FS (FTX) Global Vector V1.10 is out now.

We had finished the primary compile and

were fixing bugs coming from the forum and other areas.
Going through these posts I noticed, that some users are not sure of what Vector
does and can do. So I decided to have a few words of what you can expect and what
has been postponed or needs another product.
As a foreword it has to be said, that the PILOT’S FS Global line (together with ORBX
FTX Global line) intends to create a complete replacement of FSX and P3D default
world. For a better understanding how things work together I repeat what has been
posted already at the forums and manuals in a listing below …
The layers:
1) First you will need a 3D wireframe, the mesh. FS Global 2010 or Ultimate
series are recommended, as we do all the testing and developing on these.
Other meshes may/will work as well, but it depends on how they were derived.
Even the same source data can result in a different mesh. Though it is no
technical requirement, Vector will look odd in some areas when you use the
sims (FSX/P3D) default mesh. We strongly recommend to use FS Global 2010
or Ultimate.
2) Second you will need a landclass layer. This layer defines city, woods, ocean,
etc. ORBX will have them ready one by one coming soon. For the time being
you can use what you have installed or your sim has as a default.
3) Third you will need these landclass data filled with textures, so that actually a
picture is created. Use ORBX FTX Global for this. FTX Global is a
REQUIREMENT for the use of Vector as it uses textures from there. So you
MUST have FTX Global (at LEAST V1.2) installed.
4) Forth you will need this picture be more detailed by adding VECTOR data,
such a lakes, shorelines, streets, highways, train lines, power lines, etc, etc …
This is done by FS Global (FTX) Vector.

These four layers will completely replace the FSX default world in much better
detail using the most modern data available. A whole new FS world. On top of
this world you can place all your detailed add-on airports and scenery. Of
course some of them may need amendment since the world below them may
have changed. But this is nothing new. It happens in most cases once a new
sim is released.

And to top up your FS world you will need another layer ….

5) Fifth the weather layer … we recommend our award winning FS Global Real
Weather. The best and most accurate weather engine you can get. Try it!
I hope you now do understand how things fall into place. You may ask, do I need all
layers? Well, if you want it all to fit and be top of the notch, yes, you will need all
layers. Of course you can replace a layer with another product line, but all our
products are developed to work together. We can not guarantee they will work with
others.
What comes up in V1.10?
Vector 1.10 is a complete new design and thus not a patch, but needs to be installed
after uninstallation of V1.00. The guys at ORBX promised us, their installer will do
that for you. You need to be absolutely sure, no remains of V1.0 are around in FS.
All spikes will be gone in V1.10. They were due to errors in the source data and went
undetected even by our beta testers … I will spare you the details.
V1.10 will come with a configuration tool. You will be able to turn on and off whatever
features Vector has.
V1.10 will come with altitude correction of all relevant airports. You can disable this
correction by the configurator as well. It may be needed for add-on airports.
How was this correction done? Most of you will know, that FSX and so far all
successors rely on something we call the „flat airport concept“. This concept defines,
all airports in the sim are flat. Some of you will know, that this is not always the case.
In real world one end of a runway can have a considerably different altitude than the
other end, resulting in a slope whereas in the sim it is flat. If you have a custom mesh
installed you will know the resulting effect: a wall at one end and/or a cliff at the other
end. Both more or less visible depending on the difference of the altitudes of the
thresholds. For this first version we have decided to set all airports to the average
altitude of all threshold altitudes. So, if an airport has two runways each threshold at
100ft, the airport will be set to 100ft. If an airport has two runways with one threshold
at 100ft and one at 90ft, this airport will be set to 95ft. And so on … This version will
have the least impact to visual within the mesh. I mean, the „wall“ and the „cliff“
mentioned earlier will be the least visible, if we use the average value of threshold
altitudes.
In the time coming, we will get your feedback and may amend this for certain airports.
It is very easy to compile a new airport altitude and since Vector will be a living
product, we constantly update this.
If one airport does not „work for you“ e.g. because you have an add-on airport
installed, which is not compatible with this feature, you can at any time disable it for
this very airport using the configurator. But note, disabling will only work, if this add-
on has been programmed according to SDK standards. It is vital, that it comes with
an airport boundary polygon. If someone just has added certain things, like buildings
or fences, etc to the default airport, disabling will not work. In that case the
programmer has to adapt his work to the SDK standard.

A list of all other changes in V1.10 can be found here (constantly updated):
http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/70621-vector-v11-change-log-in-
development/
Some words on (in your potential view) „unfixed“ things:
Not all anomalies you may find in your sim „since Vector was installed“ are in fact
Vector issues. Some issues just are brought to light by Vector.

1) You will find out, that Microsoft has misplaced some airports to fit their default
mesh or vector scenery or simply because they got wrong data. Yes, even a
Jeppesen DB contained errors in airport reference points back then. Vector
mercilessly unmasks these little cheats and errors. This may result in streets
or water bodies going through airport areas (with all resulting issues, such as
autogen traffic crossing the runway, etc). Testers pointed out some of these
issues. These we know about have been checked using google maps and
google earth. Where we found out Vector scenery was wrong, we corrected it.
Where we found out Vector scenery was right and the airport was wrong, we
left it as is. The scientific approach always has to be to correct the WRONG
issue and not to amend the correct one to fit the wrong. Imagine, we would
have amended Vector to fit the wrong airport and one day someone corrects
the airport. Maybe autogen traffic would cross the runway at that time. So one
day these airports need to be moved, but as of now, this is not the purpose of
Vector. We will think about a solution, but can not promise anything here.

2) Linked to the fore mentioned issue is the fact that some static as well as
dynamic objects will be displaced. This includes cranes, buildings, ferries,
ships, etc. The reason is the same. These objects were placed to fit the default
scenery. All applying to misplaced airports applies here as well. Some day
they need to be moved or removed.

3) If you use a high resolution custom mesh (FS Global 2010/ FS Global
Ultimate) some airports do not completely fit into this mesh. Some may have
cliffs or wall around them. I already have mentioned the flat airport concept.
Again it is one reason for this visual behaviour of the mesh. Airports in the sim
can not be on a slope. This results in (maybe) rising the mesh at one end and
(maybe) pushing down the mesh at the other. This is no bug, but normal
behaviour of FSX and P3D at this development stage. We are aware of this
and already preparing solutions. In some cases editing (narrowing) the airport
boundary polygon will fix it (as it may be unnecessarily large, especially at
airports on hills). For other cases a NEW version of AFM may be a solution.
Again, we know that and are thinking about/working on a solution.

4) You will find freezing ice textures (and water textures) with sharp edges
between seasons. In areas where ice and snow change the landscape it is a
FSX feature to do this not completely when the sim date is between seasons.
This means between seasons FSX will change textures randomly to simulate
 not completely snowed or iced in areas as it is in real world. Since we do not
know, where this will happen (meaning, which texture will become ice and
which will not) we can not place a better fitting texture at this stage. We are
aware of that and experimenting on some solutions. Stay tuned. If you
absolutely do not like it, you can disable icing using the configurator.

5) You may see black patches in Prepar3D V2.0 and 2.1. This actually is a P3D
bug, we are already relaying with Lockheed Martin for fixing. It may be fixed in
V2.1 already. I have not seen it anymore during testing, but some reports still
stand. So I mention that here for you to know.

6) You should also notice that our various source data for Vector differs greatly
depending on location. You can not expect the same quality as is in Europe
for Kazakstan. We are constantly evaluating new sources and implementing
them into the product. It will become better and better over the time and it will
never be „ready“!

Stefan Schaefer
Feb. 23rd 2014
V1.00