Ray, like I said, it's not a big deal for me to reinstall "everything" simply cause I don't have much that lives in the root P3D install. 😉

SO... just did a flight from Kilimanjaro to Mumbasa on the PMDG 737-700 at FL350... ALL VANILLA P3D 5.3HF2 except ActiveSky for live weather and RealTurb. 

 

Key Observations - 

- It's DIFFERENT for sure, but I remember installing 5.1 and thinking it's Minecraft. It doesn't feel so. I have most of the options on High and Very Dense. Most of the left pane (Mesh, Texture, etc) is maxed out. 2048 Textures, no texture streaming, 1080p capped at 30FPS. 

- First thing I observed that it really starts to shine about 2000 feet off the ground. 

- Airports and actually, EVERYTHING blends together much better than with Orbx. 

- Trees - they aren't terrible if you are not trying to compare them with Orbx trees - they are a little brighter green in colour, of course, this is winter but in Tansania/Kenya, so it's pretty equatorial climate. I expect greenery. Funny thing is - by Kilimanjaro I have noticed those dry brown shrubs that are low to the ground that you see in Africa. I don't remember those in Orbx. We will see once I link Orbx now and re-fly this leg again. 

- Buildings don't look any better/worse. 

- Cities look really nice from FL350

- Things look pretty believable and vector isn't bad with a few notable exceptions. 

- I am actually pretty happy with default. I am gonna link Orbx stuff now and see how the SAME flight compares. Mind you, I remember exactly what everything looked like, so it will be good to compare. AFTER I link Orbx, I will "unlink" it and RE-FLY with what will presumably be default textures and see what it looks like then. That will answer the question of whether Orbx will revert back to default things IF the products sit in its own external library. So, I guess that will be a good indication of where I am gonna go from here. If it looks MUCH better with Orbx, I will keep it. If not? I will unlink it. If it doesn't unlink properly, I will reinstall P3D from scratch again - the only product I have installed so far is the PMDG 737. 

 

Took plenty of screenshots. Though I can't really publish because this forum doesn't just allow you to upload. 

Edited March 10, 20224 yr by BostonJeremy77

@BostonJeremy77, thanks for the report. Try some different parts of the world although your world tour should give you a decent insight into the differences.

Nick Cooper over at Orbx has confirmed if FTX Global is installed outside of the P3D environment it will not replace the default textures so an uninstall will remove Orbx files leaving the defaults.

I’ve asked they make this clear on the install screen with the two options presented. I’m in no hurry to install. I want to see what the textures look like as we come out of winter into summer.

Just flew with Orbx Global and Africa LC enabled. There is no doubt about it - they made a huge difference in diversity of landscape. There is zero frame rate loss and the experience is just richer with them. I am sticking with Orbx for now... 😉 I expect that with P3D v6 we MAY get some new textures that would make Orbx obsolete - the same way Vector was made obsolete. 

In terms of removing Orbx? Confirmed. If you simply tick and untick the boxes in P3D's Add-Ons section, that effectively changes ground textures and LC you see. You don't even have to exit P3D - it refreshes with the AddOn list. 

I keep saying it over and over...I am not good with the technical stuff.  But, for P3Dv5.3 w/ HF, it seems that Global is good to go but Vector we don't like/need?

If we uninstall vector, we have to do something special to P3D because it overrides default "stuff" and doesn't repair it/replace it after being deleted?

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Dreamflight767 said:

If we uninstall vector, we have to do something special to P3D because it overrides default "stuff" and doesn't repair it/replace it after being deleted?

No, only if you have done as the moderator did and installed Orbx Global Base into the P3D root folder do you have to do "something special".
Orbx Global Base is the only Orbx product to which this applies and once again, only if it has been installed into the P3D root folder.

As to Vector, instead of reading guesses, distant memories or revisions of the facts, you can read the release announcement from Orbx here:
[announcement] Global Vector for P3Dv5 - Orbx Release Announcements - Orbx Community and Support Forums (orbxdirect.com)

Quote

Prepar3D v5 itself contains a completely new build of the default landscape and airports, the first time this has happened since the release of its predecessor, FSX. However, while Vector uses the same Open Street Map database, it’s features are more configurable (via the control panel) and uses custom road and shoreline textures, which integrate better with our other Global products.

In the ORBX announcement linked by Reader, it is interesting to note this remark...

I did a flight from KLAS to KLAX without any ORBX and looked great. I think for US flying (which I mostly do) the scenery should be pretty decent with default P3D V5.

8 hours ago, Reader said:

No, only if you have done as the moderator did and installed Orbx Global Base into the P3D root folder do you have to do "something special".
Orbx Global Base is the only Orbx product to which this applies and once again, only if it has been installed into the P3D root folder.

As to Vector, instead of reading guesses, distant memories or revisions of the facts, you can read the release announcement from Orbx here:
[announcement] Global Vector for P3Dv5 - Orbx Release Announcements - Orbx Community and Support Forums (orbxdirect.com)

Thank you.  A good read for sure  I guess I'm most curious about removing Vector and achieving "better" performance.  Has this been confirmed? 

34 minutes ago, Dreamflight767 said:

I'm most curious about removing Vector and achieving "better" performance.  Has this been confirmed?

Yes it has, many times.

I confirm better performance without Vector. I also confirm that the rest of Orbx stuff doesn't have any NEGATIVE effect on FPS and in some cases actually improves it. 

36 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

I confirm better performance without Vector. I also confirm that the rest of Orbx stuff doesn't have any NEGATIVE effect on FPS and in some cases actually improves it. 

Thank you.  And just to verify, when/if I uninstall VECTOR, I can just uninstall from Central and don't need to worry about default files that are going to be missing or broken.  I believe my VECTOR is installed in the P3D root...not library.

Appreciate the help.

4 hours ago, Dreamflight767 said:

Thank you.  And just to verify, when/if I uninstall VECTOR, I can just uninstall from Central and don't need to worry about default files that are going to be missing or broken.  I believe my VECTOR is installed in the P3D root...not library.

Appreciate the help.

No idea. Mine was installed in an external library. I believe if you install into root, it may overwrite original files. I'd reinstall P3D. 

3 hours ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

No idea. Mine was installed in an external library. I believe if you install into root, it may overwrite original files. I'd reinstall P3D. 

Essshhh.  Well I guess I'll have to live with Vector.

If it is installed into the P3D root folder, to disable Vector, all that is required is to untick its entries in the scenery.cfg file.
If installed as an add-on, to disable Vector, all that is required is to untick its entry in the in-game add-ons list.
There is no need to waste time and bandwidth installing and uninstalling in order to test the moderator's theories and assertions.

 

Edited March 12, 20224 yr by Reader

10 minutes ago, Reader said:

If it is installed into the P3D root folder, to disable Vector, all that is required is to untick its entries in the scenery.cfg file.
If installed as an add-on, to disable Vector, all that is required is to untick its entry in the in-game add-ons list.
There is no need to waste time and bandwidth installing and uninstalling in order to test the moderator's theories and assertions.

 

Thanks but I'm most worried about default scenery (or whatever VECTOR overrides/replaces) missing from P3D.  I don't want to touch VECTOR if it's going to mess up my sim.

You have nothing to worry about. As I have already written to you:

Quote

No, only if you have done as the moderator did and installed Orbx Global Base into the P3D root folder do you have to do "something special".
Orbx Global Base is the only Orbx product to which this applies and once again, only if it has been installed into the P3D root folder.

As Orbx Global vector is not Orbx Global Base, it falls into the category of "Orbx Global Base is the only Orbx product to which this applies".
This means that it does not overwrite any default P3D files and can be removed and/or disabled at will, with no ill effects.
However, if you still feel uncertain after receiving this definitive reply, please feel free to follow the advice of those whose answers are guesses and speculation.