Orbx NZ Mesh released!

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

https://orbxdirect.com/product/nz-mesh-msfs

Quote

NZ Mesh is the first product made with our new proprietary approach for custom terrain meshes for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Created from carefully blended high-resolution DEM data, NZ Mesh is a 100% self-contained product with no changes made to the default mesh or any other files. With virtually no noticeable performance impact, each LOD is consistent without any blurring and minimal LOD morphing when flying over the diverse terrain of New Zealand.

When installed, NZ Mesh takes up only 523MB of hard drive space and comes in at a 10m resolution. We are planning future updates to this product with LIDAR data of up to 1 m resolution to further enhance terrain detail in rural and urban areas.

Thanks to scotchegg for bringing this interesting product to my attention yesterday. Despite the marginal improvements to the default mesh in its first iteration, this add-on promises to greatly reduce or eliminate the terrain morphing issues that appeared with the USA World Update, by compiling the lower levels of detail in a more consistent way. This could be huge.

If anyone decides to purchase it, first impressions would be greatly appreciated!

[bobcat999 8,438]

Great!  

...each LOD is consistent without any blurring and minimal LOD morphing...

I will definitely be interested this.  If this helps the LOD/morphing issue, hopefully they can do it for the whole world if the cost isn't excessive!  

At £8.80 it's got to be worth a try.  I will buy it and try it when I get home from work.

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by bobcat999

[threexgreen 3,133]

11 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

If this helps the LOD/morphing issue, hopefully they can do it for the whole world if the cost isn't excessive!

I admit I haven't been in the loop on this and don't even own MSFS yet (tested in the Alpha though), but maybe Asobo could fix the issue themselves so we don't have to buy mesh for the entire planet to get rid of a simulator issue. FSX/P3D all over again, sigh.

[bobcat999 8,438]

13 minutes ago, threegreen said:

I admit I haven't been in the loop on this and don't even own MSFS yet (tested in the Alpha though), but maybe Asobo could fix the issue themselves so we don't have to buy mesh for the entire planet to get rid of a simulator issue. FSX/P3D all over again, sigh.

I agree, this is what should happen, but Asobo seem to have a reluctance to address the issue.

The scenery spikes and coastline disruption is significantly better with recent fixes, but the morphing / shape-shifting of hills, mountains, and cliffs can still be quite distracting.
I also get the silver threads running through mountains, which I notice can cause performance degradation when it shows. 
These generally disappear when I get closer so sounds like a LOD issue, and I run at 150 LOD with vector data at ultra.

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by bobcat999

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

26 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

At £8.80 it's got to be worth a try.  I will buy it and try it when I get home from work.

Thanks a lot! If possible, can you also give it a try at a lower Terrain LOD setting? About 25-75. It's what I'm flying at and the morphing used to be almost unnoticeable back then.

13 minutes ago, threegreen said:

I admit I haven't been in the loop on this and don't even own MSFS yet (tested in the Alpha though), but maybe Asobo could fix the issue themselves so we don't have to buy mesh for the entire planet to get rid of a simulator issue. FSX/P3D all over again, sigh.

At launch (and I presume in the Alpha) the morphing was hardly a problem, but since the USA World Update in October it is now much worse than FSX/P3D, and to add to that, the sawtooth pattern has returned, the coastlines are broken, and there are seams in the mountains. I agree that we shouldn't have to buy add-ons to fix those issues, but so far Asobo have not commented a lot on the coastlines and mountains seams, while they seem to be completely oblivious to the morphing.

[honanhal 1,420]

With all due respect to Orbx for trying to innovate, I'm also getting terrible flashbacks to the FSX/P3D overheated addon ecosystem. I don't want to spend $10 per country to fix morphing terrain, especially in a simulator whose greatest selling point is that it's truly global, where nearly everywhere looks good. If there's a technical fix here, I want Asobo to implement it globally. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars to paint myself into a shrinking box of areas covered by addon scenery.

James

[arsenal82 120]

very likely this is the cause of why the terrain sdk is not yet released

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by arsenal82

[Nyxx 6,993]

Well I will wait for you guys to report, but from the screenshots, I think, would I really see any diffrence? the diffrence is there but its small. The morphing is not somthing that came to mind when a did a few flights around NZ when it was the only place we could fly.

Would you really know if you had it installed or not. Sure you can see here but in a flight? you would have to do the same flight with and without to really test it.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Nyxx

[arsenal82 120]

any mesh in msfs is a BIG step backward

fly p3d and a 10 m mesh the difference is all there to be seen

even xplane have better mesh than msfs

[Shack95 2,658]

10m for a payware product is a bit underwhelming I think (okay, first iteration and it‘s not that expensive, but still). Would be great to hear if the morphing is really hardly visible and if the coastlines look good, especially after the update to 1m. If that‘s the case, it‘ll be worth a consideration. 

Terrain issues are one of my biggest gripes with this sim, so I‘m glad that 3PDs are trying to do something about it. But at the same time I agree with previous posts that this should be MS/Adobo‘s job.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Shack95

[bobcat999 8,438]

Interesting that Orbx have noted that the scenery morphing is an issue, even if Asobo don't seem too bothered about it (I have seen it in their own videos!). 

If Asobo do intend to do something about it, it would be useful if they at least made their intentions known, so that we don't waste our money.

[MarcG 2,900]

I'm not so sure about purchasing something that Asobo themselves should fix and update (as they are with World Updates), who is to say NZ isn't on their list for inclusion in a soon upcoming WU? It's a risky move even at the low price, you keep paying for little updates like this and before you know it you've spent a lot!

So for me, paying for a product that essentially does very little and something that might come in time is pointless. I'm more interested in the 1m DEM/LIDAR data they claim to have upcoming, that might peek my interest.

The free Italy DEM is great, perhaps there's data available for NZ too.

Edited May 12, 2021 by MarcG

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

I feel like I am in a timewarp. Ahhhhhhh 

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

I thought ASOBO/MS said in one of their Q&As a while back that they were working on a algorithm that was going to fix these issues globally?  Also, the issues of coastlines is on the fix list isn't it?

[filou 2,738]

The difference is huge for me but maybe you prefer to fly over the NZ default mountains of MSFS. Anyway, there is no obligation.

   https://orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/207429-nz-mesh-for-microsoft-flight-simulator/