Just Flight VFR Real Scenery, or Horizon Generation X?

[grabacr 31770]

Yes, I know it must have been asked so many times. But I really want photo sceney for England, and these are the only two competitors.

So far, my opinion is leaning towards VFR Real Scenery. It has higher res ground textures (I think), and doesn't have have hundreds of brown fields like in GenX, which I hate. Instead it has a nice yellow (which I like). And though the terrain mesh isn't quite as detailed (10m compared to 5m), it is still a huge difference over the default. And Just Flight'shas night lighting, which (unless a patch has been released), GenX doesn't. And, there are more water bodies in VFR RS.

I live in Cirencester, near Gloucester, which is slap bang in the middle of the lines separating the different regions (in both of them). But I would be looking to by the entire collection, and VFR RS is considerably cheaper.

Which do you think?

And also, could some screenshots be posted, if possible, of the same area with different products.

Thank you very much in advance.

[ScatterbrainKid]

Here are some Justflight VFR RS Central and Southern England screenshots, I haven't got GenX or anything else so I can't do comparison shots. Personally I'm not too impressed with Justflight VFR RS scenery because it's not as pin-sharp as I hoped it'd be, judge for yourself-

7000 feet Over Cirencester-




The lakes south of Cirencester, that's South Cerney below the wheel-




That's RAF Fairford just off the port wingtip, and you can just make out the runway at RAF Brize Norton a couple of inches above the tailfin-




Still over Cirencester, the River Severn is in the background. (Incidentally this VFR Central and Southern England scenery goes all the way ahead to the outskirts of Bristol)




Dropping down to about 1000 feet over Cirencester, the definition gets very blurry-




Over the Cotswold Hills. I find this altitude (around 2500 ft AGL) is about the most comfortable for cross-country navigation following roads and rails etc with the aid of a paper map on your lap. Any lower than that and things start getting seriously blurry.
Of course, trees and buildings never stick up in 3D, its just an illusion. But ground contours ARE 3D, note the 3D mesh valleys up ahead-

[munnst]

I have Horizon VFR Gen X and very pleased with it I am.
It's sharp and has great detail.

This pic from my website shows the detail, sorry but it's a bit small.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/edward....pgs/photo1.jpg

BTW here's my website, not updated for a while, I'm stuck in Iceland.

http://www.muntersworld.co.uk/

[Tim_A]

Horizon GenX knocks the spots off JF VFR Real Scene: It's sharper, the colours are more vibrant, contrast is better, it doesn't look like you are viewing it through tinted windows, the included mesh is higher resolution, the FS9 version is thrown in for free, and Scotland is in the works. Oh, and all the 150+ UK2000 airfields are designed for it.

[grabacr 31770]

Wow! Thanks alot Scatterbrainkid, I recognise a lot of those buildings in the first shot, but not quite my house. Could you maybe make a screenshot just slightly to the 12 oclock of that photo, so that I could see my house? Thanks so much anyway, it's awesome!

Anyway, I agree, it isn't actually that sharp is it? After seeing some GenX screenshots, as well as their advertisements saying some towns are in 15cm/pixel, it makes it sound very mediocre!!!

In your photos, it is only about a mile out that it starts to get very blurry. Its not great I've decided. So my opinion is now leaning heavily towards GenX. Can anyone tempt me with screenshots of it, maybe even Cirencester again?

Thanks so much

Oh, and a pretty cool website you got going there Munnst, love the Beaver repaint and idea.

[grabacr 31770]

Horizon GenX knocks the spots off JF VFR Real Scene: It's sharper, the colours are more vibrant, contrast is better, it doesn't look like you are viewing it through tinted windows, the included mesh is higher resolution, the FS9 version is thrown in for free, and Scotland is in the works. Oh, and all the 150+ UK2000 airfields are designed for it.

Wow. I didn't know all that. So, GenX is better? Lots better? Thanks.

Oh,and do any have custom place autogen? Not that I'd use it, but it would be cool to have. And, any more custom scenery objects, in comparison to default?

[Tim_A]

Neither has custom autogen as part of the product, but there is user generated autogen that although designed for GenX will work reasonably well for both (you'd have to figure out for yourself how to install it into JF)

[ScatterbrainKid]

Could you maybe make a screenshot just slightly to the 12 oclock of that photo, so that I could see my house?

Try this one mate, but if it's precise aerial pictures you want, why not download free Google Earth then you can zoom right in to see your house and your dog playing in the garden..
Tell me your street name and i'll send you a GE screenshot of it if you like

[Mogget]

I purchased VFR Real Scenery by mistake, because I thought that it was the same product. Therefore, since I now use VFR Generation X Version 2, I can give you an honest comparison.....

In short, buy VFR Generation X Version 2. You might not like brown fields, but I can promise you that seeing plenty of them scattered around (totally accurate, since it is a myth that all fields in Britain are green) is infinitely preferable to the washed out, low contrast "sea of green" that is VFR Real Scenery. In addition, VFR Gen X2 has water masks (you can see sand banks and channels under shallow water), and this alone is worth the asking price. Then you get 5 metre resolution terrain mesh (twice the resolution of VFR Real Scenery), and 1.2m per pixel textures that look good even at an altitude of only 200 metres!!!

Tim has already mentioned VFR Airfields, and I have both volumes installed. That gives me over 150 superbly detailed airfields and airports that blend seamlessly with the VFR Generation X Version 2 terrain. The combination is unbeatable.

[jonahbird]

And well worth the extra money, Gary Summons' Xtreme airports on Horizon's GenX version 2 have to be seen to be believed.