RealScenery

Flying over the East Bay, headed northwest, above the Oakland Coliseum and Oracle Arena. This area is just north of the Oakland International Airport, KOAK. Interstate 880, better known as the the Nimitz freeway, is the major roadway between the stadiums and the waterfront. The mid-afternoon sun is shining on San Leandro Bay, with the city of Alameda in the distance.

Approaching the small agricultural community of Maxwell, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Sacramento. The agricultural lands of California's Central Valley offer some of the most spectacular flying in the state, with the constant variation of colors and patterns of the fields. Looking to the west, in the distance, are the mountains of the Mendocino National Forest. Interstate 5, the main roadway from Canada to Mexico, can be seen, along with the interchange, to the east of Maxwell, just above the nose of the Cessna.

The city of Santa Rosa, flying northwest through the Napa Valley. The Santa Rosa County Fairgrounds is the large oval in the lower right of the image. Highway 101 is the dominant roadway running through the city and continuing to the north on the left side of the image.

Flying north over the beautiful Napa Valley and the city of Napa. The Napa Valley is famous for its hundreds of wineries and related tourism in a scenic setting, located just north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wow - tough crowd... Here are a couple of re-posts that were lost due to the X-Pilot hardware failure. I'll resume posting daily screenshots tomorrow. The city of Fairfield, home to many of the Air Force personnel that work at neighboring Travis Air Force Base. The city of Vacaville is in the distance to the upper right. Flying over Lake Curry looking east toward the city of Vacaville and the agricultural areas of California's Central Valley.

Heading south over the city of Concord, looking southeast toward Mt. Diablo State Park.

One of the most beautiful airports along the California's Pacific coast is Crescent City, KCEC. The airport is located on Point St. George, the third most western point in the continental U.S. The large, light-colored areas on the left side of the image are sand dunes.

Flying over the city of Bishop, one of the hottest and driest cities in California. This early morning flight was taken before the intense heat of the afternoon sun bakes the Ownens River Valley. This image looks west toward the Sierra Nevada mountain range, lit in the early morning light.

Amazing, as usual, Redpiper!

Flying south over the city of Los Gatos, south of San Francisco Bay, looking northeast toward the cities of Campbell and San Jose. The dominant roadway running from lower-left to upper-right in the image is state highway 85, the West Valley Freeway. The main roadway on the left side of the image is state highway 17. A beautiful day for site-seeing in the South Bay!

Not a dumb question at all, and one we frequently are asked. Yes, this photo scenery may be combined with other airport objects. Many RealScenery customers do this to further enhance the photo textures for a specific airport.

Early afternoon flight heading west over the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, northeast of the city of Sacramento.

Hey John, I've made a lot of progress on SoCal, however, the next scenery release after NorCal will not be in California. I'll announce where, and show previews, after the NorCal release. The good news is that the region is almost done. All the infrastructure X-Aviation is building for the NorCal scenery will be used for future packages, so the time to get them to our customers will be rapidly reduced...

Thanks, John. The back-end server and installer code has been more than anyone anticipated. X-Aviation, no doubt, has as much time on this project as I do. When this is released, we will all have a fast, flexible, reliable download system. I'm most appreciative of X-Aviation for their hard work in supporting this mammoth project! I know all our customers will be, too.

Yes, I fixed the quote error, Jim... My apologies. I'm happy to start the new topic, actually, and look forward to seeing what others think. Most of the plausibility discussions are built around X-Plane default scenery vs the real-world, not necessarily focusing on the plausibility of land-use vs. image-based ground scenery... You just gave me the excuse to start the topic. I also know that your comments, while only stating your opinion, will certainly spark additional comments and discussion. For that reason, I directed others to the new topic. Thanks!

Thank you both for the nice comments! To keep this forum focused on NorCal screenshots, leading up to release, I've started a new topic to address plausibility.

The following quote is from the NorCal Screenshot of the Day forum and was brought here to expand on the broader topic of the plausibility of default scenery in X-Plane. Thanks JazAero - always appreciate the nice comments! As far as the plausibility of the default scenery is concerned, there are a lot of differing opinions on this topic. First, you have to keep in mind that Laminar Research (LR) and RealScenery produce two very different products with respect to ground scenery and "realism." LR has to create scenery world-wide and make it as plausible as possible. Traditionally, this has been known as "landuse-based" scenery. Basically, you come up with generic image textures to use for urban and rural areas, taking into account the landuse, climate, elevation, etc. To conquer the world-wide scenery problem, this is about all you can do. Could LR use actual imagery to cover the world? Sure, but no one would want to use it because the resolution would be so low - talk about "implausibility!" With RealScenery, I create imagery from real data sources, and combine it with elevation and hydrography (water features), to create my own "plausible world." I don't have to deal with creating scenery for the entire world (although many have asked! ) Are they different? You bet! Is one more plausible than another? Probably. There will be many differing opinions on this, for sure. Many people swear by only flying with image-based scenery, like RealScenery, or the excellent work that Drawbridge Designs, Chris K. and others have made for smaller areas. Others really enjoy the new scenery of X-Plane 10. There's no right or wrong answer. The good thing is that there are choices. If I were making my own sim, I would definitely take the approach of creating generic scenery in as "plausible" way as possible. The other approach is to create a sim that covers only a small geographic area, combining imagery and 3D objects. While this can be great for a small area, this won't be an attractive option for most people that live outside this region. I'm sure others will have strong opinions on this topic. The topic of plausibility has also been discussed in other flight sim forums as well. Most likely, this debate rage on as long as there are flight sims! Eric

An early morning flight looking south from the city of San Jose toward the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Highway 101, also known as El Camino Real, is the dominant roadway on the left side of the image as it extends south from the large interchange with Interstate-280 in the lower left. The Santa Cruz mountains are visible on the right in the early morning sun.

If you really want the realism of the simulator, buy the Wilmington scenery - the best out there! New upgrade coming soon, too! Even if it's not your home airport, the available approaches/procedures and airport ground operating environment will complement your flying greatly. One great scenery package and a couple of great aircraft, and you now have a new home airport! Can't beat it for practice, as I assume you're trying to do to complement your real-world flight training. Good luck in your decision.

Welcome to X-Pilot, sumulloyd and thank you for the nice comments about the NorCal scenery!

Heading south over the town of Dixon, located between the cities of Sacramento and San Francisco. The two dominant transportation features are Interstate-80 on the right side of the image and railroad on the left. The cities in the distance are Vacaville and Fairfield. Travis Air Force Base is in the far upper left of the image and is home to C-5 Galaxies, KC-10 Extenders, and C-17 Globemaster aircraft.

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Flying north toward the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (KSJC). The colorful salt evaporators of south San Francisco Bay are visible in the distance. The Interstate-880 freeway, also known as the Nimitz freeway, is seen as the dominant roadway on the south side of the airport, near the bottom of the image.

The city of Red Bluff, in far northern California, is a small city positioned along the Sacramento River, about 30 miles / 48 kilometers south of Redding. This flight is transitioning from south to north, flying over the Red Bluff Municipal Airport (KRBL). The Sacramento River is in the background, along with the bridges of Antelope Boulevard and Interstate-5.

A beautiful sunset flight over the South Bay as the city lights just start to turn on and mix with the natural daylight. The city below is the San Jose and Milpitas area, looking north.