announcement Introducing NZ Mesh for Microsoft Flight Simulator!

[Orbx]

 

 

NZ Mesh is the first product made with our new proprietary approach for custom terrain meshes for Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

 

Created from carefully blended high-resolution DEM data, NZ Mesh is a 100% self-contained product with no changes made to the default mesh or any other files. With virtually no noticeable performance impact, each LOD is consistent without any blurring and minimal LOD morphing when flying over the diverse terrain of New Zealand.

 

When installed, NZ Mesh takes up only 523MB of hard drive space and comes in at a 10m resolution. We are planning future updates to this product with LIDAR data of up to 1 m resolution to further enhance terrain detail in rural and urban areas.

 

We will be releasing NZ Mesh this week at AUD$15.95 (excl tax).

 

We have a selection of comparison screenshots below that show how NZ Mesh compares with the default provided by MSFS. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Airlifter]

Looks very good and given the friendly price, I'll probably buy it (I'm an Orbx-addict ), but to be honest; if these comparisonshots show anything, it's how good the default mesh already is.
The difference is mainly a nuance and I wonder if you really notice it during flight.

[Matt Bridger]

Can't wait until you do this magic to the European Alps!!

 

[Thorsten42]

The thing is if it helps to reduce the horrible morphing like said

2 hours ago, Orbx said:

each LOD is consistent without any blurring or LOD morphing

then I'm sold...

Cheers

T.

[D0S]

This is awesome news, the default NZ mesh is really lacking compared to the NZNI and NZSI terrain I was used to in the FSX days. Absolutely thrilled to see NZ chosen by Orbx as the first mesh for MSFS 

[AnkH]

Rather show images from locations where default mesh is completely off, like in the milford sound. THIS would be interesting, not mountain ridges that are almost as good id default...

[TigerTigerM]

I wonder if you could slow the Default/New cycle down & hold each shot on for maybe 3 seconds ilo of what appears on my laptop to be less than a second per display?

Or better still, use the 'swipe right' & hold" method as at the current speed I can't appreciate the subtleties between Default & New. 

TTM

 

[BradB]

Instant buy for me , way to go Orbx . Maybe we can fly and take screenshots over NZ .......

[pmb]

Offset between static default and reworked shots may not look too striking but:

 

In my eyes, the best feature would be missing terrain morphing, which has been with us in all FSX/ESP-based simulators as far as I can think back. If this can indeed be achied, I see a bright future for the technology.

 

Kind reagrds, Michael

 

[MikeFlight]

Hello,

is it possible to see a comparison for this?

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by MikeFlight

[pigloaf]

Fantastic! Can’t wait to get this. Bring on that 1m mesh -will that be a free update?

[Urgent Siesta]

I'm sure I'd never notice the difference, but more accurate is better, and NZ is a wonderful place to fly.

 

One thing that's cool is to see the spots where the imagery better fits the mesh and a terrain feature suddenly makes sense, instead of just looking like a tablecloth set over some objects.

 

Interesting addon, will definitely consider!

[Sanguis_fluit]

What’s the purpose of this? I own all the sims and I support Orbx but I would like to see something for the other 2 sims which need stuff like this. It’s becoming the Microsoft scenery factory here. It’s ok to make add ons for all the sims. 

[wolfko]

Thank you Orbx. Finally MSFS peaks will be peaked and not rounded.

[wolfko]

10 hours ago, Airlifter said:

...but to be honest; if these comparisonshots show anything, it's how good the default mesh already is.
The difference is mainly a nuance and I wonder if you really notice it during flight.

 

I object. Most default MSFS mountain peaks are much too rounded. This is a major complaint in many MSFS forums. I am sure that this new Orbx mesh will provide more realitically peaked peaks.

[cyberpilot]

Anything to improve NZ scenery is most welcome so thank you Orbx, but I have to say I'm rather underwhelmed by this.

For me the benchmark is Lyndiman's ortho scenery of NZ for XP11.

It's absolutely stunning and the reason why I haven't completely embraced MSFS.  

[MasonDominique]

Same comment as urgent fiesta here.

1) From the comparisons shots, i see 10-15 % improvement compared to MSFS defaut mesh. Not interesting enough.

2) To enjoy a high fidelity mesh, you need at least to have some airports around. That's still not the case today.

Conclusion ?

This is...  putting the cart before the horses.

 

And i need many horses, Auckland, Nelson, Queenstown, Christchurch and  Wellington.

None of these are available yet. Read my lips : None of these are available yet (*)

(*) Most of them, i bought for nothing since it was for P3D, and not any scenery editors had ported them to MSFS yet.

Dom Mason

 

That said, i cannot ignore the formidable work done here.

The first shot shows indeed profond modifications.

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by MasonDominique

[F737MAX]

7 hours ago, pmb said:

Offset between static default and reworked shots may not look too striking but:

 

In my eyes, the best feature would be missing terrain morphing, which has been with us in all FSX/ESP-based simulators as far as I can think back. If this can indeed be achied, I see a bright future for the technology.

Precisely!
There's already a lot of popping of terrain in MSFS as it changes LOD when you approach.

If the terrain engine is similar to FSX/ESP sims, increasing the resolution of the mesh would seem to exacerbate the popping issue.
Fingers crossed Orbx has found a way to reduce this problem from being as visible.

 

Orbx's improvement in mesh is something to be welcomed. These mountains look less rounded, and more like the real thing!
 

Edited May 11, 2021 by F737NG

[pigloaf]

1 hour ago, MasonDominique said:

 

2) To enjoy a high fidelity mesh, you need at least to have some airports around. That's still not the case today.

 

 

New Zealand has a heap of very high quality airports available or very near release - most of them payware quality from Orbx partner NZA Simulations - but free. This is just the quality stuff:

 

Released:

NZRO Rotorua  (FREE)
NZNR Napier (FREE)

NZKI Kaikoura (FREE)
NZTL Tekapo (FREE)

NZWS Westport (FREE)
NZOU Oamaru (FREE)

NZDN Dunedin (FREE)

NZMF Milford Sound (FREE)

 

Release imminent:

NZAA Auckland

NZNS Nelson

 

In Progress:
NZCH Christchurch

NZNP New Plymouth
NZTI Taieri

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by pigloaf

[BradB]

19 minutes ago, pigloaf said:

 

New Zealand has a heap of very high quality airports available or very near release - most of them payware quality from Orbx partner NZA Simulations - but free. This is just the quality stuff:

 

Released:

NZRO Rotorua  (FREE)
NZNR Napier (FREE)

NZKI Kaikoura (FREE)
NZTL Tekapo (FREE)

NZWS Westport (FREE)
NZOU Oamaru (FREE)

NZDN Dunedin (FREE)

NZMF Milford Sound (FREE)

 

Release imminent:

NZAA Auckland

NZNS Nelson

 

In Progress:
NZCH Christchurch

NZNP New Plymouth
NZTI Taieri

 

 +1 - 72 airports or scenery enhancements available right now over at flightsim.to .

[carlosqr]

28 minutes ago, pigloaf said:

 

New Zealand has a heap of very high quality airports available or very near release - most of them payware quality from Orbx partner NZA Simulations - but free. This is just the quality stuff:

 

Released:

NZRO Rotorua  (FREE)
NZNR Napier (FREE)

NZKI Kaikoura (FREE)
NZTL Tekapo (FREE)

NZWS Westport (FREE)
NZOU Oamaru (FREE)

NZDN Dunedin (FREE)

NZMF Milford Sound (FREE)

 

Yeap

 

I wonder how all these work with the mesh, would they have compatibility issues?

I have all the free ones

 

 

Release imminent:

NZAA Auckland

NZNS Nelson

Lovely

 

In Progress:
NZCH Christchurch

NZNP New Plymouth
NZTI Taieri

Awesome!

 

Sadly none from Orbx, not even the ones that were exclusive of Orbx...

 

 

[Ed Correia]

5 hours ago, MikeFlight said:

Hello,

is it possible to see a comparison for this?

 

 

 

Note that this is with the default NZMF.

 

 

[SimFlightPro]

 

[Danni]

The bad "morphing" issue only started after WU3 and is a bug, we shouldn't have to pay to have bugs fixed and as far as I understand it this is the same res mesh as the base game so while the improvements are welcome I think this is down to Asobo to sort out, at least the morphing issue.

When the 1m mesh is introduced that will be a product worthy of a purchase on its own merit.

[D0S]

First impressions running the new Orbx NZ mesh. 

 

Looks pretty similar to default (wonder what the MSFS mesh res is for the region- 20m maybe?), but no water climbing around coastlines or any sign of rounded off mountains popping in and out of view makes for a much more immersive experience that default!

 

 

 

 

 

I note that the Orbx NZNI/NZSI addons from FSX and P3D contained the same res 10m Holgermesh, so it is as at least as good as previous NZ virtual addons for the sim. Looking forward to the 1m res updates!

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by zkdos

[FireRx]

Question,

is the mesh landable without you aircraft falling thru to the default? with helicopters we're apt to land anywhere

[AnkH]

Seriously, I wonder how this mesh is compatible with the many sceneries on flightsim.to. I guess I wait until I know it for each of those I already downloaded. At least Milford Sound seems to be incompatible...

[Britjet]

No terrain morphing at all, which is a first for me and makes a huge difference!

And all for such a small file size. Well done Orbx!

Here’s hoping the same thing can be done for all significant terrain worldwide.

Britjet

[Scott Harmes]

12 hours ago, FireRx said:

Question,

is the mesh landable without you aircraft falling thru to the default? with helicopters we're apt to land anywhere

 

The mesh becomes the new "ground", so yes, you can land on it anywhere.

[bernd1151]

First of all, this is terrific news. But, and this is a big but for me: like Chris aka AnkH, I have many NZ freeware airports from the Tonga site. If they now become incompatible with this product, I don't see a point in buying it. For me this means, I will wait with the purchase until I know, what is going to happen in this respect.

[BradB]

1 hour ago, bernd1151 said:

First of all, this is terrific news. But, and this is a big but for me: like Chris aka AnkH, I have many NZ freeware airports from the Tonga site. If they now become incompatible with this product, I don't see a point in buying it. For me this means, I will wait with the purchase until I know, what is going to happen in this respect.

I would hope the NZ freeware developers will be working on fixes shortly. 

[bernd1151]

12 hours ago, BradB said:

I would hope the NZ freeware developers will be working on fixes shortly. 

I very much hope so too, John. If they are willing to invest in the Orbx scenery, otherwise...

[jaropsax]

"I wonder how all these work with the mesh, would they have compatibility issues"

 

I've not noticed any compatibility issues so far (have flown into freeware NZDN and NZOU). The NZDN one is not by NZA simulations is it? I found one on Flightsim.to but not by them. I'm from Dunedin and almost always fly out of there, so very interested in any products for that region. I'm definitely enjoying this add-on, I don't feel like the still pictures do it justice.