Microsoft’s Flight Simulator has seen drastic improvements in scenery quality over the past two decades. Even so, the basic textures can always be improved upon.
Take your flight simming experience to the next level with one of these top-rated scenery add-ons for FSX.
1. Photoreal America — Sim Savvy
This is the first edition of Sim-Savvy’s “Massive Scenery Collection.” And it’s definitely massive! The program uses photo-based textures for the entire continental United States–an incredible 400 GB of data.
The photo data comes directly from the USDA’s National Agriculture Imagery Program NAIP, which takes 1 meter/pixel aerial photos every 2 years of continental U.S.
Worried about the size of Photoreal America? Fear not, a 1 TB external hard drive is included with Photoreal America. The program comes pre-loaded on the hard drive and can run from it directly.
The software does come with a hefty price: $199 USD. Despite the significant price tag, this is still a worthwhile investment in the long run; you are entitled to free updates whenever they become available.
2. Ground Environment X USA & Canada — Flight1
At $34.95, this program is an affordable alternative to Photoreal America. GEX replaces the default FSX scenery with striking 1024×1024 pixel images that have a 1 meter/pixel resolution.
One advantage of GEX is that GEX includes night textures while Sim Savvy’s product does not.
Flight simmers report that GEX’s effect is subtle but noticeable. Bland white road lines are transformed into major expressways and interchanges humming with traffic.
GEX also provides a better “blending of seasons.” Spring and fall textures mark a much more natural transition to winter and summer.
Despite all the scenery enhancements, simmers say that they still get great frame rates.
3. Megascenery Bundle: Hawaii, Las Vegas, Reno — PC Aviator
Previously released as three separate photoscenery programs, you can now get all three cities bundled together for under $20.
Megascenery Bundle fills the void left by Ground Environment X and Photoreal America, which do not include Hawaii. While you only get scenery for Ohau island, the photorealistic textures are amazing. View a few screenshots on the megascenery.com website and see for yourself. The ground looks exactly like what you’d see in real life–distinct neighborhoods, enclaves of homes, and major expressways with traffic.
The Las Vegas component includes 2,100+ square miles of textures. The only shortcoming with this program is that it doesn’t add or enhance any of the 3D buildings on the Vegas Strip. The buildings on the Strip are still just part of the standard FSX scenery, which are decent anyway.
4. Megascenery X: Southern California — PC Aviator
As a Los Angeles native, I’m always anxious to get a hold of the newest SoCal add-ons as soon as they hit stores. I was delighted by the quality of the scenery in Megascenery X. The level of detail is incredible. I was able to spot my high school, my neighborhood, and even my house!
Like the Megascenery Bundle, this program doesn’t add any 3D objects to SoCal landscape, but several other features make up for it. For one, the frame rates are actually better than with the default scenery. For another, night textures are included with this program. Most scenery add-ons do not have night textures.
5. Manhattan X — Aerosoft
Making a detailed simulated rendition of Manhattan is a difficult feat. Even so, Aerosoft does a great job with Manhattan X.
All of Manhattan is completely remastered in jaw-dropping detail. There’s 3D automobile traffic with everything from limosines to public buses, there’s the Staten Island Ferry making its regularly scheduled trip across the harbor, and there’s even something else that you typically don’t see in a flight sim–people!
Manhattan X comes with a “sightseeing mission” where you tour the city in a helicopter. Beginning at the Wall Street heliport, you fly around the city with a co-pilot who doubles as a tour guide. With a heavy New Yorker accent, your co-pilot points out areas of interest and provides brief historical footnotes for many of the landmarks you encounter.
Users say they get frame rates between 15 and 35 FPS on an Intel Quad Core machine with 2 GB of RAM. In the user’s manual, Aerosoft explains exactly how you should modify the FSX display settings to maximize performance.
If you’re looking to get the most out of Megascenery X and all the other scenery programs in this review, you will need a powerful computer. With 8 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 460M graphics card, and a quad core processor, the Asus G73JW is one of the best gaming computers on the market. Check out the Asus G73JW review from shopguides.net. This article, Flight Simulator X: 5 Great Scenery Expansion Packs is available for free reprint.
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