0

Reviews (by James)

FSPS - SIM PHYSICS X FSX

FSPS - SIM PHYSICS X FSX

Does what it says well enough but at the cost of consuming your frame-rates. If you've got a decent setup then it's worth getting as brake overheating, bogging down on grass and icing (although never saw this) etc definitely adds a new dimension to the sim.

See full review

FSPS - FFTF DYNAMIC FSX

FSPS - FFTF DYNAMIC FSX

A very useful add-on, works best to 'smooth out the rough edges' rather than make an unplayable sim suddenly playable. If you've adjusted all the sliders in the sim properly and have maybe tweaked your config file then this is the perfect final piece to squeeze out those few extra frames.

See full review

UK2000 SCENERY - BIRMINGHAM XTREME V3 EGBB FSX P3D FS2004

UK2000 SCENERY - BIRMINGHAM XTREME V3 EGBB FSX P3D FS2004

Very detailed airport, one of the best available in those regards and it succeeds in making you feel like you're actually there. Strangely, one of my favourite parts is the realistic front entrance, probably because it's the part of the airport I've seen the most of irl but also because I don't see may other airport developers think to add these sort of details. Jetways work and there's also a cool mirror system on some gates so you can stop perfectly on the line. There are also plenty of static airplanes parked up with realistic liveries which again adds to the immersion. All of this does come at a slight frame-rate hit, depending on your aircraft, time of day, settings etc but it's understandable given the details and not actually that bad once you move out of the parking area (and more than manageable when in the area as well).

See full review

AEROSOFT - MEGA AIRPORT ZURICH V2.0 FSX P3D

AEROSOFT - MEGA AIRPORT ZURICH V2.0 FSX P3D

A highly detailed airport which comes at a familiar Aerosoft frame-rate annihilating cost. My computer definitely isn't top of the line but can still cope with most add-ons but this airport is largely unplayable with anything above the lowest settings due to frame-rate stuttering. The strange part is, as with a lot of Aerosoft products it seems, it's not obvious why it's such a frame-rate hog, given other airports which similar/far more features don't cause the problem. You also start to question if up to 3 rows of cargo/admin-style buildings/hangers were really necessary; I personally could do without those and have the actual airport terminals/gates more playable by boosting frame-rates. It is also worth noting that it comes with an optional SINGLE parked Airbus - I dread to think how bad it would be if there were multiple planes like other developer airports. In summary, if you run a very high spec computer then I'm sure you'll enjoy this detailed airport as intended, but for us mere mortals with average spec'd computers, I would struggle to recommend this.

See full review

VIRTAVIA - WESTLAND/SIKORSKY SEA KING FSX

VIRTAVIA - WESTLAND/SIKORSKY SEA KING FSX

A decent add-on, certainly an improvement over the stock helicopters, but I found it lacking in details when compared to other add-ons. There are only about half a dozen buttons/switches that actually can be pressed/moved and I'm not 100% sure they actually do much anyway (completed a flight and found I'd forgot to turn the fuel pumps on but no punishment as a result). The handling is also very basic, similar to stock helicopters, but every now and again the helicopter turns uncontrollably and takes a real effort to correct (maybe an fsx engine limitation). The one great feature (manual says it's realistic) is a gauge which shows you helicopter attitude or gps tracking but in a graphical way, making it easy to perform a variety of maneuvers. In summary, a good casual player's helicopter but if you're looking for Cerasim levels of immersion or Dodosim levels of realistic handling then I fear you may be left disappointed.

See full review