FS Global X 2008 review
This is a review of Flight1’s FS Global X 2008 by Paul Webster. Many thanks to Paul for taking the time and effort to produce this review for FlightSimX.
Without terrain the world would be flat, not fall off the edge flat, but there would be no hills, no valleys and no mountains, nothing but unending flatness. This kind of world may please cyclists (hello Netherlands), but aviators would have a hard and otherwise boring time navigating and let’s face it, the various contours covering our world make up its most stunning scenery whether viewed from the ground or the sky.
Terrain mesh is simply the method computers use to model these peaks and troughs on the earths surface. A piece of terrain mesh data will state “at this point on the surface of the earth the height of the land is this much�. It doesn’t care what’s covering that part of the earth, be it land, water or the car parked on your driveway, those details are taken care of by other pieces of the software.
The earth’s surface totals around 510,000,000 square kilometres. Each one of those kilometres will have its own peaks and troughs within its own 1,000 square metres.
No one is going to entertain the idea of wandering the earth with a 9,000 metre tape measure (necessary for Everest), stop off at regular intervals and jot down a quick measurement. Fortunately we don’t have to ask for volunteers for such a project. Someone in NASA came up with a cunning plan to equip the space shuttles with radars so they could map the Earths surface whilst they were in orbit around the planet on other NASA type business. This was how the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) was born. Data from the SRTM covers 80% of the surface of the globe and includes measurements taken up to every 30 meters which is about as good as we’re going to get. Sadly the 20% that is missing does cover quite a lot of land, a lot of Canada, most of Russia, all of Iceland, Greenland, Finland etc. for these places we have to rely on less thorough but still accurate measurements.
Back in 2003 when Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) was released the full installation took up nearly 2Gb of disk space which at the time was a damn large chunk of disk space for an application, it could however have been a lot, lot larger. For the sake of Joe Public’s storage capacity Microsoft opted for a low level of detail for the terrain mesh data with measurements taken every 1.2 Kilometres. While this gives a fairly accurate portrayal of the surface of the globe, when flying over mountain ranges or areas with undulating hills the experience just wasn’t realistic enough for many Flight Simulator fans, especially those who wanted to get an accurate view of these types of regions from low level VFR flights in smaller aircraft.
It wasn’t long before FS Global appeared to fill the gaps in the default mesh, with its 12Gb of data and measurements from the SRTM at every 76 metres. For every single point of reference within FS9, FS Global provided a further 12. Things were vastly improved and FS Global soon became and still remains a must have add-on for FS9.
Things moved on with the release of FSX, the full install of which now takes a whopping 13Gb (no prizes for guessing that a large chunk of that is terrain mesh data). So have Microsoft incorporated the same SRTM data that FS Global uses? The answer is yes and no. FSX now uses the SRTM data at 76 metres for America, Europe, Japan, Australia and a chunk of the Himalayas to cover Everest, the rest uses mesh with measurements taken every 600 metres. Twice as good as it was in FS9, but still way off the 76 meters delivered by FS Global.
Microsoft’s decision to include SRTM data for the areas where most of its customers are located will be appreciated. We all like to take flights around our home airfields and check out the landscape/cities that we know. Why Microsoft have chosen not to include high detail mesh for the rest of the world - Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), South America and the islands in the waters in-between is debatable. However if you want the same level of detail for all parts of the globe (and most of us will) this still means that purchasing a product such as FS Global 2008 is necessary.
FS Global 2008 comes on 3 DVDs (A further 3 DVD’s are supplied for FS9 if required) containing its 13Gb of mesh data. Also included is a printed booklet that introduces the product and gives installation instructions. You will need to read the installation instructions as installation is not one step although it’s not overly complicated. Once installed that’s pretty much it, you’ll have the most realistic terrain modelling possible throughout. The more complex the terrain mesh the more computer processing involved, so areas that previously had the low detail mesh will now have similar frame rates to the rest of the world - no real issue there.
Below are some images from www.fsglobalx.com the first set compares the amount of high detail SRTM mesh data available as default with FSX and what you get with FSGlobal 2008. The second set shows an in-flight screenshot of the Mount Fitzroy range in Patagonia showing the difference between the low detail FSX mesh (600m) and the SRTM data mesh from FS Global (76m). The last set show Mount Everest and a direct comparison between the SRTM data as implemented by FSX and as implemented by FS Global, FS Global claims that its implementation of the data is superior to the way that Microsoft have interpreted it and from this particular shot it certainly looks that way.
Area of SRTM data coverage in FSX
Area of SRTM data coverage in FS Global 2008
Non SRTM data mesh in FSX
SRTM data mesh from FS Global 2008
SRTM data mesh in FSX
SRTM data mesh from FS Global 2008
There is no doubt that Flight Simulator users want the best level of detail they can get to enhance their simming experience. Microsoft has recognised this, but until they model the entire world to the standards achieved by FS Global they are only doing half the job. In the meantime, to enjoy the earth’s variety of landscapes from any altitude and to get the most from FS9 or FSX, FS Global remains a must-have.
You can purchase FS Global X 2008 from the FlightSim Pilot Shop.
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