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Would there be anyone in the Western world who does not recognize the skyline of Manhattan? So before reading on, check out the pictures and see if our scenery matches your idea of Manhattan. Click the button below, but beware, it's a page with 33 high res images, so it's a whopper of a page. If you are on a slow connection, there are smaller images below.
When Andras Kozma talked to us about a scenery of New York we were almost certain that it could not be done: too complex and far too big. But in time a new idea grew, to only do Manhattan. Being an island it is well defined, and after all, when most people think about New York City they mean Manhattan. According to many people and certainly to its residents it is the center of the world. Seen from a commercial point of view they could be right. A scenery of this island HAD to be done. But we needed some connection with aviation. Well, as it turns out to be, Manhattan and the airspace around it is one of the most complex and busy places in the world. The helicopters with tourists and the VIP helicopters are mixed with many small VFR sightseeing aircraft. Add to that some rather special VFR approach into La Guardia airport and you get an area where you need to know the rules and need to keep looking.
So Andras Kozma worked for months on a scenery that grew into a complexity even we did not foresee. The theme would be flying over Manhattan so the three heliports on the island were researched and included in incredible detail. Later we added the now defunct Pan Am heliport on top of what is now the MetLife building. Slowly the city grew under our hands. Adding completely new aerial photographs (we don't like to use satellite images because they tend to be to blue in colour and often are done from the wrong angle) made it clear that the placement of the FS default buildings was hopelessly incorrect. So out they went and in came all new buildings. Nearly all blocks of houses were made in 3D, which gives a MUCH greater sense of depth and speed. We'll spare you the suffering of doing whole neighbourhoods in this way, it is backbreaking work and it takes weeks to get results that look good in FS. When all was done several weeks were spent optimizing and tuning. A project with so many objects in such a confined space could make the framerates suffer. There are products with more objects and textures but there is NO product that puts them all in such a confined area. Fortunately Andras is an expert in this field and the scenery will not affect your framerate too much.
But we ended up with a scenery project that we believe sets a new standard. Never before has a city been rendered in so much detail. Never before could you fly with so many objects so close to your aircraft/helicopter and not turn your flying experience into a slide show. You'll be zipping along the rivers, avoiding traffic and trying to stay on the published routes. You will be landing on heliports that define the word detail, You'll be parking your helicopter on barges that float in the river. Of course we'll be helping you get to grips with the helicopters in FS2004, just believe us when we say that they are not THAT complex to fly. You'll be flying your light aircraft over the published routes or you will be guiding your 737 in one of the world’s most spectacular VFR approaches, the River Visual to RWY 13. When things get calm you take your friends up for a visit to the Statue of Liberty.
Manhattan scenery covers:
- The whole island of Manhattan (East Side, West Side, Uptown and Downtown);
- Ellis Island;
- Governors Island;
- Liberty Island;
- Roosevelt Island;
- Sections of Long Island East River edge.
Included:
- KJRB, Port Authority Downtown Manhattan/Wall St Heliport;
- KJRA, West 30th St. Heliport;
- 6N5, East 34th Street Heliport;
- 6N4, Pan Am Metroport Heliport;
- All major bridges in great detail;
- All famous landmarks on Manhattan;
- Repaints of Bell 206 helicopter to suit the location;
- Detailed information of the heliports;
- Effects files for smoke and other effects;
- Limited seasonal textures;
- Spectacular night effects;
- All charts needed to fly helicopters and light aircraft in this region;
- Charts needed to fly the spectacular River Visual RWY 13 to La Guardia;
- Flights to start on all heliports, VFR light aircraft and River Visual;
- Online check for updates, no more browsing to find there is no update;
- Repaints for the default Bell 206 to suit the location;
- Extensive manual.
How to buy and install:
- Buying is simple, just add it to your cart and do all the credit card stuff;
- On the screen where you see that the payment has been done you will find a download link, download AND SAVE this file to a secure location;
- While you are doing this, an email is being send to you with the serial code, but you can always find you code in the shop under Your Account|Your Order Details & Downloads;
- During the installation you will be asked to enter you shop login data (email and password) and for this serial code;
- The installer will then connect to the server and check this data. If is is all okay you'll be flying a few minutes late, start with the Flights we provided.
Simulator: FS2004 only!
Download size: 65 Mb
Install size: 200 Mb
Hardware: 2Gh CPU, 512 Mb memory
Advised: GPU with 64Mb/128Mb |
