Aimee Sanjari Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 BuildingsHD for P3D and FSX: On Final Approach! The long-awaited next installment in the HD series is almost here! BuildingsHD overhauls the autogen buildings throughout the world with all-new, 4K, regionally-accurate textures and FPS-friendly 3D models. What TreesHD did for vegetation, BuildingsHD does for your sim’s structures: It replaces the old, default textures and models with beautiful, authentic, highly detailed new ones to lend a new depth of realism to the landscape across the globe. Buzzing the rooftops, approaches over cities, and taxiing at urban airports has never looked so real, with textures four times more detailed than before! All new textures feature ambient occlusion shadows, stunning new night lighting, high-rez rooftops derived from drone photography, and more. We’ve pulled out all the stops to really take the autogen system to a whole new level! A monumental undertaking three years in the making, lead developer Scott Armstrong has painstakingly overhauled over 900 texture sheets, containing 3,860 individual building textures. During project development, Scott traveled to over a dozen countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia to take on-location source photos, resulting in remarkably authentic architectural variations. The difference is especially apparent in Global regions which have never before seen the full Orbx region treatment: Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America now, for the first time ever, feature buildings that are highly accurate to their true-life counterparts. Additionally, FS legend Bill Womack has lent his 3D modelling skills in completely overhauling over 400 3D models in the default 3D building library! Those clunky-looking low-poly default water towers, generic fast food restaurants, apartment buildings, and blurry-looking factories will be replaced with brand new beautiful models that are at once highly detailed and performance-optimized. Barns, religious structures, shopping malls, gas stations, and more have been redone to blend in with the new textures (Note – OrbxLibs buildings will not be modified). Paris, France Madrid, Spain Prague, Czech Republic Library Object - Retail Buildings Phoenix, United States Santiago, Chile Sydney, Australia BuildingsHD Feature List High-Definition building textures at 4K resolution covering the entire world Regionally accurate buildings worldwide, derived from on-location photos taken in many countries throughout the globe Brand new 3D building models for complex autogen objects, created by Bill Womack Ambient Occlusion shadows baked on to building textures for added depth and realism High resolution rooftops derived from drone photos Incredibly realistic night textures for an immersive new night flying experience Designed to work seamlessly with all Orbx products, including Global, all openLC products, regions, and airports; or without any other Orbx products installed Completely compatible with FSX, FSX:SE and P3Dv1-v4 Easy download and installation in Orbx Central By Scott Armstrong and Bill Womack FAQ Q. Which buildings will BuildingsHD improve? A. BuildingsHD improves the appearance of autogen buildings worldwide. Autogen buildings consist of the generic houses, office buildings, apartments, and various complex 3D buildings, which constitute the vast majority of buildings seen worldwide in the sim. However, it will NOT improve the custom POI objects of various individual real-world buildings that are included with FSX and P3D (usually consisting of the tallest several buildings or most famous landmarks in major cities throughout the world), nor will it affect the appearance of airport buildings. Q. Will BuildingsHD change the geometry of the default autogen buildings to make them more detailed? A. BuildingsHD will greatly increase the texture fidelity of the default buildings, but it will not alter the 3D geometry of most simple autogen structures (such as houses, most office buildings, etc). However, it will replace the more complex default autogen models such as water towers, restaurants, religious structures, complex office buildings, and shopping centers seen sporadically throughout the landscape with more detailed, realistic 3D models. Q. Will BuildingsHD increase the regional variation seen in buildings throughout the world? A. No. BuildingsHD modifies existing textures and models to make them more regionally accurate, but it will not increase the variation of building types beyond what already exists within the sim and the Orbx product catalog. Q. How will BuildingsHD affect my sim’s performance? A. Testing thus far has not shown a significant impact on FPS. However, due to the increased size of the new textures, a modern graphics card with ample VRAM is recommended. Compatibility BuildingsHD is designed to work with all versions of FSX and P3D, and will work seamlessly with all current Orbx products. If you don’t own any other Orbx products, BuildingsHD will also function as a standalone program and will work with a default installation of FSX/P3D. BuildingsHD will replace the current building textures and default autogen.bgl library objects for most Orbx products, including: Global OpenLC Europe, North America, and South America All currently available P3D/FSX regions EXCEPT TrueEarth Great Britain South, TrueEarth Netherlands, EU Germany North, and EU Germany South (these regions come pre-packaged with their own custom detailed autogen buildings). Pricing Orbx BuildingsHD will be available exclusively via OrbxDirect for AUD $34.95 (approx. USD $24.25/ €21.50 / £19.00). BuildingsHD is now entering the final stages of testing, and we are working diligently towards release. While we finish up the remaining work, please enjoy these screenshots! Porto, Portugal Porto, Portugal Bordeaux, France Lyon, France Lyon, France Paris, France Stockholm, Sweden Berlin, Germany Cologne, Germany (Night) Cologne, Germany (Night) Cologne, Germany (Night) Prague, Czech Republic (Night) Cairo, Egypt Cairo, Egypt Lagos, Nigeria Lagos, Nigeria Mumbai, India Mumbai, India Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, Japan Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, Thailand Sydney, Australia Sydney, Australia Sydney, Australia (Night) Kapolei, Hawaii Santiago, Chile Havana, Cuba Havana, Cuba Houston, TX, United States Ontario, CA, United States San Diego, CA, United States Kansas City, MO, United States Boise, ID, United States Seattle, WA, United States Library Object - Farm Library Object - Highrise Apartment Library Object - Water Tower Library Object - Greenhouses Library Object - Retail Buildings Library Object - Rooftop Helipad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sawyer Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 This has been my most anticipated Orbx product, thanks Aimee, really looking forward to this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmb Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 As Jack says... Kind regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Christmas has come early for all of good boys and girls here in Orbx land . Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldboy43 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Thank you Aimee, very nice shots. cheers Karoly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Foster Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Woot! \o/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juanvito Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 My card is ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Merowinger Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Stunning, absolutely! Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlund Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Sorry if I'm not jumping with joy. I really don't think the impact is that big, and even in the comparison shots, I found it difficult to see which one was before and after. Yes the resolution is better, and some autogen I can clearly see is region depended, but as I prefer flying airliners at 30000 Ft, it surely doesn't look make sense to get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmb Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 8 minutes ago, jlund said: Sorry if I'm not jumping with joy. I really don't think the impact is that big, and even in the comparison shots, I found it difficult to see which one was before and after. Yes the resolution is better, and some autogen I can clearly see is region depended, but as I prefer flying airliners at 30000 Ft, it surely doesn't look make sense to get it. I understand it's less important for pure ailine pilots. However, I am a mostly GA flyer and very often have been annoyed by the ugly low-resolution buildings close to airfields where I landed. I'm really happy ORBX finally got this done. Kind regards, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjacobsen Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 They look different, but not always better in my eyes. In the distance they look more alive and colorufull. Next question is the FPS impact for my GPU - a GTX960 4GB ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moostafa Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Wow! I'm looking forward to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe777 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Have you done the colourful wooden houses in the Alaskan villages ? I'd buy just for those ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireRx Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Credit Card at the ready Aimee, what's the File size of this bad boy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper31 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Oh yes! Finally! This has been some time coming, and looks to be well worth the wait for the GA Orbx crew! No airline flying for me either, so this is the perfect ticket to update all the low res autogen buildings. Ready to purchase this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patful Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Not sure I really understand something. It's only replacing the textures on the default P3D autogen, but not the Regions' custom autogen textures? So the custom autogen will have lower quality textures than the P3D default after this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Armstrong Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 1 hour ago, fjacobsen said: Next question is the FPS impact for my GPU - a GTX960 4GB ? Hi fjacobsen, so far neither I nor the testers have seen an appreciable change in FPS between default and BuildingsHD. I'm running a laptop with i7 6700HQ and GeForce GTX 970M 3GB. I think your card should run it just fine 52 minutes ago, Gabe777 said: Have you done the colourful wooden houses in the Alaskan villages ? I'd buy just for those ! Hi Gabe, adding additional building varieties and variations was beyond the scope of the project; this is a texture and model replacement for the existing autogen varieties that you see in the sim. So no colorful Alaskan villages, sorry! But I think you'll find the rest of the buildings in Alaska have a more realistic and detailed appearance, great for low-level bush flying. 1 hour ago, jlund said: Sorry if I'm not jumping with joy. I really don't think the impact is that big, and even in the comparison shots, I found it difficult to see which one was before and after. Yes the resolution is better, and some autogen I can clearly see is region depended, but as I prefer flying airliners at 30000 Ft, it surely doesn't look make sense to get it. Hi jlund, I think you might be surprised by the increase in realism that you'd see on visual approaches, both day and night (at some point, I'm betting that you bring that airliner down from 30,000 ft ) The difference in lighting, contrast, and regional variety of the buildings makes quite a positive impact on the landscape from even several thousand feet up. Plus, while taxiing at airports surrounded by buildings you will be sure to see the difference. Hope you don't mind me adding my two cents; figured I'd make my best sales pitch to the airliner crowd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Armstrong Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 1 hour ago, FireRx said: Credit Card at the ready Aimee, what's the File size of this bad boy? Current installed filesize is 4.7GB, but that's subject to a bit of change as the files are being finalized. 4 minutes ago, patful said: Not sure I really understand something. It's only replacing the textures on the default P3D autogen, but not the Regions' custom autogen textures? So the custom autogen will have lower quality textures than the P3D default after this? Hi patful, actually BuildingsHD will indeed also replace the custom autogen textures for almost all Orbx regions (see the compatibility list below the FAQ above). The only exceptions are the TrueEarth regions currently released for P3D/FSX and Germany North/South. Hope that's some good news for ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flya150 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 This looks so amazing! Thank you for this. Look forward flying the world with this beauty. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangjuice81 Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Well done Scott and Bill and the rest of your team. Much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog4Zero Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 I'm always under 10,000' this is going to be great. Been waiting for a bit but worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DModjo Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Looks fabulous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Lars Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Wow, that's great news! Really travelling to all those different countries to give us the most accurate selection of buildings of the whole world shows an amazing degree of dedication. I will instantly buy this, and I'm sure you all know that I like flying a bigger aircraft. 6 hours ago, jlund said: Sorry if I'm not jumping with joy. I really don't think the impact is that big, and even in the comparison shots, I found it difficult to see which one was before and after. Yes the resolution is better, and some autogen I can clearly see is region depended, but as I prefer flying airliners at 30000 Ft, it surely doesn't look make sense to get it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the type of aircraft you like to fly, airliner and GA pilots alike are going to profit massively from this addon. I know no airport that's not surrounded by at least a few hundred houses on the approach path. It's the overall impression that counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony96 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Wow just saw this looking forward to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Me too!!! It's been a long wait, but looks like it's worth it. I'll buy it as soon as it's released. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 It is all coming thick and fast at the moment. What a wonderful addition to our flying this will be. A big thanks to Scott, Bill and all of the others who have worked on this for our to enhance our flight simming enjoyment(and money) ORBX rules, OK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy Kozyrev Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Hey @Aimee Sanjari, what about those Russian autogen screenshots from the announcement post? Don't see them above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Armstrong Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, Dmitriy Kozyrev said: Hey @Aimee Sanjari, what about those Russian autogen screenshots from the announcement post? Don't see them above. Hi Dmitriy, rest assured, Russia got the full BuildingsHD treatment as well, and the textures previewed earlier will indeed be part of the package Keep an eye on the Previews page over the coming days; we'll probably post some screenshots from Russia and other regions that didn't make it into this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musketeer Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Excellent, really looking forward to this! I'm a huge fan of addons that make big improvements to the base default experience of the whole sim or large areas of it. Better default autogen buildings is one of the last pieces of this puzzle! With Global + Vector + Trees HD + Buildings HD (+LC's where available, hopefully eventually the whole world), I can fly anywhere and still get a reasonably decent scenery experience. The only piece that is not ORBX (yet) is an HD upgrade to default airport buildings, so I've used a non-orbx addon from REX for that which completes the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregmorin Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 WOW! This looks amazing! Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musterpilot Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Credit Card at the ready Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike707 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 This is an excellent looking product and one that has been needed for a very long time. Thanks Orbx and thank you Scott for getting this created and in release hopefully soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjw250 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Nice ! and ,the price is right ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianV Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Awesome, I look forward to exploring this in South America and hopefully soon Africa landclass too. Hopefully as fps friendly as the ORBX trees. An instant buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvdboomen Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Great to see this project finally being released! I'm looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin David Hodds Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 after the disaster of TE GB Im holding off not sure rtx 2080 is man enough. Specs please ORBX this time video card memory and processor of course if you to fix TEGB I would be more willing to part with my money. EX ORBX fan . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patful Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 10 minutes ago, Colin David Hodds said: after the disaster of TE GB Im holding off not sure rtx 2080 is man enough. Specs please ORBX this time video card memory and processor of course if you to fix TEGB I would be more willing to part with my money. EX ORBX fan . Read Mr. Armstrong's comment above, he's using an i7 6700HQ and GeForce GTX 970M 3GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taph Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Look forward to seeing it on my PC its one I have been waiting for, thanks all that worked on the project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfirth Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 21 hours ago, Scott Armstrong said: The only exceptions are the TrueEarth regions currently released for P3D/FSX and Germany North/South. Hope that's some good news for ya Whats the reason for the True earth regions being an exception please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patful Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 11 minutes ago, kevinfirth said: Whats the reason for the True earth regions being an exception please? BuildingsHD will replace the current building textures and default autogen.bgl library objects for most Orbx products, including: Global OpenLC Europe, North America, and South America All currently available P3D/FSX regions EXCEPT TrueEarth Great Britain South, TrueEarth Netherlands, EU Germany North, and EU Germany South (these regions come pre-packaged with their own custom detailed autogen buildings). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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