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Reviews (by Rafal)

TAXI2GATE - MUNICH AIRPORT EDDM FSX P3D

TAXI2GATE - MUNICH AIRPORT EDDM FSX P3D

I didn't buy Taxi2Gate Munich right when it was released, as I wanted to read initial impressions from other simmers. Those were mixed, to be honest. Many people pointed out numerous bugs. So I decided to wait for an official service pack and I actually bought the product only after the new patched version had been offered. First the pros of the scenery. I fly to/from Munich a lot and my Aerosoft MA Munich got very old. The T2G version of EDDM looks definitely better. Visuals, especially modeling and texturing of the terminal buildings, are top notch, as it usually is with this developer. Apron animations, 3D grass, parked cars/buses/stairs and generally lots of details make this scenery really pretty. Also taking into account the size and complexity of the airport, it performs really well. I could get much higher FPS than e.g. at DD EPWA, which is considerably smaller. Plus, I guess, most of the initial bugs have been fixed quite quickly, which is another good point. Now the cons. I have a feeling Taxi2Gate does not use any beta testers, as 90% of the initial and remaining bugs are obvious and conspicuous. Now, in the new version, there are still some wrong taxiway/rwy signs, some flickering textures, as well as some contrasting low/high res textures (like the roads coming under the bridges). Also the jetways could do with some better alignment on the aircraft's doors (like FT has) though, on the other hand, it is good they are offered at all (many developers don't model them). All in all, I find it to be a great-looking, modern and well-performing scenery addon. Hoping to see the remaining bugs fixed and looking forward to Paris CDG!

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LHSIMULATIONS KFT. - LHS - BUDAPEST LISZT FERENC LHBP FSX P3D 1-3 FS2004

LHSIMULATIONS KFT. - LHS - BUDAPEST LISZT FERENC LHBP FSX P3D 1-3 FS2004

An absolutely awesome addon from LHS! I had used and admired their incredible sceneries (Debrecen and Sarmellek) before they moved into payware. LHBP is their largest and best project so far. I don't think I will exaggerate saying the joined the best of the best in this business. I enjoy their creation not less than airports from Flightbeam, Flytampa, Taxi2gate or Drzewiecki Design. There are tones of small details, great animations, fantastic textures. Night lighting must be the best I've ever seen. All this with very high FPS, low VAS use and and funnily low price. All those of you who enjoy top notch scenery and still do not have LHS LHBP: go and get it now! Don't waste your FS life without it. :)

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TAXI2GATE - ISTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT LTBA FSX P3D

TAXI2GATE - ISTANBUL ATATÜRK AIRPORT LTBA FSX P3D

An absolute top notch! I have no doubts Taxi2gate has reached its position among the best FS scenery developers. This is my first purchase from them, though I have been following their projects since I saw how beautiful Bratislava and Kosice are in the screenshots and videos. The airport has been modelled in high detail. Texturing looks simply beautiful (and I mean that). I had problems taxiing only because I just couldn't stop looking around. Even though this airport is really huge and full of AI traffic (I wasn't able to find a vacant stand for my aircraft), there is a lot of awesome volumetric grass (I love it!) and even the airport's direct surroundings have been depicted, the product performs very well. My FPS in NGX's VC were around and above 20, which is definitely more than I get at other large airports. VAS was just above 3 GB, even though I was flying an over 2-hour long flight in NGX between two large airports, with ASN live weather and with live ATC in the background. I will be flying a lot from and to Istanbul Ataturk in the nearest future as this is now one of the best airports I have ever had. And I do have a lot of them (being a scenery geek). Thank you Taxi2gate and I hope you will create more Europen airports.

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MAJESTIC SOFTWARE - DASH 8 Q400 PILOT X32 FSX/P3DV3

MAJESTIC SOFTWARE - DASH 8 Q400 PILOT X32 FSX/P3DV3

A truly magnificent aircraft addon for home simulation. In my opinion Majestic Software are, aside Leonardo (Maddog), absolute top quality. I have known it since I got their Dash 8-300 long time ago. I was awaiting this addon with my breath held. And I was not disappointed. First of all it is an unprecedented MS aircraft as the software was built outside of FS. As a result, its FDE overcomes FSX limitations making it a truly realistic simulation. What is more, its performance (CPU load/FPS) is comparable to default aircraft! Virtually all systems are simulated plus lots of eye-candy and animations (who said you can't have both?). There are some glitches (no stopovers!), as it usually is with new products, but they are being systematically ironed out by the very professional team (they have RW Dash pilots on board). Once you get hooked, it is hard to fly anything else. What else to add? This is THE addon which made me switch from FS9 to FSX after seven years of resistance.

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A2A SIMULATIONS - 3D LIGHTS REDUX FS2004

A2A SIMULATIONS - 3D LIGHTS REDUX FS2004

I was tempted to purchase this addon after seeing the promo video available at their website. Briefly, it is a very well made addon. The lighting, especially after or before sunset, is very impressive. Landing lights seem to be really 3-dimensional and the strobe effect is gorgeous (what a pleasure to watch it as your wing view durig flights!). Another good point is that it may also be used for AI traffic models. After tweaking your AI (models of which may also be used to represent on-line traffic) just sit and relax at the airport and watch it at dusk becoming alive with great lightning. The only disadvantage seems the difficulty to apply the effects on 3rd party addon aircraft (during installation the changes will go only to the default aircraft configs). Tweaking takes some knowledge and time. It would be nice for future to create a smart application for doing that. Fortunately there is a sticky topic (or two) at the A2A forum board with lots of custom-made tweaks that you only need to copy and paste. Not all addons are there but quite many. Also the strobes may look a bit overgrown. On the other hand they make a huge impression. All in all I would recommend this inexpensive addon to people who like improving visuals of their sim.

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