FTX Global Question

[Pepere]

Does FTX Global make small airports look better from the air. What I don't like about FSX is that all small airports have a huge zero tree outline of the runway so is looks anything but real. So does FTX Global fix it for all airports?

Thanks

David

[ShawnG]

most airports look better with Global, but that's mostly because the airport grass texture is much better, not because the big opening you are talking about isn't there. also, Global makes some airports in desert areas look worse, since the airport boundaries are filled with grass, not sand. So yes, global makes default airports look better, but not always, and probably not in the way you mean.

hope this helps, I am in general a big fan of FTXG, what it does to the rest of the world is worth it in my opinion.

[Pepere]

most airports look better with Global, but that's mostly because the airport grass texture is much better, not because the big opening you are talking about isn't there. also, Global makes some airports in desert areas look worse, since the airport boundaries are filled with grass, not sand. So yes, global makes default airports look better, but not always, and probably not in the way you mean.

hope this helps, I am in general a big fan of FTXG, what it does to the rest of the world is worth it in my opinion.


Okay, thanks for the reply. I'll have to think about it some more. The area where I fly out of most, Vermont, I've edited some of the small airports and they just looks so much better and you still can land with no proplems.

David

[ShawnG]

for what it's worth, you are doing the only thing that can be done to rectify that problem. there's no global product from anyone that can make some of the smaller airports not have that enormous area of grass, someone would have to hand edit all 48,000 airports. FTX does have that for their regions, since Neil Hill does them all by hand. And he's done a few nice packs for global, but can't do them all.

[Meshman]

... someone would have to hand edit all 48,000 airports.

My FSX only has 24,490 airports. How'd you get so many more.... :isadizzy:

[ShawnG]

mine was an off the cuff answer, I had thought I had heard the number 48,000 as the number of included airports, it's the number that was stuck in my head, if I am wrong I apologize, it was not researched in any way. even with your drastically lower number though, it in no way obviates the point that it is WAY TOO MANY to edit by hand.

freaking rivet counters, grumble grumble. :)

[Pepere]

Hi all

I tried Iceland demo looked real good. Purchased Global and not overly impressed so far. Did not like their trees. I fly a lot around Vermont, USA and the fall was all green trees. Went back to default trees, and it did not fully go back, but I did get more color in the fall. Does add more towns then default.... That's my first reaction. Will post again when I've flown in more areas...............

David

[Roger]

Only the evergreens will stay green. ORBX Global trees follow the seasons as do default.

[Pepere]

Only the evergreens will stay green. ORBX Global trees follow the seasons as do default.

Then orbx global planted all evergreens in Vermont. Sep and Oct was all green, and nov was all green with snow on them.

David

[Roger]

Just tried Morrisville in October and then November and all the trees are evergreen as you suggested. This will be down to the landclass and I would have thought it would be the same with FsX default.


A bit chilly for this though...

http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/images/2013/11/06/eto9r.jpg

[Pepere]

Also they have taken a lot of villages out of Vermont and ny - not very happy with this $100.00 addon. When I tried the Iceland demo they had added houses and villages. In the Global they have taken them out. Not Good!

as you can see from your photo they made a lot of patches without trees/houses and it looks worse than the default scenery. Can I get my money back on this product??

David

PS: Ya our weather is something to be desired too. I'm looking the move to Florida...

[Roger]

Also they have taken a lot of villages out of Vermont and ny - not very happy with this $100.00 addon. When I tried the Iceland demo they had added houses and villages. In the Global they have taken them out. Not Good!

as you can see from your photo they made a lot of patches without trees/houses and it looks worse than the default scenery. Can I get my money back on this product??

David

David,
The only thing that Global does (apart from Iceland) is change the textures. The landclass and vector data is default until replacements come along which ORBX are working on. I'm happy with the texture change from default, where I never flew in once ORBX started to produce their scenery. Now I will risk flying outside ORBX regions and have been pleasantly surprised especially in the far east. My screenshot is of a forested area and the patches are non-wooded areas in amongst the trees and would be identical regarding landclass as default.
You say they have taken villages out of Vermont and are you saying they are there in FsX default? I think not as landclass determines such things and as I keep saying...for now landclass is default!

[malibu43]

Also they have taken a lot of villages out of Vermont and ny - not very happy with this $100.00 addon. When I tried the Iceland demo they had added houses and villages. In the Global they have taken them out. Not Good!

as you can see from your photo they made a lot of patches without trees/houses and it looks worse than the default scenery. Can I get my money back on this product??

David

PS: Ya our weather is something to be desired too. I'm looking the move to Florida...

All FTX Global does (and this is what's advertise) is replace FSX textures with better looking ones. It DOES NOT change landclass, which is what controls where forests, villages, fields, etc... show up. They have separate LC addons (called Open Landclass) that will be released for each region. The North America addon is due out in Q1 of 2014. This is what would ensure you see villages where they are supposed to be.

The Iceland Demo combines three different products 1) FTX Global (new textures), 2) FTX Vector (roads, coastlines, rivers, etc...), and 3) OpenLC (location of towns, cities, fields, forests, etc...). Actually it also includes upgraded mesh which defines the shape of the earth (mountains, cliffs, valleys, etc...). This is all made VERY clear in the Iceland Demo User Guide.

It may be worth a try for you to ask for your money back. But, keep in mind, it's because you are expecting the addon to do things that it was never supposed to do or advertised to do.

FWIW - If you compare the prices of FTX Global to other texture replacement options out there (ie - GEX) it is very fairly priced.

[gman5250]

David,

Be sure to check over on the ORBX forums for tech support. The experts are there to help you sort out any questions you may have.

Regarding Global: It is a texture replacement package that only addresses global textures. Towns and airports follow FSX default definitions.

The hierarchy is intended to work in this fashion:
FTX Global replaces global textures.
Regional releases like Pacific Northwest, Southern Alaska, Wales etc. add increased detail to specific regions placing much more emphasis on autogen, integrated photoreal and vector data.
Specific locations i.e individual airports and surrounds are designed with high resolution photoreal terrain, hand annotated with specific attention paid to trees, lighting, traffic, water masks, individual buildings and landmarks.


The forums are a two way conversation, so if you are finding a certain kind of evergreen where there is really deciduous in your local area, mention it on the form. These are the kind of details that can improve upcoming releases and/or patches for existing.

Keeping or removing FTX Global is purely a personal choice and should be undertaken with full knowledge of what your expectations are from the product.

Hope this info is helpful.

[Pepere]

Okay, I'll keep checking it out. I'm not full clear as to what does what.

I have some of Mega scenery and wish they had trees and buildings. In fact have un-install all my mega stuff.

David

[Daveroo]

i un-installed all my megascenery ,,all of it..and my sim runs better and starts up in a hurry now.no more "not responding" messages.

[Pepere]

FTX Global - Did some tweaking and it's looking better everywhere. Will keep it for sure.

One thing that I don't understand about Mega scenery is that Hawaii's mega scenery is very good. It has trees and 3d buildings. I will keep this area of mega scenery installed. Wish the rest of my Mega stuff was as good as Hawaii. Hawaii with mega scenery was very good before FTX Global and I don't it effected the mega stuff.

David

[Roger]

FTX Global - Did some tweaking and it's looking better everywhere. Will keep it for sure.

One thing that I don't understand about Mega scenery is that Hawaii's mega scenery is very good. It has trees and 3d buildings. I will keep this area of mega scenery installed. Wish the rest of my Mega stuff was as good as Hawaii. Hawaii with mega scenery was very good before FTX Global and I don't it effected the mega stuff.

David

I'm still using my Mega scenery Hawaii with global as photo scenery takes precedence over all other scenery. The trees and buildings in Hawaii have been hand placed by the designers.

[gman5250]

FTX Global - Did some tweaking and it's looking better everywhere. Will keep it for sure.

One thing that I don't understand about Mega scenery is that Hawaii's mega scenery is very good. It has trees and 3d buildings. I will keep this area of mega scenery installed. Wish the rest of my Mega stuff was as good as Hawaii. Hawaii with mega scenery was very good before FTX Global and I don't it effected the mega stuff.

David

Maybe this will help. The photo real tiles used to create an actual satellite projection onto the global mesh are nice to look at, but come at a high cost in performance and storage in your system. It is possible to place autogen over PR scenery, but can only be used in limited applications like Hawaii due to the high cost in memory.

The use of computer generated terrain is much more computer friendly, and the quality is improving daily. As an end user you have the choice of flying over photo real and pay the cost or using CG. I do both, depending on where I fly. I have created my home region in the Owens Valley of California in satellite PR with autogen applied. It has been a very long and painstaking back shelf project, well worth the effort, but unrealistic on a global scale. To do the whole planet like that would be a massive project and would require a super computer to run it.

Bear in mind that FSX only allows you to accumulate 4GB total use in any given flight. You can fill up the glass pretty quickly when running all of the available eye candy. Choosing which scenery you use and how you use it is a big factor in your flight performance.

Hope that wasn't as clear as mud.