Preview screenshots of Ground Environment for FSX

[Guest dswo]

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=20577

[Manny 1,293]

I like the textures of the foresty mountains...The city scape.. I can't tell the difference between default and this.. Need a sidebyside compare.Would there be a GE Pro after this?MAnny

[LAdamson 240]

>The city scape.. I can't tell the difference between default>and this.. Need a sidebyside compare.>I couldn't either. I'm using FSGenesis land class, which certainly helps the rural areas of FSX.

[FlyingsCool 3]

Yeah, I'll be psyched when Ultimate terrain for FSX is released and Justin has massaged his landclass based on user input. I find the FSG FSX Landclass to be too city-fied around cities in New England currently (Justin has said, and has ALWAYS acted so in the past, that this is just the first pass and he will be adjusting the landclass per user input. Get your requests in there!). I think the combination of UTX and FSGLC will be amazing in a year or so.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Manny 1,293]

Not sure..if the vegitation is going to be varied gy geography. Currently the vegitation in FSX though better than FS9, is still limited . I know..some vegitation like Africa seem right. But it would be better if we have more options. Not sure how hard that is going to be to implement.Another thing.. I never liked about most of these ground textures is...when flying above 18,000 feet the repetitive patterns. Again. I don't know if its even possible to get around that. There should be real high level photo textures for the whole US (and other geography) thats taken from high altitude which should replace all these textures/autogens after certain alititude. Ability to have photo textures above certain altitude. This is probably a tall order. :(MAnnyhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/168260.jpg

[FlyingsCool 3]

I think that's a great idea.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Guest wyoming]

with a reproduction of the real thing is the only way to go. Low or high.

[Guest SJDickson]

One of the main problems with photo textures is that they are taken at a specific time of year and a specific time of day. The first means that seasonal variations in vegetation are not available and the second means that the shading of the landscape is only correct for one specific time of day. Post-processing the available imagery to deal with these hurdles as well as all the other post-processing that needs to take place (colour-balancing, removing clouds, dealing with gaps in the data and so on) is not insurmountable but does greatly complicate what on the surface seems to be a relatively straightforward task.

[FlyingsCool 3]

Doesn't have to be a photo texture, could just be some globally relatively large area textures massaged out of photo textures. I'm betting that this might even be able to save memory?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Guest wyoming]

That's still the only reasonable way to reproduce reality, not just sorta resemble it.

[Guest yarvelling]

True! Whillst GEX does look great, there does seem to be a lot of repeating textures; how many baseball fields and running tracks are there in that small area of Seattle? Also the problem of using generic textures is well illustrated in photo 4 from the above linked post; how many baseball fields/running tracks have main roads running right through the middle of them...?!?!I trust that this release will solve the autumnal desert scapes, but i doubt that it'll do anything to fix/improve the dreadful, plain airport background textures; infact it may make them stand out even more as they will contrast very badly against the more varied and detailed surroundings!Sorry, I don't mean to sound as though I'm overtly ctiticising GEX; I'm not; I'm sure that it'll be a huge improvement in many, many ways; I've used GE for FS2004 since it first appeared on DVD release, and loved it. :)

[Guest cbeal]

I apologize in advance if this question is rather naive... I'm trying to get my head around the different add-ons for FSX (those currently out and those upcoming such as GE). The screenshots look mighty impressive, but what I'm not sure of what this product offers over FS Genesis, or other products.Is GE a terrain enhancement only, or a landclass improvement as well? Just trying to get my head around what to spend my $$$ to improve the "visuals" in FSX.Thanks,Chris

[FlyingsCool 3]

GE is a "texture" improvement.I'm not sure where you are in knowledge, but, to summarize,- Mesh is elevation data, and describes where the hills and valleys and plains are.- Textures are pictures of landscape that represent a general 1 x 1 km area or so (I forget the exact value. There are forest textures, city textures, farmland textures, etc., and they are generic. (this is GE, BEV, and others.)- Landclass is basically grid data that describes where to put each texture square. (this is FSG USLandclass and Cloud9 landclass products for FSX)Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Guest cbeal]

Thanks Thomas,My knowledge is novice at best, but getting better...FSG has both landclass and mesh products, so if I understand your explanation correctly, then either one of those products should work fine with GE, correct?Is Ultimate Terrain considered a terrain mesh improvement?Regards,C.

[FlyingsCool 3]

Yes, both FSG products would work great with GE.And - I knew there was something else I wanted to talk about.Ultimate Terrain is kind of above Landclass.Basically, it provides all coastlines, water (rivers, lakes, ponds, streams) and roads in whatever region it covers. It also has refined landclass in populated areas, which complements FSG landclass very well.In my opinion, if you are going to purchase anything, it would be Ultimate Terrain. It totally transformed FS9 for me. Unfortunately, it will be several months I think before UT FSX is ready. For my area of the US (northeast) the water as described by FSX is actually pretty accurate. But, as I understand it, that is not true for all of the US, hence my main need for UT. I also like having an accurate road system, and UT FSX is also going to be adding a whole lot more features than were in the FS9 version. You can read more about it at http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=19 and http://www.scenerysolutions.com/index.html.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180