Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020’s latest marketplace updates are supported by Orbx this week which has been the priary focus towards Terrain Maps, Mesh Maps New Zealand is the pilot pack in this category.
The future is going to be much better with the use of better technologies including LIDAR data that can be accurate upto 1 meter in resolution that can give so much clarity in our already existing sim.
The plan for the release is this week. Observing the screenshots, this should give you a clear picture of what to expect.
Now, rounded terrains is one of the bugs that have been on the top list of items under the sim. With New Zealand to begin with, we should expect to see other regions of the World populate with better data and not to forget, no performance issues.
The New Zealand pack is planned to be sold for $12.50
NZ was not a good area to start this. The mesh is already okeyish. There would have been regions with a bigger need for a better mesh.
So ill pass on this one BUT, its awesome to see that there is finally some improvements on the mesh-side, cant wait till the swiss alps will finally be recognizable.
Asobo typically update the resolution of the DEM as they go around the globe with their world updates. Oceania has not had one of these updates yet, nor has it been announced for the future, so this is the best compromise in the mean time for kiwi simmers!
I am definately NOT paying for something that is MANDATORY by default !
So what? I’ll have to pay in total 500-1000euros to download the whole world ?
NO!
Why would Asobo have any obligation to provide us with a higher res mesh for free across the entire world? They provided a passable 30m mesh across most areas of the world and have provided some free updates here but that’s just a bonus.
What resolution mesh did Xplane, P3d or FSX ship with for comparison?
They’ll fix the terrain lod morphing eventually to better deal with the high res meshes we now have in parts of the world. It’s not a new issue.
Being from NZ this was a must buy for me, and for 20NZD it’s really not breaking the bank for a decent level of improvement with updates to come.
Definitely worth the price just to be able to have the mountins crisp and “pointy” all the way to the horizon. The immersion factor alone made this worth the purchase! Am not disappointed at all and knowing it will come with updates with 1m resolution in some areas it was a no brainer.
Though I may have some bias as I have been supporting orbx since their beggining and absolutely love their work and want to support them as much as possible. The work they have done in the past to bring my home, Aus, to life in the simming world is impeccible. Way back in those FS9 VOZ days before their Orbx inception. They will always have my support, especially for the Oceanic region of which I call home.
Minor warping around Bluff Hill, Napier is all I have noticed with the NZA Simulations addon but the team are aware of this and working on a flatten. All other default airfields seem ok!
You have to install Sergio’s freeware NZMF to make the Orbx mesh work as he did quite a bit of terrain morphing around Milford Sound, however my personal preference is the true to life Orbx data.
It looks of similar quality to the French alps after the last update. A definite improvement but possibly not as pronounced as some might hope.
I kind of agree with the poster who started the other thread saying stuff like this should really be part of the default sim experience rather than as a paid for add on. If I was going to pay for anything like this I’d want it accurate to a meter so there was a really big difference to the default terrain.
Are you new to flight sims? Upgrading base mesh with add on packages such as this one has been the norm for the last 15 odd years.
We are just fortunate that the base DEM is resolution is quite high in New Zealand. Unless you are virtually flying in the country regularly- it won’t make a noticeable difference for you, but as mentioned in the original post, it stops the terrain LoD popping in and out of higher/lower levels as you fly along and gets rid of all the mountainus glitches around multiple sharp peaks in the Southern Alps.
Flight sim 2020 isn’t really the norm though is it? Its doing things differently. I wasn’t meaning to seem like I was complaining in my original post. I still marvel everyday at what this sim is doing to make everything work the way it does. I’d just rather Bing maps got better global DEM data and then we wouldn’t have to worry. Asobo have said they are planning on getting new higher quality DEM data so we’ll just have to wait and see what transpires.
I agree with this; just because it was the norm 15 years ago doesn’t mean we have to go back. Microsoft and Asobo have demonstrated that this can be streamed and it results in a much more enjoyable experience for everyone across the board at an affordable price, and to go back to storing gigs of terrain data on your local machine is a bit of a step backwards.
Why should they? The baseline is whatever resolution bing maps provides and its perfectly serviceable. Like custom airports if you want to improve on this you either wait for a world update or use a third party product.
