EU Netherlands Photoreal in XP using Ortho2XP and W2X

[cassis87]

Hi John,

 

There is of course a huge interest for ORBX payware products in XP11 which is an amazing base platform and just need the type of products you are developping to bewome the best sim on the planet !  such a smooth expererience :-)

[Tony Wroblewski]

Personally, I'd rather see ORBX's airports in X-Plane. We are badly in need of decent GA airports.

[Vasily]

I want to see FTX Global for X-Plane! That would be an amazing product! 

 

[John Venema]

Oh the airports are coming, that is an active project which Ed Correia is leading for us. It won't be all of them but certainly a bunch, starting with Meigs Field which is done.

 

@Tony - I feel your pain, OSM can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. Fortunately we have the luxury of two concurrent competing toolsets developed in-house which we can feed any data source into with pretty good results, so we're continuing to work on this tech.

[mgeiss]

+1 on the airports.

 

Don't care too much about regions, as I'm satisfied with what's freely available or achievable using freeware tools (and time).

[Oscar Pilote]

@John Venema (news quicky reached my mailbox :-)

In the case of Ortho4XP it is perfectly fine as long as GPL v3 remains the rule (in particular you can tweak it for another platform but the modified code needs to remain open source). Also, intellectual property is on the code only, not on the output sceneries (the latter might retain some input data copyright though), so payware is fine too, just like using a hammer for a carpenter: as soon as he brings some added value in, that is his freedom to ask for a compensation.  

 

[John Venema]

Hi Oscar, I understand that-  but it was never our intention to use those tools for our own products, it was purely conceptual stuff. If and when we wanted to use those tools commercially we would firstly contact the authors to get permission and negotiate a deal.

 

Over the years we've used a lot of 3rd party IP and tech at Orbx but we have always licensed it. One example is FTX Vector.

[streichholz]

Oh boy.. This is amazing!! I do hope ORBX will do some kind of "FTX Global" or "openLC" for XPlane. This is like a dream come true. 

[Delta_Who]

As an X-Plane-r I'm incredibly happy. Don't leave us again John

 

I do reckon if you manage to tackle X-Planes general global coverage, could be onto a winner here. Very excited to see if the likes of Orbx's GIS data, textures, animation tech (admittingly hard without vertex animation) and airports make their way into the sim.Very bright future indeed!

[Miniwebbs]

As @Delta_Who said I am genuinely so happy you are delving into XP. I cannot wait to have outstanding quality GA fields in XP

[Sir Ash]

Thank you for being open John, we all often make mistakes and oversights.

[John Venema]

Prepar3D is and will remain our core platform and is our primary source of revenue. There is no reason to abandon any sim over another. With the cost of SSDs falling monthly an internal or external 2TB SDD usually allows most people to run 3-4 sims concurrently. X-Plane has a lot of merit, I have it installed and have used Ortho4XP which is great (but has its limitations of course). I also have AeroFlyFS2 installed and that has its appeal, mainly superb performance in VR and a perfect quick fix with almost zero loading times. Finally I have FSW Early Access installed and that too has its unique appeal.

 

If you are serious about your FS hobby you would keep an open mind about multiple platforms. I am also into car racing sims but I don't choose Project Cars 2 over Assetta Corsa or other sims - I have them both for their own merits.

[tangjuice81]

Agreed. You have given me a positive outlook. I love XPs lighting, default aircraft and their FDEs. Thanks JV!

[Guest Torbjoern]

Dear John, 

 

first let me congratulate you and your team on pursuing this project! I can't wait to see what Orbx has in store for X-plane in the future! 

 

No matter the product, having Orbx present in the X-plane realm will be a game-changer indeed, and I for one will have my credit card ready. 

 

Have a great weekend! 

 

Kind Regards

 

Torbjørn

 

PS: Thanks for making the upgrade to Prepar3Dv4 free 

 

[tangjuice81]

Asheroo and Torb, you guys hit the nail on the head. ORBX developing for XP will be a game changer. The topic was brought up before that XP needed more payware support and this will be the defining moment. 

[FILOU]

John,

Each has its global definition for its simulator but personally to see ORBX on XP11 this is for me the perfect relationship and the best place.

I hope that Netherland will not be the only product for XP11 and I'm also excited to show you the best of this result.

 

[tom.knudsen]

Quote

Just some more shots of very early conceptional and proof of concept Netherlands in XP11 using Ortho2XP and Tony’s W2XP. This work was a predecessor to the FSX/P3D work we are doing for the Netherlands now. Apologies if this post originally gave the impression this was P3Dv4.

 

 

It would be int. to see the progress of this move, but I am still a tad unsure about the progression. Correct me if I am wrong, but are you building a selling point on products made by third-party freeware, from both Oscar and Tony? Not saying its a bad thing, only that it would then need to be free. From the early day's of discussion we had, (GEX period collaboration) I know Orbx is all about the money as companies in general are, also not a bad thing. But freeware I do not think will see from you, so my question is then, are you developing new tools to do this or are you betting your whole approach to using Oscar and Tony's tools? I would also very much concur with Tony, we do as custom airport developer see the need for more GA airports, and an airport conversion from Orbx would for sure close the gap. This trend is more and more accepted in the X-Plane community and if done right it can be good as i.e. Starport Sceneries have done with some major packages from Aerosoft. 

 

Anyway, again it will be int. to watch this closely for sure    

 

 

[GCBraun]

I have almost ALL Orbx Products and cannot wait to have at least some of it also on XP11. This sim has so much potential. We just need top tier developers like Orbx to divert some resources to it. 

[John Venema]

19 minutes ago, tom.knudsen said:

 

It would be int. to see the progress of this move, but I am still a tad unsure about the progression. Correct me if I am wrong, but are you building a selling point on products made by third-party freeware, from both Oscar and Tony? Not saying its a bad thing, only that it would then need to be free. From the early day's of discussion we had, (GEX period collaboration) I know Orbx is all about the money as companies in general are, also not a bad thing. But freeware I do not think will see from you, so my question is then, are you developing new tools to do this or are you betting your whole approach to using Oscar and Tony's tools? I would also very much concur with Tony, we do as custom airport developer see the need for more GA airports, and an airport conversion from Orbx would for sure close the gap. This trend is more and more accepted in the X-Plane community and if done right it can be good as i.e. Starport Sceneries have done with some major packages from Aerosoft. 

 

Anyway, again it will be int. to watch this closely for sure    

 

 

 

Why don’t you scroll back up and read my explanations before making statements such as this Tom?

 

We are NOT using Oscar or Tony’s tools, nor would we ever do so without a proper arrangement in place. To infer that Orbx behaves in this way is both insulting and ignorant.

 

Next time read a topic fully before commenting.

[Mike707]

7 hours ago, John Venema said:

Hi Oscar, I understand that-  but it was never our intention to use those tools for our own products, it was purely conceptual stuff. If and when we wanted to use those tools commercially we would firstly contact the authors to get permission and negotiate a deal.

 

Over the years we've used a lot of 3rd party IP and tech at Orbx but we have always licensed it. One example is FTX Vector.

This approach is much appreciated from your consumer base, so thank you for that John. By the way, I am very excited to see work being done on the X-Plane platform and will purchase the Netherlands product on the first day. 

 

Also, X-Plane is a good platform and with ORBX regions, the X-Plane experience will be amazing. OrbX-Plane regional products will be exceptional and I will purchase every one.

[Mike707]

On 03/11/2017 at 7:39 PM, JoseCFII said:

It still has no future for me. That I can guarantee! I thought long and hard about the value of XP 11 on my SSD and aside from the night lighting, I could NOT think of another reason. P3D v4 is my complete sim. XP 11 is just developing. If I were ORBX I would invest my time & resources on one sim, but what do I know about business? ZERO!

In my opinion, XP is a great platform. I am glad we have more than one platform from which to choose. Imagine if we were to limit ourselves to flying only one plane. Nice to have variety. 

[scotchegg]

Very excited that Orbx is coming to XP but tbh I would be more interested in regions than airports, especially if they come with seasonal textures. Are they on the cards or is it simply not possible with XPs architecture?

[tangjuice81]

Seriously speaking if ORBX goes global for XP I will probably be in XP more...I love eye candy...

[Tutmeister uk]

More money than sense here or maybe just needing the strength each different sim brings. I have them all and bought the same add ones for each where available, I’m sure a lot would question why I need 3 versions of the same developers aircraft! Same goes for scenery and I would happily continue to buy all orbs products for p3d and af2 and also add X-Plane to the mix. If the X-Plane regions end up photoreal with real buildings then bring the UK on! W2xp and osm is ok but some of us just want to pay for the highest quality and have it work.

Chris

[Rob Ainscough]

Excellent news, will FTX Central still be the single multi-platform installer/configuration tool for AF2, P3D, XP11?  I find that alone to be very handy ... one major missing link in XP11 is "installers/uninstallers".  I like World Traffic 3 and OrthoXP, but they require considerable end user effort to get working, more refined and simple end user solutions would go a LONG way in getting me into flying more and fiddling less.

 

Good news indeed, and look forward to it ... hopefully this time around the single platform XP11 exclusive end users will be a little more receptive and supportive.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[Steve Colbert]

On 03/11/2017 at 11:24 AM, John Venema said:

Oh the airports are coming, that is an active project which Ed Correia is leading for us. It won't be all of them but certainly a bunch, starting with Meigs Field which is done.

 

@Tony - I feel your pain, OSM can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. Fortunately we have the luxury of two concurrent competing toolsets developed in-house which we can feed any data source into with pretty good results, so we're continuing to work on this tech.

 

 

Anyway, VERY good news for this heavy XP11 user who misses your fine Orbx products so much.

Sorry I've been away Jack Sawyer and the rest..sounds like I'll be coming home

 

Steve

 

 

[Eric Schoen]

JV, what are your product plans for XP? Will there be regions ? PNW !!!

 

Regards......

[Triplane]

11 hours ago, John Venema said:

Prepar3D is and will remain our core platform and is our primary source of revenue. There is no reason to abandon any sim over another. With the cost of SSDs falling monthly an internal or external 2TB SDD usually allows most people to run 3-4 sims concurrently. X-Plane has a lot of merit, I have it installed and have used Ortho4XP which is great (but has its limitations of course). I also have AeroFlyFS2 installed and that has its appeal, mainly superb performance in VR and a perfect quick fix with almost zero loading times. Finally I have FSW Early Access installed and that too has its unique appeal.

 

If you are serious about your FS hobby you would keep an open mind about multiple platforms. I am also into car racing sims but I don't choose Project Cars 2 over Assetta Corsa or other sims - I have them both for their own merits.

 

You can, of course, also run 3-4 sims concurrently on a regular old-fashioned HDD. "Most people" do not now, and may never, own a 2TB SSD. Just a reality check..........Doug

[tom.knudsen]

7 hours ago, John Venema said:

 

Why don’t you scroll back up and read my explanations before making statements such as this Tom?

 

We are NOT using Oscar or Tony’s tools, nor would we ever do so without a proper arrangement in place. To infer that Orbx behaves in this way is both insulting and ignorant.

 

Next time read a topic fully before commenting.

 

First I apologize, John. Not my intention to be insulting, hope you forgive me  But I did scroll back and did read your blooper and corrected statement below

 

16 hours ago, John Venema said:

Hi guys, it may be indeed, I posted screenshots which the lead developer gave me so I have asked for clarification.

 

Allow me to apologise profusely if I have misled people, I’ll lock the topic until I get clarification.

 

But you also did say you are not using it for P3D development,  but for argument sake, you did not specify X-Plane either. 

So in other words,  some ignorant fools may misunderstand. 

14 hours ago, John Venema said:

Just to clarify - we are not using Ortho2XP or W2XP for P3D development at all. We are not in the habit of using freeware community tools to develop payware, that is not acceptable. As I've said above, we found OSM data to be too error-prone and inconsistent so we are using our own proprietary in-house tools to create this region for FSX/P3D. There is some OSM used but not a lot.

 

I am not trying to underestimate your development abilities as they speak for themselves. 

Wish you all the best and a very good luck on the way. 

 

[HamSammich]

John V,

 

I've enjoyed your airports in P3D and miss them in XP, so all I can say is welcome. Don't be too discouraged by any slings and arrows and grumbles, 20-percent of any group will give you that. The rest of us just want nice things at decent prices and a chance to enjoy the platform of our choice in the best possible light. Looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with KMRY and most of the PNW.

 

Best,

 

Marshall

[Museumkeeper]

Hello again

I am delighted to hear that Orbx has decided to support X-Plane and am looking forward to renewing my aquaintance and watching just what extra 'eye candy' they can bring to the sim.

 

Thank you and kind regards

 

Ian S

 

[Yorkshire]

Can I just encourage you Mr Venema to bring more Orbx products to Xplane. I remember asking you at Cosford if you had totally turned your back on Xplane and you said 'No, we are thinking of bringing airports into the platform' You remarked that XP users seem to be using Ortho4XP scenery. True, but I think the quality of Orbx regional sceneries is superb and would be embraced by the XP community. I Have all of UK, Pacific NW, New Zealand and Norway and run in P3Dv4. BUT I would repurchase to have in XP which I regard as my main sim and mostly use. I accept that at the end of the day it has to be a commercial decision, but I really think this would be a positive move and one that would be welcomed and supported by the XP mob!

 

John

[Eaglefly]

Many years ago i moved from Windows to Mac OS and there was only XP available for a long time and i get used to it. So it's great news that ORBX is coming to X-Plane!

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I have edited out references to "my simulator choice is better than all the others".

If your post or part of it has gone, apologies.

This topic has value if the comments relate to EU Netherlands Photoreal and so I have

opened it again.

Please don't go down the same path again.

We all have different preferences and there is no place for them in this topic, or for that matter in these forums.

Thanks.

 

[Sundancer]

For those who are interested how The Netherlands look from above, on Youtube there is an impressive serial about this topic.

For example, it might be interesting for the Orbx devs.

 

Start Youtube and enter as search string "Nederland van boven" (The Netherlands from above) and you will be presented with a lot of video's, f.e. arranged per topic, like traffic, architecture, etc or arranged by Provence, like Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland, Friesland, etc...each has its own characteristics including landscapes.

 

An example is e.g. "Friesland van boven"  to be found in the following video.

Other episodes can easily be found by yourself. Voices are only in Dutch.

 

Beste regards Fred 

 

 

[Mark Abdey]

It will be fascinating to see what Orbx will do with this platform... even these early 'proof of concept' caps looks superb

 

I very much look forward to seeing, and hopefully trying it, in the not too distant future.

[MartinM]

Indeed. I look forward to see ORBX XP airports in future. If you need my support for this, let me know.

[Museumkeeper]

17 hours ago, Nick Cooper said:

Hello,

I have edited out references to "my simulator choice is better than all the others".

If your post or part of it has gone, apologies.

This topic has value if the comments relate to EU Netherlands Photoreal and so I have

opened it again.

Please don't go down the same path again.

We all have different preferences and there is no place for them in this topic, or for that matter in these forums.

Thanks.

 

Point taken Nick

 

Kind regards

 

Ian S

[Sid]

18 hours ago, Sundancer said:

For those who are interested how The Netherlands look from above, on Youtube there is an impressive serial about this topic.

For example, it might be interesting for the Orbx devs.

 

Start Youtube and enter as search string "Nederland van boven" (The Netherlands from above) and you will be presented with a lot of video's, f.e. arranged per topic, like traffic, architecture, etc or arranged by Provence, like Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland, Friesland, etc...each has its own characteristics including landscapes.

 

An example is e.g. "Friesland van boven"  to be found in the following video.

Other episodes can easily be found by yourself. Voices are only in Dutch.

 

Beste regards Fred 

 

 

 

So damn beautiful!

 

Thank you for stunning me with the unique beauty of the Netherlands Fred and kicking me in the backside and motivating me to get on with expediting a long-held desire to visit and discover what I always suspected to be a uniquely-characterful country and landscape worth exploring, even and especially outside just the traditional well-trodden incredible tourist destination of Amsterdam. I've always struggled a little to get round to visiting the amazing places on my doorstep, usually electing to holiday further afield under the usual psychological pretence of thinking, "well I can always visit e.g. the Netherlands anytime because its so close" and then not getting round to it for years...lol. Well, I'm grateful to you to snap me out of this particular one and hope to have seen some of your country's natural, cultural and architectural and marine-engineering wonders so that I can enjoy FTX EU Netherlands even more when I add it into the sim. I must look up the rest of this series on Youtube to expose my mind to the rest of the Netherlands landscape...I think I'm in for some real treats with the surprises I'll probably see.

[Benny]

I'm so lost... is that project X that is coming back????

 

Lost lost lost....