Exploring Orbx Great Britain Central for X-Plane 12

Introduction

The Orbx website described this scenery package as being one of three covering Great Britain. This particular Central package covers 22 928 square miles (59 383 square km). This package includes 3D trees throughout with individually set heights, upgraded water masking using X-Plane 12’s new water model, soundscape support, such as birds and vehicles and fully native seasonal changes.

But there is much more that comes with this package. Of particular note are metropolitan areas such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle. We have also faithfully recreated scenic areas such as the Lake District, the Peak District, Snowdonia National Park, the North Yorkshire Moors, and the North Wales Coast/Llandudno. And therefore, if you like castles and cathedrals, then you’ll be excited about the hundreds of POIs, especially around Bangor, Caernarfon, Cumbria, Northumbria, and Yorkshire.

And yes, you and I are all aware that Orbx had already an X-Plane 11 TU GB Central version. The new X-Plane 12 version is not just an “updated” package. As you could read above, lots of changes, modifications and new features are implemented in this new TE GB Central, but that’s also applicable for the other TU GB packages.

There are numerous VFR landmarks across the scenery and particularly in city and coastal areas and iconic landmarks are modelled and correctly positioned. The design of the modelling allows for crisp and colour matched aerial imagery. The road and rail network is modelled in detail with options as to how the roads are presented. The scenery is for the summer only and night lighting is also supported.

Download and Documentation

The scenery can be bought either through the Orbx website – orbxdirect.com – or their app Orbx Central. This can be downloaded via this direct website link or at this link. In order to make the purchase the user has to set up an account with a user name and password. This is straight forward and the website or the app take the user through the process.

The website states that the initial download of the package is 16 GB and the installed product is 77.3 GB. Orbx have their own download process via their Orbx Central App. Whether the product was bought on the website or the app it is the app that is used to download the scenery.

Once signed in the app shows the scenery as available and then takes the user through a series of prompts to initiate the download. The download can be made directly to a copy of X-Plane or elsewhere, another drive for example, which Orbx terms a library. The software creates automatic links to a nominated copy of X-plane. The library option is useful in the fact that it allows storage away from the main copy of X-Plane and because the scenery is a large amount of disk space this may be an advantage.

If the user has more than one copy of X-Plane care should be taken to direct Orbx Central to the correct copy. If it transpires it has gone to the wrong copy there is a square to the top right of the app display which contains the word X-Plane. By clicking on that the app identifies all copies available. If the cursor is hovered over those options the identity of each one is revealed.

Clicking on the appropriate description points the app towards it. It is also possible to create a “library” at any time and retrospectively store the scenery there. The process is intuitive and easy to follow and the software does all the work.

The download is a large file and does take a while but installation is completed by the app and produces several Orbx folders in the appropriate custom scenery folder. The user manual can be downloaded through the app or through a web search. The manual seems yet – June 2024 – not being updated since it is dated December 2018 on the front. Although it is the old original version of TU GB Central, it is still applicable for X-Plane 12.

The guide consists of twelve pages and covers product features and requirements, quick installation, scenery coverage, the product control panel, product support and the True Earth team. The control panel allows the user to configure the scenery. This configuration allows the product to be set up with default X-Plane roads or photoreal roads. If the user chooses photo-real roads there are small adjustments that need to be made to roads folder in the Orbx overlay folder. Changing how the road look like as described above is a matter of taste. Some like this, some like the other way roads look like. Just check it out yourself, restart X-Plane and find your preference.

Once installed the scenery opened smoothly although it did take longer for X-Plane to open. I accept that there is far more information to load and it may also be due to the limitations of my hardware but users should be aware this may be the case. And perhaps important to say, there was based on the photo real material no effect on frame rates however, in the range of cities and other POIs, frame rates can drop also depending on your X-Plane settings.

Youtube Scenery Impression

I have tried to visit the different locations within TU GB Central which is I know now almost impossible. There’s so much to see and therefore so much to explore. In addition to my first impression your personal reporter Angelique has made a movie of her flight from EGNM (Leeds Bradford) to the Yorkshire National Park, then along the Lake District National Park. Via the west coast towards Lancaster and then back to EGNM. The flight gives a great illustration of the scenery in action and how it appears from the aircraft.

On the other hand, she also makes some short trips at other locations and immediately after takeoff the new scenery comes alive. The first example is from RAF Coningsby as I knew this was modelled in detail before loading TU GB Central and wanted to see if the scenery worked together. I could see no problems with the new photo realistic scenery and the airfield and the two blended well together. The trees on the boundary were modelled and worked well with the airfield itself and nearby Tattershall Castle was modelled although the shape of the castle was not what it supposed to be.

Next, RAF Cranwell.
An easily used VFR flight to a nearby village. The location is rural and the village is relatively small so I did not expect too much detail. At 4000 feet some buildings were still specifically modelled and the road layout and areas of trees were easy to recognise. Continuing the flight over nearby Newark on Trent and easily recognised by following the road layout and features of the town. Houses and streets were realistic and particular buildings such as the town hall were recognisable.

Even More Details

Given the size and coverage of the scenery it is impossible to cover every iconic building and every area. The introduction to the product states that particular detail is added in the more built up areas, iconic sites and coastal regions.

Although that I tried to fly at different altitudes to establish how the scenery looks at different heights and look at how an X-Plane recreational user can benefit from this great scenery package and how the scenery contributes to VFR flight. From photo real scenery we know that you should avoid too low altitudes however, we always need to make a takeoff and landing. At very low altitudes the tiles look blurry which is normal. But when we reach 2000 feet or more then the beauty of TU GB Central starts and continues when climbing out. It has to be said that even at 10.000 feet or more, it is still beautiful but the higher you go, the less details you see. That said, the TU GB packages are primarily for VFR pilots although those who fly IFR can als benefit from the awesome landscape while crossing Great Britain at FL250 or higher.

Flying VFR allows you to use rivers, lakes, roads in combination with for example OpenStreet maps or even Google Maps or if you wish Apple Maps or Bing Maps. I found this very straight forward with roads following the same route, and bodies of water having the same shape, as those on the map. When flying over lakes, coastlines and so on, I am impressed by the water textures of the coast and estuaries. The different depths of water show through different colours.

For some short hops I decided to depart from Carlisle (EGNC) and fly towards Newcastle but not before exploring the Northumberland National Park. This part of Britain is gorgeous because of the beautiful landscape – the National Park – but also the way it is transformed by Orbx with their TU GB Central.

Flying in a NNE direction I notice the wonderful presentation of Kielder Water with on the right side the river Tyne. Even this part is so nice to see. the green landscape, all the trees, the roads which makes it easy for me to follow the route and where to go to. A bit later I cross the A68 near the city of Rochester before I turn towards a more Eastern direction. When I stop the city of Rothbury, I left the Northumberland National Park but the landscape stays impressive. That is also applicable for the area around Rothbury with the river Coquet. Moving on to the coast, I pass accordingly the city of Longframlington, Felton, Hadston with the nearby East Chevington Nature Reserve. Although all of this is easily spotted via Little NavMaps, it is just as easy to follow it while flying at roughly 4000 to 6000 feet altitude.

I completely forgot to make a short detour the moment I approached Amble By The Sea. I decided I would then follow the coast north to assess the coastal detail before heading south towards Newcastle.

This short northern detour works very well and the sea effects and the coastal detail recreate the tidal zone very well. Settlements alongside the sea mix well and the modelled buildings make the busier areas stand out. VFR navigation remained straight forward and enjoyable and I finished the flight just before the edge of the scenery package looking down on Bamburgh Castle and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

Leaving the nature behind me, and flying in a south direction, I pass accordingly the cities Ashington, Blyth and Newsham before approaching Newcastle upon Tyne. Ok, a quick look around Newcastle before overflying EGNT (Newcastle Airport). It may have been a short VFR flight, it was impressive and no need to show you the comparison with the default X-Plane 12 landscape. I could have decided to fly after the Tyne river a bit more south towards Sunderland, Washington, Birthley, but that is too much. These cities are packed together without hardly any nature or forests. Besides that, lots and lots of autogen objects are popping up which can reduce your frame rates when your Rendering Settings are set too high and then I am not even talking about when you had installed X Europe from SimHeaven apart from the fact if this SimHeaven add-on works correctly with Orbx TU GB Central.

This flight may well have been possible with X-Plane generic scenery but VFR flight would not have been as detailed given the detail provided by Orbx True Earth. The whole flight becomes alive as the user takes in the stunning detail and looks for the next landmarks, iconic site, road or water layout with confidence. In order to illustrate this further here is the Youtube link of the previous mentioned flight, departing and arriving at EGNM (Leeds Bradford). Enjoy the flight.

Although the movie is only 10 minutes, it should give you a good idea what to expect. Angelique who did this flight was very enthusiastic. Worth your money!

Conclusion

My conclusion is basically similar to that what I provided a while ago during Orbx True Earth GB for X-Plane 11. The quality and detail is at the same standard across the previous products however, the X-Plane 12 packages are fully optimised for X-Plane 12 and use all the features of X-Plane 12.

The standard of presentation certainly is a game changer in terms of flight experience and creates another reason to simply get in a plane and fly. The package not only assists greatly with VFR flight it makes the flight truly immersive adding real atmosphere to the surroundings. Not all buildings are modelled in detail but even those not given special attention are in the correct place and add to the view.

Settlements are recognisable from particular buildings and also road layout. In terms of navigation all settlements reflect the same “footprint” as those on the map and so can be identified. The detail, colours and textures are realistic and effective and blend well together. I have found no difficulties created by third party scenery working with this product.

It is a big download and takes considerable space on disk and I did find that X-Plane took a little longer to load whilst reading new scenery files, but this was not a problem and there is a lot more detail to be loaded. Once using the scenery there is so much to explore and view that it is a really enjoyable and immersive experience.

In one word ……. awesome!

More TrueEarth GB Central information can be found at the dedicated Orbx Direct store page. As of this writing, June 2024, Orbx GB Central cost you roughly 27 Euro or 29.00 USD.

Feel free to contact me if you’ve got additional questions related to this impression. You can reach me via email Angelique.van.Campen@gmail.com or to Angelique@X-Plained.com.

With Greetings,
Angelique van Campen

 

 

Add-on:	Payware Orbx TrueEarth Great Britain Central XP12
Publisher | Developer:	Orbx | Orbx
Description:	Realistic rendition of Great Britain Central area
Software Source / Size:	Download / Approximately 77.3 Gb (unzipped/installed)
Reviewed by:	Angelique van Campen
Published:	June 27th 2024
Hardware:	- iMac Pro - Intel 3GHz Intel Xeon W / 4.5Ghz - Radeon Pro Vega 64 16368 MB - 64 GB 2666 MHz DDR4 - 1 internal 1TB SSD (Bootcamp Windows 11) - 1 external 2TB LaCie Rugged Pro SSD (Sonoma 14.x) - Thrustmaster TCA Captain Pack Airbus Edition - Honeycomb Alpha Flight Controls - Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant
Software:	- macOS Sonoma (14.4.1) - X-Plane 12.0.9