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FreeMeshX Global 2.0 - Release Announcement

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INTRODUCTION:

FreeMeshX is a global terrain mesh replacement for the stock terrain mesh and features LOD10 (38-m) coverage for almost the entire world. LOD10 is equal to the same terrain level of detail used for the USA in the stock scenery. The rest of the world varies from LOD6 to LOD9. FreeMeshX was created to bring the rest of the world up to the LOD10 standard as much as possible, although some regions of the world in the higher latitudes are still limited to LOD9 (76-m). Compiling the source data into LOD11 yields neglibible improvements and is mostly a waste of precious hard drive space.

FreeMeshX features LOD10 (38-m resolution) coverage for:

  • North America (LOD10 Canada is released in this mesh - default USA is already LOD10, so USA is not included for the base release. A separate LOD12 USA mesh is available for beta testing)
  • Europe
  • Asia
  • Africa
  • Australia and Oceania

A few regions are limited to LOD9 (76-m resolution):

  • Antarctica
  • Greenland
  • Russian territories north of 60 N latitude

FreeMeshX was compiled using over 400 GB of raw terrain data. The final size of the product is 46 GB, making it one of the largest freeware projects ever for FS. It wouldn't be in everyone's best interests to download all 46 GB at once, so we are releasing the product the product into continental regions for a total of 7 regions total. Each continent contains a number of 10 deg x 10 deg titles, mosaiced from 1 deg x 1 deg tiles into a 2.5 GB file, and then compressed into a BGL file. Defragmentation is highly recommended for mechanical hard drives to ensure smooth and quick loading.
 
Largest improvements are found in regions that contained mainly the default LOD6 and LOD7 meshes. These included remote regions of Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Asia. Europe and Canada sees some improvement, but it's LOD9 mesh is just a one level upgrade to LOD10. Subtle improvements for these previously LOD9 regions will be found mainly in the accuracy of the mesh and level of detail in mountain ranges.

DOWNLOAD:

NOTE: DUE TO THE EVERY INCREASING COSTS OF FILE HOSTING, WE HAVE SUSPENDED THE AUTOMATIC DOWNLOAD SCRIPTS.

PLEASE USE THE BIT TORRENT LINK.

The new installer method below does not apply to the Bit torrent downloads.

Torrent option (no installers needed): http://www.mediafire.com/file/j9gyf1u8brsv5zu/FreeMeshX_Global_2.0.torrent

NEW INSTALLER METHOD:

FreeMeshX Global 2.0 is an update to introduce the new installation and download method that should alleviate the difficulty of installing FreeMeshX for some users.

Included is a command-line based download system that uses the free and open-source wget tool to retrieve each installer and its associated parts. The entire download process is contained with a batch file that will commence automatically by simply double-clicking on it. Note, do not run the installer as administrator -- the downloader will fail. The download process is fully resumable, so those with slower download bandwidth can stop the download, and resume it at a later point. The installer will automatically detect where it left off and resume. The installers for each region are comprised by an .exe file and several .bin files if necessary. All of these files for each region must be downloaded completely into one folder before the installer .exe can be run. A downloader batch file is included for each region, and an all-in-one batch file is included for those who want to download the entire set in one go. A raw list of download links is also available who prefer to download the files through their own methods.

Interior view of the extracted download folder:

WAYIzEt.png

Example of the download tool working:

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A list of MD5SUMs is also included for those who want to directly verify the integrity of any or all files. A map is also included to illustrate how the world is divided up into regions.

FreeMeshX Global 2.0 is cumulative. It includes all patches to each region, and an updated "FreeMeshX - Patches" folder where miscellaneous fixes belong. There is no need to download the old 7-ZIP parts from 1.0 - 1.07. They are fully incorporated into version 2.0.

INSTALLATION:

These installers will install each FreeMeshX Global region into a directory of your choosing. We highly recommend installing FreeMeshX Global OUTSIDE of your C:\Program Files directory.

SUle5sr.png

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PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD THIS FOLDER TO YOUR SIMULATOR'S SCENERY LIBRARY. This installer will not automatically add a Scenery Library entry (we don't want to accidentally corrupt your scenery.cfg). There are many tutorials online on how to add a Scenery Library entry for your simulator.

We try to modify your system as little as possible. Therefore, no registries and no uninstaller are created. To uninstall FreeMeshX Global, simply delete the installed folder. We designed the installer this way so that you will have the full flexibility to do with FreeMeshX as you please e.g. such as moving it to another drive.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

FreeMeshX does not update any vectors in the simulator. Vectors control the elevations of water bodies such as lakes, ponds, and rivers, and the elevations of airports. The mesh cannot alter these. Using FreeMeshX without a 3rd-party package to update the vectors within the simulator will result in the topography of the updated terrain to lie at different elevations while the vectors still remain at their inaccurate elevations. This mismatch will lead to artifcacts such as raised or sunken airports and waterbodies that will break immersion. Therefore, it is HIGHLY CRITICAL that the simulator's vectors are updated as well, such as through FTX Vectors or UTX, or the topography system of the simulator will be INCOMPLETE. We officially recommend the use of FTX Vectors because all of our testing incorporates it, and it uses elevations derived from the SRTM dataset, the same dataset we use for FreeMeshX Global. To conclude, it does not make any sense to use a global mesh without using any updated vectors. Likewise it does not make sense to use updated vectors without using an updated mesh.

FreeMeshX is officially supported for FSX, FSX:SE, and all versions of P3D (including 64-bit P3D).

FreeMeshX should be placed above the default terrain entries in the Scenery Library, and below any airports or FTX Regions or landclasses.

Updated torrents should be released in the upcoming week (as of 07/29/2017).

EDIT: All-in-one torrent available here (please seed)

CHANGELOG ADDITIONS:

07/29/2017 2.0

 - Incorporated new installers and an automatic downloader to easily fetch installers over HTTP
 - New installers are up to date with all previous patches (1.01 - 1.07)
 - High-resolution 50 GB USA mesh now available through sign-up beta process

Hypothetical scenery library order:

1 FreeMeshX - Patches
2 FreeMeshX - Africa
3 FreeMeshX - Antarctica
4 FreeMeshX - Asia
5 FreeMeshX - Australia and oceania
6 FreeMeshX - Europe
7 FreeMeshX - North America
8 FreeMeshX - South and Central America

Of course, your real load order will be different, but you must keep FreeMeshX - Patches always above the FreeMeshX regions.

-- Nine-Two Productions

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More screenshots....

  • Upvote 7

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Right when I am reinstalling everything from scratch ... thank you for all the efforts you put in FreeMeshX !

  • Upvote 2

Guillaume

YouTube Channel : The Flying Frog (P3D flying)

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Thank you for the update Daniel. To clarify, those of us who already have Freemesh X and all the patches including 1.07 don't require this update, assuming the existing install works (mine does). Is this correct?

  • Upvote 1

Mark Robinson

Part-time Ferroequinologist

Author of FLIGHT: A near-future short story (ebook available on amazon)

I made the baby cry - A2A Simulations L-049 Constellation

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6 minutes ago, HighBypass said:

Thank you for the update Daniel. To clarify, those of us who already have Freemesh X and all the patches including 1.07 don't require this update, assuming the existing install works (mine does). Is this correct?

Correct, this is more of a platform-convenience update. If you're already updated to 1.07, then there is no need to redo all of the installation. A 2.01 update at some point will add some more terrain fixes. I thought it would be time to coincide this update with the recent beta of FreeMeshX USA (since it also follows a similar install procedure).

  • Upvote 1

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Hello,

The "All in one" will download ALL the meshes (Africa, Europe, ...)  to one .bin?

The Asia includes the "Oceanic isles" ?

Is it possible (recommended) to start more than one batch at the same time?

Thanks in advance

  • Upvote 1

Emile EBBR Z590 Aorus Elite, i9-11900K 3.5Ghz Nvidia RTX 3060, 16 GB Mem, SSD 1Tera + other HDDs, Dual Boot . Win11 Pro X64

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Wow, another FreemeshX update!  Just finished downloading the LOD12 USA beta.  Thanks again for all the hard work!

  • Upvote 1

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Thank you NineTwo!!!!!!

  • Upvote 1

Flavio Cardoso - P3Dv4.5 HF3

Win 10 Pro 64Bits - i74960X 4.5ghz - ASUS Rampage IV Black Ed. - Corsair H150i Platinum - 32gb  Ripjaws Z - ASUS RTX 2080 SUPER SC - MCP 737R 2015 Virtual Avionics

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8 hours ago, Emile said:

Hello,

The "All in one" will download ALL the meshes (Africa, Europe, ...)  to one .bin?

The Asia includes the "Oceanic isles" ?

Is it possible (recommended) to start more than one batch at the same time?

Thanks in advance

The all-in-one batch file will begin to download the entire set in sequence -- all 7 installers and their associated .bins.

The all-in-one torrent can download the entire set, or download just a subsection. You can control what regions are downloaded in your Bit Torrent client.

And I'm not sure if batch files can run simultaneously. I suppose it's possible, but I have not tried.

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can't wait to test out the new meshes. thanks again for all the hard work.

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Hey Daniel.

today i had the time to fly around with your new FreeMeshX 2.0 and i must say: it looks fantastic. here a few shots.

addons: my own pta preset and reshade, envtex skyset, water and sun, REX clouds, orbx global base, europe and vector.

Spain:

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Croatia:

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  • Upvote 1

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Holy smokes,

That PTA preset is amazing. And the combination of the mesh with your other terrain layers comes off nicely.

  • Upvote 1

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thank you. before i had a few issues with the default meshes and vector. with your new meshes all issues are fixed.

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Thanks a lot, Daniel! I've just finished downloading and it's currently sitting at 0.81 seed ratio. Will make sure it's at least a 1:1 as everyone should get a chance to enjoy your fantastic work! 

  • Upvote 1

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Many thanks for this great product!

Allow me a question: you mention in the installation notes that FTX Vectors or similar product is recommended. Yet at Orbx website it is indicated that  FTX Vectors require Orbx Global previously installed. 

This means that in fact it is recommend not one but these two products ...that are on sale through August 22....tempting....

Am iI right? Could you please clarify?

I am using P3D4.

Many thanks!

 


Edmundo Azevedo

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