Would be a nice addition.

will we ever get decent looking seasons, clouds and weather?   :rolleyes: FS9 has better clouds  :(

I know some folks like orthophoto scenery, and it would be nice to have payware like MegaScenery for that market. But personally I don't like it and don't use it. I bought the RealScenery orthophoto stuff for Washington state and Florida back when X-Plane didn't have great default scenery. But with the new HD scenery mesh and Open street map roads and buildings getting better all the time, I just prefer that look. 

 

For me, orthophoto scenery has three main problems:

 

1) The way it flattens out and pixilates when you fly low enough, with any actual 3D objects looking weird on top of that background. This is especially noticeable if you do a lot of low level flying in helicopters like I do. 

 

2) The way it causes a visually jarring color and texture transition with custom scenery files, since the file author isn't trying to match any specific commercial orthophoto background. 

 

3) One of the big things I'd like to see soon in X-Plane -- whether it's a payware mod or in the next version -- is seasonal changes in terrain and vegetation. I want to see snow on the ground in places like Alaska in the winter, instead of it always being Summer. It would be nice to see deciduous forest color changes too, but snow is the big one. Needless to say, a large (and expensive) collection of orthophoto scenery won't be compatible with seasonal changes. So I think X-Plane is on the right track... eventually... with HD landclass textures, trees, and auto-gen buildings that can eventually show seasonal changes.

 

 

 

 

I wasn't fan of orthophoto either, but MegaScenery Earth's Ultra City series spoiled me. Once you're say 3,000 feet above ground the world really comes alive. I'm able to see my deck/yard with no problem.

I wasn't fan of orthophoto either, but MegaScenery Earth's Ultra City series spoiled me. Once you're say 3,000 feet above ground the world really comes alive. I'm able to see my deck/yard with no problem.

 

Yeah, that's where orthophoto scenery is really at its best; in areas that you know intimately and can recognize all the landmarks. Most of the places I fly now are places I don't know on the ground, so that helps with the "plausible" part of the default HD mesh + auto-gen approach. 

 

OTOH, there is one place where orthophoto really shines for me (although not enough to use it), and that's coastal water colors. I grew up in South Florida, and the way MegaScenery shows the correct light turquoise colors around Miami and the Florida Keys looks so much better than X-Plane's drab, flat greenish water color everywhere. Some individual scenery files do fix that with photo backgrounds or hand coloring, but it only works well with small enough islands where you don't notice the transition to the rest of the X-Plane world. One of these days, X-Plane has to do something about better coastal and river water colors. 

""I want to see snow on the ground in places like Alaska in the winter.""

 

I already do with the plugins   Winter textures and simple seasons.

Unfortunately, there are some places in the world where there isn't a decent orthogonal photographic scenery, like WSSS and Singapore. G2XP doesn't do it justice and sometimes orthophoto looks strange. I actually prefer the default scenery + W2XP + HD Mesh.

photoscenery real thing and can fly vfr and use sectionals more accurately. I like photoscenery but the downside it requires hard drive to store it and it takes forever to upload. Xplane is lot more accurate same with the mesh and vector data the benefit of photoscenery not as big boost as with FSX. I fly FSX only with photoscenery with Xplane I don't need to as roads, lakes, streams, towns are better setup, and the roads and local ones are accurate. you can fly vfr out of box with Xplane I can't do that as easy with FSX.

 

 

I already do with the plugins   Winter textures and simple seasons.

 

Now tell us about Spring and Fall textures!

Now tell us about Spring and Fall textures!

http://forum.simrussia.com/index.php?/topic/208-%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5-%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D1%8B-xp-10/page-10

http://forum.simrussia.com/index.php?/topic/208-%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5-%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D1%8B-xp-10/page-10

And those will automatically change based on temperature like the Winter textures do using simple seasons? 

Now tell us about Spring and Fall textures!

Not ready yet but

 

http://maxx-xp.com/?page_id=23

Those I was aware of those so thanks. But still the question is the same: will even those even automatically load themselves using the winter texture plug in?

Yes this will be in x-planes future....

My advice to everybody is to just ignore JSkorna. I consider him a troll. If you read his other posts in this and other forums you'll judge for yourself.

B)