The following question is rather basic: are the ground textures in the FSX demo (I am running #2) generic, or are we looking at satellite photos of the real islands? I'm aware that most generic textures are based on photos -- what I'm interested in finding out is whether the rest of the flightsim world will look this good.

I think some of the area around the main airport is photoreal, but much of it is generic, for example the island that is mostly covered by fields.The generic textures ae amazing. It's a great tribute to the design team that it's actually quite difficult to decide which areas are photoreal and which generic. Best regards, Chris

The island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin is an aerial image, and that is why it looks so realistic:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/158300.jpgThe other islands are all generic ground textures.Also, Las Vegas, Oshkosh, and Rio de Janeiro have photo-real ground textures.And, of course, there are numerous airports with custom ground.I didn't know that the generic ground was based on pictures, David. Did you read this in some FS developer's web site?Best regards.Luis

Thanks, Luis, for the comprehensive answer (which tells me where I can go, even in the demo, to see the generic textures).>I didn't know that the generic ground was based on pictures,>David. Did you read this in some FS developer's web site?I read that a couple years ago about the FS9 textures, though I couldn't cite chapter and verse. Maybe it's not true. If I were making textures, though, that's where I'd start, if only to make it clear in my own mind what various things look like from an airplane.