GEX Europe 2.0 - UK

[paulb]

Last autumn I purchased both GEX and UTX Europe. I do most of my flying in this area, particularly the UK. I was very pleased with the improvement over the default FSX textures (although I wish that I could find autogen buildings with a more 'British' appearance).

Anyway, last month I bought the OrbX PNW and was delighted by it. Since then I have purchased a few more OrbX NA products and have only been flying in that scenery.

Today, I downloaded V2.0 of GEX. Now here is the point of this post - the scenery now looks more brown and more like a drier Mediterranean scenery than 'green' UK scenery. Do others think this? Or it it just that I have not used this scenery in recent weeks and have forgotten how it looked? Or am I just losing the plot!

Comments welcomed. I have added a few pics below (taken over the UK) in different seasons.

[Paul K]

Thought you might like to see the actual aircraft. Not exactly the best use of taxpayer's pounds, it has to be said.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/Geomitrak/IMG_2891.jpg

[paulb]

Thought you might like to see the actual aircraft. Not exactly the best use of taxpayer's pounds, it has to be said.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/Geomitrak/IMG_2891.jpg

Thanks Paul - but I downloaded over 100 pics of it before I painted the one in my screenshots above!

[stiz]

Thought you might like to see the actual aircraft. Not exactly the best use of taxpayer's pounds, it has to be said.


it was done for the 70th aniversary of the BOB .....

[Roger]

From the shots I've seen so far I'm not convinced. I had a hell of a job to reinstall my back-up textures after I uninstalled the original GEX Europe so I don't think I'm going to try v2.

[Paul K]

it was done for the 70th aniversary of the BOB .....

Yes, but don't you think the BBMF is sufficient for that purpose? Painting up a couple of Tucanos smacks of an idea that seemed great, late last night in the officer's mess bar.

A complete waste of money and manpower, and nothing that serves to honour the Battle of Britain. In fact, such an exercise veers towards trivializing it.

Here's the other one, parked next to it at Duxford.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m115/Geomitrak/IMG_2892.jpg

[paulb]

From the shots I've seen so far I'm not convinced. I had a hell of a job to reinstall my back-up textures after I uninstalled the original GEX Europe so I don't think I'm going to try v2.

Hi Roger

I just can't decide at the moment whether GEX has gone 'brown' with the 2.0 update or whether I have just been spoilt with the OrbX NA scenery!

[stiz]

Yes, but don't you think the BBMF is sufficient for that purpose? Painting up a couple of Tucanos smacks of an idea that seemed great, late last night in the officer's mess bar.

A complete waste of money and manpower, and nothing that serves to honour the Battle of Britain. In fact, such an exercise veers towards trivializing it.


well i disagree, the BBMF whilst being brilliant, are stretched to the limit bookings wise, everybody wants them, but they simple cant do every single airshow in the UK .. but the tucanoos can fill the space at least in the awareness that the BOB actually happened

"dad, whys that plane painted funny??"
"its to honour/raise awareness of the fact its been 70yrs since the battle of britain"
"whats the battle of britian??"
**cue story of the battle of britain**

[DickB]

I remember observing when I first installed GEX EU over UTX/Default FSX that the UK seemed to be less green (or maybe a different green). From your pix, I'd say the overall colour hasn't changed that much, so it may well be that you have been 'spoiled' by ORBX ! (I've purposely avoided buying ORBX because I like to do my flying in UK and Europe and didn't want to suffer the same fate !)

[paulb]

Thanks for the reply. I will probably have to go back to it in a day or two and see if my initial impression has altered.

[DickB]

I plan to instal the upgrade myself sometime this week. The GEX 'look' can take a bit of getting used to, but IMO it's still the best scenery addon for UK & Europe, and likely to remain so until such time as the ORBX guys get round to our neck of the woods. And I'm not holding my breath !

[Paul K]

well i disagree, the BBMF whilst being brilliant, are stretched to the limit bookings wise, everybody wants them, but they simple cant do every single airshow in the UK .. but the tucanoos can fill the space at least in the awareness that the BOB actually happened

"dad, whys that plane painted funny??"
"its to honour/raise awareness of the fact its been 70yrs since the battle of britain"
"whats the battle of britian??"
**cue story of the battle of britain**

I understand and appreciate what you're saying Stiz, though in your example, I rather think that any child aviation-minded enough to spot a camouflage scheme that differs from the norm would probably know of the Battle of Britain anyway. To anyone else, its significance would be lost.

Ironically, I took those photographs as we were leaving the sell-out Battle of Britain airshow at Duxford on September 4th last year. It was a fitting tribute at Britain's first operational Spitfire base, with 16 Spitfires beating up the airfield, and a formation of four Hurricanes.

The stunt Tucanos ( and thats what it is, an unworthy stunt ) stayed parked down at the eastern end of the flightline. Just as well.

[paulb]

I plan to instal the upgrade myself sometime this week. The GEX 'look' can take a bit of getting used to, but IMO it's still the best scenery addon for UK & Europe, and likely to remain so until such time as the ORBX guys get round to our neck of the woods. And I'm not holding my breath !

I do agree that GEX/UTX is still the best around for the UK. As I have said, it was just that it seems browner with V2.0. I probably was most suprised because for a few months last year after I had it (along with UTX,FEX and the UK2000 airports) I was absolutely delighted with the improvement over the standard FSX when flying over the UK. As for the rest of Europe, I am tempted by some of the Swiss and Austrian payware scenery around. And I will be 'over the moon' if OrbX eventually do the UK. :d

[DickB]

I was looking at the GEX support forum, and it's apparent that there were quite a few comments that parts of southern Europe were too 'green'. One of the things they've done in this update is to address that, and most of the favourable comments seem to come from folks flying in those parts.

However, since many of the texture tiles are used all over Europe (FSX limitation, not GEX), I can appreciate that this could have the effect of making UK less green/more brown than previously. They do in fact specifically mention adding some red/brown earth colouring (which would be good for parts of Spain but not quite right for UK - except maybe round Crediton, where the earth is very red indeed !)

I will ask a question over on that forum and see what they say. It looks like there are some good things in this update, but I agree it would be a shame if the UK scenery is compromised.

[paulb]

I was looking at the GEX support forum, and it's apparent that there were quite a few comments that parts of southern Europe were too 'green'. One of the things they've done in this update is to address that, and most of the favourable comments seem to come from folks flying in those parts.

However, since many of the texture tiles are used all over Europe (FSX limitation, not GEX), I can appreciate that this could have the effect of making UK less green/more brown than previously. They do in fact specifically mention adding some red/brown earth colouring (which would be good for parts of Spain but not quite right for UK - except maybe round Crediton, where the earth is very red indeed !)

I will ask a question over on that forum and see what they say. It looks like there are some good things in this update, but I agree it would be a shame if the UK scenery is compromised.

That's interesting. Maybe I am not just seeing things! Grateful if you would let me know if you find more info. Thanks

[DickB]

Hi Paul - I raised the issue on the GEX support Forum, and it is clear that at least some others share your impression. But the developers have responded with a lengthy explanation and series of screenshots which have somewhat re-assured me. Perhaps you could take a look and see how they compare with what you are seeing. One point they make is that the appearance of an area can be affected by the which LandClass product is used in conjunction with GEX. I only use UTX. Not sure which you use, if any.

The topic is here:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/topic37769_post222671.html#222671

Not sure if you have to register or not, but that shouldn't be an issue.

[paulb]

Hi Paul - I raised the issue on the GEX support Forum, and it is clear that at least some others share your impression. But the developers have responded with a lengthy explanation and series of screenshots which have somewhat re-assured me. Perhaps you could take a look and see how they compare with what you are seeing. One point they make is that the appearance of an area can be affected by the which LandClass product is used in conjunction with GEX. I only use UTX. Not sure which you use, if any.

The topic is here:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/topic37769_post222671.html#222671

Not sure if you have to register or not, but that shouldn't be an issue.

Hi Dick

Many thanks. :applause:

Having read through the link, overall, I remain of the impression that the UK has become browner.

The references to monitor set up - whilst true - are not relevant to a user such as myself who has simply upgraded to the latest version.

Many of the pics show the UK in summer - that is the season that I have least issue with.

They admit that the scenery is now less green than VFR scenery.

They state that the UK is more green for users who also have UTX. I have UTX and used it for both this and the previous version.

They state that they have sought to improve the realism of southern european countries - which are browner and which share tiles with the UK.

So, I think that I will try to revert to V1.025 when I have time.

BTW, if you haven't yet upgraded, you might wish to take some screenshots for yourself at a particular location at specific times and dates to illustrate all four seasons. You can at least then compare them after the update.

Cheers

Paul

[DickB]

I think GEX was always less green than VFR scenery (or the default, in UK Summertime), even before this update.

I can probably live with the update as long as the summer season looks OK. But I will take some comparison screenshots and back up my textures so that I can revert if necessary.

Meanwhile I have some other prioities, so this will have to take a back seat !