Orbx Power Lines vs. MamuDesign Power Lines

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Just bought Orbx Global Power Lines in order to compare it with Mamudesign’s Power Lines.

Orbx Global Power Lines all in all it’s an ok product. You can select different models for the towers for different regions and the models are resonably nicely detailed.
However I personally prefer Mamudesigns version since the models or the large are more detailed and look a more realistic. Also it contains solar farms and substations are more detailed.
Downside is: you cannot select which models are placed where and it’s a tad more expensive.

Personally I would not buy the Orbx version again and will try to get a refund

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Curiosity also got the better of me and I bought the Orbx one “just to see”. It’s terrible IMO. It is the first and only thing I’ve ever asked for (and got) a refund for. And that includes the Santos Dumont which I never even asked even though it’s garbage lol.

It’s really nowhere near even playing the same sport, let alone in the same league or on the same playing field as the fantastic Mamu Design option!

It’s a no-brainer - go with Mamu.

The cables are not really even there in Orbx’s. I mean they just fade off near one pylon, then a huge gap of nothing between spans, and fade on again near the next one. No collisions with them (or the option to have that) and yeah you can manually pick a different style but none of them look that great (they don’t look like any pylons I’ve ever seen anyway, none that look like UK) and then it applies the SAME one globally. Are you really going to go in and change it every time you fly somewhere else?

Mamu’s are regionally different automatically. And have coloured ones (red-white) near airports with the warning balls on the cables too. And same over rivers etc. So much better!

On top of all that, there is a tickbox in the configuration app you have to run (where you pick the styles) that lets you have them visible at longer draw distance but that gave me quite a loss in FPS when there are a few pylons around. And if you untick it then they appear like 150m in front of you. Both terrible options!

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Soon as I read the description I could tell Mamu was better.

More variety, and more logic as to what is placed where.

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I’ve got Mamu Designs’ Powerlines and Solar farms. From the feedback about Orbx’s product, Mamu’s is well worth the small amount they’re asking.

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In the interest of balance, the Mamu product is almost twice the price of the Orbx product.
In the interest of fairness, in a forum where the critique of an MS flight simulator is discouraged and reportedly closely moderated, a volunteer moderator should not be posting into a discussion about the relative merits of two third party products.
If I was paying twice the price for a product, I would expect it to perform better than the cheaper one.
If the descriptions of each product is read carefully, it can be seen that each one offers a different thing and so a straight comparison is perhaps not apples to apples after all.

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Op was asking for a comparison, and I’m agree that they are two completely different products.
And that feel strange because the name of the product is basically the same
The big deal is that my product actually adds the wire ls (lines) between the power towers, Orbx one doesn’t. End of the story.

The following is my review of Orbx product, already available on my Discord

But, there was something really strange in the screenshots provided and description

“MSFS Global Powerlines does NOT control the placement or orientation of power lines. It replaces the default MSFS power tower models with higher-quality versions but relies on MSFS/Asobo’s streaming data for placement and direction.”

Plot twist: the description is 100% correct. The addon simply replaces the default models with custom ones. This is done by the way using the “replacement guid” tecnique, that let you change EVERY model in the game with a custom one simply putting into community a model with the same guid of the one you want to replace

So, why the name is “Global Power Lines” ?
Because infact the mod DOES NOT have wire between the pylons
Both product name and screenshots led potential customers to a cognitive bias, convincing them that there are wires connecting the pylons. Nope. What you will see in the game is a tower with wires attached, hanging in the sky

this is Orbx with model, a perfectly framed screenshot showing the Power tower with the wires, cool! (well actually this is one of those that have a completely random orientation, look at the shadow of real cables in the satellite imagery and where next pylon on the line is)

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an this is what the product actually is:
Wires end up right in the air, no where

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this is the high quality pylon, a transparent png
they are actually good for lattice structure like a tower…but in lod2/3
in the product we have a single lod with the usual enlargement cube around it (to make it visible at large distance)

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In conclusion

  • The product tech is so simple that everyone with basic project and modelling knowledge may create it maybe one hour or less
  • The description is correct, but product name and screenshot are misleading
  • The pricetag is correct if you consider the ability to switch between pylon models. How interesting and realistic is using the same 2 models littered all over the world is questionable
  • without the cable actually connecting the pylons and no collision, it is questionably interesting
  • overall, being released the 1st of April, is still fishy

@AncientDisc6642 imho expecting better performance from a pricier product doesn’t always work as a rule of thumb. Basically, the majority of add-ons has a performance impact, simply because they add.
(Orbx doesn’t have because doesn’t add, it replaces..).Usually I buy something because I want more, and don’t expect it to have a better performance than default stuff (unless default is poorly optimised!!)

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It’s thanks to topics like this, as well as advice from other users on here, and the fact that MamuDesign back in the early days did such a fantastic job when it was freeware with Power Lines, Solar Farms & Marina addons that brought another level of immersion to the Sim, it was a no brainer for me purchasing MamuDesign Power Lines and it was on sale too.

Well worth the small price for all that hard work IMHO.

Now to fire up the Sim and I know I won’t be disappointed, as this product was already highly recommended to me by a friend!

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Good topic. I don’t own either but had seen an advert for the Orbx product and was considering buying it. This forum topic has saved me some money, and provided me with some information, which means it’s a service to the community. A forum can’t be totally non-partisan or it would serve no purpose for the people that use it.

I’m a fan of Orbx, but this product should not be called ‘Global Power Lines’ if it does not include the ‘lines’. This is pointed out in the product literature, but the name is misleading, perhaps ‘Power Tower Overhaul’ would be more accurate?

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I’m definitely a huge fan of ORBX. I’ve bought loads and loads of Airports from them in the past and still do. But I’m really happy with my new purchase from MamuDesign.

I just did a quick flight in FS24 from Henderson Las Vegas to Boulder City and I was very very impressed. What a difference! Loads of Power Lines & Solar Farms, all looked amazing, with no loss in performance and I only fly in VR so I can imagine they probably look even better in 2D on a 4K screen, but I’m happy enough in VR and FS24 is now even better!
So if you’re in doubt about purchasing MamuDesign Power Lines don’t. Can’t recommend it enough now. :+1:

Edit… Just did a flight in FS20 in L.A and was blown away by all the different power lines. Street ones! Bigger ones! All spot on! This addon has now vastly improved VFR flying on both FS24 & FS20. Couldn’t be happier! Will be purchasing MamuDesign Marinas next :sailboat: as that’s also been highly recommended to me :+1:

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Yeah!!! I cannot fly without that one. It adds SO MUCH depth and sense of scale to coastlines. Love it!

Don’t forget Project Lifts too, to round out your collection. It’s epic (and global) but especially cool (no pun intended) when flying helicopters around the Alps and places that actually do have ski lifts. It’s not ONLY ski regions that are improved though - a lot of cable cars for taking tourists up to viewing spots etc are covered by it.

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Just purchased MamuDesign Marinas & Project Lifts too! My collection is now complete :smirking_face:

Now it’s time to FLY :small_airplane: :helicopter:

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I don’t think that’s true. This forum is full of critiques of the simulator, and I’ve never seen any moderator caution anyone against it.

What does it mean to critique something?

: a careful judgment in which you give your opinion about the good and bad parts of something

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Are there functional differences between Mamu’s former freeware powerlines mod and the payware version, besides the inclusion of solar farms?

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To be 100% transparent, I had NO IDEA mamu was payware now…

I’m still running the freeware along with solar farms, marinas and project lifts lol. Guess I need to do some research!

Is there a difference between the freeware and payware?

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That’s not my experience. You can easily find plenty of posts loaded with MSFS-hate.

He’s a volunteer, not a Microsoft employee. Maybe he could have posted the standard disclaimer (“the following is my personal comment/observation” etc.) that some Mods use but this obviously personal post is hardly worthy of criticism.

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Gentle reminder to please stay on topic with respects to providing feedback and personal opinions between these to products :slight_smile:

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Current (payware) version has increased coverage, bug fixes, and of course 2024 compatibility
I’m unable to list everything change from that version, it was about 18 months old.
If you are happy with the freeware keep it in a safe place and enjoy it :blush:

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Project Lifts - Chairlifts, Gondolas and Cablecars of the entire World

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Same issues with Orbx, I’ve yet to find low voltage powerlines any where and i’ve done a lot of low altitude searching, including around local areas I’m familiar with and can verify locations where they should be found.
How did you contact Orbx to request a refund? I’m going to follow the forum’s advice and get Mamu’s product.

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Hi,
Appreciate your choice,
However my Powerlines are over 59kvolt (according to OSM data). And in the USA there might be areas (east) where the limit has been increased over 100k because there was literally too much 69kvolt and msfs couldn’t handle all those object safely (2024 most likely is able so I may do another extraction in the future)

Moreover, low voltage lines are so close to terrain that natural errors in elevation and/or missing pylon are likely to create so much inconsistency that have discarded the idea quite some time ago)

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