Is Terrain Mesh add-ons worth adding to FSX?

[Guest]

I have been considering adding Terrain Mesh to FSX. I know I am definitely going to add Landclass and other terrain scenery, but I am starting to doubt if I am going to add any terrain mesh. The terrain mesh I was leaning towards was FSGenesis. The reason I am starting to have doubt is because I don't know if adding terrain mesh is going to dramatically improve the landscape enough to put up with those bad looking plateaus around airports and lakes, and the trenches around other airports. The default mesh with FSX is pretty good. I know that add-on mesh will improve the FSX mesh considerably, but I am not sure if it will improve it enough to put up with these graphical glitches. The graphical glitches take away enough from the scenery to nearly say the add-on terrain mesh makes things more "unrealistic" than "realistic" when you consider everything it adds to FSX.This is all based on reviews that I have read, and screenshots that I have seen. Does anyone who currently has FSGenesis installed in FSX care to share with us your experience? Do you believe the FSGenesis terrain mesh really improved upon the FSX default mesh to a point that putting up with plateaus and trenches is worth the trade-off of just sticking with the Default FSX Mesh?Thanks.

[Guest Vilk]

it all depends where you go. some places will see massive improvement in relief, some none. some places will exhibit problems with airport elevation, some won'ti don't see what you seem to fear so much in any of the locations i typically frequent so i'm happy with my add-on mesh. your mileage will varycheers

[LAdamson 240]

I live in a very mountainous area of the western U.S. and prefer added realism in topography, over the associated problems of airport plateaus. But, that's my personal want for the type of flying I do, and I do use FSGenesis. L.Adamson

[Guest]

I don't know how most mountains should look, so... the default FSX is fine with me. If I spend money on mesh and fly over that specific area I would see no difference because I don't know what the difference is! Now if I would live in an area with mountains, I would like the mountains to look the same in FSX. But I live in the middle of the Netherlands and believe me: there isn't much mesh needed over here. ;)However, I did downoad free mesh for Norway: I spend half an hour comparing the default mesh with the downloaded one and the last was was really a lot better! But... as soon as I stopped comparing I didn't see and thus know the difference anymore and my experience wasn't improved a lot by better mesh. BTW A more important difference was made by downloading better textures (landclass) for Norway: to me the textures are a LOT more important than the mesh! (I like photorealistic scenery but unfortunately there is none available of the area's that have my interest.)In short ;) I won't spend a single penny on mesh. There is a lot of free mesh on the internet, but as long as I'm happy with what I get with FSX there is no need for me to even download that.

[Guest]

I agree as well. Every single airport I have tried so far is on a plateau so it is quite annoying. I still can't understand why this can't be fixed, but the ultra realism of the terrain with the mesh outweighs the plateau issue.________________________________________________________________________________________________Intel D975XBX2 'Bad Axe 2' | Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.20Ghz | 2 GB Super Talent DDR2 800 | Big Typhoon VX | eVGA 8800GTS @ 565/900 | Seagate 2x320GB SATA RAID-0 | OCZ GameXStream 700W | Creative X-Fi | Silverstone TJ-09BW | Matrox Triplehead Setup

[Guest cbuchner1]

I believe it is a must-have when going to places that are not that well covered by default mesh. Think Africa, Asia, southern America, various islands, etc...The island of Madeira (Portugal) is totally flat without add on meshes. So are the Canary Islands. And all of these are volcanic islands with very rough terrain. So they pretty much have zero appeal in the default sim.I've bought the FS Global 2008 mesh product. It needs a LOT of hard drive space (more than 10 Gigs), but now I know I've got a decent mesh wherever I go.Now if only satellite terrain coverage was decent wherever I go...

[Guest christian]

I disagree (funny how simmers can have different preferences).To me, mesh is worth more than textures. Even in FSX, mountains look more like hilly terrain. Install a highres mesh and you get real looking mountains, rugged and all. Flying is much more interesting as you actually get to explore stuff. Fly a bit further and the valleys look a bit different. Plus, it feels a lot more immersive. With a highres mesh, I believe much more I'm actually visiting a 'real' place. With FSX default everything looks the same. On the other hand, the default textures do the job for me in many places. Replacement textures often don't really capure the localities well, they look just different, not necessarily more real. Having said that a pack like VOZ does have a massive realism effect - for Australia.Cheers,Christian

[Guest ziporama]

The issue with the plateaus is due to the fact the mesh terrain changes the default FSX elevations, and where the default airports and lakes are at. Because the terrain changes, but not the items "on" the terrain, some rather odd things happen. On top of that, airports HAVE to be flat (runways cannot be inclined in FSX).It may be possible to go back and change elevations for each airport/runway/lake out there, but you're talking essentially removing whatever Microsoft put in the box, and replacing it all from scratch. That's a monumental task that can hardly be done manually, but you never know.

[Guest Hocking]

Is it true that FSGlobal did substantially reduce the plateau issues with their terrain mesh? I thought I remember reading somewhere how they were able to reduce this issue somehow.Thanks for the opinions so far.

[scott967 62]

It looks to me like, at least in places, MS have tweaked their mesh to agree with their airport elevations, to remove plateaus. When you put in "correct" mesh, the airport elevation plateau is horrible. With "correct" mesh, it is possible to correct the airport elevation and then there is no plateau. this is only where the reported airport elevation is obviously wrong, not the "sloping airport" caused plateaus.Two airports I specifically worked with are II33 in USA - Indiana and LG0D in Greece. In both instances I used my own created mesh using NED 1/3 sec data for II33 and SRTM 3 sec for LG0D. Since you can now exclude default airport flattens, it is much easier to correct this type of plateau. I posted a tutorial in FSX scenery design that shows how I did LG0D using SBuilderX.Again, when there is a slope such as at KLAS this isn't going to be fixed, without tweaking the mesh around the airport. I did this in FS9, but it was very tedious. I can envision a tool which would make this easier, but couldn't figure out an easy way to build one. The problem is mesh data is 16 bit, which doesn't translate easily into a sort of graphic which could be processed in photoshop-type programs. I don't like streams on the sides of hills, so I like as good a mesh as I can get. I just ordered the FSG value set, so I will have to see how things look with that installed.scott s..

[squadros 2]

"but I am not sure if it will improve it enough to put up with these graphical glitches"This really was an issue with FS9. Now you can change scenery "on demand": use the mesh while in flight, and enjoy the mountains, then turn it off when approaching to land!And I agree with you, those plateaus are really, really awful! And it can be worse: SUNKEN AIRPORTS! OH MY GOD I HATE THEM!!!Cheers,S

[CanadaOne 36]

FS Genesis terrain mesh is a must have! Call me a a really excited user, but I wouldn't fly without it. I tried the freeware, then bought a few packages, then sunk in $100 and got a three-year membership that gets you everything they have now and will have for the next three years. You get it all in both DL form, and CDs/DVDs mailed to you. The customer service is A1. I was overcharged on one purchase prior to getting the full membership. I emailed the company and within a few hours I had a fix on my credit card, a personal apology from the boss, and an offer of a free scenery DL of my choice as a further apology. I didn't take the free DL, I would have felt cheap after service that good. Compare that with some other companies that pretty much tell you to... you know, once they have your money.As for the mesh itself, it's wonderful. Mountain ranges come to life and your flights will be beter than ever. Even the flat areas look better. If you layer the mesh (different levels of detail covering the same area), you get great detail from a distance and all the way to right close up. The mountain doesn't spring up on you as you fly closer, it grows. Also, and especially with GE Pro and UT mixed in, fly along the ridge of a mountain range and look down into the valey for some amazing graphics. The feel of height and distance are excellent. I can't overstate the importance of mesh. Also, installation is point and click easy, no scenery changes in the library are needed, and the mesh it entirely stable in FS9 and FSX.Go to FSgenesis.com and load up some freeware. Get the free 76meter mesh that covers British Columbia and the free 38meter mesh that covers Vancouver Island, (this wil give you two layers over vancouver island, the 76 and the 38), then fly! Take a nice Low & Slow flight and really appreciate it. Guaranteed you'll love it. If you don't, I'll eat this post.

[Guest Hocking]

I was not aware of the ability to turn off terrain mesh "On Demand". In my opinion, this would solve the issue totally for me. I would simply turn the terrain mesh off when I was approaching an airport with elevation issues visible, and have the best of both worlds.How do you turn the terrain mesh off within a flight? Do you have to save your flight, close FSX, turn off the terrain mesh, and then restart FSX and reload your saved flight to continue the approach? Or, can you simply pause the simulator, turn off the terrain mesh, and then unpause and continue the approach? I am very interested in finding out how useful this option is.

[Guest]

While flying, open the scenery library from the menu (open that with Alt), change the settings (tick or untick anything you want) and click okay. No need to pause because the sim will be paused while you do this. Everything will be loaded again.But er... I wouldn't call this a serious option to get rid of the problem... It takes too much time and completely spoils the feeling of being there (specially if the surroundings change a lot due to the different mesh). But as we noticed in this topic opinions may differ so you might give it a try! ;)

[Guest Ozark Dogfighter]

I would love to get some textures next, and probably will, but the mesh from FSGenesis is top-notch. I have always enjoyed flying the grand canyon in FS, since 2002, and it's SO much better now! (watch out for floating trees and shrubs, however).I always wanted mesh and am really glad I have it now. Good luck with your decision!