ORBX, REX 4 and Active Sky Next, is it worth it?

[anon]

Hi

A few years ago I was someone who spent a lot of time in FSX but never used any addons. Ive recently been using X-Plane 11 but something is just not doing it for me with that sim. Its a great sim but I just dont feel the vibe from it. I see Youtube videos with people using ORBX and REX and it really looks amazing. I have a few questions

1: Would investing in products such as Orbx FTX global, REX 4 and Active Sky next be a good idea?

2: Why is Orbx insanely expensive as it currently is priced at $1,999.00 AUD

3: If I were to buy all of these products, how would they perform on FSX, I have a decent system. I will show specs below

CPU: I5 6600K
GPU: GTX 1070 8GB
RAM: 8GB
HDD:1TB

Thanks for any help :)

[Ken "Hondo" Gardner]

ASN and REX 4 are very good for for real time weather and good quality graphics related to weather conditions. Orbix is over priced for what it does in the simulator "My Opion".

[LeadCatcher]

As a GA only pilot, I definately think the products are worth the price, but I would focus only on the regions inwhich you fly the most. Not sure if the products are worth the money if you mostly fly at 30,000 feet.

That being said, I have Pilots mesh, Orbx Global Base, Vector and the open LC for North America and Europe as well as the NW US regions plus many of the UK and German regions.. No problem on my system with an I7-6700 with 16GB and sporting a Nvidia 1070 with 8 Gb.

Of course these products have been purchased over a couple of years so the sticker shock wasn't as apparent.

I used Rex a few years ago but now use the Active Sky 2016 product for weather.

[Morag]

There's a newer version of Active Sky (AS16) which you can pair with another program called Active Sky Cloud Art (ASCA) which replaces the cloud an sky textures like REX does. ASCA is a separate purchase tho and you get a few more texture options with REX (runways, taxiways etc.). If you're not planning on using ASCA there's not much point having AS16 over ASN imo.

REX and ASN pair well together and come up on Steam sale pretty frequently.

Where are you getting $2000 price for Orbx? The base texture pack is more like $100aus but, honestly I don't think terrain textures are worth it without landclass to go with it (landclass tells FSX where to put the textures). I don't know what the 'updated landclass' that comes with global is like but, as they sell landclass products too I suspect it's not all that good on its own.

I don't use Orbx (I have one of their regional sceneries but I don't like it so it's not been installed for years) I use GEX textures which sell in regions (I don't have all of them)
http://gex.flight1.net/

and I use Scenery Tech landclass
http://www.scenerytech.com/products/landclass/

I think ASN and REX on sale will be a nice upgrade to FSX but after that you'd probably get more value from a nice plane, like one of the A2A accusim ones, than terrain textures. You might want to consider looking into Prepar3D V4 before you invest heavily into FSX add ons.
https://www.prepar3d.com/

[anon]

Originally posted by Morag:

There's a newer version of Active Sky (AS16) which you can pair with another program called Active Sky Cloud Art (ASCA) which replaces the cloud an sky textures like REX does. ASCA is a separate purchase tho and you get a few more texture options with REX (runways, taxiways etc.). If you're not planning on using ASCA there's not much point having AS16 over ASN imo.

REX and ASN pair well together and come up on Steam sale pretty frequently.

Where are you getting $2000 price for Orbx? The base texture pack is more like $100aus but, honestly I don't think terrain textures are worth it without landclass to go with it (landclass tells FSX where to put the textures). I don't know what the 'updated landclass' that comes with global is like but, as they sell landclass products too I suspect it's not all that good on its own.

I don't use Orbx (I have one of their regional sceneries but I don't like it so it's not been installed for years) I use GEX textures which sell in regions (I don't have all of them)
http://gex.flight1.net/

and I use Scenery Tech landclass
http://www.scenerytech.com/products/landclass/

I think ASN and REX on sale will be a nice upgrade to FSX but after that you'd probably get more value from a nice plane, like one of the A2A accusim ones, than terrain textures. You might want to consider looking into Prepar3D V4 before you invest heavily into FSX add ons.
https://www.prepar3d.com/

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I have been watching a few videos and all of these are very impressive. Going back to what Morag said about the price, I have heard about that orbx is around $100, and it is displayed as this on their website. But when I log into my orbx account the price shoots up to $1,999. AUS. I would love it if Orbx global came to steam because It would make things so much easier, but I doubt it will.

I mostly fly in europe in something such as an A320 anywhere between 30,000ft to 35,000ft so ground textures are not a big role, but I would like something like orbx to give it that touch of realism.

Once again thanks to everyone for the help and advice

[Morag]

If you're at 30,000 around europe then I'd just get this for an extra touch of realism
http://www.scenerytech.com/products/landclass/europe.htm
and keep the default textures, then use ASN and REX for better weather.

Apart from those I still think you'll get more value from a plane, Aerosoft Airbus or something similar and a couple of freeware airports than GEX or Orbx.

[anon]

Originally posted by Morag:

If you're at 30,000 around europe then I'd just get this for an extra touch of realism
http://www.scenerytech.com/products/landclass/europe.htm
and keep the default textures, then use ASN and REX for better weather.

Apart from those I still think you'll get more value from a plane, Aerosoft Airbus or something similar and a couple of freeware airports than GEX or Orbx.

Deffiently, one of the main reasons I'm coming back to FSX is because of addons such as the Areosoft airbus A320 and the PMDG 777 & 737. With X-plane it just dosnt feel right.

Btw do you have any idea why orbx prices change for me when i log into my account on their website? Ive tried googling it but I cant seem to find anything.

Thanks for the help dude

[Morag]

A lot of those add ons are available for P3D too. I have Xplane 10 and 11 and ye, I miss my A2A planes too much to convert.

No idea why the Orbx store is glitching for you, I got the PNY region from Flightsimstore years ago, I think it was one of their first products - I've never used the Orbx store (and probably never will)

[anon]

Originally posted by Morag:

A lot of those add ons are available for P3D too. I have Xplane 10 and 11 and ye, I miss my A2A planes too much to convert.

No idea why the Orbx store is glitching for you, I got the PNY region from Flightsimstore years ago, I think it was one of their first products - I've never used the Orbx store (and probably never will)

Haha same, I used the Areosoft A320 when it first released at loved it so much so I have the problem too coverting to X-Plane 11. Yeah It's really weird, It has the original price with a red X through it with a new price above saying $1,999

[[57th] AngryHatter]

Out of all on OPs list I only use AS2016.
AS is great and when coupled with ASCA you get the real time weather updates with art to match.

[anon]

Originally posted by 57th Stilgar:

Out of all on OPs list I only use AS2016.
AS is great and when coupled with ASCA you get the real time weather updates with art to match.

Thanks for the reply,

As a quick update I took the jump and went to P3D, I will be investing in pretty much all these products, Orbx, REX, ASN and so on. I just thought P3D was a much better investment rather than FSX SE.

Thanks for ll the advice and help

[Kizna Fuchs]

P3D is indeed a much better investment then FSX:SE. Mainly cause of the 64 Bit though.

Flight Sim World migth become an option as well in the future.

[anon]

Originally posted by Kizna DeAllura:

P3D is indeed a much better investment then FSX:SE. Mainly cause of the 64 Bit though.

Flight Sim World migth become an option as well in the future.

Yeah deffiently, I was looking at the two choosing what would be the best for money, and so I decided just to go with P3D as its much better in the long run. And yeah absolutely, I have to say I wasnt impressed with the initial launch of Flight sim world, but I hope it continues to improve and maybe become a widely used sim.

[pirateinparadise]

If you are going to purchase several Orbx products, I suggest that you wait. About twice a year they run a 50% off sale. You just missed one that ended the first week of January. I think they do it in the summer as well.

I run AS2016, REX Essentials, REX Texture Direct 4 w/soft clouds, REX HD Airports, GSX, Orbx Global Base, Global LC, and Global Vector, plus N. California, S. California, and Pacific NW, all on top of FreemeshX.

It sounds like a lot of money, but I think I got all of it except GSX at 30% or more off. Be patient, and watch for sales. I ran FSX from 2006 until FSX:SE was released with nearly no paid addons.

[anon]

Originally posted by pirateinparadise:

If you are going to purchase several Orbx products, I suggest that you wait. About twice a year they run a 50% off sale. You just missed one that ended the first week of January. I think they do it in the summer as well.

I run AS2016, REX Essentials, REX Texture Direct 4 w/soft clouds, REX HD Airports, GSX, Orbx Global Base, Global LC, and Global Vector, plus N. California, S. California, and Pacific NW, all on top of FreemeshX.

It sounds like a lot of money, but I think I got all of it except GSX at 30% or more off. Be patient, and watch for sales. I ran FSX from 2006 until FSX:SE was released with nearly no paid addons.

I actually just purchased a bunch of addons for P3D V4 recently and I couldnt be happier. I think it was well worth investing into P3D with these addons because they really do show their amazing quallity. And yeah, kind of a shame I missed out on the sales on Orbx though. I did infact purchase Orbx FTX global today and that is an absolute game changer, but as you said I think i'll wait to the next Orbx sales now as their products are pricey.

[Jeff]

Check out Rex sky force 3D it looks pretty cool check out their website.Orbix is worth getting also.