Wow ! ORBX Scenery never looked so good (P3Dv4.4)

[JoeFackel 760]

7 hours ago, Mikelab6 said:

How much VRAM you are running at with TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 ?

Mike

In my case the VRAM usage is between 7.9-8.2 GB.

[SunDevil56 183]

On 12/2/2018 at 5:25 PM, Rockliffe said:

.... I am running with TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 at the moment, but unsure whether I'll keep it, as it takes forever to load a flight. Your slider settings are almost the same as mine too. Although I run with 4xSSAA 😊

I tried this TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 tweak but I honestly couldn't see where it made much of a difference in the sharpness of my scenery, which was already good, and it increased load times significantly so I decided not to continue using it. I switched from 8xMSAA to 4xSSAA and that seems to provide slightly sharper visuals without any noticeable performance penalty.

[slip-stream 5]

Once 4.4 has installed do we need to reinstall Orbx scenery or does it all work off the bat?

[SunDevil56 183]

2 minutes ago, slip-stream said:

Once 4.4 has installed do we need to reinstall Orbx scenery or does it all work off the bat?

If you do the client only update your installed ORBX sceneries should all be there and work normally. at least they did for me, I didn't need to reinstall any of them.

One thing though... If you have ORBX vector installed you may have re-do some airport elevation corrections in FTX central.

In my case this has mostly affected some freeware add on airports and is a quick and simple fix. If you have Vector and you load up an airport and you have sunken terrain it will need to be corrected in FTX Central settings under "configure FTX Global vector". Shut down the sim first, then run the airport elevation correction in FTX central and click "apply" then close FTX central and re-start P3D and your sunken airport terrain should be fixed.

[Rocky_53 1,579]

1 hour ago, SunDevil56 said:

I tried this TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 tweak but I honestly couldn't see where it made much of a difference in the sharpness of my scenery, which was already good, and it increased load times significantly so I decided not to continue using it. I switched from 8xMSAA to 4xSSAA and that seems to provide slightly sharper visuals without any noticeable performance penalty.

You're probably right. I am a bit of an OCD person, but I can see a tad difference in quality. You're right about the AA, if you can run 4SSAA then there is a definite improvement with jaggies over other settings.

[slip-stream 5]

Thank you Sundevil56. Appreciated. 

[Ezra 29]

On 12/2/2018 at 1:00 PM, Mikelab6 said:

Hi all,

 

Posted this on ORBX forum and I think it would be valuable for others here at AVSIM:

 

I am speachless !  Upgraded from P3Dv4.3 to 4.4 (Client & Content only) and I can say my ORBX scenery never looked so good.  Thanks god ! Photo Scenery Textures are now sharps and crisps around the aircraft but also in the distance and don't loads while flying over them like it was in the past.  See by yourself (PAVD)!

 

 

 

I am now a very happy flyer !

 

Mike

According to John Venema (ORBX) developer. The effect is "placebo." . . .Lol.

Enjoy the placebo effect! 

"PBR has to be developed for specifically for textures used in projects and we do not intend to go back and re-do textures for 140+ airports. However we will be looking at adding PBR to new airport titles or any V2 remakes, and then only at the discretion of the airport developer.

If PBR becomes a deciding factor for customers in deciding to buy an airport or not, then I am sure it will convince developers to learn how to implement it.

IMHO PBR is far more compelling when used on materials inside a cockpit, rather than making surfaces of an airport terminal or rain puddles look realistic."---John Venema

https://orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/163938-orbx-and-pbr/

•  

[Sartanius 399]

Those screenshots are excellent, Mike.  I am tempted even more to hop on the PR train now that P3Dv4.4 is out.  Thanks for posting.

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

30 minutes ago, Ezra said:

According to John Venema (ORBX) developer. The effect is "placebo." . . .Lol.

Enjoy the placebo effect! 

Well to some extent that is a true statement, as much of what can be accomplished with PBR textures can also be done with "traditional" textures. In the long run, any developer that doesn't convert is just making more work for themselves, though.

[tttocs 301]

1 hour ago, Ezra said:

According to John Venema (ORBX) developer. The effect is "placebo." . . .Lol.

JV was responding to a thread about Orbx and PBR (which is not used in any Orbx product) so he was right about that.  However, there's no question that regions and airports which incorporate large amounts of photo scenery are much improved in 4.4, just as all photoscenery is.  What was blurry before is now crisp and clear.  The OP in that thread assumed it was PBR which was responsible, and of course it is not.

Scott

[slip-stream 5]

It couldn’t have come at a more convenient time for me. I’ve only just migrated over to P3D and was highly disappointed. But only for a few days. Lol. The extra time loading is well why it IMO. 

[Raging Bull 23]

I’m buckng the trend here and will say that Orbx scenery looks terrible (nothing to do with the OP’s setup). 

Overly sharp, and plastic looking. Which FSX and unfortunately P3D photoscenery scenery often looks like. You’d think though LM could improve it. Instead it looks like it’s far worse. 

Luckily the real word has glare, haze and a blurry distance to add to the ‘realism’ of living in the...well....real world. 

These sceneries, and the future generation of wanting unrealistic, ultra sharp and ‘autogen to the moon’ visuals is killing the flight simulation experience. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mace 1,904]

I too would like to see these shots with some haze / realistic visibility settings.  That would make the circle complete, I think.

[slip-stream 5]

1 hour ago, Raging Bull said:

I’m buckng the trend here and will say that Orbx scenery looks terrible (nothing to do with the OP’s setup). 

Overly sharp, and plastic looking. Which FSX and unfortunately P3D photoscenery scenery often looks like. You’d think though LM could improve it. Instead it looks like it’s far worse. 

Luckily the real word has glare, haze and a blurry distance to add to the ‘realism’ of living in the...well....real world. 

These sceneries, and the future generation of wanting unrealistic, ultra sharp and ‘autogen to the moon’ visuals is killing the flight simulation experience. 

 

I always fly with 5nm of vis. I love the fog effect in P3D. Mainly fly rotary low and slow  

 

 

 

I 

[Ezra 29]

Mace wrote,

"I too would like to see these shots with some haze / realistic visibility settings.  That would make the circle complete, I think."

One would need some shots with P3Dv4.4 coupled with ASP4 and ASCA to experience some haze/realistic settings. Not sure if the latter is updated for P3Dv4.4 yet.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Ezra