18 minutes ago, Nemo said:

That's exactly the question which is going around and I see no clear answer - only speculations.

Spot on...

Are texture sizes being reduced in SU16?

What are the impacts both visually and from a performance perspective?

Will we notice? 

Sucks that once again the lack of communication or documentation from Asobo leaves the entire community with unanswered questions.   We will "just figure it ourselves" like everything else.  

I do not care about any performance improvements where texture resolution is concerned. I would rather keep higher resolution textures.

1 hour ago, psolk said:

Spot on...

Are texture sizes being reduced in SU16?

What are the impacts both visually and from a performance perspective?

Will we notice? 

Sucks that once again the lack of communication or documentation from Asobo leaves the entire community with unanswered questions.   We will "just figure it ourselves" like everything else.  

Textures size will only be standard, not high resolution, after SU16.

Using the new bing maps with the Map Enhancement Tool (MET), is showing me since yesterday a new ugly coloring, patches and incomplete roads in the terrain that were not there before. I'm afraid these are the default maps that we all see after SU16. I'm currently using the MET with Google Maps, not with the new Bing Maps anymore.

And it's not speculation, it has been discussed for weeks at the official forums between those participating in the SU16 beta. It doesn't happen everywhere, but when it happens, is not acceptable to say the least. There are affected areas in the northern part of south america, I can say.

It'd be a big step back if SU16 is released in this state.

Edited July 30, 2025Jul 30 by edpatino

40 minutes ago, edpatino said:

Textures size will only be standard, not high resolution, after SU16.

Yes, but what does this mean? Are the current streamed Bing maps textures standard? If they are, then I have nothing to worry about. If they are currently high resolution (and I can expect a reduction in texture quality) then MS/Asobo have something to worry about. That being me and my pitchfork.

6 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Yes, but what does this mean? Are the current streamed Bing maps textures standard? If they are, then I have nothing to worry about. If they are currently high resolution (and I can expect a reduction in texture quality) then MS/Asobo have something to worry about. That being me and my pitchfork.

I think current is standard and whatever will be maintained.

People running the map enhancement have a higher LOD option which has been rendered useless, and are pretty angry about it.

I actually liked that mod, but it introduced too many different colour patterns, like lines around Cape Town where it went from yellow to green terrain.  The UK looks mostly like a dry desert, which it did for a few months this year, but that is not normal.  Loads of lines around northern France and Belgium.  

When you say "lines", are we talking subtle stuff here, or very obvious joint lines that would result in me adding a chain gun and rocket launcher to my weapons arsenal when I organise a march to Asobo Studios?

Just now, Christopher Low said:

When you say "lines", are we talking subtle stuff here, or very obvious joint lines that would result in me adding a chain gun and rocket launcher to my weapons arsenal when I organise a march to Asobo Studios?

It's different terrain colouring introduced by the map enhancement, so nothing to do with Asobo.  Though I do see more subtle terrain colour differences in Europe.  

OK, so it is just something to do with the Map Enhancement mod, and therefore nothing for me to worry about

56 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

OK, so it is just something to do with the Map Enhancement mod, and therefore nothing for me to worry about

No, it's something for everyone to worry about because if SU16 is rolled out in it's current state MSFS 2020 will have drastically reduced texture quality from aerial imagery. It's due to this regression that the high LOD option in MET no longer works.

See the following thread and links:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/msfs-su16-aggregation-of-complaints-about-poor-lod-low-resolution-blurry-terrain-textures/731741

What is the agenda behind this?

They’re probably doing it to simplify the backend infrastructure.

If you take a look at that link I posted, it’s been updated with all the implications this change will have on 2020.

No update should ever result in a downgrade. It isn't rocket science.

4 hours ago, DModjo said:

No, it's something for everyone to worry about because if SU16 is rolled out in it's current state MSFS 2020 will have drastically reduced texture quality from aerial imagery. It's due to this regression that the high LOD option in MET no longer works.

See the following thread and links:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/msfs-su16-aggregation-of-complaints-about-poor-lod-low-resolution-blurry-terrain-textures/731741

Looks like most of the people posting in this thread haven't realized this fact yet, but they will the hard way.

2 hours ago, DModjo said:

They’re probably doing it to simplify the backend infrastructure.

If you take a look at that link I posted, it’s been updated with all the implications this change will have on 2020.

Ditto

So, that's a 2020 thing only, not MSFS 2024? I am asking because the ground textures look significantly worse lately on my system with 2024 😞