Use Ortho4XP and HD Mesh Scenery together in X-Plane without conflicts. Learn which mesh loads, the correct scenery order and how to keep overlays.
Yes, you can keep Ortho4XP and HD Mesh Scenery installed together in X-Plane, but they cannot both supply terrain for the same 1×1-degree tile. An Ortho4XP tile includes its own base mesh, so scenery_packs.ini priority decides which one X-Plane loads; HD Mesh can cover only areas without active Ortho4XP tiles.
How do Ortho4XP and HD Mesh work together?
They coexist by covering different tiles, not by stacking their terrain data within one tile. Ortho4XP combines photographic textures with a generated terrain mesh, while HD Mesh supplies its own terrain geometry and land-class data.
X-Plane loads the highest-priority available base mesh for each tile and ignores competing base meshes underneath it. Overlay scenery can still appear above the selected mesh. Our explanation of X-Plane base mesh behaviour covers this limitation in more technical detail; the same one-mesh-per-tile rule applies to X-Plane 11 and 12.
| Scenery available for the tile | What X-Plane displays |
|---|---|
| Ortho4XP above HD Mesh | Ortho4XP imagery and its generated terrain mesh |
| HD Mesh above Ortho4XP | HD Mesh terrain; the orthophotos are not displayed |
| HD Mesh with no Ortho4XP tile | HD Mesh terrain and its associated scenery data |
| Neither custom mesh installed | X-Plane's default global scenery |
What is the correct scenery_packs.ini order?
Place Ortho4XP tiles above HD Mesh when you want orthophotos in covered areas and HD Mesh as the fallback elsewhere. Entries near the top of Custom Scenery/scenery_packs.ini have higher priority.
- Custom airports and landmarks: Keep these above regional overlays and base meshes.
- Overlay scenery: Place
yOrtho4XP_Overlaysand other compatible overlays above every base mesh. - Ortho4XP tiles: Keep the individual
zOrtho4XP_*packages above HD Mesh. - HD Mesh Scenery: Put its regional packages below all Ortho4XP tiles so it fills only uncovered areas.
A mistake we see constantly is installing HD Mesh after everything else and leaving its new entry near the top of the file. That makes HD Mesh win the conflict, causing the expected orthophotos to disappear. Quit X-Plane before editing the file, because the simulator may rewrite it during shutdown.
Can HD Mesh improve the terrain beneath an Ortho4XP tile?
No. Putting HD Mesh below Ortho4XP does not lend its elevations, roads or terrain triangles to the Ortho4XP tile. The lower mesh is completely excluded wherever the higher mesh supplies the same tile.
To improve mountains, coastlines or airport terrain within an orthophoto tile, rebuild that tile using suitable elevation data and Ortho4XP settings. Our complete Ortho4XP tile-building walkthrough explains the creation, overlay and installation stages without relying on HD Mesh underneath.
How do I keep buildings, roads and forests over the photos?
Install a separate overlay package above the Ortho4XP base mesh. Leaving HD Mesh underneath an Ortho4XP tile does not automatically preserve the buildings and road network embedded in the rejected HD Mesh tile.
Ortho4XP can extract overlay data from a compatible scenery source and place it in yOrtho4XP_Overlays. If photos appear but buildings do not, check that this folder contains the extracted data, is not nested inside another folder, and sits above the Ortho4XP tiles in scenery_packs.ini.
Using several overlay packages for the same area can produce duplicate roads, forests or objects. In that case, disable the redundant overlay rather than moving HD Mesh above the orthophotos.
Why does one scenery package appear to be missing?
The package with lower base-mesh priority is expected to disappear wherever its coverage overlaps the higher package.
- Orthophotos are missing: Move the relevant Ortho4XP entries above HD Mesh.
- HD Mesh seems inactive: Check an area outside your installed Ortho4XP tiles; HD Mesh should become the active base there.
- Buildings are missing: Restore or correctly order the overlay package above both meshes.
- There is a visible boundary: Adjacent HD Mesh and Ortho4XP tiles can have different elevations, coastlines and textures. Matching neighbouring Ortho4XP tiles and elevation sources can reduce the seam, but scenery order cannot merge the two meshes.
Does this work in both X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12?
The base-mesh priority rule is the same in X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12, but an older HD Mesh release may have been designed around an earlier simulator's data and resources. Check the package's stated simulator compatibility before installation; our HD Mesh v4 download and compatibility notes provide the relevant details for that release.
Installing both packages makes sense when you want Ortho4XP around favourite airports or regions and HD Mesh across the remaining coverage. If consistency at tile boundaries matters more than photographic ground textures, use one base-mesh system across the whole area instead.