antonvs Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Great discussion and thanks orbx for the opportunity to have our say. After reading a high percentage of the topic I really don’t know which way to go. What is clear is that Orbx are the best in the business for both inovation and Customer relations. Cudos to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiFlyer99 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Would it not be possible only to make seasons in LOD15 only at specific areas where it makes sense? That should shrink the size of a TE product with LOD 15 summer only - hybrid winter dramaticly. For example in California it doesnt make sense to provide 5 seasons over the whole state. You will never have snow in the Los Angeles or San Diego area. Most of the trees not even let the leaves fall. So in this case not even Spring and Fall would make sense to me, you can control that over "ORBX Trees". But a few miles inland its another story. At Big Bear for example or the natural parks such as Yosemite you have alot of snow and a full fall and spring season. So that would be the question here if you cannot just stay at LOD15 for California but "winterize" only parts in it would make sense. Of course if you go to places like TE Germany or Norway, it has to be a LOD14 5-season product, otherwise it would be a non starter for me, since both countries have "dramatic" seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-9 Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Having Just been pointed to this, I want my cake and eat it, Seasons are very important to me. If both were avaliable, I would get them both, LOD14 with Seasons and LOD15 Summer. I notice that Torrents and Peer to Peer downloading was mentioned as a possible solution to the download costs, not sure if this would work with a 8:1 ratio between download:upload for most of us. The only addons I have that uses the old P3Dv4 config file is Orbx. Lorbi SI Addon manager is a great way to manage add ons, I am tempted to convert all my Orbx to xml addon format.... but have resisted the temptation as I am not sure of the consequences re FTX Central 3? A big thank you JV and team, first class customer relations for letting us put our thoughts across, appreciate it. Look forward to see whats coming along in future developments. ATB Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Lars Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 I would never buy a product that's supposed to cover a region that has seasons if this product wouldn't show said seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airwolf Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Been away for a while from this thread.... I am confused - I thought there is going to be all seasons slightly lower lod version for TE products. Is that on the back burner for now? I really can not tell the difference between lod 14 and 15. All seasons with slightly lower LoD is huge winner for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-9 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I cant tell the difference from the screen shots either TBH.. except if you look at the lines on one of the fields, they are straight lines and not zig zag lines.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Late to the party but wanted to add my opinion on the matter. Personally, I'd vastly prefer the LOD14 option, as the difference seems negligible. I hate to even say it, as it comes off as condescending and unappreciative of the fantastic work that is being done but I wouldn't buy a P3D product that didn't feature seasons. One of P3D's key selling points, for me, is seasons and the consistency of the world. All the products, at least in your line-up, despite being at vastly different 'quality levels' from Global up to / down to TE level, all share a similar feel and consistency that increase the immersion factor. I'd hate it, if that selling point would slowly be eroded by going forward with summer only textures in future products, meaning you'll fly across a snow-covered or bleak looking terrain, in heavy snow and slush and then suddenly, boom, green fields as far as the eye can see. There was talks about offering two products, one at LOD15 and one at LOD14, which I think is a good approach in terms of costs. Say you bought both, would it be possible to mix them together? So LOD15 when you choose summer in-sim and then LOD14 with all other seasons, or do all the textures have to fit within the same LOD level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downscc Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 This has cropped up again in the AVSIM forum with a link to this thread so let me continue..... I will not buy a product that does not have seasons. As pointed out, it doesn't add much to SoCal but SoAK makes a major difference in the simulation experience. The data download costs is something that can be carefully looked at by a qualified communications engineer (and am a communications engineer but perhaps not qualified) to figure out something that will reduce your exposure to risk such as creating incremental or micro updates rather than downloading the entire product and of course you already do include the initial download data charge in cost of product. You get to charge more for seasons and increase your net based on same or better margins. Again, there are two reason why I won't move to XPlane. First because I beta tested the DC-6 in XP10 and didn't like it. Second, no seasons. For me it is a show stopper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Ainscough Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Seasons in P3D v4.4+ is: 1. Terrain changes 2. Tree/Vegetation changes 3. Frozen surfaces 4. Scripted/conditional runway surfaces (visual and physical change to traction/rolling resistance) 5. Runway closure and/or open based on season 6. Different environmental objects (people, cars, trains, boats routes, etc.) based on seasons 7. Doing a long haul flight from one country that is in Summer while landing at another country that is winter (same calendar date) Having "seasons" is MUCH more than just adding a white adjustment layer to a summer base texture or attempting shader based snow, seasons is core to P3D/ESP product. To ignore it seems like a lost business opportunity ... or a gain for competitors. I understand that some are summer only fliers of which they can simply set P3D date time to summer. But for those that want more like myself, I see a demand that could be filled. Cheers, Rob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave302 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I think the best way to implement seasons is by using shader techniques to change the textures based on the time of year. The current method of using different textures for each season and then displaying them based on the extremely coarse and inaccurate month of the year scheme is just not the way forward in my opinion. Not to mention the quadrupling of storage requirements in order to add textures for every season. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryisenor Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I would rather have the LOD 14 with seasons. They are a major factor where I fly ( mostly Canada). Perhaps you offer both and charge separately if people would like to have both versions. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtissera Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 I'm all-in for seasons. I chose to buy the whole Global Range + all OpenLC + all Europe Regions during May sale (yeah, basically a big part of my paycheck...) and only invested in TrueEarth Netherlands because it supports seasons. As I am myself a software engineer, I perfectly understand the tough amount of work required to support seasons in such photoreal sceneries (source data, processing, coding) and also the bandwidth / storage huge needs. LOD14 + seasons would be fine for me too. I am honestly not willing to put a single dollar in products without seasonal support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.eg Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 Hi All, A no season product is a no go for me: less challenge to fly, less accurracy. A scripted solution to get the best of photo scenery would be the best for me because less resolution (LOD 14 vs 15) is perhaps a kind of pity today. Just my thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakman Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 I live in Scotland where the seasons have a huge effect on the landscape. The True Earth GB scenery is very impressive but I will not buy if there is only one season, if all seasons can be accommodated with a slight drop in detail then that surely is the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbottle Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 I had assumed Orbx was seasonal on P3D, pretty new to it after switching from FSX. Gutted to discover summer is same as fall .. for a fix, take my money? That said, with FS2020 around the corner I guess development will steer down another path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 With FS2020 around the corner, it won’t have seasons either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X4711 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 1 hour ago, John Venema said: With FS2020 around the corner, it won’t have seasons either Probably because the benefit of seasons is mostly seen in certain climate zones. For many countries in a hot climate zone like for example Vietnam, seasons wouldn´t make that much of a visual difference (due to the lack of snow) as for Great Britain or Germany. By the way I think many people are/would be interested in a very high quality Vietnam scenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nedo Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 1 hour ago, X4711 said: ...for example Vietnam, seasons wouldn´t make that much of a visual difference (due to the lack of snow) as for Great Britain or Germany. this days it makes no sense, never seen snow in germany for years now, talk about climate change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVSandleben Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 45 minutes ago, Nedo said: this days it makes no sense, never seen snow in germany for years now, talk about climate change Speak for yourself. But last winter was one of the snowiest in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilo Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 If MSFS comes without seasons, the more reason to have seasons in TE. I want to use my P3D ski airplanes on frozen lakes in Scandinavia and NW America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce e Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 The season topic has been aired almost to exhaustion. I don’t wish to add a 5Tb SSD (or larger) to accommodate TE GB, Scandinavia and N America etc. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilo Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 8 minutes ago, bruce e said: The season topic has been aired almost to exhaustion. I don’t wish to add a 5Tb SSD (or larger) to accommodate TE GB, Scandinavia and N America etc. LOL I guess then that even TE with summer only is not for you. I already have a 6TB drive with 512GB V-NAND SSD. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce e Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, dilo said: I guess then that even TE with summer only is not for you. I already have a 6TB drive with 512GB V-NAND SSD. LOL. Not so, I have TE GB south & will buy TE Scotland but perhaps that is as far as I will go. I have all of Orbx Norway, Germany ,US, AUS & NZ etc Thoughts of upgrading to seasonal TE for these regions, when available, make my mind boggle LOL Looking forward to Open LC Africa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilo Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, bruce e said: Not so, I have TE GB south & will buy TE Scotland but perhaps that is as far as I will go. I guessed so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjlfry Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Seasons is why I will probably hold of MSFS I am so used to seasons over the years I would miss them, and I have not purchased TE GB as I do mostly IFR, Paris to Heathrow in winter would look odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFS Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I love seasoning, so it's LOD14 for me... Single-season-only TE was a deal-breaker for me, as I enjoy seasonal variety. Besides, what's TE Colorado without snow? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc.johns137 Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 On 10/26/2019 at 9:39 AM, John Venema said: With FS2020 around the corner, it won’t have seasons either At the moment - but you might imagine a situation where the application of machine learning to a few images could rapidly colourise and amend the imagery on a per season basis. You might not need too much source imagery per region taken in each season to produce an accurate algorithm to produce accurate per season results.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilo Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, mc.johns137 said: At the moment - but you might imagine a situation where the application of machine learning to a few images could rapidly colourise and amend the imagery on a per season basis. You might not need too much source imagery per region taken in each season to produce an accurate algorithm to produce accurate per season results.... True, I even think a lot can be done with shaders only. But imagery is not the only thing, there are frozen/icy surfaces too that should affect start and landing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_fish Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 On 10/26/2019 at 9:39 AM, John Venema said: With FS2020 around the corner, it won’t have seasons either Not according to the Flightsim audio interview posted recently by renault in the ms2020 post running in this sub-forum, John. 18 minutes in MS say the engine is capable of seasons, including snow, frozen water and tree colour. They say it won’t be ready in the first release, but is listed as next after VR in their current priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying_fish Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Clip referred to above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David85 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I think that before considering ground (ortho) textures, which will be very heavy for each seasons for users, a good beginning is to have decent trees for each seasons.. Terra Flora V2 includes 4 seasons , but this is for P3D. X-plane only has Terra- Flora v1 and it is only summer. Yea, there are free add-ons in xplane but the visual quality can't be comparable with this add-on. For years, xplane users complain about not being able to enjoy seaskns6, and we are currently in Autumn.. And again another year without being able to enjoy the beautiful orange colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonJeremy77 Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 Quick question... I am currently using Global Base, Vector, and Open LC products (all of them) for P3D v5.1. Considering moving to REGIONS (NOT TrueEarth ones).. Do THEY support all seasons? It doesn't mention on the Orbx store page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfko Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 16 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said: Quick question... I am currently using Global Base, Vector, and Open LC products (all of them) for P3D v5.1. Considering moving to REGIONS (NOT TrueEarth ones).. Do THEY support all seasons? It doesn't mention on the Orbx store page. Yes they do support all seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonJeremy77 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, wolfko said: Yes they do support all seasons. All of the regions support all seasons? If that's the case, I want to take advantage of the current sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Cooper Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 Hello, welcome to the forums. Yes, they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.