Godzone Subscription Wanaka preview

[toprob]

So, what does the new Wanaka have the the old one doesn't?

Hopefully these shots give some idea of why you'd want to buy the subscription, even if you own the old Real NZ Wanaka. Being able to deliver much larger files, using much higher resolution aerials, is what takes this beyond anything we've had before in New Zealand.

[Ian Warren]

I could see a virtual airshow happening here shortly, its that photo real that dose it again.

[deeknow]

To anyone who's not yet a photo-real user/addict, you really need to dip your toe here.

I grabbed a subscription last month and downloaded Issue 2 which covers some of the Southern Alps and lakes areas (my real-world favourite part of the country). I jumped in a low-n-slow GA aircraft and started wandering about the Lake Pukaki area and was immediately struck by how much of a difference this makes to the feeling of engagement. You feel-like-you-are-there in a way no manner of autogen or landclass can do on its own. Without getting all touchy-feely on you I seriously reckon you actually make a sort of emotional connection with the landscape. And no, I wasn't drinking anything at the time

Stunning stuff Rob, looking forward to the coming releases.

[toprob]

Thanks for that, Dean, it is great that you've put it this way, as at the moment I'm discovering new things in the scenery all the time, and it would be a shame if I was the only one getting excited about it:)

I have thought about this before, exactly what it is which 'improves' the normal simulator, what works and what doesn't, and one of the things it comes down to is 'scale'. I've tried to explain this before, back when FSX was first released, and I still come back to the same thing.

FSX increased the default ground texture resolution from FS9's 4.8 metres per pixel, to 1.2 metres per pixel. This was a huge step forward, with the ability to get in closer and still retain detail -- this improves the scale of the sim, as you don't need to view from such a distance to get a feeling of immersion. The original Real NZ/Godzone photoscenery was slowly improved from FS9's 4.8 m/px to 2.5m/px, which was the actual resolution of the source images, but still not up to the FSX default textures. So this was a bit of a compromise -- you could have photo scenery for realism, but you would need to give up some detail, so it was better for those who knew a particular area, but not such an improvement for anyone who just wanted to fly anywhere different.

But now, as time goes on (8 years since I wrote that post) we now have better aerial images, and the infrastructure to deliver much larger files over the net. And the default FSX texture resolution can now become the minimum photo scenery resolution, with the option to increase this locally for even more detail.

So a 1.2m/px photo of a gully around Lake Wanaka, for instance, combined with an elevation mesh depicting that exact gully, gives a much greater degree of realism than a 1.2m/px landclass texture on the same mesh.

Sure, there are still issues with I've mentioned before, such as the variable quality of the photoscenery, but as I normally start with more detail than the default textures, there is still a lot to be gained.

It is weirdly exciting to be seeing some of this scenery for the first time, I think that describing it doesn't touch the surface of what it can add to the experience. So this is also about the most frustrating time for me, knowing that turning this into a successful 'product' is still touch-and-go. But it does keep me working a lot of hours, so that I can see more scenery:)

[NZ255]

It works the same for jets...not just low and slow. Flying into wellington in cloud over Whitby to intercept the ILS, dropping through the cloud and seeing the Newlands hills 1000 ft below you. Photoreal is the best.

[ZK-LGD]

Yessss ... but at what cost to VAS?

FSX/P3D are, afterall, 32bit programmes subject to the limitations of 4GB Virtual Address Space (VAS). It is well known that photoreal sceneries are a prime source of VAS "bloat", leading, eventually, to OOM/CTD's. (See: http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.p...-CRASHING-Issue Post #4 for a more detailed description.)

As more and more of FSX/P3D NZ becomes photoreal, are we setting ourselves up for similar problems?

[Roelio]

Again stunning! Together with with Earth Simulations is this the best photoreal scenery out there! I have to ask, is there a trial region somewhere? Because I'm a bit small short on cash at the moment (flightschool happened)

[toprob]

QUOTE (ZK-LGD @ Oct 15 2014,7:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yessss ... but at what cost to VAS?
...

As more and more of FSX/P3D NZ becomes photoreal, are we setting ourselves up for similar problems?

Yes, most addons increase VAS usage, and if you have nothing but addons, then you'll have more problems than using just default. There's always going to be a bit of a balancing act, as long as we use 32bit sims. Personally I find autogen a much heavier hitter with VAS, though, so addons which increase autogen tend to affect me the most.
But considering that point in the link post, I don't think that we'll ever get anywhere near the equivalent of whole states in photoscenery, that is not the intention of the subscription -- I certainly don't plan to do the entire country for a 32bit simulator. Maybe that'll come down the track a bit.

New Zealand is also very isolated, I suspect it could be entirely photo in FSX, and still work well, but of course that doesn't account for those who want to fly from Europe or Asia in a full-systems jet liner -- you may be running on VAS fumes by the time you landed at photo Queenstown:)

[toprob]

QUOTE (Roelio @ Oct 15 2014,7:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Again stunning! Together with with Earth Simulations is this the best photoreal scenery out there! I have to ask, is there a trial region somewhere? Because I'm a bit small short on cash at the moment (flightschool happened)

No, there's no trial, at least not without paying at least one installment. (This entails large files sizes, so hosting a trial would be a bit beyond my means in the early stages of the subscription.)
If you do pay a single installment, you can download all the existing scenery over the next month, and then cancel your subscription.

[Roelio]

QUOTE (toprob @ Oct 15 2014,7:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, there's no trial, at least not without paying at least one installment. (This entails large files sizes, so hosting a trial would be a bit beyond my means in the early stages of the subscription.)
If you do pay a single installment, you can download all the existing scenery over the next month, and then cancel your subscription.

Got ya mate! This is a superb new system of selling your product btw!

[Ian Warren]

One off my most used sentences .. at least lines, "Ive always advocated photo real" - now with so much going on and getting done and fully AGN'd , its the ideal tool for a person who dose not live in New Zealand to get a REAL looksie before coming here, It almost a tourism brochure.

[Splitpin]

Your a machine Rob , have to get my a into g , and get this up and running. May look at a complete reinstall first , my scenery library is a nightmare

[toprob]

Cheers, Marty. We were talking about some of the locals catching up over here at Diamond Harbour, now that's it's spring (The Fox II just went past, laden with tourists), it would be an ideal time.