Yea… this is why I’m wondering if I should bother getting the London scenery but that’s answered my question!
The idea that world updates make Orbx’s city packs redundant is very, very debatable.
For instance, the UK world update improved London, sure, but having Orbx’s city pack improves it further and by a large margin as their strategically placed models enrich the (not exactly detailed) photogrammetry immensely.
If you’re landing at London City, the visuals with Orbx’s package are enormously better compared to the semi-melted skyscrapers provided by the default photogrammetry, and there are plenty of details that are brought to like, like the moored Belfast, for instance.
Considering that it’s not exactly a bank breaker, it’s absolutely worth it, and the same can be said for Paris, and good city packs by other developers like SamScene3D’s Tokyo.
Photogrammetry and bespoke models aren’t mutually exclusive, which is why Asobo puts bespoke models in its cities that have photogrammetry as well.
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I understand where you’re coming from…
When I travel around London without photogrammetry, there are many buildings that are just poor quality due to the photogrammetry not being that highly detailed. But this is why I was also contemplating getting London as I’m sure there are many improvements that I would notice on approach to LCY or LHR that I wouldn’t really see with just photogrammetry…
Can anyone recommend purchasing Orbxs’ LCY? I went there a few days ago and it truly is a uniquely stunning airport…
ORBX LOWI is a must if you know the area. I live here and must say that LOWI default is just bad.
Will be interesting for me to see how LOWI default compares to ORBX LOWI after the incoming WU, though.
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I would purchase LOWI however, as you mentioned, it is in the upcoming world update so I think I may wait to see what that is like…
London City is a massive improvement over default, but it’s worth mentioning that it has since become outdated due to the enlarging of the apron in real life.
Hopefully, they will update it.
I don’t think they have announced that a new version of LOWI will be in the world update. They mentioned Lübeck Airport (EDHL), Klagenfurt (LOWK), and St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (LSZR).
Orbx’s version of Lowi beats the “hand-crafted” one offered by Asobo by a long shot.
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Orbx’s version of Lowi beats the “hand-crafted” one offered by Asobo by a long shot.
Indeed. It’s also not very hard to achieve with any of the “hand-crafted” ones though 
It honestly depends. Some of them are pretty good, like Nagasaki for instance (besides the default jetways), but yeah, I wish many were better. We definitely need a new Haneda.
It’s funny you say that as I have a Forum thread exactly about this! lmao
Like @Abriael said, some of them are alright, but they all need a lot of improving…
I have a number of Orbx products having been a customer since X-Plane.
It seems that nowadays they’re much more focused on publishing 3rd party airports instead of producing new content themselves and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I have to agree that lately there have been issues with a number of in-house developed or otherwise Orbx-branded products - either frame rate or other issues - and I’ve learned to wait before purchasing any of the new stuff they’re putting out.
London City was a great product when it came out. Today it’s still very good, but - be advised - is quite outdated and unless I missed a post or an announcement somewhere they won’t be updating it anytime soon either.
To me it’s still worth it when on sale, even if there’s a big possibility that it will never be updated. The same goes for the London landmarks: they really do enrich the experience and for the price it’s an easy purchase.
On the other hand I have to admit that while I’m interested in their Frankfurt landmarks I’m waiting to see what the World Update will bring to the table for two reasons: first, they’ll need to update the landmarks package like they did for London and Paris after the respective World Updates so it won’t be usable immediately and second, Asobo’s update to Paris was actually huge and included loads of landmarks - in this case I would not have purchased the package from Orbx as the difference is not as big as in the case of London.
About LOWI - the version from Orbx I can easily recommend (only airport I purchased even if it was included in the Premium Deluxe as I use it a lot).
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Thanks for the response!
I’ve heard the LCY is very outdated and tbh, until it’s updated I don’t think I would purchase it…
On the other hand, even though I have the premium deluxe edition, reviews of it seem pretty intriguing to say the least!
I may hold back before purchasing landmarks other that the London one as I’ve yet to see what the difference really is between what Asobo can deliver with the WU and what Orbx create.
Judging from London and Paris it all depends on the quality of the photogrammetry and which landmarks Asobo and Gaya decide to ‘hit’. We’ll both have to wait and see.
At any rate, most of their landmark packs won’t break the bank and they do get at least compatibility updates, in the case of London and Sydney they also added a few landmarks post-updates so I really can’t fault them.
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I would add that the marketplace via steam purchased msfs has prices localisation.
So for example, a scenery on ORBX launcher is 15€ but in the marketplace its about 3€.
I’m hesitant in the future about buying on central or marketplace for that reason!
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For what I have purchase:
- Sydney and Dubai, yes, they are “scenery changer”.
- London and Paris… only if you love this cities and want the best of the best.
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Of the ones I have Sydney is the outstanding product that iI would absolutely recommend to anyone. I also like Cape Town and Mumbai. Far less detailed than the Sydney scenery, but enough to really enhance the areas substantially and loads of Helipads which is massive for me as I spend 80% of my time in the sim flying Helis.
They seem very good value for those who like low and slow city exploring. Not sure how much value they are for those that don’t spend much time under 1500ft.
I’ll certainly be picking up some more in the future. These addons (along with SamScene3D’s similar line of products) are much more value to me than airports for the type of flying i do.
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One thing that really questions my decision to buy stuff from the marketplace will be, if I purchase Latin VFRs airport packs, or FSDT come out with their GSX, will I be also to use these programs with the airports bought in the marketplace?
In fact, I’ve asked them this question in FSDT’s forums but if anyone else here has the answer that would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,25411.new.html#new
Nope, their product not performance friendly
I just took a Caravn up in Dubai and with the ORBX Dubai scenery, it felt like being in Dubai. Default Dubai is shocking.
So yes, ORBX is definitely recommended .
They’ve just started a UK series which improves upon the WU UK. mainly cities and more POI’s
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