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THE PACKAGE
"Smugglers of the Caribbean - Cabo Key" is an add-on package set in the Caribbean on a small uncharted island just north of Havana. It is part 1 of a multi part series of add-on aircraft & scenery packages which will all be set in the greater Caribbean Area and will all tie in with each other. For us it was important to provide a full simming add-on “package” to MSFS2004 rather than merely a scenery or an aircraft. Our package includes a rideable ground vehicle, a boat and an aircraft and of course scenery and something to do. Smugglers of the Caribbean gives you an uncomplicated set of wings, set in a visually realistic environment.
Slip into the role of Javier Rodriguez (by the way- all names are purely fake!) a deep, deep undercover agent assigned to infiltrate the wrong doings of the Balbossa Clan which has been using Cabo Key as a base to smuggle their goods throughout the region. The flights are a mixture of smuggle and supplyruns to the mainland, nearby islands and rendezvous points throughout the Caribbean.
When doing smuggle runs take off from base and rendezvous with the Pan Americana, a cargo vessel used by the clan to smuggle contraband to Europe. Drop your cargo and get back to base. Be sure to stay under flight level 1000 to avoid detection by radar, yet be aware of Coast Guard vessels patrolling the area. Once a month you have to take a boat ride to Miami or to one of the close-by islands to get spares and supplies. Flying the Caravan into airports in the US or the Bahamas could blow your cover due to all the questions asked once landed.
This package includes photo textured scenery of Cabo Island, with its short and challenging landing strip, a Cessna Caravan 675, a "Gofast boat" and a 500cc Quad ATV. Also included is the Pan Americana, anchored a 30 minute flight north of Cabo Key, waiting for your delivery and AI traffic flying to and from your island such as Coast Guard patrol boats patrolling the area.
SCENERY
Cabo Key
Most of the small islands in the Caribbean end with the name Cay, which is Spanish, meaning "small low island" and is pronounced "key".
Cabo Key is an uninhabited small island in the Caribbean between Havana and Miami located at coordinates: N24* 06.0191' / W80* 11.9048' in the Cay Sal Bank. Not much is known about this island only that during the 1950s it was used as a half way point for smuggle between Cuba and the US. During the last couple of years it has been used by the Balbossa Clan as a base to conduct their dubious operations from.
The scenery is made using land and water photo terrain texturing including many animated objects such as palm trees, swaying in the wind, animated sea gulls flying overhead, animated people, and plenty of eye candy. When on the island try to get to know some of the clan soldiers to learn more about the operation. This could become a very difficult task though, since none of them are very talkative.
Also included in the package are:
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Pan Americana bonus scenery with a landable helicopter deck. The Pan Americana is a clan owned cargo ship which mainly travels between Baltimore and Rotterdam. Currently it lies anchored a 30 minute flight north of Cabo Key waiting for your delivery
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AI Traffic with Coast Guard patrol boats patrolling the area. There are also some clan owned planes operating from the island, flying back and forth between Haiti and Cabo Key
AIRCRAFT
Cessna Caravan 675
The Caravan 675 is the aircraft of choice for many operators world wide who are looking for a true multi-use aircraft. It has been designed for the abuses of "unimproved" airfields, it goes anywhere its operator wants it to - on a daily basis.
Pimp Aviation’s Caravan features include:
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Authentic high quality visual exterior and interior model
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Special lighting effects
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Reflective glass windows
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Reflection mapping
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Dynamic specular highlighting
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Fully interactive 3D virtual panel
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Animated control yokes
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Animated rudder pedals
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Animated switches and Levers
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Full 3D virtual cockpit & cabin with high resolution textures. Explore the entire exterior and interior of the aircraft in the VC mode. This enables you to do a pre-flight walk around or take a stroll through the cabin during flight.
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All control surfaces are animated
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All exits are animated
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Suspended and steerable landing gear
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Foldable ladders
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Animated pilot and co-pilot
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Animated sun visors, beer cooler lid, ash trays and not to forget the bouncing head of the dashboard dog when the engine is running.
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Accurate systems programming
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Realistic flight model
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Exclusive “Load Jettison” effect which enables you to dump your cargo out the door whilst in-flight. The co-pilot will assist you.
Gofast Boat
Gofast boats are the preferred maritime means of transportation used to smuggle contraband quickly over open water. Mostly comprised of a mixture of a dingy hull packet with as many outboard engines one can fit on its stern. They are not the most elegant means of transportation over water but they do go fast.
Pimp Aviation’s Gofast features include:
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Authentic high quality visual exterior and interior model
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Full 3D virtual cockpit with high resolution textures. Explore the entire boat in the VC mode. This enables you to walk on the deck or even take a swim in the ocean.
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Steerable and retractable outboard engines
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Animated front cargo hatch
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Animated captain (starts fishing once the engines are off)
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Animated switches and levers
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Animated beer cooler lid
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Extensive lighting effects
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Exclusive wake effects
Quad
Also known as an ATV ( All Terrain Vehicle ), a Quad is the right vehicle to provide abundant performance for dune-blasting or trail-taming. With a dependable 4-stroke air-cooled performance engine this baby may be all the ATV you'll ever need. Just be ready to humble your friends and show them the trail from your Quad 500 taillight.
Pimp Aviation’s Quad features include:
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Authentic high quality visual exterior and interior model
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Full 3D virtual cockpit with high resolution textures
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Steerable front wheels
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Animated suspension
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Animated rider
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Animated switches and throttle
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Light effects
FROM THE DEVELOPERS
Landing-Light light cone effect on the ground
We have not included the "Landing-Light" light cones on the aircraft. The reason is that we feel that as good as FS2004 is, the way the "Landing-Light" light cones is programmed in FS2004, it merely washes out the ground and makes it almost white. For us this was not one of the stronger features of the program and we prefer not to use it. We played around to try to find an adequate replacement, for the light cone effect as is, but due to the limitations of the program it was not possible to improve the existing effect. When switching on the Landing-Light you will see the glowing light but not light cone on the ground.
2D Panel
At Pimp Aviation we want to provide you with a realistic simulation environment. We want to get you as close to reality as possible. For this reason all the aircraft will be flown from the virtual cockpit and there is only a 2D mini-panel included. All of the gauges in the virtual cockpits are fully functional and clickable. When flying we want you to bend over and reach for the switches where they actually are in the real aircraft cockpit. This should further enhance the simulated feeling of being there.
For those of you who still want a 2D panel, it will be available at www.pimpaviation.com/free_downloads in the near future for you to download, along with plenty of other little goodies related to our product.
We are continuously developing new scenery bits for "Smugglers of the Caribbean - Cabo Key" so be sure to check the free downloads section every now and then.
PIMP AVIATION
At Pimp Aviation we apply a different kind of approach to flight simming.
We are a team of graphic designers, Web developers, 3D CAD artists and flight simming enthusiasts who have found a great platform in MSFS2004 to create our own virtual reality.
It all started out with the making of a small boat to explore the waters in the FS world and over the years went as far as the development of our first aircraft & scenery package called "Smugglers of the Caribbean - Cabo Key" which is set in the Caribbean on a small uncharted island just north of Havana. It is part 1 of a multi part series of add-on aircraft & scenery packages which will all be set in the greater Caribbean Area and will all tie in with each other.
MSFS2004, with its precise flight simulation capabilities and exact but not so highly detailed rendition of our planet's surface offers a tremendous base to build on and develop further. It cannot only be used to simulate flight but also to simulate whole environments with their different vehicles that travel in them.
Our focus is on developing simple and uncomplicated add-on packages giving its users a realistic and high quality visual simulation experience. We want to get you as close to being there as possible at a reasonable price.
Recommended system requirements:
-MS Flight Simulator 2004
-Pentium 2,5 GHz or faster
-512 Mb of RAM
-3D video card with 256 Mb
-135 Mb of free space on the MSFS hard drive
-Soundcard |
