Orbx SCA question

[Obie311]

Actually being from SoCal, I just couldn't stand SCA. In particular, flying around areas that aren't major cities, not seeing real stuff where it should be is a deal killer. I guess I've been spoiled by Megascenery -- I expect to see things where they should be.

Maybe if I didn't know the area, I'd be ok suspending belief and just enjoying the falsified view But when I fly over my house and see no homes and a bunch of pine trees, I just can't enjoy that. In MSE, I see my house and the entire neighborhood around it. I see my grocery store, instead of a generic industrial building.

Air Attack has a good point here. I had been running BlueSky for my SoCal scenery. I'm a financially grounded aviator with a lot of VFR SoCal experience so the accuracy of BlueSky was amazing. I even created a nearby STOL airport about a 1/2 mile from my house in a vacant lot that the FD uses as a helispot. The catch is (as previously mentioned) if you're a low and slow flyer like I am, the lack of 3D autogen is a bummer.

The ORBX SCA has the roads, terrain contours, golf courses, and railroads accurately placed so you can IFR* for pilotage. The broad strokes are there it's just the specific details are missing. It is nice seeing the 3D houses and trees from the air.

In a final analysis, it boils down to what kind of FS flyer you are. For the time being, I think I'll enjoy the SCA just as it is. If I get ambitious, I may experiment with a hybrid system but then again maybe not. I'm at the point where I've slimmed down my hangar and addon scenery file and want to fly more than tweak. I now have ORBX scenery from the Western USA contiguous from the Mexican to the Canadian border. I think I'll concentrate on that with the notable exception of a little Air America flying (when the Aerosoft PC-6 is released!) in Laos and Vietnam.

Oh BTW isn't the cafe at Agua Dulce located on a slight hill? When I made my own L70 from stock objects, I didn't have the skill to put it on a hill but I was hoping Misha Cajic would. Maybe he was working from photos and couldn't see the elevation?

Obie

*I Follow Roads

[johannesl]

I live about 9 miles east of heywooood so hi sort of neighbor. As stated before I've also spent a number of hours flying in and out of KSEE Gillespie Field and I like to see the area I live in look like the place I live in so I overlay MSE over Orbx, though the lack of 3d objects is sometimes a little disappointing when flying low and slow, it is not a deal breaker. Also, I will sometimes try out a real flight to a new location to get a feel of what to expect and maybe pick out the VFR waypoints or other VFR points.

One other point I also stated before was that both stock and Orbx versions of KSEE are not that great so I made my own. (Self serving available at Avsim). I agree it's not up to payware standards, but it is a bit more accurate than the others.

[heywooood]

hello johann - bienvenidos

I like what you did with the PR scenery bash..interesting.
I only fly low and slow in FSX so the ORBX scenery for me is a plus, even if it is somewhat inaccurate - as long as the area is unfamiliar.
I have the NorCal, Northern Rockies and all right up into Alaska for that reason.
But San Diego is familiar - and so far disappointing in FSX no matter what 3rd party payware or freeware I have tried.
I don't like the PR because of the crap appearance at low altitude. Its just a non-starter for me.

I don't think it will gert any better in the near future either, but maybe in my lifetime. I switched to kale and am laying off the pizza just to hedge my bet. lol

[johannesl]

I agree, at 500 ft PR isn't very good. At 3000 - 4000+ ft it's okay and in unfamiliar or unpopulated places Orbx and others work fine most of the time.

I hope the kale thing works for you though, so you can see FS12 (Steam or P3D), 3d VR goggles, and 6+Ghz processors, but I'm nearing the third half of life and pizza and Hodad's are still on my list;-)

[JimH]

For me the ultimate is MSE 4x, which is good down to about 1,000' AGL, combined with an ORBX airport (e.g. Palm Springs) which includes a very large 3D scenery area surrounding the airport.