ORBX to rule the world

[cowpatz]

Announced on their forum today by John Venema ORBX CEO....start saving chaps.

"In 2013 we will be releasing a FTX product that covers the entire world with FTX textures combined from the twelve different regions we have developed since 2008 including England and Wales. It won't be a perfect solution because it is textures only (no landclass, airports, POIs, or geodata), but it will cover the whole globe with Orbx so you never have to experience FSX default again.

It will include custom autogen, 3D lights and some custom trees as well, which will need an installer that manages some global files, but you will be able to uninstall it and revert to default FSX again if you wish.

I am testing an alpha build at the moment and I can promise you most of the places mentioned in this thread look beautiful covered in Orbx textures. I did a dusk flight over the south of France last week and to see all the 3D lights twinkling over villages and towns was magical

The price of this product (less than $200) will include free perpetual upgrades including a constant flow of upgraded airports at key locations around the world, for example Helsinki in Finland or Manila in the Phillipines. We are building a dedicated team of people who will do nothing but work on continual improvements, POIs and airports around the world. Additionally, as Orbx releases the much more detailed and sophisticated regions around the world, we will dip into the expanding texture pool to finesse the global product, all at no charge.

Stay tuned for the formal announcement in January along with many screenshots and some video footage.

If you can imagine your whole world covered in Orbx, you won't have to wait too much longer today by John Venema CEO ORBX "

[Ian Warren]

Be interesting to see screens cos one thing it would do is clean up a lot off area but how is it to affect the thousands of other addons and elevations and also the affect with texture sheets .

[IslandBoy77]

Interesting. Won't be for me, but I can see it would suit a number of people. I also wonder how that will work with the myriad of add-ons already in existence. As we all know, Orbx is the Apple of flight simming - it's their way or the highway...

[toprob]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Dec 29 2012,10:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interesting. Won't be for me, but I can see it would suit a number of people. I also wonder how that will work with the myriad of add-ons already in existence.

This quote from JV is interesting -- 'Think of it as GEX on steroids. We only provide replacement textures with out own autogen buildings and trees and 3D lights (in the landclass textures, not roads) and then we'll add key airports to the package in the form of patches. So there is nothing to stop you adding other landclass or vector data addons to use with our textures.'

I know which vector/landclass addon I'd like to use. This suggests that it'll be a lot more open that other Orbx stuff, so compatibility might be less of an issue, although it may take some work. It would certainly extend the life of FSX for a lot of people.

[Ian Warren]

I think first thing first and see what i has to offer in screen shots and with a product compassing the world it would better to buy the package DVDs and also it may cover P3D as yet i hav'nt followed the area or gone down that road yet , just be interesting to see .

[AlisterC]

I for one am very keen to see what they can offer. I prefer addons that have a worldwide effect. Look forward to more updates

[spongebob206]

Awesome

[jeansy]

they didnt get Australia right, it appears they didnt get the US right, it appears NZ is off, and now the poms are moaning how orbx doesn't look right,

taking on the world, thats going to be a laugh and a half at the posts

maybe they should stick to gay dancing figures and long grass

[Ian Warren]

Matt One famous line .. from the Battle of Britain movie think from Ralph Richardson ,"one little Corporal tried to cross the channel and came a cropper .. we won't listen to you till till your marching up Whitehall and even then we won't listen"

Tonight's viewing then to get it right

[FlyingKiwi]

FTX NZ looks pretty darn realistic to me in most places - can't comment on Australia but regardless of whether it's completely true to real life it looks one hell of a lot better than default or most of the texture packs out there. I'm certainly looking forward to world coverage, even if it's not necessarily to the same level of detail as the specific regions/countries they've done so far.

[Ian Warren]

end of the day if they are touching the texture and not the mesh should be fine but .. how dose that affect placed or default autogen .. it dose screw it if using the annotator in ya own back yard so maybe this could put this on a level playing field without having the horrid gable roof texture .. for someone who has covered hand drawn AGNs to suit photo .. over most of New Zealand i'd love to no an answer to that ! .

[Splitpin]

I love this forum ..... balanced and intellectual (except for my ramblings ) some of the things said on this thread would bring the wrath of the moderators down on your heads , should you post on their forum (orbx)

just a personal observation , but democracy and freedom of speech dont seem to feature too highly over there.....oh dear, i can hear the men in black pulling up now

I repeat ... just a personal observation .

[jeansy]

really at the end of the day, anything like this going to be better than the default textures

if you want to fork out the money go ahead

Im just having a chuckle to my self at all the disappointed people and their posts across the net, that where under the impression that its going to like looking out their window and realistic

with that in mind, taking on the world, there's going to millions (maybe not that many) of people saying they got it wrong, I see lots of new bans and deleted posts about to happen

[toprob]

Members here can say what they like about Orbx, but that has nothing to do with democracy or freedom of speech, it's just that Orbx is a major part of NZ simming, and that's what we're here to talk about. We are certainly not democratic, and freedom of speech is limited by our rules. But we do tend to be a lot less wrathful than other forums.

The real difference is that Orbx is a business, so it doesn't make sense for them to 'publish' negative stuff on their site. That's normal business practice. Sometimes their customers do tend to accept a level of mistreatment which I wouldn't find acceptable from any business, but hey, I can vote with my wallet the same as anyone.

[jeansy]

QUOTE (toprob @ Dec 29 2012,9:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Members here can say what they like about Orbx, but that has nothing to do with democracy or freedom of speech, it's just that Orbx is a major part of NZ simming, and that's what we're here to talk about. We are certainly not democratic, and freedom of speech is limited by our rules. But we do tend to be a lot less wrathful than other forums.

The real difference is that Orbx is a business, so it doesn't make sense for them to 'publish' negative stuff on their site. That's normal business practice. Sometimes their customers do tend to accept a level of mistreatment which I wouldn't find acceptable from any business, but hey, I can vote with my wallet the same as anyone.

exactly bad news/publicity doesn't sell

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Dec 29 2012,10:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I repeat ... just a personal observation .

An Ians Observation ... Now when did i start AGN , how many areas covered of the NZ ... One little Corporal dictates how now Microsoft should go .. Fine but go with the international balance of other peoples work .. OK I did build large airports .. I've spent 10 years autogenning the country .. well be fair almost and even that got weeded , what is so hard to NOT make it glue together with everyone's work .. no wonder it really affects a community rather than build on it !

Not a rant .. but its a bloody fair observation , i don't like dictators , everything ive done has been free , i don't touch those silly librairy objects of the past that make everything looking like noddy land then the questions .. the world is only one shape .. mesh resolutions ..

Maybe this world package will repair the hi-jacking of other contenential textures sheets .. France for NZ .. Russia for USA or what ever .... they cannot even find a solution to the gable roof texture and openly .. openly scared to build large airports ..

I'm still interested to see what these textures have to offer , already pointed .. NO world mesh .. but can it clean up the trash with other people addons !

If your the person constantly working away to get it looking better ......... well - time will tell !

[freaknout]

I don't know the history but NZNI and NZSI look pretty good to me as an expat. Even the places I used to live in! Certainly better than default. I'm not sure why I moved from vectorlandclass because that was, and still is, excellent. Although I found it a bit overwhelming to set up (and understand) as a newbie. But I did get there in the end!

Orbx Eng I'm a little disappointed in a few areas. I don't really do low and slow, although I really should more, and I do understand that it's not photorealistic but houses in the middle of Regents Park (central London)? Well it's not great is it. I don't mean to belittle the work put in at all because it looks great in the main but I suppose I wanted a little bit more accuracy and attn to detail. Unfort the install also effects areas outside of England, which is a painful, and being worked on (welcome).

But these two issues in combo make me suspect that it was pushed out the door a little too early for Xmas. Orbx is obvious a small, young company growing hugely in popularity and they're a little to learn in my view. England has been hugely successful but I do really hope that they address some of the issues as soon as practical.

Announcing an ambitious project like Orbx World does seem a little strange, given the current environment (for some customers) and my comments above. The launch issues aren't really that surprising; ambitious project, new developer, pre-Xmas, etc, etc, so I am a little surprised they didn't wind their ambition in a little in the wake of a bit of turbulence.

Just my view!

JJ

[toprob]

There is an expanded announcement on the Orbx forum now, which warns that there are limitations, so that people don't over-estimate what this can do. Really, it's simply a set of textures to replace the default landclass textures. I guess that these textures would need to go into your Scenery\World\Texture folder and just replace the existing textures. This is exactly how GEX and other texture replacements work. One advantage I can see with FTX Global is that they'll include some of their replacement autogen, which Orbx do particularly well.

Some people love these global texture replacements, some people don't. I generally don't, as I am only really interested in NZ, and most sets don't 'fit' NZ any more that the default textures do, in some cases less so. FTX Global may be better, but I'll have to wait and see.

I was going to do a 'pros and cons' from my point of view, but I won't call it that, as some of the 'cons' are more like 'facts'. Well, ok, I'll do a 'pros, cons and facts' list....

Pros:
This will be a huge improvement for those who have ever complained about the default landclass textures.
It'll include improved autogen, which is a huge plus for me. The default autogen is a major weak point in FSX.
It won't interfere too much with local addons (subject to some of the 'facts' below.)
It won't be anywhere near as complicated as other Orbx addons.

Cons:
Orbx landclass textures are dark, why, I have no idea. I suspect that this is 'a point of difference', which goes back to the countless complaints about default textures being too light and washed out. I picture someone at Orbx screaming 'Right! They want darker textures? We'll give them darker textures!!!' -- but then again I have a vivid imagination. There's a lesson here, be careful what you ask for....

Facts:
It won't be comparable to the existing Orbx Regions, as it won't include any landclass or vector improvements, no roads, rivers, coastlines, elevation mesh, traffic etc.
It won't include localised texture sets, just one set of textures which will appear worldwide -- just like the default textures.
If you use these with the default FSX landclass, it won't improve things like poorly defined towns, they will still be poorly defined, but they might look a lot prettier.
It should work with any other landclass addon, such as VectorLandClass, but probably not straight out of the box. Well, it'll work, but since it will change the appearance/tonal range/colour of most landclass textures, the hand-picked landclass choices of VLC may not be the most appropriate choice any more.
Locally, it's hard to picture the market for this, mainly because of FTX NZ. Who will buy it here? It appeals to me because I don't use FTX NZ, and it may work well with VLC, which might benefit from a texture replacement. However it isn't a poor man's Orbx, as it would be more than twice the price of FTX NZ, admittedly with global coverage.

[TonyM]

WOW !!

A program to improve the WHOLE world textures....

And at only 2.5 times what I paid for the WHOLE darn FSX program.

Its a bargain.......not !!!

Gonna be a real stocking filler at next years sales.


But that said,and its only my opinion, (which I can,t post,,you know where) there will be
some that maybe dont have a lot invested in the mostly excellent
regions, that will take this one up.

Cheers

TonyM

[toprob]

QUOTE (TonyM @ Dec 30 2012,10:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

WOW !!

A program to improve the WHOLE world textures....

And at only 2.5 times what I paid for the WHOLE darn FSX program.

Its a bargain.......not !!!

Gonna be a real stocking filler at next years sales.


But that said,and its only my opinion, (which I can,t post,,you know where) there will be
some that maybe dont have a lot invested in the mostly excellent
regions, that will take this one up.

Cheers

TonyM

As I said, it's tricky to think of who the market might be for this, in this case their 'lite' doesn't mean 'budget', so it isn't 'Orbx for the rest of us'. Maybe only the most keen Orbx fans will buy it. But no matter what you think of the price, although a lot of people do the comparison you've done, it doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. MS sold more than 2 million copies of FSX, Orbx might sell 2,000 of these if they are lucky. So your 2.5 times more expensive equates to 1/250 of the cost of FSX.

It still amazes me looking at the signatures of Orbx forum members,which include their purchased products -- there are a lot who have 30+ Orbx products, which even if they bought a chunk on sale, still amounts to a lot of money. So obviously a 'keen' Orbx customer is not scared to spend money.

Oops, I swear I used to be able to do maths, I meant a quarter of 1 percent, which is 1/400th.