Pilots FSGlobal .vs. Orbx FTX Global

[OleBoy]

The reason for this post is to learn more before I buy the Orbx product. I already have Pilots FSGlobal "The Americas" that I was using in FSX. That hasn't been used since my moving over to the LM platform. I was very happy with it at the time.

Since Orbx released word of having a global product, I've been interested, although apprehensive. From what I understand if I buy the Orbx global product, I will also need to buy a land class. Theirs? I've got no idea currently. But, I already have $50.00 invested in Pilots product. Do I still need a land class? Prepar3D version 2 landclass looks pretty good to me. I haven't looked into any landclass due to newness of the LM program.

With all this being mentioned, has anyone heard if Pilots plans on updating their products for Prepar3D?

Recently there are a LOT of "Prepar3D v2" compatible products getting released, that I don't want to get caught in the wake.
I predict it's just the beginning of a huge flood of new and improved products to come. And I need to spend wisely.

EDIT; I should have checked out the "Pilots" website prior to posting. They appear to have an updated installer available or on the way soon.
Are there any others out there that are going to be Prepar3D v2 compatible?

[Lionheart]

Yep... I would ask the devs themselves or see whats happening in their forums before thinking about buying them. ORBX are having issues with some tree textures and things in V2.

[OleBoy]

It sounds like Pilots will release sometime this month. The part I never liked was they have no screenshots of the Pacific Northwest to display their stuff where it's important to me.
Even the new vector stuff that's getting released soon that's suppose to be Prepar3D compatible. Those images are from FSX!

I'll wait like I did in the past. Images will get posted eventually in the forums.

Orbx sound like they are going to take months to get things compatible. They will be on the back burner for a while from the sounds of it.

[greenie]

As far as the landclass goes , I think , they will be done in several areas at about $20 a pop . So you can have a choice .

The thing that caught my attention is the fact that they are trying to get rid that cliff problem . Where the mesh is slightly out of sync with the landmass thus creating instant cliffs at the waters edge . Whether that be mesh or their yet to be released Vector product I'm not sure . I need to check.

[OleBoy]

As far as the landclass goes , I think , they will be done in several areas at about $20 a pop . So you can have a choice .

The thing that caught my attention is the fact that they are trying to get rid that cliff problem . Where the mesh is slightly out of sync with the landmass thus creating instant cliffs at the waters edge . Whether that be mesh or their yet to be released Vector product I'm not sure . I need to check.

That "cliffing" as I refer to it as has always made the lands appearance look bad. If Pilots can fix that, that alone would take care of a major problem throughout the scenery. If they figure out how to solve that issue they'll have something above the rest of them!

[greenie]

Well I bought FS Ultimate just a couple of months ago to go with Orbx global . I found it really slowed down the loading up of fsx , so much so that it became too annoying - now uninstalled . Then bought FS Genisis $20 regions instead which worked ok but obviously not as high def as Ultimate but acceptable .

I hope I don't have to buy another mesh to cure the "Cliffing" but the answer may be in the Vector product which I'll get anyway .

As far as landclass goes I'm working on the principal that its only landclass and unaffected by the other aspects i.e vectors , mesh , etc ...so you can use what you want . That's my current theory

I'm not always right but I could be wrong on that one http://sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon23.gif

[Adrian Petford]

FSGlobal is a terrain mesh product and can co-exist very happily with FTX Global, a set of texture replacements which improve over the old default textures in FSX or P3D. The two packages enhance different aspects of the sim. I'm using FSGlobal Ultimate with FTX Global and am very pleased with both, apart from the "cliffing" mentioned above and some new problems Orbx need to resolve in P3Dv2 with default textures still showing through.

You'll still be able to use your FSGlobal as Orbx don't provide terrain mesh of their own, apart from in their regions. In fact as Orbx now have a partnership with Pilot's, they recommend you use FSGlobal meshes.

Orbx are about to release a product called FTX Global Vector which will add accurate coastlines, rivers, water bodies and airport elevations etc to the whole world. This is an extra layer of realism for FTX Global. Confusingly, this has been developed by Pilot's who are also advertising it as FSGlobal Vector but from what I understand, they are the same product. I'm hoping that the coastline fixes will remove or reduce the "cliffing" problem from FSGlobal Ultimate.

You can choose any landclass to use with your FSGlobal mesh and FTX Global textures, including freeware ones or leaving the P3D default. I have a custom local landclass product for New Zealand which works superbly.

Orbx have plans to release their own landclasses to go with FSGlobal, FTX Global and FTX Global Vector. This will add very local detail to specific areas as well as regionally accurate textures. The first region, Europe is due early next year.

FSGlobal can be carried across to P3D very quickly an easily with Pilot's P3Dv2 installer. You can run it so it just adds the scenery layers into P3D's scenery libary and points to your previously installed files.

Lots of confusingly similar product names, but I hope that helps.

[greenie]

Just like to update the fact that I have installed FS Global Ultimate into P3Dv2 . As opposed to fsx , P3D loads up much quicker now so it stays in the sim. Also , a bit early to say for sure , but, some areas where there were mesh errors seemed to be fixed . kinda suggest there has been some mesh modifications with P3D