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 exciting scenery expansion packs for FSX.
1. Photoreal America -- Sim Savvy
Sim-Savvy's "Massive Scenery Collection" makes its debut with Photoreal America. And boy is it massive! The program includes photo-realistic scenery that spans the entire U.S. mainland -- a whopping 400 GB worth of scenery.
Where does all this data come from? The USDA's National Agriculture Imagery Program NAIP, which takes 1 meter/pixel aerial photos every 2 years of continental U.S.
Don't have a 400 GB hard drive? Fear not, your Photoreal America purchase includes a 1 TB external hard drive that comes preloaded with the software. The program runs from the external hard drive directly, so there is no need to copy files onto your computer.
Considering the scope of this project, be prepared to pay a hefty price: 9 USD. But even with the price tag, Photoreal America is still a good investment in the long run; you are entitled to free updates as soon as they are available.
2. Ground Environment X USA & Canada -- Flight1
At .95, this add-on is an affordable alternative to Photoreal America. GEX replaces the default FSX scenery with crisp 1024x1024 pixel images that have a 1 meter/pixel resolution. One upside of GEX is that it includes night textures while Sim Savvy's product does not.
Flight simmers say that the scenery enhancements you'll see with GEX are subtle but noticeable. Desolate white road lines are transformed into major expressways bustling with traffic.
You will also see a more realistic "blending of seasons" compared to the default FSX scenery. Fall and spring textures mark a much more natural transition to winter and summer, respectively.
Despite the enhanced details, simmers say that they still get great frame rates.
3. Megascenery Bundle: Hawaii, Las Vegas, Reno -- PC Aviator
This bundle, gives you great scenery for three popular cities. Unlike Ground Environment X and Photoreal America, which do not include Hawaii, you will get photorealistic scenery for Ohau that is simply amazing. View some of the screen captures on the megascenery.com website and see for yourself. Ground textures look 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 enhance any of the 3D buildings on the Vegas Strip. The buildings on the Strip are the same ones from the default FSX scenery.
4. Megascenery X: Southern California -- PC Aviator
I live in Los Angeles, so I'm always anxious to get my hands on the newest SoCal add-ons as soon as they are released. I was very impressed with Megascenery X. The level of detail is incredible. I was able to spot my high school, my neighborhood, and even my house!
As with the Megascenery Bundle, this program does not add any 3D objects to the landscape, but there are several other features that make up for this. I actually saw better frame rates with the add-on than with the default scenery -- a very pleasant surprise. Another cool feature included with Megascenery X: night textures. Most scenery expansion packs do not include night textures, so you should take advantage of this opportunity while you can.
5. Manhattan X -- Aerosoft.
Creating an elaborate virtual version of Manhattan is a daunting task. Even so, Aerosoft did a great job with this product.
All of Manhattan is completely remastered in jaw-dropping detail. There's 3D automobile traffic with everything from limos to public buses, there's the Staten Island Ferry making regularly scheduled trips across the harbor, and there's even something else that you typically don't see in a flight sim--people!
Another great feature is the "sightseeing mission." Starting at the Wall Street heliport, the mission involves flying a helicopter around the city with a co-pilot who doubles as a tour guide. With a thick Brooklyn accent, your tour-guide highlights areas of interest and gives interesting historical tidbits pertaining to the landmarks you encounter.
For Manhattan X, expect 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 to tweak the FSX display settings to maximize performance.
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