It looks like the cork has finally been taken out of the bottle as Orbx have announced that their well regarded TrueEarth series is returning to X-Plane with support for the sim’s latest technologies. Let’s have a look!

Regional scenery upgrades

TrueEarth series brought a kind of photo realism to X-Plane 11 that had never really been seen before with a combination of carefully corrected satellite orthography as well as details points of interest and an almost wholesale replacement of the autogen buildings.

Orbx has been virtually silent on their plans for X-Plane 12 with a slow trickle of scenery coming for the newest generation of the sim. Now things look set to change with word that the Great Britain series for X-Plane 12 is coming soon.

Breaking News!

The TrueEarth Great Britain series for X-Plane v12 will be released soon!

Expect to see new features including:
– 3D trees throughout
– Upgraded water masking
– Soundscape support
– Fully native seasonal changes

Stay tuned for more!#orbx #flightsim #xplane pic.twitter.com/E5j3CBfTUl

— Orbx (@OrbxSystems) November 6, 2023

The improvements appear to be aimed directly at X-Plane 12’s features including seasonal support, soundscapes with background sounds appropriate to the region and season, and 3D trees.

At the moment the announcement is for TrueEarth Great Britain only, however, I expect this will start the ball rolling on upgrades to the rest of the series. No word on what pricing will be and what current owners can expect for the upgrade path.

Good news indeed!