Use of ORBX Vector in p3d v5.4...

[jcomm]

Last year I purchased for the very first time since years using P3D, 2 new ORBX products:

- Vector

- LC Europe

which together with Global Range are my only ORBX products installed in v5.4.

A friend has told me that Vector was actually obsolete for v5.4 because that version was already released with a World "recut" complete enough to encompass the content provided by ORBX Vector.

Can any of you confirm this ?

Any suggestions ?  Should I disable it - because he also told me it could be heavy on VRAM ?

Thx !!!

[Ray Proudfoot]

I used to have Ultimate Terrain Europe, NA and the Caribbean. They did much the same as Orbx Vector seems to do. Improve accuracy of coastlines, rivers etc. etc.

One day when I had v5.1 I did a comparison of the map view around LIverpool as the coast and Mersey river is quite detailed there. To my surprise there was no difference with UT enabled and disabled. LM revised all the world's coastlines in v5 but never shouted it from the roof tops.

At that point I uninstalled all my UT addons. I think you could probably do the same for Vector and it may well improve performance as that was considered by some to be a fps hog.

[Luis Hernandez]

The consensus here was that, with v5, Vector was redundant. However, with the default v5 vector scenery, I was finding some road elevation inconsistencies in several places, like Heathrow and Kai Tak, i.e., airport roads were over 100 ft AGL.

While I don't know what made me install Vector, I do know that I no longer have these issues. I can't comment on FPS impact, I haven't noticed anything yet.

[Rein2]

I had vector for p3dv5 disabled for a long time but since September last year I have it enabled again. I found out that without it structures like rivers or lakes don't show up. I started a post about this at September 8th last year. You can prove it for yourself. Start P3D with ORBX global base and OLC NA. That is wat I use. Go to the first airport in the dropdown list (TN 41 Aker Wood). Just a simple strip. Then select top-down look; first with vector off and then with vector on. And compare it with google earth. When vector is off the water (lakes, rivers) in the near vicinity of TN41 is missing. So I thought, if it can be there then it can be everywhere. Since that date I have vector alsways enabled. 

[Patco Lch]

Having ORBX Vector installed definitely doubles my startup time from run as administrator to scenario screen. I have to keep global or some of my ORBX airports will not work.

[johncott]

Good day

Every 3 to 6 months this item comes up. and I reply with the same answer. To use ORBX Vector or not? In summary, I use ORBX vector because the default vector data has issues in the areas where I do a lot of my flying.

LM changed how airport backgrounds were disabled in P3DV5. ORBX did a quick fix by just making 9 large files that cover the whole world to excluded the default vector scenery items. These files take a long time to load and will cause delays in loading the sim when started, the Flight planner taking a long time to load, zooming out with GPS units and long stutters when flying.  I created a fix to exclude the default vector scenery using smaller files improving loading times and is available in the AVSIM library here: AVSIM Library.

Here is a link from a previous post on the subject with more information: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/630035-vector-in-p3dv53/

If you try my fix, any feedback is appreciated.

Regards John C.

[Luis Hernandez]

5 minutes ago, johncott said:

If you try my fix, any feedback is appreciated.

Regards John C.

Now that you say it John, that's the reason I couldn't find any FPS impact: I was using your fix! Thank you very much for this.

[jcomm]

17 minutes ago, johncott said:

Good day

Every 3 to 6 months this item comes up. and I reply with the same answer. To use ORBX Vector or not? In summary, I use ORBX vector because the default vector data has issues in the areas where I do a lot of my flying.

LM changed how airport backgrounds were disabled in P3DV5. ORBX did a quick fix by just making 9 large files that cover the whole world to excluded the default vector scenery items. These files take a long time to load and will cause delays in loading the sim when started, the Flight planner taking a long time to load, zooming out with GPS units and long stutters when flying.  I created a fix to exclude the default vector scenery using smaller files improving loading times and is available in the AVSIM library here: AVSIM Library.

Here is a link from a previous post on the subject with more information: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/630035-vector-in-p3dv53/

If you try my fix, any feedback is appreciated.

Regards John C.

BIG THANK YA !!!!

👍

[Blasb]

48 minutes ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Now that you say it John, that's the reason I couldn't find any FPS impact: I was using your fix! Thank you very much for this.

yeah same for me! John you really did the community a huge favor with that fix! 🙏

[dave2013]

7 hours ago, Rein2 said:

When vector is off the water (lakes, rivers) in the near vicinity of TN41 is missing. So I thought, if it can be there then it can be everywhere. Since that date I have vector alsways enabled. 

Yep, Watts Bar lake is completely missing in stock P3Dv5. 

I use John C's vector excludes and it did improve performance/loading times.  Thanks, John!

 

[aeronauta]

Hi, is this mod still valid for P3D V6???

 

Jorge

Edited January 22, 2024 by aeronauta

[jcomm]

John C. another very happy user of your mod which I was completely unaware of until reading your message above!

Quite a noticeable performance upgrade ar least in p3d loading time a d in keeping my half refresh rate of 30fps almost permanently there!!!

Big Thx!!!

Edited January 22, 2024 by jcomm

[johncott]

3 hours ago, aeronauta said:

Hi, is this mod still valid for P3D V6???

 

Jorge

I have not tried my fixed in P3DV6.  I did check the file structure in V6 and it has the same issues that V5 had with the excludes and airport backgrounds.  So in theory it should work. I do not have an install procedure on how to install my fixed into V6.  Maybe some other users may be able to provide feedback and how they installed my Fix into V6.

John C.

[spilok]

I tried reinstalling Orbx Vector tonight again.  I had uninstalled it in 5.4 because I really thought it decreased performance.  After a simple flight from KABE to KMIA, the performance was significantly unacceptable. I then uninstalled it again.  I'm sure I will be happier without it.

[aeronauta]

Thank you , I will have also a look...

 

Jorge