31 minutes ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

Does it make the simulator unusable? Depends on the areas you fly in. Since Sim Update 2, I find that it completely ruins the look of areas like Glacier Park above, and much of Japan which I particularly enjoyed since it was updated with some really good mesh. 

I think that's on the base of the issue. As soon as you add higher-resolution mesh the issue gets exponentiated. As far as I learned, very roughly stated, the simulator switches between several mesh resolution steps upon approach, and the higher the resolution the more often it will have to switch. Pilot's Ultra NG for P3D, or whatever it was called, had extremely high resolution but was also very prone to terrain morphing. ORBX Catalina had extremely good mesh, combined with strong morphing, too

This may even be one reason Asobo/MS are hesitant to go too far with mesh resolution.

Moreover, it sometimes occurs to me, the photogrammetry melted buildings issue is a close relative of the morphing issue. After all, photogrammetry is some kind of mesh which gradually kicks into place upon approach, and that's what we observe.

It's certainly good to keep an eye on this and remind Asobo now and then there's an issue which they should tackle at a point, but I doubt we'll see a quick solution of this age-old inherited issue anytime soon. Personally, I can live with the state of the art in MSFS, but those who absolutely can't stand it might think about switching to another simulator, perhaps.

Kind regards, Michael

Edited February 17, 20215 yr by pmb

5 minutes ago, pmb said:

It's certainly good to keep an eye on this and remind Asobo now and then there's an issue which they should tackle at a point, but I doubt we'll see a quick solution of this age-old inherited issue anytime soon. Personally, I can live with the state of the art in MSFS, but those who absolutely can't stand it might think about switching to another simulator, perhaps.

I don't mean to sound so harsh when describing this issue, but it is just so frustrating. Mainly because it wasn't always this way. It was darn near perfect before the USA update. If it had been like this from the beginning, I would not even post about it. I would just sit quietly and hope for improvements. BUT that is not the situation here. I paid a lot of money for this sim and I was more than satisfied with it until the USA update. I have personally gone to DCS ever since (and I am grateful to have that option), but I really loved this sim and all of the potential it represents. It was good... but now its not. It shouldn't be like that. To go from "Jaw dropping" to "infuriating" is the opposite of how it should be...

21 minutes ago, pmb said:

I think that's on the base of the issue. As soon as you add higher-resolution mesh the issue gets exponentiated. As far as I learned, very roughly stated, the simulator switches between several mesh resolution steps upon approach, and the higher the resolution the more often it will have to switch.

The thing is though, I'm not aware of any changes that Sim Update 2 was intended to make in regard to the mesh rendering and LOD systems, unless it was in preparation for new mesh of future World Updates. Both the USA and Japan looked quite great with their respective updates, and then the morphing suddenly got much worse out of nowhere, even in areas with rather low-quality mesh around the entire world. Just like the coastline glitch, it really bugs me that this issue did not occur at launch and for a few months after that, and now there is no timeline for a definitive fix. If they cannot resolve an issue affecting the entire world due to preparations for future World Updates or something else, that's concerning.

It does seem to get a lot more tolerable if you turn up the Terrain Level of Detail slider, but with my current system I cannot test it for very long. And I hope that we will not be told to upgrade once again to fix a regression that a post-launch patch caused.

Edited February 17, 20215 yr by ChaoticBeauty

Just out of interest, I'll see if I can reconstruct your path given. I'm quite often flying in the Vancouver area and should be able to find it.

Kind regards, Michael

11 minutes ago, pmb said:

Just out of interest, I'll see if I can reconstruct your path given. I'm quite often flying in the Vancouver area and should be able to find it.

Kind regards, Michael

That would be fantastic! Look forward to seeing what you experience. Cheers!

Hi Erik, it may take a couple of days until the weekend because of some RL work, but I'll do it. I have a note on my desk which will nag me until I've done it.😉

Kind regards, Michael

46 minutes ago, pmb said:

Hi Erik, it may take a couple of days until the weekend because of some RL work, but I'll do it. I have a note on my desk which will nag me until I've done it.😉

Kind regards, Michael

Sounds good Michael. I really appreciate you digging into this. We all operate very independently in our little bubbles, so it will be great to see another enthusiast's experience with the exact same scenario. Just as an aside, my terrain LOD is set to 100 and my terrain vector data is on ULTRA. (btw- changing these has no effect on the issue) I will keep an eye on this thread and look forward to seeing how you make out! Thx 👍

19 hours ago, erick said:

Flew out of Nanaimo towards Vancouver and watched as the once beautiful Gulf Islands (directly outside of my windshield within less than a mile), went from flat green strips to pointy small strips of green side by side pyramids to long green log shaped things with tree shapes spectacled 50ft above said log shaped things to finally something that resembled an Island once it was directly below my aircraft .. and it was still bloody morphing shapes!!

I flew around east of CYCD and didn't get any unusual morphing there. You might have to zoom image..

Edited February 18, 20215 yr by desbean

Your picture shows exactly what I am talking about! 3 green pyramids on top of a green strip, just like I said in my very first post. It will stay that way until you are within less than 1/2 a mile. You have unfortunately proved my point perfectly.

That is unless "3 side by side green pyramids" in place of an island (that used to show perfectly prior to the USA update) is cool with everyone, then I'm alone on this. My friend actually lives on that island in real life and I'm sure he wouldn't be to please with its current representation! hehe

ps- this happens all over the place, not just this particular island - for the most egregious example go to the Hoover Dam, fly into the canyon and watch the insanity ensue!

Edited February 18, 20215 yr by erick

really??? i hardly notice those.

well i guess msfs is not for you, there are lotsa tiny lil things amiss, they dont bother me.

if that makes a sim unusable for you, wow

Edited February 18, 20215 yr by wim123

5 minutes ago, wim123 said:

they dont bother me

Good for you, but please accept that others may have different opinions.

15 minutes ago, SierraDelta said:

Good for you, but please accept that others may have different opinions.

oh i do, but it is obvious, the more critical you are the less you will enjoy life, and this means that some ppl here create their own

issues..and yes they (and you) dont wanna hear that.

these and other gameforums keep always amasing me, loads of fun.

43 minutes ago, wim123 said:

really??? i hardly notice those.

well i guess msfs is not for you, there are lotsa tiny lil things amiss, they dont bother me.

if that makes a sim unusable for you, wow

I'm with you. I watched the 47 second video on the first page and am still not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing. I see some pop-in, but nothing that would render the sim "unusable".

As for the pic with the "three little hills" - again, I wouldn't even notice that.

I guess if you're THAT critical, simulation and games in general are probably not the right hobby for you.

42 minutes ago, wim123 said:

.and yes they (and you) dont wanna hear that.

I never said that I don't want to hear about other users' opinions, did I ?

It was more the (maybe not deliberate) condescending tone of your post that I had an issue with, like " well i guess msfs is not for you," and " if that makes a sim unusable for you, wow"

On 2/17/2021 at 9:29 AM, erick said:

I had high hopes that they would fix my biggest concern with this latest update but .. no, not even close. Scenery/terrain pop-in, aka= morphing mountains, aka= shifting hills, etc.

Prior to the USA update, I flew for many hours every single day. Since the USA update, I have not flown once. The scenery loading directly in front of the plane absolutely kills the immersion for me. This did not exist prior to the USA update. 

I have been playing DCS ever since, just waiting, reading forums and hoping they fix whatever the heck happened to this once amazing sim. Just fired it up with everything updated and fingers crossed.

Flew out of Nanaimo towards Vancouver and watched as the once beautiful Gulf Islands (directly outside of my windshield within less than a mile), went from flat green strips to pointy small strips of green side by side pyramids to long green log shaped things with tree shapes spectacled 50ft above said log shaped things to finally something that resembled an Island once it was directly below my aircraft .. and it was still bloody morphing shapes!!

*On a positive note, they have improved the coastline glitch somewhat.

**Seriously, if there was an option to revert back to a build from prior to the USA update, I would do it in a heartbeat!!!

I will never totally give up on MSFS, but I guess its back to DCS until the next update, sheesh!

Agree 100%! I gave up this sim long time ago... Its just not fun any longer, in no way! And just like You, Im back in to DCS...