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FSGenesis sent me an email telling me that they have the new FSX National Landclass Project ready for immediate shipment. My question is: "What exactly is "landclass?" While we are at it, what is "terrain mesh" and how is it different from "scenery?" Inquiring minds want to know...

Landclass: Determines placement of autogen textures (cities, woods, fields, etc...)

Mesh: Contains information about terrain elevations.


So much for the basics.

So when I am looking at Las Vegas from maybe five miles away and at 2000 feet AGL and seeing the buildings, et cetera, I am looking at "landclass?" And when I am out over the mountains in the desert I am looking at "terrain mesh?" So much for the basics...

Mesh is a grid laid accross the planet determining the elevation of each point. Obivously, more grid points in a given area means the mesh is more accurate. Simply put: The closer the grid points are together, the more accurate the mesh is, which means you'll have more realistic hills, rivers, canyons, ect.......

The distance between each point on the grid is made up of metres, so, the lower the better. (19 metre mesh is better than 76metre mesh).


Landclass is simply data which determines which texture you place where. Bad landclass is boring and single color. Good landclass will make the ground look realistic and complex. Landclass also determines which autogen buildings to place where.

So, landclass and mesh make up the terrain. However, some scenery is just 3d models placed ontop of the mesh.

FSGenesis sent me an email telling me that they have the new FSX National Landclass Project ready for immediate shipment. My question is: "What exactly is "landclass?" While we are at it, what is "terrain mesh" and how is it different from "scenery?" Inquiring minds want to know...

Landclass is what tells the sim what kind of earth you are flying over.. be it a golf course, industrial park, national park, urban, farmland, etc. The landclass files are developed from real world data (as best it can be) which means it should put golf courses, cemetary, parks, housing developments, ets, where they belong from the real world into FSX. It is not perfect but much better than the default one that comes with FSX.

I have tested the FSG Landclass with their 10m mesh and it is better than the default landclass that comes with FSX however, I also discovered it tends to pile the autogen on a bit thicker in some city areas, meaning, there can be a bit of a drag on the system with it installed. Still, it is better than the default one from MS because you get the visuals of a more realistic environment.

Right now I suggest the landclass developed by Cloud9. Their landclass products come with a fine-tuned seasons file which corrects the FSX designed seasons. You can buy just the USA for 9.99 or get the entire world for 30 bucks. The world package is the better deal since the 5 world area landclass files will cost 10 bucks a piece seperately.

The Cloud9 Landclass still have a few small visual bugs in it here and there but it changes the autogen layout in a way that makes for a much smoother flight as compared to the FSGenesis file. Justin at FSG will most likely update his landclass and I will test it again when he does but I find the Cloud9 landclass much easier on frames right now.

I like FSG products and use them. This time I have to go with Cloud9 until FSG comes up with a better offering

Agree with that.

To tell it again in a simple and short manner:

- The mesh: it's the shape of the terrain, moutains, valleys, hills etc...
- The landclass: it's the type of terrain for a given zone, like fields, or forest, or cities etc...

If you get a precise mesh for a given zone, then you will get more beautifull mountains, maybe hills that you could not see before, more accurate terrain shape, etc...

If you get a precise Landclass for a given zone (like this US nationnal Landclass you've been mentionning), then you get a more accurate terrain type, like exact positions of cities, forests where they are supposed to be, cultivated fields in the correct zones etc... On the contrary, with the default scenery, you may get a forest or a desert where, in real life, you would find some cultivated fields. The landclass may be the most important element of a scenery, it's really what will make it look "realistic".

I agree, too. Cloud9 Europe and US definitely best bang for buck.

Fabulous responses!! I thank you all very much for the time you spent on your replies-- especially you, Nick N. I finally now know what is being spoken about when I see these words. So, I'll find Cloud9 at cloud9.com or something like that?

Cloud 9 stuff is great!

Here is the site
http://www.fscloud9.com/php/home.php?lang=EN

Now this thread needs to go to the Payware forum  ;)

Dave