active FSGlobal 2010?

[Jack Sawyer]

I have been reading and learning a lot from your excellent Definitive Guide.

 

There's a mesh product in the guide called FSGlobal 2010 that is mesh, is this still available?

 

Do I need it if I have FTX Global Base?

 

Thanks.

[Ashbygooner]

Yep its still available from most sim shops on line - its quite a large install and uses a lot of memory, but worth it for the definative terrain visuals especially in say the alps.

 

[Jack Sawyer]

Thank you, I'll have to look for it.

Best regards 

[Stillwater]

Yes and yes. The producer of both mesh products "FS Global 2010" and "FS Global ultimate" is Pilot´s, and Stefan Schaefer is representing it even here on the forum. The difference between both is the data density, i. e. price and download time. But the 2010 resolution works fine enough for me...

[Matt McGee]

4 hours ago, JS07 said:

Do I need it if I have FTX Global Base?

A good mesh can really improve some areas of the world.

There are a bunch of discussions about mesh in the forums.

Here are a few I've commented on recently: http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/113448-do-i-need-a-mesh-software-to-realize-ftx-to-its-full-potential/#comment-1019654

http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/114484-does-p3d-v32-need-mesh-add-on/#comment-1028613 

http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/113906-global-vector-without-mesh/#comment-1023220

 

[Jack Sawyer]

Wow, that's a lot Matt.  It would seem Vector can cause a lot of elevation problems unless you have a good mesh installed.  Problem is all those mesh products, including the free one are very large.  I don't know if I'd have room on my SSD.  And I can't buy another SSD for a while.

 

So I might hold off on Vector till I can afford a new SSD and the FTX recommended mesh product.

 

So now I still have to decide if I want to keep UTX till then as it provides some vector.  

 

I sure have been learning a lot these last few days studying the manuals and reading posts.  In the third one John V. said:

 

"Vector has been designed so that airports sit at their correct real world elevations. Therefore, without a suitable mesh addon pack that provides better mesh resolution you're going to get issues for many airports. That's just the way the product has been made."

[Matt McGee]

Just a couple things to add.

If you use an add-on mesh, you will find airport elevation errors (whether you have Vector or not).  This is because a bunch of FSX/P3D airports are at the wrong elevation.   Vector includes the AEC to automatically adjust a bunch of these airports to their real world elevations, it just doesn't know about every erroneous airport.

 

If you use the default mesh, you just run the AEC tool that comes with Vector.  It will automatically "un-correct" the elevations of a bunch of airports, so that they sit at the default mesh elevation instead of the real world elevation.

If you use an add-on mesh, the AEC tool will automatically adjust the airports that it knows about to their real world elevations, so they match the mesh.  

However, some additional airports still have incorrect elevations, but the AEC doesn't know about them.  You may occasionally find one of these airports in a trench or on a plateau.  You can manually flatten it with a flattening tool.

 

I have found a few airports, most in obscure areas, that are not in the list of airports that are automatically adjusted.  IMHO, I find that these few errors are outweighed by the overall improvement in topography gained from a good mesh.

 

Some add-on mesh products (both free and payware) come as individual regions.  (FreeMeshX does)

You don't need to put the entire world on your SSD.  You can pick the regions that you want and/or have space for.

[Jack Sawyer]

So what exactly does AEC stand for and what does it do?  I see it bandied about a lot on these forums.  

 

So can I still run Vector without any mesh but the FSX default?

 

I'm really town about buying it because I see people having problems with it.  To tell the truth, I don't really understand Vector.  

 

I see people saying things like it has to "be on the right or left side" and get very confused by that.

 

 

[Matt McGee]

36 minutes ago, JS07 said:

So what exactly does AEC stand for and what does it do?  I see it bandied about a lot on these forums.  

 

So can I still run Vector without any mesh but the FSX default?

 

I'm really town about buying it because I see people having problems with it.  To tell the truth, I don't really understand Vector.  

 

I see people saying things like it has to "be on the right or left side" and get very confused by that.

 

 

AEC is Airport Elevation Correction.  The AEC tool changes the elevation information for a bunch of airports.  It can switch airports back and forth between the default elevation (which matches the default mesh) and the real world elevation (which matches most add-on mesh).

 

Yes, you can run Vector with the FSX default mesh. (I did it for a long time.)

 

Global Vector is mostly vector data.  It draws roads, railroads, power lines, rivers, shorelines.  It also includes a bunch of airport elevation corrections and the AEC tool.

(Global Vector was developed jointly by Orbx and PILOTS, the same company who makes FS Global 2010 mesh.  I think that's the reason for the addition of corrections for mesh being included in a vector data product.)

 

The "right or left side" is referring to the AEC tool.  The tool has a window on the left and one on the right, one for airports with the AEC enabled and one for airports with the AEC disabled.  You can manually move airports back and forth to change whether the AEC is being applied or not.

 

That's it from me for a while.  I'll be back next week.

[Jack Sawyer]

Matt, I have made a decision.  This week I want to have a "new" FSX sim.

I have already bought both LC's and I am buying Vector in a few minutes.

 

So what I need now is the proper order to do things.

You already told me what to do vis-a-vis GEX and Global and the sequence to uninstall/install.

Now I want to delete all Scenery Tech and UTX's  and replace them with Vector and all future LC's as they are released.

 

But I'd like to know the correct order to do it all in.

Do I run FSX between uninstalls and reinstalls/new installs?

 

Which do I do first?

I know this will take a while, probably a few days but I have my mind made up.

 

Oh, one last thing, I have looked at the mesh products and I might go with the free one but the installation and size of it looks intimidating.

 

After I install all the Orbx stuff will it be okay if I install mesh last?

 

Thanks.

 

[Matt McGee]

Jack,

You can install mesh any time.  Most mesh products are pretty large.  Higher resolution products are typically larger than lower resolution ones too.

Some (like FreeMeshX) let you install individual regions, which is nice if space is a concern.

 

As for order of install/uninstall, I would uninstall all the products you no longer need and then start installing the Orbx products.

Concerning Orbx product installation, the Definitive Guide (page 29) says the following:

 

While the installers will automatically place the scenery where it needs to go, and therefore the install order is not important, for those users who wish to follow a "standardized flow", this is a good order to install FTX products:

FTX Global Base Pack
FTX Global Vector
FTX Global OpenLC
Terrain Mesh
FTX Full Region Packs
FTX Custom Scenery (Including Airports) FTX Freeware

 

I installed in the order suggested, even though "the install order is not important".

[Jack Sawyer]

Welcome back Matt and thanks for all your help.  I really appreciate it.  I have installed the LC's and Vector and the AU Holgermesh and am loving the changes.  Very much well worth the money.