Sightseeing wears off quickly, autogen is not really cutting it and becomes boring

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Wondering if people are in the same boat. I fly low and slow, not really interested in avionics on a detailed level, and the sim becomes boring. Have not touched it in a a few weeks for more than 10mins because everytime I try it out there are the same houses, same trees, same everything everywhere (except blurry Bing textures). I do not know how many people here know No Mans Sky, it also has ‘autogen’ content of for planets and it is equally boring. Everything looks the same in ever so tiny variations. The autogen is good tech, but imo needs tons more variation.

My verdict, in case anyone cares: The autogen tech stack (Bing, OSM, autogen…) is impressive as a novelty, but wears out real quick on customer side. Please hand-model the planet, MS!

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Couldn’t disagree more. So many different landscapes. Add in the live weather and no journey is ever the same.

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hmmm, I am more looking for locations. Landscapes formations are of course different, although with same trees everywhere again.

Good example is the blue rooftop water reservoir on houses. It is used all around the world…the exact same thing.

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There are mods to improve trees and vegetation. For example:

I should point out that I have not used that mod myself.

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26 bucks is too much for a third party mod, especially since it is know how ‘destructive’ Asobos updates are. If the creator bails out at some point, it is back to square one for me.

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Considered flying around the world or a similar trip? Buildings in Mexico are very different from those in Europe for instance.

When it comes to the 4 Seasons mod (worth every penny) I can promise you the developer will still be about and updating it long after even Asobo has stopped such is his diligence and downright attention to detail.

I don’t pay for add-ons as a rule, and definitely not through the in sim marketplace, but had to have it and has made all my trips much more enjoyable.

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I use OnAir to add a ‘purpose’ to my sim flying and has me visiting places I wouldn’t otherwise think of. There are quite a few similar add-ons (both free and payware) which you might consider.

I do have Bijan’s 4 Seasons mod - it’s transformational and I’d thoroughly recommend it. I don’t use any other scenery add-ons, but wouldn’t be without this one.

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@TheLittlePilot1, I understand your point of view, although I am the opposite and cannot get enough of the Sim. I think I am the opposite because as well as aviation I also love geography, history and maps, and so I love investigating the location and history of airfields, which I have done for very many years, and am now documenting in videos because the MSFS scenery is so good. Cheers.

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I thought the same about the price, being on a bit of a limited budget myself, but the dev is very impressive at getting updates out and it does look quite impressive so far.
I know what you mean about No Man’s Sky (I bought it 5 years ago), and other open world games. I need a story or a goal (and I detest base building). In MSFS I’ve been setting myself challenges like simply learning to navigate VOR-style; flying properly in a Cessna 152 or Cub variant; or flying VFR from London to Darwin mimicking Amy Johnson (just complete); or how to use a plane with constant speed prop. I’ve not been overly impressed with the landing challenges, but I am now starting the bush trips.

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I am exploring the world, it never gets old, because of Covid I will never get to go OS so I am seeing all the places people have talked about. Yeah I am sure real life is much better and you experience the culture. But I get some idea of where things are and I appreciate where I was born, when I see the crowding or poverty some countries have. Today I went to L.A. couldn’t find the Hollywood sign but boy was that place crowded!

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This may be of interest: Archived copy of web page. I grabbed the kml from the site before it went offline, but the Internet Archive has the page (and the kml file) still.

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@trgz, thanks for that. Could be quite useful for the UK. Now to find something like that for the whole world! Cheers.

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the idea of hand modeling the entire planet sound freaking crazy, instead you may demand that the MS Bing extend their scarce photogrammetry coverage as much as Google goes…

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I both disagree & agree to a certain extent. I suggest you go upvote this & we’ll hopefully get something more to do down the line.

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Go to out skerries 78 northeast of where they play the bagpipe and wear kilts
Just set it on top of agenda. I the mean time select an airport somewhere on the planet and fly from there in a airliner or so towards the out skerries but if you find a place of liking practice landings and take offs, switch planes and get lost, because thats the best way of sightseeing.
I hope this will bring Joy for you in the sim, and who knows one day you might arrive in these Out Skerries, in what type off weather? I dont know, but let it surprise you.

Happy and many landings

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I don’t suggest MS use Google services, I just say that MS should improve Bing as much as Google when it comes to photogrammetry and, in particular, satellite imagery quality…

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I love exploring in the sim, especially in VR, but am suffering a lot with the SU5 building and tree pop in on head move which is spoiling it hugely. Hopefully this will be fixed on the next update.

I strongly agree to get Bijans tree mod, it adds a huge amount of variety to the whole planet, and additional variety by changing the seasons. It’s well worth it’s price for me as a mainly low level VFR flyer.

Also the free WeLoveVFR mod is great as it adds in many radio masts and obstacles which adds further variety

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Thought I’d look around and found this: Forgotten airfields europe - still not the whole globe though, but there are a few links from that page including this: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/

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Personally, I like to find new VFR routes and refine my existing ones in the western US, primarily along the west coast (I-5 corridor and cities along and around it) and some more inland routes.

This includes a lot of good photogrammetry areas directly around major cities and metro areas (the greater Los Angeles area being the biggest), and lots of autogen scenery in between. In the photogrammetry areas, I love how realistic things look – correct colors and shades, and recognizable real-life buildings everywhere!

In the autogen areas, the buildings aren’t exciting but the natural scenery and ground textures are still quite nice (though over-saturated and with a strong green tint in many areas). Mountains, rivers, farms, deserts, lakes, volcanoes; sunrises, sunsets, clouds and rain. It’s all there.

This is an enormous amount of fun for me, and I gain familiarity with areas I’ve been through before, learning to recognize where I am and where I’m going and how to recognize points of interest and places where I need to adjust my course.

And I take a lot of screenshots and share them with my friends and family, just like I do when I’m a passenger on a real plane. :wink:

I’d love more photo-based building scenery in the smaller areas I fly to to give increased realism to the buildings and cities, but I’m having a ton of fun and it doesn’t really hurt my experience.

I also recently installed the “We Love VFR” region 2 (Americas) mod, which adds more radio towers, smoke stacks, and other obstacles listed on VFR charts that aren’t always in the autogen regions. This is a nice extra touch for low-and-slow flight in these areas.

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