Orbx NZ Mesh released!

[MarcG 2,904]

2 hours ago, ca_metal said:

It’s pretty clear to me, based on all their statements, they are not willing to fix things manually. 

Precisely, their lack of interest to fix the extremely poor LOD of some POIs is proof they don't want to spend the time to fix things manually.

On one hand what they're doing is amazing, on the other hand they're extremely poor.

[Cognita 1,048]

I just really want Asobo to address this, both LOD and the morphing and the elevation issues. These kinds of issues are one with the base simulator and I think it is incumbent on them, not third party developers, to improve it. This is not FSX that was basically abandoned and so any improvements required a third party; and while P3D is under development it seems clear that the developers want to leave this kind of work to third parties. I am not convinced that this approach has ultimately served that platform well; but that is neither here nor there. So, I think it is great that ORBX has come up with this, but I hope it does not deflect attention away form Asobo addressing these issues. So far, they seem committed to doing so; I just hope they follow through. I shudder at the thought of the world divided into zones for mesh updates.

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Already posted links to some threads about these terrain issues in the forums, here's one more for the upcoming Q&A. If you think that Asobo should improve the morphing for the default mesh so that we don't have to rely on add-ons, please give it an upvote! The Q&A is the best opportunity to bring this new technique to their attention.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-the-new-terrain-lod-technique-by-orbx-to-reduce-morphing/401321

[kt069 569]

44 minutes ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

Already posted links to some threads about these terrain issues in the forums, here's one more for the upcoming Q&A. If you think that Asobo should improve the morphing for the default mesh so that we don't have to rely on add-ons, please give it an upvote! The Q&A is the best opportunity to bring this new technique to their attention.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/is-it-possible-to-use-the-new-terrain-lod-technique-by-orbx-to-reduce-morphing/401321

Voted.Thanks.

[pmb 5,137]

I've now tested the NZ mesh (in the Nelson area) and ORBX indeed managed to nearly completely eliminate all morphing. Plus, coastlines look lovely and I saw some peaks which the default mesh certainly doesn't have.

Downside is the price. I find the 10 €s well invested for NZ where I love to fly. However, extrapolating this to, say, the size of France or the whole of the US this will be a nogo.

Anyway, it shows what is possible, and that's good to know.

Kind regards, Michael

[brucewtb 247]

13 hours ago, pmb said:

I've now tested the NZ mesh (in the Nelson area) and ORBX indeed managed to nearly completely eliminate all morphing. Plus, coastlines look lovely and I saw some peaks which the default mesh certainly doesn't have.

Downside is the price. I find the 10 €s well invested for NZ where I love to fly. However, extrapolating this to, say, the size of France or the whole of the US this will be a nogo.

Anyway, it shows what is possible, and that's good to know.

Kind regards, Michael

Well said Michael.

I have been away from FS2020 since just after launch but this Orbx addon could well being me back as I have a strong attachment to NZ where my grandchildren live.  Never the less if you extrapolate the cost to much larger geographical areas it is a non starter.

Bruce

[JaseMelbo 386]

It's great that ORBX are able to provide the NZ mesh and will likely proceed to work on other areas globally.

But is it just me and a few others that actually find the default MSFS mesh/terrain to be quite remarkable when compared to FSX/P3D etc?

Not sure about everyone, however just my 2 cents to say that I'm in awe of what they've managed to do with the new simulator.

Happy Flying!

 

[Shack95 2,658]

4 hours ago, jaseman007 said:

But is it just me and a few others that actually find the default MSFS mesh/terrain to be quite remarkable when compared to FSX/P3D etc?

Not sure about everyone, however just my 2 cents to say that I'm in awe of what they've managed to do with the new simulator.

Happy Flying!

I agree that overall MSFS is remarkable in terms of sceney and visuals in general. However, I personally think that mesh/terrain is one of its weaknesses rather than its strengths. The quality of mesh varies greatly and there are many places that look great, but there are also too many that aren’t convincing, especially some mountainous areas. Maybe it‘s just because we now have ortho imagery by default and therefore inaccuracies are more conspicuous. In many places the mesh doesn‘t seem to match the imagery and thus you have flat cliffs or rivers running up the hills etc. In parts of the Alps, for instance, many of the famous peaks are hardly recognizable and some mountains look a bit like melted wax. In some extreme cases the DEM is hundreds of metres off (eg the Matterhorn). Add to that other issues such as morphing, seams and weird coastlines. I‘m sure it can and will be fixed, but at the moment I think mesh is one of the less convincing aspects of this sim. Whether it‘s worse than in FSX or P3D I cannot say but compared to its own high standards scenery-wise I think we can expect a little bit more. Just my opinion.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

1 hour ago, Shack95 said:

 I‘m sure it can and will be fixed, but at the moment I think mesh is one of the less convincing aspects of this sim. Whether it‘s worse than in FSX or P3D  

🤞 but I am less sure than you are. Who will vote to improve Kirghizia  🤣  which is a mix of quite good and really bad  (in the mountains) ?

I've been flying all over the world and, yes, the terrain is much better than it was in P3D and FSX in their birthday suit. Remember that FSX came with a 38 m mesh for the US only and 60 m mesh  for the rest of world and a pitiful landclass cover !  It can be on par with the Pilots mesh, sometimes better  and sometimes worse.  Something I appreciate is almost perfect synchronization between the imagery, the vector networks, the airfield positioning and the mesh. FSX/P3D are quite bad for that. 

  But it is also true that the quality varies from places to places, sometimes widely. For both land cover (and that includes lack of color harmonization between tiles) and mesh.  Including the Alps where the imagery is sometimes quite mediocre, not only the mesh. On the good side, I recently flew over the Mercantour massif between France and Italy with has a credible mesh as seen in one of my threads in the screenshot forum.  

[MrBitstFlyer 3,819]

On 5/13/2021 at 8:51 AM, styckx said:

What a strange time we live in. When MSFS came out everyone could literally not stop complimenting the scenery of the sim. Calling it the greatest thing ever. I'll never need scenery addons again!

Morphing aside, mind you, that's been there since day one you now have people throwing the baby out with the bath water over something that for all intent and purpose is generally very minor at most.

 

This is screenshot is default. I bet the price of the NZ Mesh if I posted "Just bought it and it looks amazing" no one would know it was just default and compliment how amazing it looks. Sure it's "only $10" but so is a nice meal. I prefer a nice meal over miniscule gains

 

Initially I was stunned with the scenery in MSFS2020.  There is no doubt though the scenery does not look as good today - still great, but not as good as it did at release.  The changes to LOD have been a step back.

[Noel 4,483]

14 minutes ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

Initially I was stunned with the scenery in MSFS2020.  There is no doubt though the scenery does not look as good today - still great, but not as good as it did at release.  The changes to LOD have been a step back.

I'm not sure I agree with that.  Could be that they must fine-tune specific areas so that performance stays where it needs to be to accomodate a majority of users, and upcoming console users, so that may be true for some areas but not others.  From a few weeks ago near Cique Terre IT:  

And a wind turbine farm near Palm Springs:

 

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

Random video flying VFR in a P28a just East of Murchison (NZMR) with the Orbx mesh enabled.

 

[paddler 64]

I have only done a little flying with this mesh, and that in South Island and the Southern Alps. It does make a positive difference and I am enjoying it.

[paddler 64]

I have only done a little flying with this mesh, and that in South Island and the Southern Alps. It does make a positive difference and I am enjoying it.

[Naki18 71]

Has the mesh affected any airports that you know of?  Add on or default?

Edited May 22, 2021 by Naki18