A few from around California!

[ak416]

Enjoy!

[Wingman]

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but...

In your opinion, how does US|NCA (FTX ORBX Northern California) stack up/rank against the other ORBX regions? ... against Global? ...
BTW; if it's not #1... which one is?

How's the frame rate hit in the densest areas (presumably KSFO compared to, say, KSEA in PNW)?

[ak416]

That's tough to say, I only got to spend about 30 minutes with NCA. I purposely chose areas that seemed interesting, whether they were recommended on the Orbx forum (Thanks Waterman ) or happened to be within a reasonable distance to an airport that I could see on the included .kmz.

Mount Shasta was the first destination I visited and was really impressed (it's the Mountain in the first screenshot). The photoreal areas seem to be of higher quality than seen in previous regions, like SAK, but especially earlier products like AUS or PNW, and there are a lot more of them. Lots of new textures, the beaches look fantastic, they did some really great stuff with the water textures, especially around places like Palo Alto and its many sloughs and swamps. Also the different inlets and bays were given extra attention like Arcata Bay which is pictured above at the bottom.

3D grass has been added to a lot of the airports now along with new models and textures. Another thing that really impressed me was how well the snowy regions blended into the not-so-snowy regions. The mesh is probably the best yet, some of the rolling hills and valleys are quite well done and the mountains are perfect, but what else do you expect from Holgermesh™?

The frame rates at KSFO obviously werent as good as they were out over the beaches or deserts, but it is an improvement over KSEA. However, recent changes to the Orbx libraries included modifications to many 3d objects in the world, including vegetation and skyscrapers, so it would be worth revisiting other regions to see how much they've improved. From a technical standpoint, its evident that they are still evolving and trying new things instead of going the safe route and sticking with what has worked in the past or reusing assets.

My favourite Orbx region is probably New Zealand South Island, followed by Southern Alaska. The vibrant colours and sprawling coastlines of New Zealand never get tiring and Southern Alaska has so many diverse locations you can do any sort of flying up there whether it be R66s or F22s. I still have so much to explore in California though, so that might change over the summer.

[Waterman981]

Yeah, Orbx really paid a lot of attention to a lot of the airports. I was flying out of my old hometown (O61). Take off out of there, fly a bit in any direction, then turn around and try to find it. They did an AMAZING job blending these airports into the surrounding terrain. And like AK said, the little things like 3D grass at even the smallest strips is cool. I visited Tahoe at dusk. It was a quick trip so I didn't look around much, but it looked fantastic. People Flow, 3D grass, custom buildings... It's almost like a cheap payware at every airport.

I love SAK, but so far with my limited testing I'd put NCA just above it (Don't have NZ to check out), due especially to the airports.

[Waterman981]

Here's a couple I took the other night in FSX on the server:

Over O61

http://i.imgur.com/IOfFGvS.jpg

Lake Oroville (Yes I flew between the bridges)

http://i.imgur.com/XMRqo43.jpg

Chico

http://i.imgur.com/GNX1J7I.jpg

One of the runways we visited was Brownsville (P49 in FSX). It was not a flat runway, which was cool, but compared to aerial photography it could have been a better surface.

[ak416]

Nice shots, Waterman! Love the paint. Will you be picking up Redding? Just got it and should have an hour to fly later this evening, I'll post some screenshots up if I get around to it!

[Waterman981]

Probably not now. Perhaps after they do a price drop after a year or two. It's easier to afford the regions as they come out less frequently than airports. But I did pick up PAJN with the Christmas sale.