Status of P3D TrueEarth products?

[Pilot]

Hi,

I have a feeling that ORBX Prepar3D TrueEarth series is left behind? We still haven't got the rest of the TEGB series, neither TE PNW. Instead the X-Plane TrueEarth series is far ahead. I'm saying that seeing another XP True Earth series arriving at the preview stage today. 

 

I have a suspicion that ORBX has put on hold True Earth for P3D due to performance and MSFS in the horizon. Is this suspicion true? 

[SGunard]

It does see rather odd that the TE release schedule for P3D is so far behind XP. I was wondering myself why the huge lag in release terms between the two formats, so would love to see a comment on this from the 'powers that be'.

[Nick Cooper]

I am sure that when there is something to be announced, an announcement will be made.

Orbx are as keen to sell products as customers are to buy them.

[John Heaton]

I think NC is being very nice - since this question keeps popping up and the answer is probably the same 

 

We have been told repeatedly that TE Central and North will be ASAP - since work only started to port the XP version 

across to PD3 - using newly employed staff - in early September - and it MAY be out by the end of the year

 

Personally - in view of the quality of the PD3 TE South - I too was impatient for the rest - so I took the plunge to install

XP 11 and the full TE Britain Package at a belting to my Internet use.

It took a while to sort it out - but I've found that it does not appear to be as good as my PD3 TE South version - compared with smaller settings

than I used on PD3 - and maxed out in XP 11

 

That does not go to say that the XP version is NOT as good - that's just my take - and my mid range computer's "View"

Maybe when all the work is completed - we might get an upgrade to the XP11.

 

This is an untouched  view of the XP11 version TE Central of me flying over my sister's in Morcambe - Lancashire - 

with my I5 9600 - 3.9 - 1050TI with the best setting I can get

 

Look closely and you can see Blackpool Tower way to the South - around 35 miles away

[Christopher Low]

The section of land that "sticks out" in the background is where I will be tomorrow.......Fleetwood in Lancashire. I am going to collect some free RAM that a friend has kindly offered me.

[pmb]

12 hours ago, Nick Cooper said:

Orbx are as keen to sell products as customers are to buy them.

 

Add me to the list. I am not rich enough to stuff 3 simulators in parallel, thus I made a clear cut and stopped buying any further X-Plane addons some time ago. More or less impatiently (yes, I confess) looking forward to the next ORBX True Earth products for Prepar3d now.

 

I am sure, Prepar3d can cope well with Orthophoto-based scenery as such. Several makers have proven it, and ORBX themselves have shown they are able to do it well with the nice True Earth Netherlands.

 

Kind regards, Michael

[Benny]

Maybe XP as a better and faster graphic engine?

Ben

[pmb]

9 minutes ago, Benny said:

Maybe XP as a better and faster graphic engine?

Ben

I wouldn't say so. There are enough orthophoto-based products by several makers - not to be named here, but including ORBX TE NL - to prove that it can be done in Prepar3d, and according to my experience are convincing, some even excellent, visually as well as performance-wise. 

 

From what I learned, the issue with TE GB South was less with the orthophotos but mainly with the way the exorbitant number of buildings in the London area were handled in the Prepar3d version.

 

I am sure, the team led by Sascha Norman will get TE GB right as well and make it into a stunning product.

 

Kind regards, Michael

[Christopher Low]

I personally feel that the "3DM file" buildings could do with a visual upgrade. Before I disabled them on my system, I noted that many of the buildings looked a bit "bland", and this (coupled with some of the weird geometrical shapes) contributed to many of them looking out of place with the rest of the scenery. On a side note, I would also like to see better looking versions of the Canary Wharf buildings. As these are very close to London City airport, they need to look suitably detailed.

[John Venema]

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

[John Heaton]

19 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

The section of land that "sticks out" in the background is where I will be tomorrow.......Fleetwood in Lancashire. I am going to collect some free RAM that a friend has kindly offered me.

Pick up some Fisherman's Friends" whilst you are there

 

Every time I open a packet - I can smell the Fish from the docks

[John Heaton]

4 hours ago, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

 

Oh !!! - I love the sound of that last bit - and here's me - thinking it was already an "OK" add on.

 

Can I be rude JV - ?? - and request a discount for TE XP owners of Central and North - as a Chrissy pressie

 

Now that would give me a good reason to hang on to PD3  - in addition to AV2 - and still use my good expensive

aircraft bought 5  months ago - and the new 2TB drive - that I bought  - after you said that that is adequate to handle all the Orbx

stuff that I own

 

[kevinfirth]

8 hours ago, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

Christmas eve?

Seriously, thanks, looking forward to these very much

[bvdboomen]

8 hours ago, John Venema said:

including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement.

I knew there was much to gain on that part. Thank you for the good news John.

How about the misalignment of the airfields? I don't mind seeing the CVX files of FTX England there to cover the photoreal airfield underground.

See this for example (photoreal airplanes and other anomalies visible):

[TymK]

13 hours ago, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

 

Thanks John, that's great news. Do you know if the changes to the buildings will also alleviate the huge performance hit caused by building shadows compared to non-TE regions?

[bcrawley57]

That's fantastic news John.  Will we be able to keep the scenery active for all our aircraft or will it be too much with a PMDG aircraft flying into the airspace for example?

[pmb]

19 hours ago, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

Just great news. Nothing to add.

 

Thanks and kind regards, Michael 

[Christopher Low]

Just one question. Will the P3D v4 version of TrueEarth North include higher resolution mesh than the XP11 version? I already have 5m resolution mesh for all of Scotland, but the positions of 3D objects could be a problem if they have been designed to "fit" in a 30m resolution mesh landscape.

[kevinfirth]

3d objects would fit to the terrain mesh I expect? problems with airport elevations may be more of an issue potentially? Sure @Christopher Low and/or I would test it for you? 

[SGunard]

On 11/2/2019 at 12:07 AM, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

Thanks JV, that's great news. Looks like I'll have an excuse to get those Northern airports now! :-)

[IanHarr]

On 11/2/2019 at 2:07 AM, John Venema said:

Ok an update.

 

We will release all three TrueEarth GB regions for P3D in December on the same day, including a V2 of GB South which includes the rearchitecting of the buildings for a big performance improvement. Beta for these is late November, so we’re on track as planned. Customers of TE GB South will get the V2 upgrade for free.

Looking forward to this. I have been quite disappointed with TE south: the realism I expected is completely lacking. I know it's not photo-real but had hoped that at least major features in my home town would be recognisable. They are not.

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I wonder why you would write that a photo scenery product is not photo real?

Can you perhaps elaborate a little on what you expected to see?

[Museumkeeper]

17 minutes ago, IanHarr said:

Looking forward to this. I have been quite disappointed with TE south: the realism I expected is completely lacking. I know it's not photo-real but had hoped that at least major features in my home town would be recognisable. They are not.

How Photoreal do you want it ?.

 

42,000 square miles (107,349 km²) of hand corrected, crisp, color-matched aerial imagery
Accurate building shapes to precisely match the ortho imagery footprints
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VFR landmarks such as masts, windfarms, churches, power-lines, castles, stadiums and lighthouses are all accurately placed.
Hundreds of custom-modelled 3D POIs
Hand-placed and custom modelled landmarks placed throughout the scenery such as bridges, skyscrapers, castles, piers, and monuments – this is especially noticeable in city areas such as London and along the coast.
Sharp and detailed 10-meter mesh brings out stunning detail in natural features such as hills and beaches
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[IanHarr]

On 11/9/2019 at 4:26 PM, Nick Cooper said:

Hello,

I wonder why you would write that a photo scenery product is not photo real?

Can you perhaps elaborate a little on what you expected to see?

Well, maybe my understanding of PR is incorrect but I would have expected to see not just London but all major towns with their most outstanding landmarks.

Hand-placed and custom modelled landmarks placed throughout the scenery such as bridges, skyscrapers, castles, piers, and monuments – this is especially noticeable in city areas such as London and along the coast. Maybe just not inland?

If I fly North from Luton, I will reach the County Town of Bedford.  Bedford has a river, granted this is shown but it also has a large church in the centre of town with a 150' spire. No sign of this. Along the river are old Victorian houses, shown as modern offices. It also has a famous School on a 50 acre site, no sign of that either. There is no sign of the old Castle site.

Near to Bedford is Cardington, the home of the 2 enormous hangers which housed the R101 airship. They are 800' long and 170' high, again not there in TE.

 

The overall effect is very attractive and reflects the appearance of the countryside but Photo-real not by a long way.

 

[Nick Cooper]

Thanks.

In fact it is photo real but some of the POIs are missing and building types

vary from your local knowledge?

I agree that the hangars at Cardington are an omission but otherwise, I would say

that the scenery is a good representation of what is there, subject to the accuracy

possible within the limitations of the simulator.

[John Venema]

For GB South we modelled over 1,200 custom buildings and nearly 500 castles and stadiums which is the most extensive large area scenery modelling project ever made for any flight simulator. However as Nick has pointed out it cannot possibly cover every significant feature and structure of every town and of course some compromises have to be made. 
 

Where I live in Hampshire there are significant buildings that are not modelled either, but they are represented by facsimiles which do a fairly good job of representing what is there.

 

However I agree that the omission of a church with a 150ft spire is an issue and should have been generated based on the UK Govt data we used. We have taken note of your comments and hopefully can address this in a service pack soon.

[oldboy43]

Thank you John.

cheers

Karoly

[IanHarr]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your replies.

In no way am I running your product down, I have many others and am quite happy with them.

I had noticed your comments on the updates and just wanted to know what photo-real meant in real life application.

Now I know.

I look forward to seeing the update at some stage.

 

Mr.V. for your info here is an aerial picture of St.Paul's, Bedford. I think you will agree, hardly inconsequential.

[Aaron Penn]

Thanks John.  I have an old i5 6600 with only 8gs of memory and and 2g video card and I can play True Earth GB South with all sliders at and still get around 40 frames per second.  This is 1920 x1080 but it still look great to me.  So  you don't need a super computer to enjoy this platform on P3d V4

.

[JamieBrooks]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:57 AM, John Venema said:

For GB South we modelled over 1,200 custom buildings and nearly 500 castles and stadiums which is the most extensive large area scenery modelling project ever made for any flight simulator. However as Nick has pointed out it cannot possibly cover every significant feature and structure of every town and of course some compromises have to be made. 
 

Where I live in Hampshire there are significant buildings that are not modelled either, but they are represented by facsimiles which do a fairly good job of representing what is there.

 

However I agree that the omission of a church with a 150ft spire is an issue and should have been generated based on the UK Govt data we used. We have taken note of your comments and hopefully can address this in a service pack soon.

 

Does the v2 for South P3D include the new stadiums and POI's modelled for the Xplane update?

[John Venema]

I believe it does, let me check with the devs and confirm this for you.

 

EDIT: Yes, all POIs in the XP11 regions have been ported across to the P3D regions. First beta starting end of next week for South V2 with the completely new 3DM architecture and many other visual and performance improvements

[JamieBrooks]

2 hours ago, John Venema said:

I believe it does, let me check with the devs and confirm this for you.

 

Awesome thanks John

[W2DR]

On 11/19/2019 at 7:31 PM, Aaron Penn said:

Thanks John.  I have an old i5 6600 with only 8gs of memory and and 2g video card and I can play True Earth GB South with all sliders at and still get around 40 frames per second.  This is 1920 x1080 but it still look great to me.  So  you don't need a super computer to enjoy this platform on P3d V4

.

 

Trolling?

[BerndBAngert]

On 10/31/2019 at 10:43 PM, Nick Cooper said:

 

Hi Nick, I am 75 years old from Germany and started flying about 1.5 years ago with the Xplane11 Simulator. 
I bought some products from ORBX. England, USA etc. 
But I'm unsure if everything is in the right place 
at the scernery ini DAtei. Can you help me? 
I do not know anyone else who can help me.

scenery_packs Kopie.txt

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I know a man who will indeed help you, so I have moved this to his forum.

[Jon Clarke]

36 minutes ago, Nick Cooper said:

Hello,

I know a man who will indeed help you, so I have moved this to his forum.

Already done and answered in his XP support post earlier.