So, I'm giving X-plane another go since my first try was a little frustrating (long story).  I have the North America version only as I want to use it mostly for Pilot Edge.  My biggest issue right now is LA, San Diego, and other cities look like farmlands.  I thought installing W2XP America and the world content library would change all that but I guess it doesn't because I don't see any difference at all.  The LA Basin and San Diego still look like a giant pastures with a few trees. Is there a way to make cities look like cities or is this just a short-coming of X-plane?

 

Also, I installed Real Terra Haze, and I can open the RTH window in the sim, but when I manipulate the various parameters I see no change in the scenery at all. Add to that I have no cloud shadows, which is odd. Although I did install a different cloud set (Clouds HD) so that might be the issue. If it is, how can I get those shadows back?

 

So, I'm thinking there has to be something I am doing wrong.  Any help is greatly appreciated because I would really like to make X-plane work. Thanks!

 

Todd

(German language) travel guide for the U.S. west coast: The West Coast: http://www.fsmagazin...Plusartikel.pdf with download links.

Hello,Yes,Stock XPlane IS very Barren, kind of like stock FSX.But There is a TON of quality freeware available if you'd like to use a little effort.

Go to xplane.org and search for scenery files for California.Mr.X has done a beautiful rendition of KSFO and You can even find the downtown area also freeware.

Also, I installed Real Terra Haze, and I can open the RTH window in the sim, but when I manipulate the various parameters I see no change in the scenery at all. Add to that I have no cloud shadows, which is odd. Although I did install a different cloud set (Clouds HD) so that might be the issue. If it is, how can I get those shadows back?

 

So, I'm thinking there has to be something I am doing wrong.  Any help is greatly appreciated because I would really like to make X-plane work. Thanks!

 

Todd

 

There is a file called FlyWithLua_Debug.txt in the root folder of X-Plane. Although I probaly can't help in understanding it, but if you attach it here, maybe someone else can help?

 

Just in case and to avoid misunderstandings: the scenery itself won't change with RTH, but "only" lighting, shadows, colors etc.

Patrick, I have all of MisterX's sceneries and they are quite good. I was talking more about the area around the airports. I expect LA, for example, to look more like a city than open pasture. Upping the autogen either barely helps or crashes the sim if I go too high.

 

Uwespeed, I realize RTH only affects shading, etc, not the actual scenery. When I try and tweak the blue color, for example, nothing happens. I can load one of the provided sets, however and can see a difference.

Do you have hdr and atmospheric scattering enabled in the rendering settings?

Do you have HDR set in the Rendering Settings. It is needed for all the lighting effects including RTH

Try downloading these:

 

Real Terra Haze

SimHeaven Photoscenery (zone-photos)

HD Mesh v3 or UHD mesh

W2XP

I live in San Diego and it you want to improve the look of California I would highly recommend you get the following sceneries:

 

KLAX International - MisterX6

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/26246-klax-los-angeles-international/

 

KSAN - San Diego International - MisterX6

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/24953-ksan-san-diego-international/

 

KSFO - San Francisco International Airport and City - MisterX6

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/29166-ksfo-san-francisco-international-airport-and-city/

 

Simheaven's Americas OSM scenery built with World2Xplane*

http://simheaven.com/?wpfb_filepage=w2xp_america-7z

 

Alpilotx X-Plane 10 HD/UHD mesh**

http://www.alpilotx.net/downloads/x-plane-10-hd-mesh-scenery-v3/

 

*World2Xplane requires other scenery libraries to be installed, this covers both North & South America and can be hard on the FPS depending on the OSM coverage e.g. NYC looks awesome, but it might not be very flyable.

 

**This is mesh and it MUST be placed at the bottom of your X-Plane scenery.ini file, otherwise you won't see any of your other custom scenery (because the mesh will just sit on top of it )

 

--OR--

 

You can wait till X-Plane 10.50 http://developer.x-plane.com/2016/03/x-plane-10-50/ "New Autogen: We have new US tall building art assets that will make cities look better."

 

 

I expect LA, for example, to look more like a city than open pasture.

 

as carrotroot pointed out, autogen face lift is coming.

 

This is what is coming with 10.50 and is probably what you are looking for (don't we all).

 

here are more pics.

 

http://www.x-plane.com/2016/05/new-buildings-coming-10-50/

The autogen facelift is going to be big, and it's something they've promised for many years.

Also, with X-Plane you *need* to turn up the road and autogen settings in order for cities to look like cities. In FSX you can turn off autogen completely and cities will still look like cities because of the "fake" 2D background layer, but X-Plane doesn't have this layer and relies on the 3D scenery to make cities look built up.