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FTX Global Base - Few questions


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So I am thinking about grabbing hold of the FTX Global Base for now - then getting the others at a later date. I do have a few questions though regarding this...

 

I use GenX for the UK as I like the scenery - is this compatible? So if I layer the scenery above the FTX Global entries? I do not know how FTX deal with the global stuff in the scenery config so excuse my ignorance. 

 

Likewise with my airport scenery e.g. UK2000 - are all these compatible too?

 

These will be an obvious yes if they only replace the texture files - but I do not know. 

 

Are all other FTX regions/airports compatible with FTXG? So where I fly PNW I want my PNW scenery and airports, but elsewhere have FTXG active too. 

 

Thanks,

Jim

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Hi Jim!

 

Ah, 'tis not a simple question that you ask, I fear. So this is going to be a rather long answer, but I'll try and provide as much information as I can.    :cool:

 

Many have struggled to comprehend what Orbx themselves refer to as the "layer cake" of terrain mesh, landclass data, texture layers, vector and data layers which together comprise the "scenery" that you see when you look out of the windshield of your chosen aircraft at an Orbx landscape. Here's a slightly simplified picture of the layers, although much more information is needed to fill in the details (see the links I provide, below):

 

Scenerylayercake.jpg

 

Happily, though, Orbx did eventually understand (perhaps as a result of thousands of questions from puzzled simmers on their forum) that some explanation of their methodology is needed, and they have provided it in the form of a document called "FTX Definitive Guide v2". The whole thing is full of useful information to enable you to understand the Orbx offerings and how to use them. Here's an extract from the contents page:

 

Flight Simulator Addons
Understanding your Simulator............................................................................................................. page 12
The Simulator "Layer Cake".................................................................................................................. page 12
Terrain Mesh.......................................................................................................................................... page 13
Landclass Data....................................................................................................................................... page 14
Textures & Autogen............................................................................................................................... page 15
Vector Data............................................................................................................................................. page 16
Custom Scenery..................................................................................................................................... page 17

 

Orbx FTX Products
FTX Global Products.............................................................................................................................. page 18
FTX Global Visual Differences.............................................................................................................. page 20
FTX Regional Scenery Packs................................................................................................................. page 25
FTX Regional Airports............................................................................................................................ page 26
FTX Freeware......................................................................................................................................... page 26

 

Product Use
Downloading......................................................................................................................................... page 28
Installation............................................................................................................................................. page 29
FTX Central............................................................................................................................................. page 31
Patches & Service Packs....................................................................................................................... page 35
FTX Product Configuration................................................................................................................... page 36
Orbx Libraries........................................................................................................................................ page 37
Simulator Scenery Library Configuration........................................................................................... page 38

 

You can download the document from their web site — the obvious snag being that you need a login. So just in case you haven't got one, I'll attach the file at the end of this post.  <sound of Joe gnashing his teeth as his bandwidth gets clobbered again>

 

[@Joe — I was going to add the document to our Library, but I'm not sure how Orbx would react to that?? ]

 

[@Jim]  All the information you need is in there (including the answer to the most frequently asked question of all — the one about Hybrid mode), so all you need is the time and the patience to work your way through it.   :stars:

 

If FTXG is FTX Global, then the clue is in the name — it's *Global*. So it would underlie your PNW ( or, indeed, any of the other Orbx NA offerings — CRM, NCA, NRM, PFJ, SAK, or SCA — or, for example, Norway). To quote from p. 18 of the Orbx document —

 

"FTX Global Base Pack
This is the starting point for all FTX Global upgrades. This base pack is required for complete functionality of subsequent FTX Global products. The FTX Global Base Pack fully updates all the simulator's default 1km x 1km textures tiles, replacing them with more accurate, photographic textures with a much deeper and more realistic color palette. The textures are created using photographic material, however they are NOT photoreal textures. They do not provide 100% photoreal representations of the world, so are still subject to the same limitations of the default texture tiles. That said, they are obviously a huge improvement over default, in both color, depth and general appearance. FTX Global Base Pack texture tiles also include fully hand crafted autogen placement and a newly developed night lighting system that adds actual 3D lighting to the entire globe. Finally, FTX Global Base Pack also includes some limited adjustments to Standard Landclass for certain parts of the world where the default data is particularly poor. See the FTX Global Guide (when released) for additional information."

 

The FTX Global Guide is available from this link.

 

Then you should also download the FTX Vector Guide (a.k.a. The FTX Global Vector Guide, just to be confusing — and not to be at all confused with FTX Global OpenLC, of course — the LC indicates that this is LandClass).   :whis:

 

(You see what I meant about this not being a simple question?).   ;)

 

Finally, I'm not too sure what you mean by GenX, but in general I would suggest that mixing textures and/or landclass from two different suppliers wouldn't be a tremendously good idea (if that's what you were asking?). Oh, and in answer to your question about UK2000, I have never found any incompatibilities between UK2000 airports and Orbx's England region (or any of the rest of the, er, layer cake in its UK incarnation). Well, incompatibilities that can't be fixed by deploying the FTX Vector Configuration Tool, anyway, but this is definitely the final paragraph so I won't go there...    :P

 

I hope this helps,

 

Cheers,

 

bruce

a.k.a. brian747

 

FTX Definitive Guide v2.pdf

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Wow good answer Brian - thanks for spending the time and effort throwing that together :) 

 

I will have a further read I think and I do get what purpose each FTX product from the global range does - my main concern is really with the mixing of scenery from other suppliers as I would like to have Orbx for the world and then have my GenX photoreal scenery for the UK, awkward I know ;)

 

Either that or I simply go for Orbx for everything and have my UK2000 scenery on top of that. I am just thinking there are many new regions produced from Orbx and they require global base as a minimum; so I think eventually I will have to ditch my photoreal scenery at some point. 

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Hi Jim!

 

Yup, it is a bit complicated, and of course the "layer cake" solution means that you will probably end up buying several of the underlying layers, at least, to get the full benefit — with the result that as time goes by you can thereby experience a certain degree of "lock in" to Orbx. (Good marketing strategy for them, but a simmer needs to know what they're getting into). In a way I'm lucky since most of the time I'm at 40,000 feet, and it's only on the occasions when I start pootling about in a Turbine Duke that I start lusting after some of the GA airports that Orbx do so well. Although I also have to admit that they do them very well indeed....   <sigh>

 

But having said that, in all fairness don't overlook the fact that their regions include many airports which have been reworked and improved considerably, over and above the FSX originals. I vly a lot in the Orbx Norway region (having done so in that lovely country in the RW), and frequently utilise airports that I haven't paid any extra for, but which are nonetheless very nicely presented. Here, for example, is Hammerfest (ENHF) in northern Norway, a cute little field with a runway just under 3,000 ft long (ideal for a quick trip to nearby Alta, which has also received the Orbx treatment):

 

Hammerfest-sml-1200-px.jpg

 

Mind you, you're so near the Arctic Circle around there, that at this time of year you'll be lucky to see the place in daylight.    ;)

 

> "  I think eventually I will have to ditch my photoreal scenery at some point."

 

Photoreal scenery does have a certain performance hit attached to it, as we know, and I have to admit that I know several simmers who have done just what you are suggesting and become all-Orbx — so getting sucked in to the Orbx experience, I suppose. Which is fine, as long as you know in advance....    :mellow:

 

But I'm guessing that photoreal doesn't really mix with Orbx — however, by arranging the priority of files in your scenery.cfg there should hopefully be a way of using both (but not in the same area at the same time, of course)! I can't help you with that question, unfortunately, since I've never utilised photoreal scenery, but others may be able to offer their experience. 

 

There's certainly a lot of think about, that's for sure!   :cool:

 

Best of luck!

 

Cheers,

 

B.

 

 

 

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It sure does look like a good buy - having a basic orbx worldwide seems great. I love photoscenery but at the same time I love orbx and how that looks too. 

 

I think as long as I can use my uk2000 airports with it I'd be happy. 

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Jim I have 2 uk2000 airports I think.... EGGD & EGBB..does that sound about right? ...anyway they work fine with ORBX...be aware though once you start on ORBX and see ther difference be prepared to get hooked and spend...

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3 hours ago, wain said:

Jim I have 2 uk2000 airports I think.... EGGD & EGBB..does that sound about right? ...anyway they work fine with ORBX...be aware though once you start on ORBX and see ther difference be prepared to get hooked and spend...

I have PNW and a few airports of theirs so I know the quality of their stuff :) It's more to do with the compatibility of uk2000 because I've spent a lot for their airports too ;)

I'll have a think about it.

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I tried to combine an Aerosoft scenery; US Cities SanFranciscoX... with ORBx products; Global Base, USCalNorth. I posted a screen shot thread about it a while back after loading it up. I found it duplicated the textures and I was running two very dense regions in the same spot. I found a couple of autogen files in the ORBx folders to turn off a duplicated bridge...but never got a good answer on AS forums which .bgl files or whatever to disable between the two to make it work. I'm not convinced that the developers of scenery are motivated to help customers merge other developer's products with their own...sad...because more developers would create more Development...right? But when customers must "commit" to a "brand" that doesn't help the industry IMO.

 

So yeah...ORBx may be in some cases a stopper from using other sceneries unless you have all that layering and file structure understood, or know how to find the info...it was over my head so I uninstalled the Aerosoft scenery...shame...it looked terrific, but killed any possibility of flying near it...kind of defeated the point. :(

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Yeah, I mean what I am thinking of doing is backing up my scenery config and then have two, one for my photoscenery and another for Orbx. Switching when I get bored of one and other :)

 

Might think about it until pay day and see how I fee then - take a look around and see what people think etc. 

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Jim, if you are going to get Global Base, you can still download all the freeware airports also. They are free so try it and report back.

As I already have most of the scenery regions, it's impossible for me to test what you are suggesting. But in theory the airports should be fine

Good luck.

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9 hours ago, needles said:

Jim, if you are going to get Global Base, you can still download all the freeware airports also. They are free so try it and report back.

As I already have most of the scenery regions, it's impossible for me to test what you are suggesting. But in theory the airports should be fine

Good luck.

 

Yeah I think after pay day I may consider this - I would get global base and then maybe one of the England airports see if it works, if not, just go out and buy the England region too. 

The other dilemma I have right now is rather than getting global base, I want a new SSD to upgrade my existing one. Could maybe get both but the mrs would chew my ear off lolol. 

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Jim, if you look at the Orbx product page for any of their England airports — for example, Southampton — and then scroll right down to the bottom of the page, you will find the simple words:

 

"This product requires you have the following installed: EU England".

 

(Incidentally, the same 'check the very bottom of the page' trick can also be useful when you're trying to work out which of the NA regions (CRM / NCA / NRM / PFJ / PNW / SAK / SCA) one of their many North American airports is located in).   ;)

 

As confirmation, note what it says on the Orbx England product page, just above the airport pics:

 

OrbxEnglandairports.jpg

 

So yes, for the airports to work you would need England first, I'm afraid.   :(

 

The freeware packs for FTX Global that m'learnèd friend Needles/Brian/Bib Fortuna mentioned can be downloaded here: https://fullterrain.com/freeware/global — for a list of the airports in each pack, look on this page: https://fullterrain.com/freeware#

 

As regards the extent of the (inevitable) ear chewing, I suspect that Global Base *and* an England airport would probably be cheaper than an upgraded SSD? Just saying....    :whis:


Cheers,

 

bruce

a.k.a. brian747

 

 

 

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Yeah it's cool I understood - I just thought as the airports and England were created before Global, maybe that statement is not the case any more - but by the looks of it, this still holds true. I still think an initial purchase of base would be good either way; then I can always grab the regions at a later date. 

 

 

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Jim go for base first ....I have that but I also have vector...they really do make a difference...I also have 2 LC areas one of which i LC Eu..I have England and Wales regions..the only airport from ORBX I have in England is EGTR..I have UK2000 extreme airports EGGD & EGBB..they all work together no issues at all..I recently had to reinstall all my FSX and just seeing the difference global made to FSX was quite surprising I had forgot the chamge...FTX backs up all your default files when you install so I am not sure how easy it is to change back..why dont you download Yosemite National Park or ENJA in Norway they are free...fly them first then install and see how it looks..

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  • 10 months later...
8 hours ago, nagyi81 said:

 

Hi guys!

Please help me! I have a problem.

I tired to install ftx 1.4. The ftx installer do not see the fsx folder. Thank you for your answers

 

Gabor

 

 

You should be installing via FTX Central not a stand alone installer, I would ask on the developers website http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/index.php quoting your order number. 

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