FS Mesh Addon

[Guest walters]

Hello all,I'm relatively new to FSX so bear with me. I've just bought a new machine, which will be used for FSX (acceleration pack), amongst other things. I'm looking to buy a few add-ons to ehnance the basic package and from reading the threads on this forum have identified the following candidates for starters:FS Global 2008 or FS GenesisUTX Europe and/or UTX USAFEXTraffic XI have two questions:1. Is the list sensible?2. Can somebody explain the differences between FS Global and UTX?Thanks in advance

[Guest JimC1702]

I believe FS Global is mesh (I use FSGenesis). UTX is roads, railroads, rivers, streams, and coastlines.Your list is good. I would suggest adding Ground Environment X (GEX). It changes the ground textures that are displayed and works great with UTX. Oh, and don't forget landclass! I use FSGenesis for the US. Also look at Scenery Tech's landclass. I have both, but FSGenesis is more accurate for the area I mostly fly in.JimDell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM512 mb nvidia 8800GT500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpmSoundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music22" Acer widescreen LCDWindows Vista Home Premium

[Guest walters]

>I believe FS Global is mesh (I use FSGenesis). UTX is roads,>railroads, rivers, streams, and coastlines.>>Your list is good. I would suggest adding Ground Environment>X (GEX). It changes the ground textures that are displayed>and works great with UTX. Oh, and don't forget landclass! I>use FSGenesis for the US. Also look at Scenery Tech's>landclass. I have both, but FSGenesis is more accurate for>the area I mostly fly in.>>Jim>>Dell XPS 420 >Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz>3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM>512 mb nvidia 8800GT>500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpm>Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music>22" Acer widescreen LCD>Windows Vista Home PremiumThanks for that but could you explain what landclass is and how it interfaces with the other add-ons?

[Guest JimC1702]

Think of landclass as a "paint-by-numbers" kit. It tells FSX were to display the various textures; urban, suburban, rural, meadow, forest, etc. For example, with the default landclass, upstate NY looks almost entirely forested with very few smaller towns and villages. With FSGenesis landclass, there are more fields and meadows, and the smaller towns and villages are displayed. The default FSX landclass is a big improvement over FS9, but not as good as add-on landclass.JimDell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM512 mb nvidia 8800GT500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpmSoundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music22" Acer widescreen LCDWindows Vista Home Premium

[scott967 62]

The landclass system is fairly complex, but in a nutshell FS applies ground textures by tiling bitmaps (each tile covers about 1 km square). "landclass" describes files which determine the bitmap to be applied for each tile. It is based on the idea of characteristic land use or cover, so the predominate land use within the tile is determined by the developer and coded into the landclass file so the sim draws the corresponding texture bitmap. Land features which require more precise form than a simple tile are created as "vector terrain". In some cases these vector features have their own texture bitmaps. but in others they borrow from the tile bitmap they are laid over.It is possible to create custom terrain which bypasses the landclass system. This is typically done when using photo bitmaps for specific locations.A feature of the landclass and vector bitmaps, is that they have 3d objects assigned to them (termed autogen) and thus the objects are displayed wherever the bitmap is tiled, with no additional effort from the developer.scott s..

[Guest walters]

Thanks for the quick responses, I think I'm beginning to understand how it all fits together.I notice that the UTX product also offers an improved landclass over the FSX model. How does this work with the FS Genesis model? Do they conflict at all?

[Guest JimC1702]

Nope, no conflict. UTX provides urban landclass and uses default for everything else. It comes with instructions for layering the landlass of your choice with UTX.JimDell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM512 mb nvidia 8800GT500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpmSoundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music22" Acer widescreen LCDWindows Vista Home Premium

[Guest walters]

Right then, new list becomes:FS Genesis (inc land class)UTX Europe & USA/CanadaGEX USA/CanadaFEXTraffic XDoes FEX need to be installed before or after the mesh/terrain models or does it not matter? Same for traffic?

[Guest JimC1702]

Doesn't matter. You have a good list there, and ordered well. You'll be very pleased with the results you get.Just a side note, UTX will effect framerates. But it is very configurable to meet your needs and desires. I turn off residential streets because I think it looks much better without them, and it helps performance. JimDell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM512 mb nvidia 8800GT500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpmSoundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music22" Acer widescreen LCDWindows Vista Home Premium