New FS2020 Google Maps MOD for the entire world!

[@SweViver]

IMPORTANT: If MSFS stops loading during startup (or hangs), then the solution is to stop the mod, start the MSFS first into the main menu, and THEN start up the mod before you go into a new flight. That solves 99% of the issues mentioned in comments.

[@MNTimBuktu]

I cannot get a flight to load, even after a fresh install. No satellite data. Nothing. Cannot revert to bing. Just hangs on the load screen.

[@biggnasty989]

@@MNTimBuktu Delete your rolling cache if you haven't done so already.

[@TheMrabc12345]

​@@biggnasty989 My experience is that this alone won't fix the issue.

[@SweViver]

Some of these issues are so strange, and I really haven't seen any of it, so its hard for me to troubleshoot. I recommend you ask the mod creator on the Github page or at the mod page on flightsim.to

[@TrevorJones1]

@@TheMrabc12345 Seeing that there were 38 dislikes on this otherwise amazing concept. Is what led me to these issues deep in the comments instead of just blindly installing it. Damn KZbin.

[@ruthlessadmin]

Fun fact: These map technologies (including Bing, Google Maps & Apple Maps) do not use satellite imagery for the high resolution top-down nor 3D content. It is all manually photographed by drones, airplanes, and helicopters (ground level LiDAR & imaging, as most people know, is done by car/van). Google looks the best because they have a massive head start on the rest of the industry.

[@Glycein]

Oh wow 😮

[@AllenSunnyD]

That's interesting, I've never heard of this before, do you have any source on this? Satellite imaging technology is pretty fantastic.

[@Bl4ck309]

or lets say because they stole google maps from terra vision back in the days

[@ruthlessadmin]

@@AllenSunnyD Sadly, you'll just have to take my word for it. Not finding much info in the public domain. I work in the industry but under pretty strict NDA. Have worked on some of the camera/LiDAR systems directly, though. Pretty sick technology and been a really cool (and major) part of my career!

[@kanelupis]

@@AllenSunnyD it's true, typically it's some GA aircraft with imaging equipment

[@viktorekman863]

I feel like the bing maps has a more warm, cinematic feeling with all the colors and stuff whereas the google maps gives an really immersive and true experience. Love it!

[@ItsEverythingElse]

Agree. Bing looks fake (but still good, usually, except when it puts an 80 story apartment building in the middle of a small city), Google looks more life real life.

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Agree, especially the greens look better for sure. But GM has more details since their map material is just better.

[@joshuanishanthchristian5217]

The ideal would be when someone figures out Bing's colour correcting for Google

[@OVRxNxOUT]

I would have to agree with that. Spot on, it could have been said any better actually.

[@joshsanderson5512]

The bing maps look fake and outdated rather

[@OmAn1994]

The huge difference is that google maps roads are HD and the tones differences in grass is visible. Would love to have the meshing from Google Earth for buildings.

[@ms55_]

Yeah sadly the thing is that google is not owned by microsoft and i dont think microsoft will buy the google maps access from google to add it to msfs because microsoft has their own maps so..

[@giuseppeamico3200]

In the latest version ,7.1.5 you can adjust the ground color as you like (for all maps) . Decreased CPU usage when loading images. IMHO "Color" tunning feature is stunning

[@clintonleonard5187]

@@giuseppeamico3200 What are your color settings? I just turn contrast and saturation to 5% and it looks great.

[@needlesbeckett]

Absolute game changer for UK based simmers - it’s like night and day! Simply stunning. I’ve been a contented armchair pilot for over 30 years but I really couldn’t go back to Bing maps.

[@SweViver]

Happy to hear, enjoy your flights :)

[@MA-jz4yc]

The UK colour pallete looks dull to me in google compared to the stock bing maps imagery. More detailed coverage though

[@esconis5304]

@@MA-jz4yc Maybe because its more realistic

[@CANProductionZz]

@@MA-jz4yc A duller image is a more accurate depiction of the UK :)

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

@@CANProductionZz lol weather, people, colours, haha

[@svenjurgens9245]

Wow, it's like getting to play FS2030. It completely transforms my area (Ontario) to where I can follow the trails I regularly go jogging on, through the forests and fields, flying over in the Shock Ultra. Thank you! I'm exploring my local area again all new! The Grand River is night and day difference, I can spot the canoes and rafts going down from the air.

[@Aleksandar6ix]

I'm in Ontario too, and is the sole reason for me to use this. Especially when we mix it in with Regdesign and Roman design airports in Southern Ontario.

[@richardcarter5404]

@@Aleksandar6ix You guys have peaked my interested, I'm in Ontario as well lol Might just have to give this a whirl

[@shred3005]

I don’t know about 2030 MSFS, but this is getting close to what 2020 should be. I’ve been a dedicated MSFS fan for 25 yrs and I’ve always, always, always been disappointed by the landscape and city visuals but with this mod finally it’s a visual joy

[@Arcexey]

Sven Jurgens did you find jimmy hoffa

[@SleepyWolvy]

Ontario as well here, I'm so excited to try this out now! This is incredible, and sounds very promising. Glad I stumbled upon this

[@HELLMUTIL]

This honestly feels like a remaster. It's awesome.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

Can never trust Microsoft to make anything decent, their products always have to be finished by some "amateur" modding it in their spare time.

[@ishiddddd4783]

@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 what are you expecting? they are purely porting their own satelite images to a flight sim, the guy is also doing the same with a different image provider

[@coolcat-nq4mj]

@@ishiddddd4783 Well they have power to color corrections and they still decided to make it look unrealistic and dog s***

[@ishiddddd4783]

@@coolcat-nq4mj except they don't?, microsoft provides capital and images, but the actual studio doing all the work is asobo and hopefully you realize the gigantic amount of work needed to correct every image around the world, there is a reason the scenery of the game keeps getting updated and they do it with what they are provided with, google images look better because they are newer and have better resolution and thats undeniable, but just the fact of having live scenery world wide it's thanks to their work, this mod only uses the already hard work of the studio and adds a different image provider, so yeah, their goal was having a live service that supports live image uploading and they are still working on it

[@rehakmate]

@@coolcat-nq4mj yeah this google maps mod falls apart in most places that arent flat, I tried it in the alps and it was horrible

[@KruddyKamiKaze]

I would highly recommend you guys donate to the man to keep him motivated to keep updating the mod with every game update! This is awesome!!

[@TomKnudsen]

Google is going to ban server access to this mod for sure. Google do not want their products in Microsoft products without getting revenue on it. We just have to report this

[@Exeros]

@@TomKnudsen you won’t be doing that I hope?

[@burgadahz17]

@@TomKnudsen shut up

[@bloodybotter]

@@TomKnudsen damn you're fun at parties. Boomer.

[@TomKnudsen]

@@Exeros Already did, so have many others in the forums

[@joaoluc]

imagine a ideal world where microsoft works with google on this and msfs takes advantage of the google street view. oof that would be awesome

[@JuanPalominoMusic]

Yeah, that would be the best in the world

[@jeeps7er]

I'm expecting this very shortly after hell freezes over.

[@sevilla212]

Microsoft buy Google? Jaja

[@TrevorJones1]

And then adds it to Forza Horizon with VR support

[@ItsEverythingElse]

Flying car simulator!

[@VRFlightSimGuy]

This is fantastic, thanks for showing this. Really looking forward to testing this out in the 8KX with your settings :)

[@SweViver]

Thanks man, yeah this mod is so awesome :) Oh and thanks for all your cool videos on your channel, really great job mate!

[@SweViver]

Regarding settings and 8KX, I'll do some follow up videos on this soon. FS2020 is really getting better and better now!

[@VRFlightSimGuy]

@@SweViver Thanks buddy my pleasure :) The 8KX is performing really well in Microsoft Flight sim these days and as you know, once you've experienced that amazing field of view, you cannot go back! Take care.

[@boggy8557]

@@VRFlightSimGuy but what about the Varjo aero?

[@spitfire_0113]

Just tested it through a flight in south of France : Marseille and its famous calanques as well as the VAR region. It is awesome !! Thank you for sharing it. I don’ know how long time we will continue to use this app, but I just want to never go back to old map. Cheers

[@NGC008]

Wow! Thank you for bringing this to our attention, a real uplift to MSFS. Also, welcome welcome back, you’ve been missed.

[@06L]

Works fine on my Steam version, even while recording my flight (replay mode). Some artifacts in some scenes but in general, it is 2X more beautiful (resolution and colors). I'll buy him a big coffee!

[@jamesleicher]

hows the mesh

[@namelessz12]

Downloaded this mod and I gotta say it is insane!! It changes the whole sim flying experience, and i would definately recommend

[@gadDenmark]

Hey. How did you make it work? Mine says some error with text to speech, and it’s like it’s loading both google and bing on top of each other before everything turns to blurry textures. 💁

[@berzerk1450]

The maps are quite different. In my hometown in Bavaria/Germany there is a new construction site for new houses and its not (yet) in Google Maps but only in Bing and in a very high resolution because i the third party services that make these aerial images use newer tech. So depends on every single nation/state how up to date the map-data is i guess.

[@popindosin228]

China

[@dtrjones]

But that's because Germany was included recently as a World Update. Same for the UK, Bing textures are crisp, high resolution and pretty recent and flying around the UK is a wonderful experience. Overall though certainly if you don't live in Europe or Japan you'll get much better textures from GoogleMaps.

[@berzerk1450]

@@dtrjones Yes i noticed that too. When i flew around UK, France, Germany i am totally satisfied with the groundtextures. But when i flew over Japan it was very disappointing because i barely could make out details. So lets hope it improves for everyone over the next months and years.

[@dtrjones]

@@berzerk1450 Yes Japan was the first World Update and I can't help but feel in that case they might have been restricted to the texture resolution in use.

[@marko_bauer]

I am from the small town of Berlin, Germany. And even after the latest update there is still tons of buildings missing and a lot of more than 10 year old data :(

[@Bajerman]

THIS!!! Wow... Bing was missing a lot of data in the area which i lived and live now... With this it was there... By far the best mod so far for me :D Thank you for sharing this :D

[@grimmgnarly]

Congratulations on the birth of your son! Great hearing from you too.

[@SweViver]

Thank you so much mate 😀

[@JL-sy2me]

The guy who created this master piece is a genius! it looks amazing.

[@claybomb1064]

Hey SweViver. Congratulations on your Son. My son is 6 now and in school so I have a bit more time to get back into VR. I just ordered my 8KX today. Can’t wait to try that big fov. Cheers. !

[@SweViver]

Thank you very much mate! Ahh thats lovely, glad to hear! I miss those good old days I could spend however I wanted hehe. But I guess every part of life has it's beauty 😀 Cheers

[@Pondimus_Maximus]

WOW! This mod is absolutely amazing! It’s like a whole new simulator. I didn’t think such a gorgeous sim could look even better, but this is the real deal. Thanks for showcasing it for us! 😎✈️

[@SweViver]

I made a post about this mod on the official FS2020 forum. It got deleted after 20 minutes. Not a good sign... Let's just hope it continues to work...

[@togafly.]

Fingers crossed

[@ahmeds2585]

They're just protecting themselves. It's against Google's terms of use to do this but Google really only cares if someone charges money using their imagery.

[@jcarrandson]

Can't see it lasting.. People streaming Google's textures for Microsoft's game, they gonna be on that asap. After thought.. Might be an advertising opportunity that Google maps is better? Who knows.

[@auzzierocks]

It's still on the "flightsim" one

[@I_Evo]

@@ahmeds2585 I thought the issue was only if you were using the data for commercial purposes? This is a freeware addon.

[@togafly.]

This takes it to a new level

[@granthartley]

Wow, this mod looks amazing Sweviver! Thanks so much for sharing. Definitely something I will be trying the next time I play, as the ground textures are horrible on Bing if I want to fly around my small country town of Dalby, in Australia. Just compared maps online and the difference is night and day, so very keen for this. Hopefully MFS 2020 keeps letting us use the mod in the future. Thanks again and congrats on the new addition to the family. :) Looking forward to more info on the 12K soon too ; )

[@giuseppeamico3200]

In the latest version ,7.1.5 you can adjust the ground color as you like (for all maps) . Decreased CPU usage when loading images. IMHO "Color" tunning feature is stunning

[@tensevo]

I imagine future historians will fly the Earth in fs2020, to see what it was like back in 2020.

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

but its streaming from the current map data so it gets updated, not staying in 2020. But can use google earth for that if you want

[@tensevo]

@@user-wq9mw2xz3j I would argue that is false advertising.

[@SashaIvantic]

First they'll have to wait for a 120gb update to download before they can play

[@Yjana89]

This Airplane is somewhat cute. Looks like a scaled down A-10 Thunderbolt for Civilians. :)

[@laserdeer6694]

Edgley EA-7 Optica cute and stoned )))

[@mohammed_the_train_spotter]

@@laserdeer6694 like you 😤🤝

[@fred2639]

Mini-BRRRRT

[@alf3071]

ov-10 bronco*

[@SUPRAMIKE18]

@@fred2639 when the brrrrrt is just your engine misfiring.

[@KludgeMaker]

Simply awesome. I've been waiting for this for 20 years. And it's only gonna get better from here.

[@motionbasti]

Welcome back my friend. Thanks for the mod introduction. I'll definitely try it. i'm also excited about your optimization tips. i've also been able to optimize a lot by myself, but i think i can learn something new from you. :) :)

[@cmdrlosconosciuto1910]

As a side note, with Google Earth orthophoto, you get what you see. The "BING" (which is not raw bing data, explained later) data you see are like that because they are post-processed. First - The output resolution doesn't change. Whether you use default or Google orthos, it will ALWAYS be 4m/pixel resolution. 2nd- Default images are color corrected and post processed. Other than being taken in different times of the year, they also are processed to show grass where there's grass and dirt where there's dirt 3rd - Default images are blended together, where on Google data you get a massive amount of tiling issues, rough edges and sharp distinctions from images taken at different times. This is all corrected by the simulator using default data where on Google data, it doesn't happen 4th - Bing data are WAY better on lesser populated areas. Google really doesn't care about taking high-res pictures of low density areas, look that up yourself ;)

[@beau-urns]

As a remote sensing/GIS researcher, I can say you all don’t realize how fucking cool (and challenging) this really is

[@SweViver]

Haha totally agree!

[@Clorix1]

Hey you, you're me! Or am I you? Hello fellow Ness!

[@beau-urns]

Ness FTW

[@lostmic]

Thank you finally something that improves the road textures now we just need cars to stop driving over bridges and not disappear not collide and follow the roads and also close up buildings that don't look like a sharp needle... (;

[@06L]

I put them off, they look like fruit flies to me ;-)

[@gabrielandy9272]

getting the cars to walk on the roads is easy, problem is doing that for the entire world, they would need a algorythm that can detect teh roads properly on the images, and make the node paths for the car code to follow, thats very complicated stuff.

[@06L]

@@gabrielandy9272 Well, aside from the right angles in the curves, the cars in X-Plane (on the same roads as MSFS) have been better "programmed" for at least 10 years!

[@gabrielandy9272]

@@06L o also belive the map includes road data so i have no idea how they could not do better.

[@Deeveeaar]

Wow, i got to try this!

[@manuelpiston]

How is it?

[@Deeveeaar]

@@manuelpiston have not yet tried it sadly! But judging from some other videos and this one should be super 💪💪💪

[@pakistanball1432]

What do you prefer? Goole maps or bing maps?

[@ernestoditerribile]

Hé Deeveear ik wist niet dat je into FS2020 was.

[@accutedd]

Was hanging but deleted rolling cache as he stated and started up fine. Roads and grass especially look great. I also changed the grass and bushes from medium to high. Nice update.

[@brianbrogan2838]

Great to see you out and about!

[@Onthebrightside_VR]

That google maps mod looks awesome! Thanks SweViver!

[@TheCaioKyleBraga]

Hands down this the best mod so far for MSFS. So simple yet so awesome. Thanks to the developer figuring this out.

[@giuseppeamico3200]

In the latest version ,7.1.5 you can adjust the ground color as you like (for all maps) . Decreased CPU usage when loading images. IMHO "Color" tunning feature is stunning

[@kipchickensout]

There are a few areas that look weird on google maps. A good example is the whole sea, island area around 16.442582, 112.129059

[@eventhorizon7374]

Does any one know why its a black blob filled with fragments of satellite images instead of just the sea and a cut out and pasted image of the island just like any other?

[@risingsun9595]

@@eventhorizon7374 I think it's censorship by military

[@drawn9359]

It is a Chinese island, so you understand now

[@kipchickensout]

@@risingsun9595 but they're good with bing showing it just fine?

[@eventhorizon7374]

@@drawn9359 oh ok

[@johnlacquey7240]

Congratulations Dad!!! :) So glad for you! You seem like you're likely to be an awesome dad!

[@SweViver]

Thank you very much John :) Im doing my best hehe

[@icanhaskpop1239]

I think it's a matter of pros and cons. I've viewed areas in Google Earth that are pretty awful looking, while the same areas in Bing look halfway decent, and also vice versa for other areas. Neither is perfect, and when you consider the monumental task that Asobo has undertaken overall, regardless of whether it's Bing or Google, we're actually pretty spoiled as Flight Simmers.

[@DS-ze7yc]

Man, love this tip: I'm SO glad you work for Pimax. You're an enthusiasts' enthusiast!

[@SweViver]

Hehe thanks man. Thats what Pimax is as well. A big group of VR enthusiasts pushing the limits!

[@14723ian]

I agree but is the news about the 12K OLED for Q4 2022 real or is it a PIMAX fantasy that realistically will take 3 years to get 40% of what it said it would do?

[@SweViver]

@@14723ian i see no reason why we wouldn't succeed with the 12K. Many of the features are already working in the prototypes and we have big teams dedicated for all the features, including companies like Tobii. We will also share some interesting stuff at CES that will show our progress and other nice stuff. Stay tuned!

[@14723ian]

Its got all of us really wishing you can do it but past experiences have burned us. I personally had to wait for over 4 months to have a faulty 8KX (rh panel not working) returned. Yes, 4 months!!!! Left me feeling a little sour but love the 8KX by the way. Still, really looking forward to a successful CES for you.

[@ramtin-s8722]

Wow can’t wait to install this...wanted this ever since mfs2020 came out ..google maps is much better

[@laartwork]

Congrats on the baby. Love that you come back and kill it with one video. Drop mic moment.

[@SweViver]

Thanks man, great to see you here 😀 Haha yeah seems the mod has gone wild lately! Cheers

[@SweViver]

Google Maps or default Bing Maps in FS2020? Let me know your thoughts :)

[@PRiMETECHAU]

Textures could do with a machine learning pass to remove baked in shadows and objects like cars. There is a game engine that uses these datasets to generate a virtual loose estimate such as Outerra which is pretty good way to get landscape setup.

[@MrJohnyysmith]

Google maps - a no brainer

[@daleevans3250]

Google Maps is the superior product. Thanks for the heads-up.

[@togafly.]

google maps of course

[@14723ian]

Check out Overkill's review (kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4S5Z4d4Zth_l9U). Although clearly an excellent mod, he points out some cons to using this mod everywhere......lets hope the dev for this mod can work out a few kinks. Lets also hope Asobo don't block it from working.

[@benreeves822]

Thank you so much for this video! I plan to install and try this out this evening. Also looking forward to your tweaks to get MSFS 2020 running even smoother!

[@carsoncitystevew]

Great job bringing this information to us all! I would love it to see you be able to do this type of side by side comparison with the new Rex Accuseason global textures and Bijan’s 4 seasons product. It would be great to do a comparison of the overall visual quality, ease of installation and use, advantages/disadvantages of use, effects on FPS, etc. Thanks and keep up the great work!

[@arnaudmourier5971]

It looks like OP is using one of those, the trees are not the default MSFS ones

[@tato3421]

Works like a champ! I'm on the USA east coast and noticed Google Server 2 and 3 were faster for me. Much appreciative.

[@normanrobinson1932]

Woooowwww..!!! 😲 *Congratulations..!!!* 🥳💯👍regarding your new blessing..!!! 🤲👶👍 Also.., thank you so much for posting new content, it's good to see you online again..!!! 👍💯👌

[@SweViver]

Thank you so much mate :) More videos to follow!

[@palamud]

I've been waiting for this since the day one of MFS2020. Thank you.

[@shadowtheimpure]

As someone who flies in the Great Lakes, I can attest that everything outside of Detroit, Chicago, and Indianapolis looks quite bad with Bing.

[@laurentsamson8927]

I saw many comparaisons between the two and yours is the best. You point on the real differences and flaws or no improvement with this addon. Your demo is the best demonstration. Thanks.

[@giuseppeamico3200]

In the latest version ,7.1.5 you can adjust the ground color as you like (for all maps) . Decreased CPU usage when loading images. IMHO "Color" tunning feature is stunning

[@braneden]

Just gave this a try. At least where I live and the areas I tested it's much improved. More realistic colors where before it still felt a bit of a cartoon world. Now is real life colors and feel.

[@getsideways7257]

Probably not quite, because from what I can tell, Google do not attempt to remove atmospheric attenuation from their imagery, so it's a little bit washed out as a result.

[@getsideways7257]

@@braneden I used to play around with Pascal Glitcher's RTGI shader in MFS, but recently the "sim" has become not very friendly with ReShade when it comes to the depth-buffer. Still, at the very least Vibrance and other parameters can be set up using other filters there. Of course, even with screen space depth-based ray-tracing the performance just goes all the way South, but at least for the screenshots it can still be useful. After all, MFS is not particularly good for anything else than that yet...

[@ganntradingsystemstimecycl2783]

Thank you so much for this upload. I installed and followed your instructions.. Booted up the sim.. Flew the drone over Bangkok.. I was blown away!! So much detail now.. Makes your wonder what the hell brings naps are doing. I only hope Microsruge don't bloke this some way..

[@lucasd3658]

So this is why the colours in MSFS always looked a little cartoony, bing maps

[@dtrjones]

I'm sorry I don't follow - what point are you making exactly? MSFS has been colour corrected to some degree so it can blend textures from different suppliers taken at different times of the year. The effect actually is amazing because during the early release it was clear when you crossed one satelite supplier to another. This is a massive issue for Google as well but clearly with no post processing on Google the colours are more natural. Bing textures are crisp and not cartoony in areas where Microsoft have included as World Updates or around key cities where they have generally used higher resolution textures.

[@lui472]

@@dtrjones the Nordic have had a world update, yet the colors of Sweden is a joke, even around Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The color tinting on bing maps are ridiculously bad. The roads in Sweden are not green, the maps are low resolution, and very old. The bing maps are in fact very cartoony or stylized in their color grading. And I'd rather have one satellite seam, than miss-coloring a whole nation, if that's their reason to not fix it.

[@mineoriginal4164]

Actually I dont like the colors of google maps. They look way to desaturated for where Im from (Greece) Here the colors are more vibrant so Bings works way better. Downside tho is that half of my hometown got replaced with a generic texture and looks bad, probably because there was a cloud in that area.

[@no.7893]

honestly I always found the bing maps have an almost sickly tint to them, google maps look so much more honest to life.

[@deepredson]

Beautiful explanation. Respect to you. Barty

[@Mike-bg3cf]

Hey! Good to see you again! Looking forward to CES!

[@acurisur]

It depends on where you're flying as to how useful this mod is. Some cities actually have newer data in Bing Maps than Google Maps does. Also your load time increases if you use mods and I find using any kind of Google Map mod massively tanks my FPS as Google Maps hasn't been optimised for the sim (Bing Maps data has).

[@franckcagnes3058]

yes and it loads in distance, a mod will not be as optimized as base sim. This sim is beautiful people are too much in the graphics and forget that it’s not a scenery simulztor

[@dogma39-c4j]

@@franckcagnes3058 How dare people look to get the most out of their flight experiences! The nerve

[@pancake5830]

​@@franckcagnes3058 it kind of is a scenery simulator

[@giuseppeamico3200]

In the latest version ,7.1.5 you can adjust the ground color as you like (for all maps) . Decreased CPU usage when loading images. IMHO "Color" tunning feature is stunning

[@acurisur]

@@dogma39-c4j Getting the most out of your flight sim means tanking the fps? BRUH

[@BrooksIngersoll]

I had to start sim first then start mod but this is an awesome mod!!!! Thanks for the heads up I can actually see my house with my car out front! I am donating for sure.

[@henrikbengtsson3566]

Getting rid of the weird green color cast from Bing is reason enough to go for this mod IMO. I wish X-plane could introduce something similar.

[@terencesoon5722]

If you had told me that the feed on the right side is real life, I would have believed it! Amazing!

[@archer494]

You might want to add one disadvantage of this mod. The Bing maps in MSFS for all their flaws nevertheless line up properly when it comes to colours and seasons. With the GoogleMaps mod I regularly run into areas in Central Europe where I suddenly see a straight line crossing the whole ground below and where the colours shift from summer green to winter brown or even snow. This is especially prevalent in the Alps and completely kills off any immersion improvements the mod otherwise brings. So it can be quite a mixed bag and may not be for everyone.

[@OhKnow379]

That's an issue in real google maps

[@ZalvaTionZ]

@@OhKnow379 It's an issue with Bing also, even just different lighting per satellite image results in lines. As far as I know, they do extra processing to hide those seams with Bing for Flight sim.

[@benjamindel72]

Awesome! And btw, congrats to the birth of your son! That is some great news dude

[@SweViver]

Yes, this mod WORKS with the new SU7 update and DX12 :) Just tested and confirmed! Start the mod while being in main-menu of MSFS. That eliminates the risk of crashes upon startup.

[@arntevensen3324]

Just downloads MFS yesterday and I actually thought we had the hole world ready with details and textures for every country, city and so on from Google maps. If we are going to buy all the programmed world maps it will cost thousands of dollards... I will definately try this method, thanks a lot, this is amazing!!!!

[@Brainles5]

Finally! No more grass roads!

[@ernaniferreira1968]

The best add-on for msfs2020 so far, congratulations on doing the work. It got my like and one more subscriber.

[@RobertoBaca]

I wish it was possible to do this with X-Plane (I know you can spend hours downloading and creating textures). They should really consider it for X-Plane 12.

[@thehighwayman78]

I agree, I wonder if it would be technically possible to stream textures to xplane. And we would possibly loose autogen. I remember there was a plugin like this for fs9 and fsx called tileproxy, but it got shut down due to legal reasons. That also makes me wonder how long this will work when Google finds out.

[@guidancefromjah]

X-Plane sucks.

[@thehighwayman78]

@Elijah In what way do you think XPlane "sucks"? The Zibo mod certainly doesn't. And VR implementation/performance is great. The ground textures and lighting model suck but they are at least updating the lighting engine in Xplane 12. I wish they did something about the ground textures though but that would mean collaboration with Google or something because that needs a cloud solution.

[@scottmcdonaldAAL211]

Ugh. XPlane and P3D are both the ugly sister flight sims, sorry to say. Once you date the pretty girl, you can't go back to ugly ;)

[@jeanmehdi33]

Miss that accent , really glad see you again man!!! Thanks for video and congrats for "new" life ;)

[@SweViver]

Thanks Jean-M, long time no see :)

[@normangeilich]

Yep, in my Area the Google Maps Resolution is 3-4 times higher then that of Bing Maps. I will try this.

[@attilio19111]

Great game changer! Been a flight simmer since 1995 but I think Google maps is slightly better than Bing. More exciting yearly updated aerials with real world weather for any textures/terrains around the world. Thank you very much for an educational video!

[@IndianaJade]

For the people using this mod, do you notice any differences in performance ? I have a modest config, I can enjoy FS2020, but anything that use more ressources can be barely playable with my rig. so i'm interesting about any feedback about this mod.

[@jpvanderhaegen]

I didn't saw any difference in fps with a rtx3070.

[@SumatraXSI5]

Glad you are back. I'm hoping your channel doesn't turns into a Pimax add again

[@cbcdesign001]

That green tint in the Bing version stands out like a sore thumb.

[@SweViver]

Yep the green/yellow tint is really bad om default, especially in remote areas and countries like Sweden.

[@Etaoinshrdlu69]

Gta iv vs gta v

[@olliebrown89]

Great video, I think it's a definite improvement. Can't wait for your 8kx video with msfs2020. I've been playing with the settings for a while now and when you get it right it's visually stunning. It'll be good to see what works for you.

[@Bobo-wp2bw]

God damn the difference is unbelievable

[@diegomartineza86]

Holy hell, this makes a world of difference. Thank you for this! I'm enjoying this game 1000x better now.

[@mdhazeldine]

Wow. This must the greatest scenery enhancement to ever happen to Flight Sim. The best thing about it is it's free (amazing). The worst thing is that Microsoft will likely never acknowledge or support it as it would basically force them to admit that their arch enemy has way better maps than they do. Let's hope neither company tries to block this mod or stop it from working because that would be bad for the whole community.

[@ghostviggen]

In depends on what area you are. Sometimes Google is better sometimes Bing. The problem is that Google will not make money from this and it will effect their services. So they are going to stop it.

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

OMG, thank you, KZbin algorithm! I wasn't aware of this mod, thank you so much for creating a video on it. It isn't just a matter of quality with Bing Maps. It's that they are hopelessly, even pathetically out of date. Our area has not been updated in at least 9 (!) years. Nine. Years! Flying over our place is like a time machine. Features are still there that I personally took out when we moved here - 9 years ago! With Google Maps I've always been able to pinpoint exactly when they updated the maps, just by looking at landscape features or the changes we've made here. They are never more than 6 months out of date. This will be such a change!

[@phonkey]

It's true. We do not have 4-lane dirt road highways in Sweden. They are in fact asphalt.

[@clubtcb]

Why am I only learning about this now ? Great mod, thanks man !

[@SweViver]

Hehe this mod had been available for 2+ months but I also found it just a week ago. But now its finally getting some attention :) Better late than never hehe. Cheers man

[@sammo7877]

lol imagine Google IT admins seeing the boost in server load & data pulls when everyone starts using this.... good luck Google.... also running 3rd party .bat files as admin... hope someone has validated the source code - and continues to.

[@SweViver]

Many people have gone through the source code already. Seems legit. Of course I understand you are worried. But check the comments on the mod page at flightsim.to

[@MmostlyRandom]

@@SweViver Sammo has a point, google are not going to be happy about this. and they WILL take action using google data in the past has just been for small areas that the modder ripped and repackaged but this is downloading entire regions live from googles servers i bet we see mod sites being ordered to remove ANY mod using google data. (google seem to have turned a blind eye up until now because it hasn't really impacted their servers but this mod is on another level of data usage) i have heard comments from other modders using another set ofmodding tools that rips entire areas like cites (I can't remember the author) and those people have reported getting their IP's blocked by google map servers and they have to use a VPN to bypass. this won't end well, google is a multi billion dollar company and they will protect their property

[@sammo7877]

@@SweViver I agree it may seem legit now but if you look to the past many trusted free software has had "naughtiness" implemented later on after they have gained the trust of the consumers. Totally agree with you though the website clearly highlights the disclaimer so its on the downloader to assess the risks. P.S I will agree it looks so much better than the bing data, I just hope a Microsoft endorsed version of this can take place as I am an avid flight simmer.

[@francoistexier5487]

That's a game changer for simers in Sweden... thank you for that video!

[@Привид_Бандери]

Pretty sure it will always be around due to Google being open source I'm pretty sure. Not so sure on Bing however... Fingers crossed I guess haha thanx chum!

[@activex7327]

Google maps are open source? What are you talking about? Google maps are not open source. Only thing that is open source is the SDK, the maps are proprietary and they restrict access and set limits as they feel like it. Stop fanboying.

[@Привид_Бандери]

@@activex7327 Now what are you talking about, restricting access to what?

[@activex7327]

@@Привид_Бандери I let you google that one, please do more research before spreading rumors. Common sense actually would answer that question, what do you think you accessing when streaming satellite imagery from Google servers? If you had ever any experience working with the Google sdks you know there are throttling limits in place. They're not here to give things for free but to make money.

[@Привид_Бандери]

@@activex7327 Not spreading anything you dramatic numpty! 🙄 Read what I had originally wrote ffs. 🤦🏽‍♂️🤪

[@activex7327]

@@Привид_Бандери "... Pretty sure it will always be around due to Google being open source I'm pretty sure" - Those are your words. Google delivery services like google maps are proprietary and closed. You are so clueless boy. You should at least listen to software engineers who have experience with the technology. Why do you think they charge for their map services genius?

[@dtrjones]

Thank you SweViver, good to hear from you again. Pimax are working you hard. So does this mean MSFS will be shown off with the Pimax Reality in CES haha! So much in VR to look forward to and I'm really happy Pimax and your good self are really pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Exciting times ahead!

[@TheTruthseeker707]

Congratulations on your son. Enjoy him because they grow quick.

[@andreassheriff]

OMG!!!! He lives!!!! And congratulations on being a dad!!!

[@SweViver]

Thanks a lot Andreas 😀

[@06L]

WWHHAATT ???????? FS2020 without the BingMap yellowish color ???? If it's as beautiful as in your video, you are the best news I have had since the game launched !!!!! WOW !!! THANK YOU!!!!! = -)

[@ELcinegatto87]

Long time simmers will know we had this with Tileproxy back in the day. But google blocked people from fetching the maps from their server so you had to make due with Bing, Yahoo etc. but it was never as optimized with the buildings and terrain or airport matching on FS9 like this works. Very cool stuff. Got very tiring keeping up with all the aftermarket and having to start over every revision of P3D. What's great about 2020 is it looks phenomenal "out of the box" and needs minimal tweaking to enjoy it other than a few aftermarket airports and some addon aircraft. Cool video thanks.

[@petejansen8098]

Just starting with ms2020 downloading tonight. Thank you so much. I am downloading this simulator for realistic detail and exploring. This will make it so much better even though the bing stuff is really great already compared to xplane for me.

[@juanwhick1691]

It was pretty cool seeing the railroad area wasn’t built yet in the Bing version.

[@RatiGabisonia]

you speak so clearly... Apreciate it by people who has understanding problems in english

[@VREmirate]

Fun video, glad to see you're back SweViver! :)

[@clintonleonard5187]

So, after using this mod for a while, I will say it is amazing and goes a long way toward making MSFS feel realistic. It makes VFR so much easier, as well. I have noticed some small downsides, though. In very rural areas, sometimes the map will abruptly change colors where the satellite imagery is stitched together from two different seasons. And in urban areas the game seems to lay roads on top of the map and it looks weird. You can see this @4:51. Notice how on the right there are weird, sharply defined roads on top of the imagery. But neither of these small things detract enough to make it worse than Bing.

[@Steamyy_]

Wow! This is an incredible upgrade from bing maps. Thanks for sharing with us I am going to get the mod now!

[@CaptainMuffin]

hi steamy, i found your YT lol :)

[@HASHNAYIM9]

Great Job! It looks awesome around my home town, and in many other paces I flown over!

[@eliubfj]

Wonderful overview, Was interested on understanding and you cleared my doubts!

[@Shiznaft1]

Congrats on the baby.

[@Bennett1430]

Even in NYC, there were places in the Bing map that was severely outdated. I cannot wait to download this and install it!

[@swecreations]

Lantmäteriet har sjukt bra bilder, typ lika bra eller bättre än dem Google Maps har av Stockholm eller New York fast över hela Sveriges yta, om någon kunde importera deras karta över Sverige hade det sett sjukt bra ut, hade lätt blivit bland de bästa ställena i världen att flyga runt i MSFS2020.

[@spacepgm]

Great video! I’ll be sure to download this mod, the improvement is insane!

[@paulsleighty]

I'm definitely going to give this a try, thanks for sharing.