Xbox stability: scenery performance using the PMDG 737 as the test subject

YMML by Orbx has just been released today. Gonna test it out later.

I’ve not looked at this evening’s MP update but, if MEL has been released, I can kiss goodbye to $20 right away…!

Hopefully the Pyreegue EGNX update is live, too.

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Yep I can confirm to us both kissing the $20 goodbye for MEL and EGNX update is live as well!

Edit: Brace yourself, MEL is a whopping 6.91GBs. Good god, have mercy on my pmdg. Oh it has VDGS too!

Nearly 7gb for MEL! Orbx airports are usually well optimised but… that’s one heck of a worrying file size! And if it does run like a two-legged horse, their past record suggests they won’t be in a hurry to develop a fix!

Drzewiecki’s Gdansk looks equally interesting…

I really wanna pull the trigger on MEL despite the file size. Arghhhhhhhh.

Buy it! That way, you can let the rest of us know if we need to avoid it… :grin:

Downloading right now :eyes::eyes::eyes:

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Well done for being the guinea pig for Xbox users everywhere! :rofl:

Just arrived at the updated EGNX. Definitely much smoother on the 27 approach but obviously need more time to fully test for stability improvements. Encouraging start, though!

Off the bat, I can’t immediately see any reduction in detail so I really hope Pyreegue has pulled this off! Only difference I think I’m seeing is a reduced draw distance for ground textures but, if so, it’s really of no concern.

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Okay, EGNX has finally black screened on me but I really was pushing it by zooming around in the drone and changing views every few seconds. It’s not crashed yet, though, despite my dishing out some further punishment since it black screened.

I’ll keep testing over the next couple of days but I can definitely sense the improvements.

YMML Melbourne by Orbx is a no go. Blurry textures, stutters everywhere, performs like a horse that is in desperate need of putting down to end it’s misery. Very poor release for xbox. Tested on PMDG and LVFR 320 CEO.

Heck, even FlyTampa’s YSSY performs miles better. Give this a miss, there are better aussie airports that are better optimised for now.

Tested 5 times, all with live weather/off, no AI traffic whatsoever, no multiplayer. Blackscreens and CTD once you start taxiing out.

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Thanks, brilliant info so soon after release. I was literally 5-10mins from buying, simply because all Orbx’s other airports are so stable.

To be fair, the VDGS works great, on par or even slightly realistic than what The Secret Studio’s developer is using, very impressive but yeah I pushed back, taxiied into the next gate to just test the VDGS, pushed back out again, and started to do cockpit only views taxiing around the airport to check it out, just few meters up you can see the taxi lines blurred out, when you get close to another building that’s when it starts to stutter heavily and you will blackscreen and eventually CTD.

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Makes you wonder how Microsoft is testing this stuff and letting it get released in this state.

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It has VDGS? Wow! I mean, aside from the performance issues specific to MEL, this is BIG for Xbox!

From what I recall, MS doesn’t test it anymore, in order to speed up the release process, they leave it up to the developers to do their own testing for PC/Console. I am an Xbox tester for The Secret Studios developer and before he released his first airport WMKK Kuala Lumpur Intl, he made sure that he would find someone with an actual Xbox Series X console for it. I went through every single detail before it got released. Not once have I ever had any CTDs with The Secret Studios sceneries and mind you his sceneries are heavy with alot of custom high level of detail. That’s what I think should be the way to test whether products are worthy of being released for console.

I don’t know if Orbx has done their testing on an actual Series X|S console to ascertain the optimisation and worthiness of it being a product for msfs on console but yeah you get the jist of it. Even PMDG has actual consoles they run their Alpha/Beta tests on.

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Yes very nice smooth VDGS showing current time and gate number, direction whether you’re off center, marker to stop etc. i think orbx is using the Nool type VDGS.

This is encouraging because I’ve always avoided their airports through fear of them being a spurious dev. Wish they’d be less niche with their development choices, though!

Orbx MEL is doubly disappointing because their other Aussie airports have all been great, irrespective of size. Hopefully they can optimise but they’ve never been good with regular updates.

It certainly makes a mockery of the recent assertions that airports are being dumbed down because of Xbox. If anything, the latest releases are specifically geared towards those with i9 CPUs and 4090s!

Actually it’s 34AUD which can be earned back, I honestly don’t mind, when I make the switch to PC, I can still use them and for MS2024 as well. But yeah, if you’re feeling adventurous, give it a go, it might perform differently for you. Also for MEL orbx, the domestic terminals are using default asobo generic buildings. Cmon orbx -.-

The Secret Studios products are great, when I was beta testing for him on Console, he left it up to me to give him the green light to release the product for Xbox. He told me if I’m fully satisfied, only then will he release it. I get all of his current and future airports for free but that was the perk of testing for him. One thing I admire is that he ensures his products are actually tested by normal people like us instead of a closed test environment only done by the developers. Great way to reduce cross platform product issues if you ask me.

TSS WMKK is a good airport if you’re flying South East Asia flights. I sometimes do Singapore/KL to Perth when I have time. I have CAS singapore and the Orbx Landmarks Singapore which works fine and no BS or CTDs so it’s kinda disappointing that YMML that alot of people have waited for so long, literally the last big aussie airport to complete it all, performs sub par and not worthy of a console release.

Not really the point, though. It’s actually expensive for an Orbx airport. Doubt it’ll work better for someone else as there are no other add-ons in that area Xbox users could possibly have that might interfere.

I think that it’s optional if a developer wants to test their products on xbox before release. From what I was told, the process goes much faster if they do, otherwise they can leave it with Microsoft to test which could be weeks/months.
Dean from DC Designs tests his aircraft on Xbox before release, and was saying that it can be done in as little as 10 days.
I was trying to help out the developers from FSstudios with YYC for the Xbox release, but they’ were always waiting for word back from Microsoft to see if the latest build worked on Xbox.

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