The drawback, as I see it, is when you've used the Googleyfied sim and it gets knocked on the head, will you/one be happy with looking at what will be seen as as horse droppings?

29 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

Of course it won't last, but for as long as it does, it is a LARGE improvement in ground textures. Not a small one, but a very large one.  There's literally no reason NOT to use it for as long as you can.

Except if you fly a lot in New Zealand, for one. It's awful down there.

11 minutes ago, Sethos said:

Except if you fly a lot in New Zealand, for one. It's awful down there.

In the Caribbean too, the Google watermasks are full of squares and lines, the default ones are perfect.

Edited November 12, 20214 yr by Alvega

ALL my flying is below 5,000 AGL and below 200 knots.  This addon is a huge improvement in the visual quality.

I downloaded, unzipped it, tried to run it, downloaded and installed python, started the addon, started the sim and was blown away with the quality of imaging.

My total time for first reading about the addon until I saw my first image in my first flight was less than 20-minutes.

I can see no reason not to use it - when appropriate.  If you don't want to use - then just don't start the program and the sim will act just as it did prior to adding the program.

If Microsoft/ASOBO wants to complain/cutoff users who seek an improved experience then MS/Asobo should offer a comparable upgrade.

I have been a loyal supporter of every MS flight sim since Meigs Field was a dim set of pixels on a bad CRT - I will remain a loyal supporter and I will continue to spend a lot of money buying sim addons.  But this particular FREE addon is a demonstration of the benefits of global community working to improve a commercial offering.

4 minutes ago, TacomaSailor said:

ALL my flying is below 5,000 AGL and below 200 knots.  This addon is a huge improvement in the visual quality.

I downloaded, unzipped it, tried to run it, downloaded and installed python, started the addon, started the sim and was blown away with the quality of imaging.

My total time for first reading about the addon until I saw my first image in my first flight was less than 20-minutes.

I can see no reason not to use it - when appropriate.  If you don't want to use - then just don't start the program and the sim will act just as it did prior to adding the program.

If Microsoft/ASOBO wants to complain/cutoff users who seek an improved experience then MS/Asobo should offer a comparable upgrade.

I have been a loyal supporter of every MS flight sim since Meigs Field was a dim set of pixels on a bad CRT - I will remain a loyal supporter and I will continue to spend a lot of money buying sim addons.  But this particular FREE addon is a demonstration of the benefits of global community working to improve a commercial offering.

It will probably be Google that will put the kaboosh on their map data streaming on MSFS, 

If nothing else it might mobilize people to lobby Microsoft harder to up their texture game.

That's what I think too..  it'll hopefully expose the Bing deficiencies compared to Google, and drive MS to improve.

For now, perhaps excepting a few outlier cases, I think we can all agree that the Google textures are much better over a large majority of the planet. 

4 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

It will probably be Google that will put the kaboosh on their map data streaming on MSFS, 

If it's a legal issue then Google might sneeze. But the impact on its map servers from a  fraction of MSFS users doing this is infinitesimal. This isn't the only nonstandard use of Google Maps data, so Google would break a lot of other stuff if it cracked down on this mod. And why would they? They are probably laughing their butts off at Microsoft as we speak.

Well, this video demonstrates the differences well - especially the second half.  I'll enjoy it while it lasts 🙂

 

On 11/13/2021 at 9:13 AM, Sethos said:

Except if you fly a lot in New Zealand, for one. It's awful down there.

Yeah, I mainly fly NZ and East Coast of Australia and when I compared google and Bing map coverage it seemed to me the Bing was actually far better

On 11/12/2021 at 5:01 PM, Stearmandriver said:

For now, perhaps excepting a few outlier cases, I think we can all agree that the Google textures are much better over a large majority of the planet. 

I would say it differs by location... where it is worse, it is really obvious unfortunately..  The BING data blends better and is easier on the eye when you are flying vs making screenshots.. IMHO (or should I say "we can all agree..") 😉

Well I tried the Google Maps alternative and was somewhat disappointed - I am not seeing the dramatic improvement that others apparently see.

Bruce

Are you sure it "took"?  Sometimes it doesn't even if the mod says running, especially if you start it after starting the sim.  Also, be sure you turn off and clear your rolling cache first, or you can possibly have both textures fighting with each other. 

I usually just zoom into my house on the world map to check.  If Bing is active, my driveway and front yard are a severely blurred smoothed plane with no details.  If Google is active, my driveway, lawn and sidewalk to my front door are all clearly visible, and there are vehicles and a boat in the driveway, so it's pretty obvious. 

1 hour ago, brucewtb said:

Well I tried the Google Maps alternative and was somewhat disappointed - I am not seeing the dramatic improvement that others apparently see.

Bruce

Depends where you fly. In the San Diego and Los Angeles areas of the USA I do find Bing maps excellent and just as good as Google (same for many big cities in the US).  A short distance away around L52 Oceano, Google maps are far better.  Make sure your rolling cache is off

I use this mod flying mostly around my local area, i think i can see the improvement, in road textures especially. 

Edit: whoa google maps is much more up-to-date (for my area atleast). My neighbour had a new driveway a few months ago, on google this shows (its uncannily accurate too), but bing shows the old driveway still.

Yeh just double checked and google is much better for my local area. Not just of how in date it is but also the quality of textures. 

Edited November 18, 20214 yr by tyke1