around with the settings before taking flight at night.

 

We shall see.  Firstly I will turn on UT's lights and get a taste before making any decision.

 

Thanks for your post which I found very helpful.

 

I think you should be good because you have a better machine.  I didn't fool around much with the settings within Exp X.  I kept them pretty high or maxed out the entire time.

 

Exp X does look better than UT, imo, mainly because the autogen buildings and trees are still there.  It's very impressive when taxiing, coming in for landing, etc. 

I tried changing the colors of UT lights as well and I can't say I notice any difference lol.  I'm actually happy with the colors of UT and the Zinertek textures.

 

ETA... I tried to post a vid I made using exp x but the vid has been blocked due to the music track.