OrbX Scenery?

[paulb]

Hi

I have their PNW scenery and am currently downloading their PFj scenery. I have noticed that they produce smaller airport/town scenery packages and wonder if I should buy one whilst their sale is running.

Looking at the scenery, the airport/town scenery eg Concrete or Darrington seems to add a very detailed township. However I am not sure that I want this. Basically, I am really impressed with the PNW scenery, which is so much better than the FSX default. Hence my purchase of the PFjords scenery. I like the thought of more detail at airports etc, but am not going to drive around a town in a car. So I wonder if I really need one of the smaller sceneries.

Any comments would be welcomed.

[Alan_A]

The airports themselves have great atmosphere and there's also a fair amount of photoreal/hand-detailed terrain that's visible from the air, especially if you're a low and slow flyer. I'm sure you'll get plenty of recommendations. Mine would be for Orcas - great airport and equally good island detail that you can enjoy from the open door of your Piper Cub or something similar. If you like it, you can add Concrete and Darrington at some later point. They're all close together and make for a nice flight from the mountains down to the San Juan Islands. As I understand it, there are plans to add Skagit and Anacortes, so it'll be one of the more enjoyable GA routes.

I don't drive through the scenery and I've never felt moved to, even if the detail level is good enough to allow that.

On the other hand, the enhanced default airports are very good - much better than FSX default - and they may give you everything you need.

You might want to check out the screenshots and videos available on the Orbx site and see how the add-on airport strike you.

Hope this helps.

[Aviator32]

It depends what you fly. If you always fly fast jets then I would say no, don't get them but if you fly low and slow then Darrington and Concrete are incredible and hugely magnify the sense of immersion for me. Add Orcas and you have a great little triangle for short flights in the Cub or the Birddog. The greater ORBX sceneries are a terrific improvement but adding a few of the detailed airfields on top will give you a whole new sim. I can't wait for the same to happen with Pacific Fjords.

If you don't get them now while they are on sale you will regret it later.

[paulb]

Thanks for the replies.

I am typically using them for bush flying - ie fairly low and slow. My current setup just about allows me to use the scenery (at their recommended setting) and get a frame rate that I can live with!

Do the detailed airport sceneries have much of a further FR hit?

Its beginning to sound as though Orcas might be a worthwhile first purchase?

[pilottj]

you might try Orbx's free offering Vashion Island and see if you like it. Orcas, Darrington, etc... are even a bit more detialed than Vashion. Also OZx did a nice free enhancment set for PNW you might try out.

Cheers
TJ

[Aviator32]

Thanks for the replies.

I am typically using them for bush flying - ie fairly low and slow. My current setup just about allows me to use the scenery (at their recommended setting) and get a frame rate that I can live with!

Do the detailed airport sceneries have much of a further FR hit?

Its beginning to sound as though Orcas might be a worthwhile first purchase?

I don't notice a hit and the only thing I disable at the airfields is 3D grass. Personally I don't think Orcas is as good as Darrington or Concrete but I have a particular fondness for Darrington from the addon for FS9. Orcas doesn't feel like as big an area as I thought it would be whereas Darrington or Concrete and certainly both of them together (and I have Israel's Farm as well) feel like a huge area in a bush plane. Apart from the airfield itself, there isn't much at Orcas and although the whole island has been worked on, I find it hard to tell. Don't forget Stark's Twin Oaks either.

And don't forget to get the free scenery for the area from OZx as well as Vashon Island available here - http://www.fullterrain.com/freeware.html (edit - already mentioned I see!)

[paulb]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think that I will download the free Vashon Island next then, to see what the very detailed scenery looks like.

That's when PFj finishes downloading - its been downloading all night, only another 4 hours to go!!!!

[huub vink]

Paul, you can download the demo version from Tasmania as well, this comes with Launceston Airport, from which you can find a (free) upgrade here: http://fullterrain.com/freeware.html

This will give you an idea how these airfields blend in the rest of the scenery.

Cheers,
Huub

[MarkH]

I am typically using them for bush flying - ie fairly low and slow

Hey Paul, I'd recommend Israel's Farm and Walter Sutton's, which are superbly-rendered farmstrips in PNW. Also Concrete, Darrington and Stark's Twin Oaks. If you want a bit of a plan, Concrete and Darrington connect up with each other and with Israel's Farm, while Walter Sutton's and Stark's Twin Oaks are close to each other.

You are right about this odd fad for driving around the scenery, which seems to feature a lot in videos. I don't really know why people would do this (except for making videos!), but the detail looks great from the air. And whatever else you do, make sure you grab the OZx strips! They are absolutely outstanding strips, for free!

[paulb]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have a good look around once PFj has downloaded.

[FLighT01]

It depends what you fly. If you always fly fast jets then I would say no, don't get them but if you fly low and slow then Darrington and Concrete are incredible and hugely magnify the sense of immersion for me. Add Orcas and you have a great little triangle for short flights in the Cub or the Birddog. The greater ORBX sceneries are a terrific improvement but adding a few of the detailed airfields on top will give you a whole new sim. I can't wait for the same to happen with Pacific Fjords.

If you don't get them now while they are on sale you will regret it later.

Took the words right outta' my mouth. A VFR flyers delight! The lower and slower the better.
Concrete Muni will also give you the WA56 (Came with/on the DVD) and for extra fun get Walter Sutton's WA79 (that DVD came with WA7M as well) and for the Full Monty, Stark's Twin Oaks.

[Aviator32]

Took the words right outta' my mouth. A VFR flyers delight! The lower and slower the better.
Concrete Muni will also give you the WA56 (Came with/on the DVD) and for extra fun get Walter Sutton's WA79 (that DVD came with WA7M as well) and for the Full Monty, Stark's Twin Oaks.

Talking of low and slow I would highly recommend this little beauty -

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd490!0,5677718990,D11242

It's not the sort of addon I usually go for but it's the best Ultralight I've ever flown in a sim and perfect for inspecting the finer details in the areas we've talked about in this thread.

[hews500d]

Wow! I've been waiting for a sale from ORBX. Does anyone know how long it is going to last? I can't find any info on their website, but would love to pickup as many of the PNW airports that I can. I just can't swing all of them at once.

Darrell

[Aviator32]

Does anyone know how long it is going to last?





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27-31 December 2010 (Ends Midnight 31st December Sydney AEDT Time)


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:jump:

[hews500d]

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27-31 December 2010 (Ends Midnight 31st December Sydney AEDT Time)


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:jump:



Thanks ! Just picked up PNW and KORS. May pickup the Rocky Mountains before the end of the week since it would be the bigger hit on the wallet to purchase after the sale ends :wavey:

Darrell

[paulb]

I finally downloaded Pacific Fjords and also the Vashon scenery for PNW as suggested. I am still undecided about the additional add-on airports/scenery. Mainly, how much to spend!

In the meantime, can anyone suggest a couple of nice airports to fly from in Pacific Fjords?

Thanks :)

[ShawnG]

there's currently no ORBX super detailed airports in PFJ, but of the airports that are included, my personal fave is PANT annette island, also worth checking out is stewart in Canada as well as terrace and Bella Coola. PAKT is pretty good, but will be awesome when ORBX finish the full version.

[paulb]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I will try them out later today! ;)

[paulb]

Well, I finally purchased Concrete and Darrington. I think that my favourite is Darrington. Thanks for everyones suggestions.

[Aviator32]

Good choice :applause:

[paulb]

Thanks!

My main problem is finding aircraft which are not too frame rate hungry on my 'oldish' pc. The Iris Diamond Twin Star works pretty well most of the time!

[Bobr2]

I bought Orbx PNW scenery and it is great though was wondering if the free addons could be used in the PNW scenery or if it is already in the scenery? Please advise Thank:wiggle: You

[vora]

The only free addon for PNW by Orbx is Vashon Island and it's not included. The other free airports are in Australia.

OzX has made some wonderful free airstrips for the San Juan Islands in PNW. You can download them here:
http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/category/1-ozx-scenery/
The file is "OzX NA 1.01 Installer". You'll also need the the "OzX Libraries 1.0 Installer" and the "Librariers 1.1" update. But beware, their server is creeping slow for me right now.

Hope this helps.

[paulb]

I bought Orbx PNW scenery and it is great though was wondering if the free addons could be used in the PNW scenery or if it is already in the scenery? Please advise Thank:wiggle: You

The answer depends upon which free addons you are referring to. If you can provide some more info, then I will try to help.

[Bobr2]

I have the PNW scenery and quite eatisified with it, thoug was wondering if the freebe scenery works with PNW or is that scenery already included? I left a message on the Orbix form though now one ever ansewred the question.
Thanks if you will help

[spotlope]

I have the PNW scenery and quite eatisified with it, thoug was wondering if the freebe scenery works with PNW or is that scenery already included? I left a message on the Orbix form though now one ever ansewred the question.
Thanks if you will help

Which scenery did you need info on? For PNW, there are quite a few free OZx sceneries, and the Orbx Vashon Island airports. I know for sure those work well.

[Bobr2]

I was thing of the vashon scenery and the derrongton and concrete scenery which I think is payware

[Aviator32]

I was thing of the vashon scenery and the derrongton and concrete scenery which I think is payware

To answer your question Vashon, Darrington and Concrete are of course included as are hundreds of other default airports and airfields which have all been upgraded. There is a further freeware Vashon Island and Darrington and Concrete which are both payware. All three add significant details, sounds and textures to those locations and are well worth considering as are the other payware airfields such as Starks Twin Oaks, Orcas, Israels Farm and Walter Musa's.

There are a number of other free enhancements included in this package which you should also get - details here -

http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/1256-ozx-na-101-installer/

[pilottj]

Hey Paul, you might like the RealAir Scout, its been around for a few years and is quite easy on frames, even while having 3d gauges and nice detail...etc I find most of my Orbx touring is done in either the A2A Cub(50-70kt range), or if the weather gets nasty and/or I want to go a little faster (90-120kt range) I hop in the Scout.

Tandem seat high wing planes offer one of the best mixes of touring speed/STOL/stability and cockpit visiblity for exploring the scenery. I don't have either of the Super Cubs, the BirdDog or the Champ yet but no doubt they are very fine birds for this scenery as well.

Hope you find what you are looking for :)
Cheers


Thanks!

My main problem is finding aircraft which are not too frame rate hungry on my 'oldish' pc. The Iris Diamond Twin Star works pretty well most of the time!

[JayKae]

The reason why the server was slow is because I was in the middle of a migration, you should be right now :)

[paulb]

Hey Paul, you might like the RealAir Scout, its been around for a few years and is quite easy on frames, even while having 3d gauges and nice detail...etc I find most of my Orbx touring is done in either the A2A Cub(50-70kt range), or if the weather gets nasty and/or I want to go a little faster (90-120kt range) I hop in the Scout.

Tandem seat high wing planes offer one of the best mixes of touring speed/STOL/stability and cockpit visiblity for exploring the scenery. I don't have either of the Super Cubs, the BirdDog or the Champ yet but no doubt they are very fine birds for this scenery as well.

Hope you find what you are looking for :)
Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion. :)

But after making quite a few purchases over the past month, I need to give my wallet a rest!

I will keep it in mind though.

[vora]

Thanks for the suggestion. :)

But after making quite a few purchases over the past month, I need to give my wallet a rest!

I will keep it in mind though.

There are also freeware gems which are light on the frames. The ones I use most to explore PNW are Dave Garwood's Auster Autocrat (http://www.cbfsim.org/cbfsim/cbfs_lib/thumbnails.php?album=6) and Anthony Lynch's Tiger Moth (http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/1012-de-havilland-tiger-moth-dh-82a-v11/). Get 'em if you don't have them already.

Of course the default Beaver, Maule and Goose (with OzX HD paint) are also very appropriate...

[paulb]

Thanks Vora.

I don't have the Autocrat, so I will try that one out.

[Daube]

For the owners of PNW, I woud definitely recommend a freeware scenery called "Scar Creek Outposts", that can be found at HoverControl.
This scenery has several versions, and one of them is specifically made for OrbX PNW. It contains several little sceneries reachable only by helicopters or STOL aircrafts, all around the valley of Scar Creek. Some are at water level (some with docks for floatplanes), some are on side of mountains, ans some are top of mountains. Very cool freeware, in my opinion.

Previous versions were not compatible with PNW, the various outposts would appear in the middle of the water, or in big holes on the mountains :/ This new PNW-specific version displays perfectly :ernae:

[pilottj]

Thanks for the suggestion. :)

But after making quite a few purchases over the past month, I need to give my wallet a rest!

I will keep it in mind though.

LOL yeah I know what you mean. My signature at the Orbx forums looks like it took viagra with all the order numbers in it now because I went a little crazy when Orbx had their sale ;)...gotta let the green stuff in the wallet grow again :jump:

[Aviator32]

For the owners of PNW, I woud definitely recommend a freeware scenery called "Scar Creek Outposts", that can be found at HoverControl.
This scenery has several versions, and one of them is specifically made for OrbX PNW. It contains several little sceneries reachable only by helicopters or STOL aircrafts, all around the valley of Scar Creek. Some are at water level (some with docks for floatplanes), some are on side of mountains, ans some are top of mountains. Very cool freeware, in my opinion.

Previous versions were not compatible with PNW, the various outposts would appear in the middle of the water, or in big holes on the mountains :/ This new PNW-specific version displays perfectly :ernae:

Sounds interesting, I'll head over and have a look at that. There are a couple of helipads on the mountains surrounding Darrington including one with a couple of fratically waving climbers who need rescuing. Have you found that one yet?

edit - Found it - http://www.hovercontrol.com/cgi-bin/ifolio/imageFolio.cgi?img=0&search=Creek&cat=all&bool=phrase

Thank you!

[paulb]

I spent a couple of hours exploring Pacific Fjords today, and only scratched the surface!

I took off from PANT (winter), Stewart/Can (spring) and PAKT (autumn). I think that I prefer PNW overall, but I am quite happy with my purchase of PFj. Hopefully OrbX will release an airport or two for PFj.

As an aside, I bought both of the Iris Diamonds (one is pictured below) in their recent sale. They are both aircraft that I would not normally have bought, but I really like them. The glass cockpit gives me a moving map display (GPS) that I can actually read!

Here are a few pics for anyone interested. :)

[Dexdoggy]

Nice pics Paul! PFJ is pretty darned good, hey?!

[vora]

... Hopefully OrbX will release an airport or two for PFj. ...

It seems that they are doing Ketchikan (PAKT) in all its glory.

BTW: my favorite route is Bella Coola (CYBD) westwards through the fjord. After reaching the ocean turn southward towards Vancouver Island.

[paulb]

Thanks Daube and vora :d

Trimotor departing from Bella Coola below.................

[Daube]

Nice shot !
I think t's time for a flight with one of those planes. It's been a while :)