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Will Global make full fat regions obsolete?

StormVR6

By StormVR6
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StormVR6 Senior Member

StormVR6

Posted
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After enjoying some wonderful flights around FTX Global's New York and Cork - and seeing the news regarding the new Vector package - I've been left wondering if Global will cause the full fat regions to become obsolete, or, at least, less appealing.


 


Currently, within Global, I'm able to enjoy a lighting system that actually works, with far better visual appearance than the gimmicky FTX day/night system and almost zero impact on performance. I'm able to fly from the US to the UK without stopping the flight, exiting FSX and switching to the European region. I can enjoy the luxury of choosing any destination in the world, in the knowledge that I'll arrive witnessing FTX textures.


 


Obviously, at present, the full fat regions exhibit a higher level of fidelity, but they're not photo real scenery packs, therefore not accurate. And with the imminent arrival of both OpenLC and Vector (both of which I'll be buying) the differences in fidelity will become so small that why bother with individual regions when I can have the entire globe (upgraded with OpenLC and Vector) for around the same price as seven, comparably minuscule, regions? The quality of the FTX regions is significant here; much of the extra detail is wasted because it's not accurate in the first place; how much more will somebody, who has never visited England, appreciate the full region over the Global version once it's had it's OpenLC/Vector upgrades? Neither are close to photo real, so who cares if the full version of Blackpool has a tower and the Global version doesn't? 


 


Do the full regions offer enough to justify their price and allow them to stand head and shoulders above what Global will eventually offer? Should I stop buying regions and simply wait for OpenLC and Vector?  


 


Thank you.            

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John Venema Orbx VIP

John Venema

Posted
Posted

You decide for yourself when NCA Northern California is released. In that region alone, the following area are made in gorgeous photoreal, watermasked and annotated with autogen and full seasons:

Brown Mountain
Cinder Cone
Crater Lake
Glass Mountain
Honey Lake
Humboldt Bay
Klamath Lake
Klamath Marsh
Lassen Peak
Lower Klamath Lake
Mount Shasta
Whitney Butte

Then every airport is upgraded with 3 D grass, PeopleFow, CreatureFlow, StaticFow, custom modelled hangars and much more

Then we have a whole bunch of never before seen textures fully annotated

Tim has modelled a beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and brand new Bay Bridges.

We have made the region fully compatible with Aerosoft San Franciso X, as well as FlightBeam's KSFO.

We then have the new 3D lighting systems, the first for a region, for incredible lighting without FPS loss  (EDIT: NCA will still use the older style lights, sorry)

Add to that hand-placed landclass created by two people for every single square kilometre, much better than any OSM based LC

Finally add Holger's exemplary roads, rivers, coastlines, railways and his impeccable eye for detail.


That is content you will never, ever get with FTX Global and the three layers, not in a million years. So we are not concerned about revenue lost from FTX regions, not a tiny bit.

A good and valid question though :)

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StormVR6 Senior Member

StormVR6

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You decide for yourself when NCA Northern California is released. In that region alone, the following area are made in gorgeous photoreal, watermasked and annotated with autogen and full seasons:

Brown Mountain

Cinder Cone

Crater Lake

Glass Mountain

Honey Lake

Humboldt Bay

Klamath Lake

Klamath Marsh

Lassen Peak

Lower Klamath Lake

Mount Shasta

Whitney Butte

Then every airport is upgraded with 3 D grass, PeopleFow, CreatureFlow, StaticFow, custom modelled hangars and much more

Then we have a whole bunch of never before seen textures fully annotated

Tim has modelled a beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and brand new Bay Bridges.

We have made the region fully compatible with Aerosoft San Franciso X, as well as FlightBeam's KSFO.

We then have the new 3D lighting systems, the first for a region, for incredible lighting without FPS loss

Add to that hand-placed landclass created by two people for every single square kilometre, much better than any OSM based LC

Finally add Holger's exemplary roads, rivers, coastlines, railways and his impeccable eye for detail.

That is content you will never, ever get with FTX Global and the three layers, not in a million years. So we are not concerned about revenue lost from FTX regions, not a tiny bit.

A good and valid question though :)

 

 

I think that pretty much answers my question, John!

 

Thanks for the elaboration. And the new lighting is truly outstanding, great work. 

Im assuming its a huge job to go back and do the older regions with the new lighting system?

 

Just a question....dont bite my head off! lol ^-^

 

I hope not.

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Wolter van der Spoel Orbx VIP

Wolter van der Spoel

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Im assuming its a huge job to go back and do the older regions with the new lighting system?

 

Just a question....dont bite my head off! lol ^-^

 

Hi Glenn,

 

it was already announced a wee while back that there will be a retrofit to the older sceneries to update the lighting system to the latest standards, only drawback is that this takes time, I can only advise to stay tuned for the announcements :)

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sightseer Life Member

sightseer

Posted
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You just made me even more anxious for NorCal John. :)

+1

It seems to me that Global and OpenLC and OpenVector will actually raise the bar on individual regions so they'd probably be even better than before. Orbx keeps raising the bar. I think I will (gladly) be stuck in NCA for quite some time.

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JimmiG Life Member

JimmiG

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Posted

+1

It seems to me that Global and OpenLC and OpenVector will actually raise the bar on individual regions so they'd probably be even better than before. Orbx keeps raising the bar. I think I will (gladly) be stuck in NCA for quite some time.

 

Yeah they will have to if they want to sell those regions.

 

I've always been very skeptical towards FTX Global, but combined with Vector and OpenLC, it might actually be worth giving it a shot. It would allow for fairly accurate scenery over my home country of Sweden - I'm not expecting the same quality as OrbX regions, but towns should at least be recognizable instead of missing completely in the sim. I'm also interested in doing some bush flying in Africa and explore the rest of the US. Then you can just fill in with OrbX regions as they get released over a period of several years.

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Andrew 737 Life Member

Andrew 737

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+1It seems to me that Global and OpenLC and OpenVector will actually raise the bar on individual regions so they'd probably be even better than before. Orbx keeps raising the bar. I think I will (gladly) be stuck in NCA for quite some time.

I just thought exactly the same after reading John's post - lets watch this space :)

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Jotayhen Advanced Member

Jotayhen

Posted
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The OP's question is an intriguing one probably more so for those who are more interested in long-distance, high-altitude, high-speed flight. Also probably for those who live in areas of the world not covered in as much detail as is provided by the existing regional scenery packages.


 


Speaking as one whose primary focus is low-altitude, low-speed flight, the existing regional packages provide by far the best opportunity to enjoy my best flight experience.  I believe all would agree that the existing available full-featured territorial scenery packages are best viewed from a "low and slow" perspective.  Given that, each of these packages individually offers a very large area in which to explore and when they are linked together the overall territory becomes huge in comparison to the ground covered during the average GA flight experience.


 


I certainly recognize the value of FTXG and the upcoming newly announced products.  I own and enjoy Global and I fully intend to purchase the new products when each becomes available.  As good as Global is and I'm certain the new announcements will be, they probably will not replace the satisfaction and enjoyment I receive by owning the existing Orbx "fat" territories and the accompanying individual airports.


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John Venema Orbx VIP

John Venema

Posted
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Im assuming its a huge job to go back and do the older regions with the new lighting system?

 

Just a question....dont bite my head off! lol ^-^

 

Actually it's not a HUGE job, but not a small one either. That said, there are some new tools out there which will de-compile .agn files to text files and re-compile them back again, so we are actually looking at writing some code which will automatically suck in all our AGN tiles, replace the codes for the lighting with the new ones, then recompile. That in theory should make the conversion process possible in a few days, once the conversion tool code is written and debugged.

 

That is the theory anyway. We will look seriously into the conversion side of things for the older regions once openLC Europe is released and things quieten down over the Dec-Jan break.

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Larry W Advanced Member

Larry W

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I've been flying the NGX and Ax320 almost exclusively and I have purchased all of the regions, with the exception of Northern Ireland.  I have destinations in all of the regions except for NI.  The release of FTXG has been a god-send with the new 777.  I've purchased 9 airports in the past week alone because I can now fly into any area of the world without the let-down of default scenery.  


 


I don't really "need" (in a relative sense) NCA but I'll buy it because it will make that area incrementally better for me.  It's purely a matter of personal taste in making the experience subjectively better.  It even makes VFR more tempting for me.  And like many (most?) customers, getting the new lighting in the existing regions is high on my list (although I now see that won't happen in NCA initially).


 


The great thing for me about FTX products is that I can have a single source for all of my scenery.  I don't have to deal with making sure that scenery products from different vendors play nice together.  All of that is taken care of for me now.  I still have to give a little thought with some airports, but it doesn't confuse my aging mind the way landclass, mesh, vector, etc do.


 


This is the golden age of simming for me.


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johnny Senior Member

johnny

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a quick final question from me if I may - the discussions concerning the breakdown of the various elements has helped me understand a few things I have taken for granted in the past - but concerning the mesh, which generates the topographic detail - this only included in the regions, and without the regions a third party mesh would be required?


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Foxbat Senior Member

Foxbat

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Posted

I could be wrong - but I think some of the EU regions did not have a mesh? Or maybe it was one of the others.


 




a quick final question from me if I may - the discussions concerning the breakdown of the various elements has helped me understand a few things I have taken for granted in the past - but concerning the mesh, which generates the topographic detail - this only included in the regions, and without the regions a third party mesh would be required?



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jpreou Life Member

jpreou

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Interesting discussion. Generally, other than my current RtW trip, my flying will be limited to NZ, my home country, and the UK later on (since I spent the first 25 yrs of my life there).


Even so, I'm a proud owner of Global, will definitely buy Vector and will also (when funds permit) invest in a decent global mesh. I will also buy ORBX regions and airports as funds permit.


Why? you ask, when I have clearly stated I won't fly in these areas much?


Two reasons


1. When I *do* visit other areas of the world in FSX, I want the best experience I can get at reasonable cost, since it is incredibly unlikely I will go there in person (therefore, I won't even notice minor inaccuracies, or even major ones probably, but it will look good).


2. In no small part, and at least equal to the first reason; I want to support ORBX since they are making the kind of progress our hobby *needs*. Thanks guys.


 


Cheers

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Foxbat Senior Member

Foxbat

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Posted

Cool thanks Wolter.


 


To the OP - I have been pondering the same question myself and decided that for the type of flying I do - Low, slow, VFR - the regions are great with points of interest, upgraded airports and the regional colour variations.  That said even I think with the Global+LC+Vector data - maybe the difference isn't going to be that much for VFR flying.  Hope the regions get even better!


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Tim Harris Orbx VIP

Tim Harris

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Hey,

 

I read JV's post 3 on this thread and it is edited stating older style lights http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/64720-will-global-make-full-fat-regions-obsolete/?p=591326

 

Now, I am confused

 

 

Misha is not an official spokesperson for NCA, my apologies for any confusion, this subject is currently being discussed internally

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PaulL01 Member

PaulL01

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 Note these are pre-beta shots but I think they illustrate the point:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lassen_peak.png

 

mt_mcloughlin.png

 

mt_shasta.png

 

 

 

This is great, can't wait!

 

Though I know its hard to achieve perfect color balance when needing to match other color pallets,but IMHO the mountain soil colors look somewhat too light compared to the real vulcanized terrain I'm accustomed to seeing.

Maybe its a sunlit vs overcast type of thing but it just looks weird to me as some of these areas are dark grey, almost black, certainly not light grey.

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Jordan King Senior Member

Jordan King

Posted
Posted

No they are new style FTXG lights Bruce.

 

Hey John,

Just to clarify, on the 1st page you said they will be the old lights, then here you said they will be the new ones. i know things evolve in the process, so just wanted to be clear that it will be the new 3d lighting for NCA? 

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