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Post by MarkH on May 25, 2015 20:52:32 GMT
I am thinking about buying the FTX Global (Global Base + Global Vector) stuff before their sale ends. I was almost there and then I realised I needed the Pilot's Global 2010 mesh product (which is also on sale). That brings the total (for Global/Vector/Mesh) to about £84, which is more than I had planned. Especially as it will probably just sit on my computer largely unused for ages, waiting for me to do some 'proper' flying (which is what I said I was going to do in my first Twin Otter blog as year ago)! Oh, and the mesh product alone is 22Gb
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Post by MarkH on May 27, 2015 20:55:45 GMT
Bummer, the mesh isn't even on sale even though it was listed as being
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Post by ScottB on May 27, 2015 21:24:44 GMT
I purchased and installed FTX Global Base several years ago and overall, I like it. I also purchased Pilots FS Global 2010 and Global Vector about a year ago but I still haven't installed it! Well, I installed it on my test PC and experienced some "head scratching" moments and decided to uninstalled it. I just never got around to re-installing it. I didn't particularly like what Vector did to the shores of waterways and I was experiencing some weird elevation issues with some airports, many of which have probably been fixed with patches or the vector tool. The installation process was a little unclear to me also, but I admit I haven't taken the time to fully research the guides. I read on one site that the default mesh in the US (where I mostly fly) is almost the same as the FS Global 2010 mesh for NA. FS Global mesh is supposed to be a big improvement to other parts of the world, though.
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Post by MarkH on May 28, 2015 6:52:08 GMT
I read on one site that the default mesh in the US (where I mostly fly) is almost the same as the FS Global 2010 mesh for NA. FS Global mesh is supposed to be a big improvement to other parts of the world, though. Oh well, time will tell. I have downloaded it all now and am just going through and verifying the zip files for the mesh.
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Post by ScottB on May 28, 2015 12:55:22 GMT
Will you let us know what you think of it, how it installed, etc.? Also, are you going to install Global Base and Vector as well?
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Post by MarkH on May 28, 2015 16:55:45 GMT
are you going to install Global Base and Vector as well? Oh yes, I only got the mesh to support those! I will need to check if I have enough space to install it all.
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Post by MarkH on May 30, 2015 21:37:06 GMT
Well first impressions are good. I installed Global Base and Vector with no problems but haven't installed the mesh yet. I figure as that isn't an Orbx product I should make sure the rest works first. I also installed Palm Springs, an Orbx Global airport, and I took a trip from there out West. It looks pretty good to me, in general. What lets it down - which is obvious if you stop to think about it - is the airports. I went Flabob, Chino, Corona, Fullerton and Long Beach and the airports are - well, default. So they don't blend in at all. That's a bit disappointing but I suppose it couldn't be any other way. There was also an improbably large golf course between Chino Hills and Cal State University. Here's hoping for Open LC America or FTX SoCal! I haven't done all that much real flying, but most of it was around these parts.
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Post by ScottB on May 30, 2015 22:44:10 GMT
Do you have the NA freeware airport packs installed? I haven't flown those airports yet but I have at least Corona and Flabob marked on Google Earth as NA freeware airports which should help ease the blending pain a bit. I'll fly the area this evening and check it out. I also purchased Palm Springs during the FTX sale and it looks nice with decent performance I think.
Freeware airports in the immediate area:
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Post by MarkH on May 31, 2015 9:13:29 GMT
Well I did install the freeware Global airports but I didn't check them out close up so I will not swear my Flabob and Corona were default. I will check them out again today. I did note that the freeware NA pack seemed like an awfully small download for so many airports so I may need to reign in my expectations. Thanks for the map, that is helpful.
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Post by MarkH on May 31, 2015 11:09:49 GMT
P.S. Where did you find that map? I can't find anywhere that shows all the up to date Global airports.
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Post by thefrog on May 31, 2015 11:44:02 GMT
Mark I have just installed Global Base with the PNG Jacksons Airport package which seems to be excellent. I did not get Vector because I had read that it has an effect on fps. Have you noticed that at all? David
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Post by MarkH on May 31, 2015 12:37:01 GMT
I did not get Vector because I had read that it has an effect on fps. Have you noticed that at all? Well not so far, but it's early days. I have been flying at low level around Southern California with a little bit of an overcast at 1000 feet and my performance seems okay. I note that the vector control pael allows a lot of tinkering so yuo cna turn off things like underpasses, tunnels, railways and minor roads independently. I have everything on at the moment.
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Post by MarkH on May 31, 2015 12:42:00 GMT
Do you have the NA freeware airport packs installed? Okay, my problem is that I was not looking at Global at all, it was default. I guess it started out okay because I was seeing the further reaches of the Palm Springs scenery and then it must have merged into default scenery as I flew West. Although Global was shown as Active inFTX Central 2, it wasn't. Flipping it off and then on did the trick. The default airports still stand out as they are not blended, but they are not as obtrusive. And I do now see the updated Flabob and Corona. Flabob is much closer to the real thing than the default, which looks like a small international hub instedad of something that has stray dogs and a runway that looks like a poorly-maintained back lane!
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Post by ScottB on May 31, 2015 13:17:34 GMT
P.S. Where did you find that map? I can't find anywhere that shows all the up to date Global airports. When Orbx released the freeware airports in smaller chunks, I used their "release announcements" as a guide to locate and pin them on Google Earth. I don't think there is a map of the freeware stuff on their website. Here is my Google Earth FTX Freeware Airport file: FTX Freeware Stuff.kmz (26.65 KB)
Orbx freeware is a small download and I'm not sure it does that much in terms of blending the airports at altitude, but I do like their appearance at field elevation. Anyway, glad you got it sorted out by reapplying Global, sounds like that helped.
Any chance you, or anybody, would share your thoughts on how the shorelines and roads look with and without Vector active? I'm working from memory here but, I think you can simply uncheck vector in the FSX scenery library (as opposed to uninstalling). To make the comparison, I changed to "top down" view and then slewed to an altitude where I could see the shorelines and waterways acceptably (like a Google Earth image) and took comparison screenshots. It's subjective, and extremely picky of me but, the waterways and shorelines looked a little weird in my opinion, even though they may be more accurate. I know that's a pain so, not necessary at all to do.
To thefrog: I don't recall a performance hit. I need to reinstall it all though to make sure.
Scott
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Post by MarkH on May 31, 2015 14:17:41 GMT
share your thoughts on how the shorelines and roads look with and without Vector active? I will try to do some comparisons and make a comment. I am currently looking at the bigger freeware strips - the two I have looked at in Germany (EO49 Laufenselden and EDCG Rugen) are payware standard and the surrounding Global textures are also very very good. This is really why I bought Global, it is going to be worth flying long distances and with a real sense of travelling because the terrains look so different.
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