Orbx announces Alaska Mesh

[Shack95 2,658]

15 hours ago, The Moose said:

I've compared Bing maps to Google in lots of Alaska and Bing really need to get their act together! (that goes for the whole planet really...  Googles imagery is way ahead. It's no surprise that absolutely no one uses Bing maps over Google)

That‘s my impression as well, although there are some areas for which Bing has equally good or even better imagery than Google, e.g. parts of Africa. But on balance it‘s definitely worse. What gives me some hope is the recent Bing Maps update for Switzerland which is now ahead of Google. The initiative for that update clearly came from the MSFS devs, so here‘s hoping that the success of the sim pushes the Bing Maps team to step up their game.

[Republic3D 1,231]

Orbx is currently running a 36 hour 50% off on selected packs for MSFS:

London City Pack
Innsbruck Airport
Leeds Bradford
London City Airport
Orcas Island Airport
Tacoma Narrows Airport
Santa Barbara Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport

https://orbxdirect.com/?utm_source=Microsoft Flight Simulator users&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MSFS Anniversary

What I usually do when it comes to Orbx airports, I select two or three parts of the world where I fly the most. And then I grab sceneries on sale in those regions. For me that's Norway, Pacific North West and now SOCAL. After SU5 it's a pleasure flying in the LA region again. 

[The Moose 1,177]

8 minutes ago, Shack95 said:

. What gives me some hope is the recent Bing Maps update for Switzerland which is now ahead of Google. The initiative for that update clearly came from the MSFS devs, so here‘s hoping that the success of the sim pushes the Bing Maps team to step up their game.

Absolutely.   You would think the Bing team would be right on the case now as this really is a showcase for Bing maps data.  Here's hoping they up their game 🙂

[AnkH 2,261]

1 hour ago, Shack95 said:

The initiative for that update clearly came from the MSFS devs, so here‘s hoping that the success of the sim pushes the Bing Maps team to step up their game.

I highly doubt that MSFS had a lot to do with this, as the data for Bing is from the Swiss Landestopographie which released a set of updated data for free some months ago (https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/products/free_geodata). Rather it was the other way around: because of the release of such high-quality data by the Swiss Landestopographie, MS and Asobo might have selected Switzerland to be included in the next World Update. 

If you ask me, Bing now even uses the Swiss Landestopograhie aerial photographs, although not in the highest possible resolution as can be found on the Swiss Landestopo map here: https://map.geo.admin.ch/

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

I have the Swiss Mesh from FSDT it does make a difference though the 10m version caused micro stutters so swapped back to the 20m.

[Christopher Low 5,352]

After using 5 metre mesh for the entire United Kingdom for the past decade, dropping down to anything less would be a backwards step for me. What is the default terrain mesh resolution in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Edited August 18, 2021 by Christopher Low

[The Moose 1,177]

7 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

After using 5 metre mesh for the entire United Kingdom for the past decade, dropping down to anything less would be a backwards step for me. What is the default terrain mesh resolution in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

It differs depending on area.     Nowhere is 5m yet though, so see you in 2024 possibly. 😉

[Shack95 2,658]

5 hours ago, AnkH said:

I highly doubt that MSFS had a lot to do with this, as the data for Bing is from the Swiss Landestopographie which released a set of updated data for free some months ago (https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/products/free_geodata). Rather it was the other way around: because of the release of such high-quality data by the Swiss Landestopographie, MS and Asobo might have selected Switzerland to be included in the next World Update. 

If you ask me, Bing now even uses the Swiss Landestopograhie aerial photographs, although not in the highest possible resolution as can be found on the Swiss Landestopo map here: https://map.geo.admin.ch/

Yes, Bing Maps now uses the data released by Swisstopo (and maybe even the DEM, at least it’s much more accurate since the update). I‘ve posted a comparison in another thread that clearly illustrates this. And without that data they might not have considered Switzerland for the next update. 

But the question is, what made Bing incorporate that data? Of course, it is possible that the Bing Maps team got wind of the news and decided to do that without having MSFS in mind. But it could also be that the initiative came from the MSFS team. Or that the Bing guys did take MSFS into account. 

As Neumann stated several times, the two teams are closely working together. The news that the data would be released had been discussed on the official forum weeks before the release, so the devs were surely aware of it. Also, I‘m sure there are other countries that offer such data for free, so why was Bing so quick in this particular case? Why is it that the only high-quality update of Bing Maps in recent years (as far as I can tell) is a tiny and insignificant country such as Switzerland (as a Swiss I‘m allowed to say this😅). What‘s the commercial benefit of it for Bing? Of course I might be wrong but my guess is that they already had MSFS in mind when they decided to get the data. 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Shack95

[desbean 357]

22 hours ago, The Moose said:

I've compared Bing maps to Google in lots of Alaska and Bing really need to get their act together! (that goes for the whole planet really...  Googles imagery is way ahead. It's no surprise that absolutely no one uses Bing maps over Google)

Actually in some areas Bing is better than Google. For instance in the area outside Kodiak, Ak. (actually PADQ not PADK)

Edited August 18, 2021 by desbean

[Bobsk8 12,677]

Any price on this Alaska mesh yet?

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

2 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

Any price on this Alaska mesh yet?

Expected to be $10

[desbean 357]

Mesh after WU 2. Looks like AK is 16M now?

Edited August 19, 2021 by desbean

[filou 2,741]

23 hours ago, Aristoteles said:

Sadly, I guess all these promo pictures skip vast amount of horrible Bing areas. Hopefully , sometime in the future Asobo might update Alaska and some other areas and include a mesh for them.

'Sadly, I guess all these promo pictures skip vast amount of horrible Bing areas'

In marketing we stay focused on the subject.

[JYW 2,980]

4 hours ago, filou said:

'Sadly, I guess all these promo pictures skip vast amount of horrible Bing areas'

In marketing we stay focused on the subject.

Well, in this case, the subject (Alaska mesh) involves both good and dreadful Bing ground textures.

I think you meant, In marketing we stay focussed on what will sell the product. 😉

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

CEO:  Ok all you marketing people we pay a fortune to, what do you suggest we do to promote our new product ?

Marketing People:  To avoid future complaints on the forums you should focus on releasing a series of videos focussing on the worst parts of our product and avoid making any statements about future developments (just in case they cannot be shipped in a timely manner).

CEO:  Your all sacked. OK ... new replacement marketing team, what do you suggest we do to promote our new product ?

Edited August 19, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick