Scenery quality in Microsoft's Flight Simulator franchise has improved drastically over the years. Even so, the default textures seem to always leave room for improvement.
Take your virtual flying experience to the next level with one of these great 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 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) run by the USDA. Every two years, the NAIP takes detailed 1 meter/pixel aerial pictures of continental U.S. The data is available to the public for free.
Worried about the size of Photoreal America? Fear not, a 1 Terrabyte external hard drive is included with your purchase. 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 expansion pack provides an affordable alternative to Photoreal America. GEX replaces FSX's default scenery textures with crisp 1024x1024 pixel images that have a resolution of 1 meter per pixel.
One advantage of GEX is that GEX includes night textures while Photoreal America does not.
Customers report that GEX's effect is subtle but noticeable. Bland white road lines are transformed into major expressways and interchanges humming with traffic.
With GEX you also get a better "blending of seasons." Textures for the Fall and Spring mark a much more natural transition to winter and summer.
Despite all the scenery enhancements, users 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 locales bundled together for under $20.
Unlike Ground Environment X and Photoreal America, which do not include any Hawaii data, Megascenery Bundle provides stunning photorealistic scenery textures for Ohau. Take a look at some of the screen captures on the megascenery.com website and see for yourself. The ground looks exactly like what you'd see in real life.
Over 2,100 square miles of city landscape, rocky mountains, hilltops are included with the Las Vegas textures. The only drawback with this program is that it doesn't enhance any of the 3D buildings on the Vegas Strip.
4. Megascenery X: Southern California -- PC Aviator
I live in Los Angeles, so I'm always eager to get my hands on the newest SoCal add-ons as soon as they come out. I was very impressed with Megascenery X. The level of detail is incredible. I was able to pinpoint my high school, my neighborhood, and even my house!
As with the Megascenery Bundle, this program doesn't add any 3D objects to SoCal landscape, but several other features make up for this. For one, I actually had better frame rates with the add-on scenery compared to the default scenery. For another, night textures are included with this program, which is something you don't get with most scenery add-ons.
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. Starting 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 tour guide highlights areas of interest and gives brief historical footnotes for many of the landmarks you encounter.
Users report average frame rates between 15 and 35 FPS on an Intel Quad Core machine with 2 GB of RAM. Aerosoft tells you (in the user manual) exactly how to tweak the FSX display settings to maximize performance.
About the Author:
To get the most out of Manhattan X and all the other scenery programs in this review, you will need a powerful gaming PC. 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 gaming PCs on the market. Check out the Asus G73JW review from shopguides.net. Also published at 5 Great Scenery Expansion Packs for Flight Simulator X.
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