What is everyone using for scenery?

[787WannabePilot 12]

I had been using the 777 for quite some time, then took a break only to get back into "flying" with the 737.

 

I have been updating airports as I fly to them (thanks Ray Smith!) but looking to improve the view for the overall flight.

 

Anything interesting / new out there?

 

Thanks.

[Nyxx 6,993]

As I only fly PMDG NG-777 and have to fly the A319 for BAV, no GA for me.

 

Given that I recommend Orbx Global and Vector (vector need a lot of setting turning off) that's it, that's all you need

[downscc 1,327]

My favorites are FlightBeam followed by FS Dream Team (FSDT) for US locations that you'd be flying 737s or 777s into.  I also have all the BluePrint locations primarity for 737, BluePrint is just a step above the good stuff by Ray Smith but it's cheap.

 

If you'd like to expand your hobby, get a copy of Airport Design Editor (ADE) from ScruffyDuck (free) and start upgrading your own airports.  I get into this every couple of years and I have several days invested into updating Ray Smith's KHOU Houston Hobby (hope he doesn't mind that I'm keep his terminal building), but the new International Terminal is still under construction so that's just a brown spot on the ground for now. I get the current NASR data from FAA and use Google Earth to pin locations to a coordinate.  It takes an enormous amount of time but it's fun to watch your labor evolve into something superior to any default airport.

[markadeane 272]

Flight Beam, FlyTampa, and some FSDT. Best balance of quality vs FPS, and less likely than some other sceneries to OOM you on short final, in my experience. I love ORBX stuff but generally only have it activated for GA flying.

 

I used to have a lot of the Aerosoft-released 'Mega-Airport' series installed but I gather these aren't supported for FSX:SE (except EGLL) so I have not reinstalled them.

[kevinh 409]

You can install that Aerosoft scenery in FSX-SE but AES animations won't work.

[Nyxx 6,993]

I think the Question was on scenery not airports!

[Guest]

I think the Question was on scenery not airports!

 

LOL It's amazing how bad people sometimes read the OP. Anyway, I agree with David: to improve the view for the overall flight FTX Global is the way to go. For more detailed waters and roads etc. Vector might be a nice idea indeed but personally I don't use Vector (hurts performance unless you for instance only enable the waters and in some area's it doesn't play nice with the ground textures (Global or not)). You might also want to add OpenLC for better land class and get some mesh but for starters FTX Global will make the scenery look a lot better already.

[nugat 1]

I use Ultimate Terrain X (UTX), Ground Environment X (GEX) and Orbx FTX Trees HD. I haven't noticed any drop in performance compared to the default FSX scenery and everything looks like it's supposed to for the area in which you're flying.

 

Unlike FTX global which covers the whole planet, UTX and GEX come in regions. But as I generally only fly in Europe UTX and GEX worked out cheaper. There are plenty of comparisons between the two products on YouTube etc if you want to get an idea of how they look.

 

I also use MegaSceneryEarth for when I want to do a bit of sight seeing :-) It's not realistic at low altitudes as you're looking at a flat image and not 3d objects, but from a couple of thousand feet it can look stunning and it's nice to see "the real world" and not something that has been auto generated by FSX. However if you're flying airliners at 30,000 feet you're not going see much difference between auto-gen and photoscenery.

 

I should add that as there's no auto-gen in MegaSceneryEarth there are no lights, so it's for daytime flying only. In the dark it just pitch black :-)

[Flying Penguin 44]

I'd second the FTXG/Vector, and if available, LC combo.  There is little to no gain for tube flying to use full fat Orbx regions (and a big VAS hit), and I just don't like the look of GEX.

[Nyxx 6,993]

I also use MegaSceneryEarth for when I want to do a bit of sight seeing :-) It's not realistic at low altitudes as you're looking at a flat image and not 3d objects, but from a couple of thousand feet it can look stunning and it's nice to see "the real world" and not something that has been auto generated by FSX.

 

Nothing comes even close to MSE for desert areas I use it for south cal upto KLAS and KLAS to KPHX, that area. its breath taking. Even at FL30.

 

I edit it so the area's were the city's start Global shows though.

[phoenixphire 50]

Nothing comes even close to MSE for desert areas I use it for south cal upto KLAS and KLAS to KPHX, that area. its breath taking. Even at FL30.

 

I edit it so the area's were the city's start Global shows though.

 

I agree, deserts look amazing. I was lucky enough to purchase SimSavvy Photo-real for the entire US years ago. I also have downloaded the complete West and East coast of the US from Megascenery. Sim Savvy had excellent photo-scenery but no water masking on the coasts. I combined them on 4 gig hardrive. Unfortunately SimSavvy no longer sells the product and I believe he now works for MegaSenery. I also have MSE in Europe but they are all a little disappointing and not as good as the US.