Best add on scenery

Hi all

 

I've just purchased a new PC (Specs below) and i'm in the process of setting up FSX and add ons.

 

I would like some advice on what are the best scenery addons. Payware or freeware.

 

On youtube I have seen set ups where the cities look so real and I feel my system should be able to cope with this.

 

Please help as I'd like my FSX and scenery to look as real as possible.

 

Thanks GH

Hi,"Best" is a very speculative term....it all depends on YOUR particular taste in what you are trying to achieve. For "low and slow" it's Orbx for my money,Aerosoft sells some fine add-ons for airports and such. If you are a "high-flyer"as in commercial jetliners or Biz-jets you may prefer photo-real scenery,be aware,most of those you-tube videos have been edited using software that enhances the vid so take those with a grain of salt.Best of luck with your set-up!:D

Well your lucky as you apear to live in the UK, the UK is very well served by add-on scenery, both payware and freeware. Im not going to go into it all but do some sniffing around. For non-photo stuff there is ORBX UK is aparently very very good. Also UTEurope is very good. For Photo there is VFR Photographic Scenery Generation X which I use (for Scotland) and its excellent. (although no good if its snowing). As for the rest of the world, there is simply too much to mention. Off the top of my head. Fly Tampa make some very good payware scenery, and I recently found a freeware photoscenery of Antigua which is very good. Plenty people out there have compiled their list of "top tens".

Here in the UK, I use the VFR Real scenery. In this respect, I wish I had purchased the Generation X scenery instead. All of UK2000 airports are designed to work with Gen X scenery and are very good. They do work OK with the VFR Real Scenery but the colour match isn't quite so good.

 

IAN

Hi,"Best" is a very speculative term....it all depends on YOUR particular taste in what you are trying to achieve. For "low and slow" it's Orbx for my money,Aerosoft sells some fine add-ons for airports and such. If you are a "high-flyer"as in commercial jetliners or Biz-jets you may prefer photo-real scenery,be aware,most of those you-tube videos have been edited using software that enhances the vid so take those with a grain of salt.Best of luck with your set-up!:D

I am a 'high flyer' and I have purchased a few of the Just Flight VFR Real Scenery add ons. I like them but am a little disappointed that the scenery doesn't have any depth to it when at low altitudes. Maybe I'm being picky. I do have Aerosofts Heathrow extreme which is very impressive. I'm yet to add it to my new system. My last system could not cope with it and gave me a huge hit on FPS. Hopefully it will be fine on my new set up.

 

Oh, so the you tube videos are enhanced? Well it fooled me I must say.

 

Thanks for your advice.

Well your lucky as you apear to live in the UK, the UK is very well served by add-on scenery, both payware and freeware. Im not going to go into it all but do some sniffing around. For non-photo stuff there is ORBX UK is aparently very very good. Also UTEurope is very good. For Photo there is VFR Photographic Scenery Generation X which I use (for Scotland) and its excellent. (although no good if its snowing). As for the rest of the world, there is simply too much to mention. Off the top of my head. Fly Tampa make some very good payware scenery, and I recently found a freeware photoscenery of Antigua which is very good. Plenty people out there have compiled their list of "top tens".

 

I am lucky to live in Uk (apart from our miserable weather) and do seem to have a great choice of scenery add ons. As I said in earlier post I do own some of the Just Flight VFR scenery but it seems the Generation X has plenty of support. I am going to look into this and the ORBX series, so thanks for that. I will also look into the other ones you mention for outside the UK. Thanks

Here in the UK, I use the VFR Real scenery. In this respect, I wish I had purchased the Generation X scenery instead. All of UK2000 airports are designed to work with Gen X scenery and are very good. They do work OK with the VFR Real Scenery but the colour match isn't quite so good.

 

IAN

 

You also mention Gen X as have the other posters. VFR Real scenery is great at high altitudes, although a little dark in appearance but I'm certainly going to explore the Gen X series. Thanks for advice.

Here's my FSX Tiger Moth over Henley-on-Thames using Horizon VFR Photographic Scenery Generation X with the Treescapes program added.

Buildings are pancake-flat but you don't notice from this height. Hills and contours are there, and the Treescapes program adds 3D trees which really brings it to life-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-TMothb.gif

 

 

 

Everything is in its proper place (roads, railways, rivers etc) so I keep atlas pages like this open on my desk in front of me to navigate around by eyeball for fun-

 

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/FSX-henleyb.gif

 

 

http://www.flightstore.co.uk/search/vfr-generation-x

Wow SBK. It looks amazing. I think Ive seen your image somewhere on the forum before. Its a pity that the buildings look flat though. can you recommend any other addons where the buildings have depth?

Little tip, I have ultimate terrain Europe lying "under" my Vfr scenery and it it gives fantastic "above map" night lighting. Giving much needed depth and realism to what otherwise is static photoscenery. It looks really good.

 

Look at the first and last minute of my video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D1VY7x_gg

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D1VY7x_gg

 

You can see the UTEurope lights coming through the VFR scenery and it works really well to bring the scenery to life in the dark and dusk. Also with UTEUrope the road traffic much more accurately follows the VFR roads (if you like that kind of thing)