How different is Google from Bing

[dobee51 346]

They are worlds apart. Ha.

[SirDan 471]

All google cares about atm is street level views.  MSFS owns bing not google. Bing maps has more / better coverage than google. Bing is more comprehensive , more consistent. They both buy a lot of images from the same few satellite sources. FS 2020 + bing is combining satelite imagery , aerial imagery , vector/poygon data. 

For a Flight Sim  in the making Bing Maps is the way to go for MSFS, imo

 

it will get better with more updates

Edited September 2, 2020 by SirDan

[JRBarrett 3,034]

It varies from place to place. Google has far more photogrammetry in more places than Bing. Google does not blur military airports in Germany as Bing does, which is responsible for several missing airports in MSFS like Stuttgart.

The currency of the aerial imagery is sometimes better in Bing, sometimes in Google, sometimes neither. I knew before MSFS released that my home airport would be wrong in the sim. The current Bing image is from 2014. Since that time, three old hangers were torn down, one existing hangar was lengthened, the main taxiway was realigned, and the terminal was expanded. Google is no better, because its image is from 2016, and all the changes took place in 2017 and 2018. Apple Maps is the only app which shows the correct depiction, because its image is from the summer of 2019.

[boshar 6]

2 hours ago, Mark1616 said:

I don't find Bing maps to be severely impeding the visual fidelity of the MSFS. On the other hand, integrating data from Open Street Maps would greatly improve the realism of roads, power lines, buildings, etc. Think World4XP in the other simulator.

I a m pretty sure MSFS already uses Open Street Map data. Autogen in areas without photogrammetry is almost 100% similar to X-Plane X-Europe with regards to building placement.

An easy tell is bridge pylons/ constructions. Unfortunately theses are converted to houses/building blocks. So road bridges have sudden buildings across them with cars mostly running into these buildings. 
 

In areas with good Open Street Map coverage autogen buildings line up almost perfectly to the satellite pictures. 

[orchestra_nl 923]

20 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

It varies from place to place. Google has far more photogrammetry in more places than Bing. Google does not blur military airports in Germany as Bing does, which is responsible for several missing airports in MSFS like Stuttgart.

Agreed, neither is perfect although Google is generally better. If memory serves my well, Google at one time also blurred the maps around military airports, but that's no excuse. Asobo could have compared the airport database from FSX to MSFS and easily have made a list of missing airports. These couild then have been taken from FSX and "upscaled".

By the way, it's not only airports. When flying over Belgium I noticed that there were other areas which were blurred as well. Another map showed these often as a military training ground or something like that.

[Keto Ketchup 240]

1 hour ago, SirDan said:

Bing is more comprehensive , more consistent.

This is demonstratively wrong where I live. If this forum allowed me to post images, I could easily prove this. I'm a privacy nut, so I'm not going to post my location here on the forum, but if I did, everyone would see that Google is far superior where I live than Bing is. And me personally, I care about where I live, which is a very long way from where you live IIRC.

Believe me, I WANT Bing to be better, because I want the best flight simulator experience possible. This has nothing to do with cut trees or other silliness, it has to do with snow on the ground in late August, permanent cloud shadows baked into the scenery (or worse, actual clouds), abrupt transitions in texture detail, green roads (???), etc. Now where Bing does have better maps, the scenery looks absolutely amazing in FS, so my gripe isn't with the sim, it's with the source material the sim as to work with.

[SirDan 471]

3 minutes ago, Keto Ketchup said:

This is demonstratively wrong where I live.

Yes but it's not about you but the entire world on the whole. ofc there are some places where google earth looks better , for now. Not about you but about the entirety of the world , it will get better for everyone. Day 15 of release

Edited September 2, 2020 by SirDan

[M-Air Bush Deliveries Ltd 50]

google maps imagery and photogrammetry data is just another level compared to Bing. Amount of photogrammetry, photogrammtry resolution, resolution of close-up 2D images, anything. If any flight sim joins forces with Google and basically copies what FS2020 does, I will switch in an instant. 

[JRBarrett 3,034]

4 hours ago, orchestra_nl said:

Agreed, neither is perfect although Google is generally better. If memory serves my well, Google at one time also blurred the maps around military airports, but that's no excuse. Asobo could have compared the airport database from FSX to MSFS and easily have made a list of missing airports. These couild then have been taken from FSX and "upscaled".

By the way, it's not only airports. When flying over Belgium I noticed that there were other areas which were blurred as well. Another map showed these often as a military training ground or something like that.

A few years ago, Google used to blur large electrical substations that were part of the main backbone power grid in New York State. I know that at the time, that request came from the NYS Power Authority, but Google no longer does that. I don’t think Bing or Apple ever did.

[ArkRoyal 30]

8 hours ago, kapitan said:

ok, but I read Austin saying he doesnt believe in satellite maps

...........and did Austin have his head in the sand and a.rse in the air when he proclaimed such idiocy?

[Wobbie 938]

6 hours ago, SirDan said:

Just amazing how much misinformation people spread around to fit their narrative. Mind blowing sometimes. Lucky MSFS 2020 is backed by a company worth over a Trillion dollars and have teams of very educated people. 

 

 

edit: outside my house I don't see our Oak tree we planted last year , omg   jk I cut down all the oak trees for firewood 

LOL, I'm surprised you have not asked for a refund yet!!

Indeed, I agree with your comments.

Obviously, it seems that gamers are more intune with MS's business, than they are, themselves.

[L3m0n 56]

Google is clearly better not just in quality but also coverage. They also have outstanding photogrammetry for some non-urban areas too. Take a look at monument valley for example.

However Apple has better photogrammetry than Google at least for the cities I've compared. 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

For mine guys, I really do not mind if P3D and XPlane both adopted this method of streaming (be it Bing or Google) Either one would improve the individual sims.

If nothing else, MSFS points to the way of the future. We do not know what the 3PD aircraft to come will be like, but, just imagine P3D with this level of scenery streaming.  I just wonder if they are already looking at/working on it as we speak(type LOL)

Oooh ... I love the simming world we live in at the moment.

Tony

[DaedalusX 11]

59 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

For mine guys, I really do not mind if P3D and XPlane both adopted this method of streaming (be it Bing or Google) Either one would improve the individual sims.

If nothing else, MSFS points to the way of the future. We do not know what the 3PD aircraft to come will be like, but, just imagine P3D with this level of scenery streaming.  I just wonder if they are already looking at/working on it as we speak(type LOL)

Oooh ... I love the simming world we live in at the moment.

Tony

I don't think that it is that easy for P3D or XP to "adopt" this method of steaming. I remember a long time ago when you could stream google earth texture in FSX, it never really worked.

[AntillesFlyer 58]

As I'm flyng a giant loop around the Caribbean I've seen some of the most amazing places with the reefs showing through the water (inc' from the promo footage) and some of the no so good spots (IE: the good the bad and the ugly). Bings not perfect by a long shot but other than a few glaring "what the" moments, I think it's def' good enough. 

I watched this this morning and it's a good take on it with both providers at various places. I especially liked the key west section he discusses. Shows both google and bing maps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ul5B_W91aI

Cheers

Brendon