It does look better because the landclass source data used for the US and Canada are consistent, whereas in Europe, the various governments have not produce a unified GIS database that is readily available. Thus, the other OpenLC products have to rely somewhat on open source GIS databases.

At least from an aesthetic standpoint, I think OpenLC Europe looks a bit better than NA. Of course we're talking totally different landscapes, but I mean the artwork that goes into the textures and how they mesh together with different types just doesn't seem as good in NA. It's definitely good, don't get me wrong, but EU just looks extremely pretty to my eyes. There are lots of areas in NA that just seems to use oddball textures that stand out from the other ones in that particular area.

 

That being said I'm sure it will get updates over time to correct a lot of that stuff.

My only real complaint is that the depicted summer farmlands often have unplanted fields in the Midwest. The ratio is almost 50/50 when it comes to planted/unplanted. Those fields don't make money being empty. I should be seeing more green in the Midwest.

I know what you mean. I live in WI so I know my farmlands, lol. I think to really get farmlands right, it would require some highly specific landclass with detailed seasons data. I don't think we'll get that until/if/when OrbX does a Midwest region.

So...those who have UTX 2.0 + GEP3D should't bother, should they?

 

Well, I just went through this as I have been using UTX & GEP3D for a while.  I used to have FTXG & Vector over a year ago and uninstalled them and switched to UTX/GEp3D.  I recently went back to FTXG for a couple reasons.  One is that I just did not like the GEP3D daytime textures.  Everything looked too arid to me, especially the east coast of the US where I fly a lot. FTXG gets the coloring right IMO. What I loved about GEP3D was the night textures. That and UTX street lighting made the night flying very nice...but....  The new OpenLC night lighting along with FTXG lighting is fantastic.  I have now added back in ORBX Vector as well and things look as realistic both day and night as I've ever seen. I have had some stunning approaches in the last few days (using AS16,ASCA & PTA as well).

 

That being said...I would not bother with Open LC with your current setup.  It pulls certain textures from FTXG along with some new textures so you would at least need that.  You can still use UTX for the vector data but the road lights would no longer be needed with their new lighting tech. Coming from someone who threw ORBX to the side for a while, it might be worth investing in FTX Global along with OpenLC!!

 

 

Also, some people (me included) have had problems with the installer only adding one OpenLC file out of two to the scenery library, but this is easily fixed by adding it manually. 

 

could you tell me what the entry names are in your scenery library? I'd like to double check mine to see as well. That way I can manually add it if it's missing also.

could you tell me what the entry names are in your scenery library? I'd like to double check mine to see as well. That way I can manually add it if it's missing also.

 

[Area.118]

Title=ORBX!OPENLC_BASE

Local=ORBX\FTX_OLC\OLC_AA

Layer=118

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

 

[Area.119]

Title=ORBX!OPENLC_NAMERICA2

Local=ORBX\FTX_OLC\OLC_NA2

Layer=119

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

 

[Area.120]

Title=ORBX!OPENLC_NAMERICA1

Local=ORBX\FTX_OLC\OLC_NA1

Layer=120

Active=TRUE

Required=FALSE

Thanks a lot Bert!