$300 for 2mill images 🙂

But it looks like it is 750.000 free, not 200.000. I would still remember to switch too Google maps when you get close to the limit.

 

 

26 minutes ago, espent said:

$300 for 2mill images 🙂

Auch that's a bit pricey. Might use it sparingly though. In a lot of places Bing and Google are excellent. 

Well I managed to find a place without any map coverage. Neither Bing, Google, Mapbox or ArcGIS has any data on this place. So you probably don't want to spend too much time in UHMD Provideniya Bay, Russia if you care for eye candy 😉

EDIT: And btw, FS2004 just called. They want their graphics back. I said "fine, but I'll keep my plane and the clouds". 

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by Cpt_Piett

Thanks but no thanks to MapBox requesting a CC upfront for a "free trial". 

After using this tool extensively for a few months I think my final conclusion is that it's only really worth it in a few, select areas where default is terrible. 

In places where there's been a world update, default textures are often pretty high standard, well-colour-matched and blended (not always), and generally just smoother to run. Google / Bing latest images can offer higher resolutions in some areas but in too many cases the immersion is broken by the patchwork of providers and differing colours, or clouds and even watermarks on the textures!

Outside those areas it's really hit and miss. Google is better in most of China, but they clearly don't care about much of the rest of Asia or Africa. Bing Latest is better in many countries but there are just too many clouds on the textures.

Interesting tool, but too often more trouble than its worth.

The convenient aspect of this add-on is that it can easily be turned on and off as needed. I have it installed and on my taskbar, and use it when it improves the scenery over default; otherwise I keep it turned off.

Edited August 31, 20223 yr by cobalt

6 minutes ago, cobalt said:

The convenient aspect of this add-on is that it can easily be turned on and off as needed. I have it installed and on my taskbar, and use it when it improves the scenery over default; otherwise I keep it turned off.

Yes. It's very easy to switch between MSFS Bing and the map providers in the mod. I even find that I can start the mod while in a flight and the tiles will still start loading. 

This is great as we have a good opportunity to test mid-flight which map provider works best. I'm currently in far Eastern Russia, and Google seems to work fairly well here. I mean, it's still a mess, but with Google it's a little less ugly than the others. Not exactly screenshot heaven for us simmers, and sadly the state of the region IRL is not in much better shape. 

 

I really want to try this mod. The default bing layer almost always has this greenish tint to it and the colors look oversaturated. Anyone who has been using this for the past few months, can you list the pros and cons of this mod? Does this fix the tint issues that plague the default bing layer? I have seen some videos on YouTube and google looks atleast 2x better with more natural colors and gets rid of grass roads. Does this effect the performance? Is the installation simple or are there hacks to make this work? 

@Baber20 It’s easy to install and configure, I suggest to give it a try and see for yourself.

There’s a huge variation in terms of overall quality, coverage and color between the different providers, depending on where you fly. The advantage is that you can change between them while you fly, to check the difference.

@Cpt_Piett

Thanks. If you were to pick one, would you choose this over the default bing ?

Edit. I am trying it right now. Should I turn off in game rolling cache?

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by Baber20

3 hours ago, Baber20 said:

@Cpt_Piett

Thanks. If you were to pick one, would you choose this over the default bing ?

Edit. I am trying it right now. Should I turn off in game rolling cache?

Yes turn off rolling cache unless you are just using one provider in the mod. 

I fly with the mod all the time now, and change provider depending on the location. Somethings Bing latest is the best sometimes Google etc. The mod gives you the option to change provider on the fly, so to speak.

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by Cpt_Piett

37 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Yes turn off rolling cache unless you are just using one provider in the mod. 

I fly with the mod all the time now, and change provider depending on the location. Somethings Bing latest is the best sometimes Google etc. The mod gives you the option to change provider on the fly, so to speak.

I am flying in Helsinki right now and it looks so much better with Google maps. I am literally blown away. Should I enable the mod cache ?

3 minutes ago, Baber20 said:

I am flying in Helsinki right now and it looks so much better with Google maps. I am literally blown away. Should I enable the mod cache ?

Yeah sometimes Google is way better than default Bing 🙂 Even newest Bing can be really good, depending on where you fly. 

I'm not using the cache myself, as I switch between providers. Even if I would stick to one provider 100% of the time, I'm not sure if there's any significant advantage to using the cache. 

6.1.1 just released and it just turned into a payware product for pro features;

Quote

Add license. For license, please see: https://github.com/derekhe/msfs2020-map-enhancement/wiki/License
Add custom map provider (need a license to unlock)
Fix several bugs and improve stability

 

48 minutes ago, Sethos said:

6.1.1 just released and it just turned into a payware product for pro features;

 

This hobby just keeps getting more and more expensive....