FSX reinstall from scratch: add-on advice?

[DennyA]

My FSX install had grown insanely big and unwieldy, so instead of bringing my previous install forward into my new Windows 8 setup, I figured I'd restart from scratch so it would be less bogged down by all kinds of planes I don't fly, etc.

Previously I had this setup:

Ultimate Terrain
FSGenesis Landclass
Megascenery Earth Washington (I literally can see my house from there! :) and Arizona
Accufeel
TrafficX Military Plus pack and... I honestly can't remember if all of those airliners were TrafficX or Ultimate Traffic 2; I own both


For the new setup, I'm planning to use Traffic 360 (http://www.justflight.com/product/traffic-360-upgrade-from-traffic-x) for AI traffic. I just bought the upgrade version from TrafficX and it sounds great from the website description.

So here are my questions:

Is Ultimate Terrain still the "general scenery enhancer" of choice, or is there something else I should consider?
Thinking of getting FTX: NA Blue Pacific Northwest and using that in place of MegaScenery Earth Washington. Thoughts?
Any other suggested enhancers, etc, I should put in place?
FSX or should I take this opportunity to switch to P3D? (Concerned about my add-ons/planes working in P3D.)


Any thoughts from the experts here would be greatly appreciated! I need to get this up and running so that I can fly the MilViz Sabre I bought along with Traffic 360. :)

[FAC257]

Denny

Currently in my W8 Pro setup:
UTX - Complete
FSG - Complete (Will be converting over to the new Nextmap versions as enough of each area that I fly in gets completed.)
GEX - US & Tropics
AccuFeel
FSUIPC - (I normally don't use this very often, but I couldn't calibrate the throttle of my Saitek X52 correctly without it. Didn't need it with W7.)
ActiveSky2012

I think I just passed the 100 flight hours logged with this combo under W8. Everything has passed the test with flying colors so far.


FAC

[DennyA]

Thanks, FAC. So GEX is worth getting even if you have UTX?

[Kiwikat]

Thanks, FAC. So GEX is worth getting even if you have UTX?

Absolutely. They are completely different addons designed to compliment each other. GEX is textures, UTX is vector features like shorelines, rivers, roads, etc.

[FAC257]

Denny

I've had US GEX for a while and had not been using it with UTX. Then when Tropics GEX came out I decided to give it another try.

I'm glad I did as the two products compliment each other really well.

The only terrain texture that I over ride either one of them with is with the water textures in ActiveSky2012. IMO, the AS2012 water textures have more variety and look better.

FAC

[stansdds]

My FSX add-ons... and I don't change things often.

FSUIPC free version
Ultimate Terrain X -USA
Ultimate Terrain X- Tropical America
Active Sky 2012
Ultimate Traffic 2
AccuFeel

For ground textures I've downloaded a ton of freeware offerings, but the easiest way to get improved ground textures would be GEX.

[DennyA]

Thanks for all the tips, guys. Have it up and running again. Got FTX PNW (since that's where I do most of my flying) and while I haven't explored it much yet, the frame rates are much better than the Megascenery. I'll still install the Megascenery I have for Arizona, though, because Phoenix and the Grand Canyon look great.

Considering GEX and REX. Not sure about GEX, though. I looked at a page of comparative screenshots of FSX with just UTX, and FSX with UTX and GEX, and while GEX looked different, I'm not sure it really looked better to me.

Also got Traffic 360 up and running. Really nice overall, though disappointing locally not to see a bunch of 7x7s of various types flying from Boeing Field and Everett.

Includes the military AI too!
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