0

Reviews (by Lee)

FSDG - ACCRA MSFS

FSDG - ACCRA MSFS

A very good rendition of this airport and in a great location. Review video here:- https://youtu.be/zLL1S7Dv238 Well worth it and great to see yet another African airport coming to MSFS.

See full review

AEROSOFT - FSDG LITE - ENFIDHA MSFS

AEROSOFT - FSDG LITE - ENFIDHA MSFS

Reviewed on my YouTube Channel:- https://youtu.be/ZsRk5MAyyRY Doesn't really work for MSFS to have a "Lite" scenery. Great for P3D and FSX but not for MSFS. There is so much available in MSFS to upgrade an airport that the lite version is just a small improvement and way over-priced I'm afraid. Pity - FSDG are great developers but this is a bit of a letdown really.

See full review

PROJECT MAX - WAMM SAM RATULANGI MANADO FSX P3D4-5

PROJECT MAX - WAMM SAM RATULANGI MANADO FSX P3D4-5

Wow!! What a nice little scenery!! My advice? Go and get it !!! This is perhaps one of the nicest little sceneries I have seen for some time. Ok, it's not FLYTAMPA or FLIGHTBEAM, but it is a well put together little scenery that has all the things you would expect to see in P3Dv4 and 5 - Dynamic Lighting, well positioned and created, good ground textures, lovely taxiway lighting and some nice little touches - Fire Engines in their station, Airport location written on the Control Tower, numerous cars, signs and other bits and pieces to enhance the product and it fits in quite well with the surrounding scenery too! And perhaps the best part? It's only 6 Euros!! It's worth twice that in my opinion. At a time when many of us complain about products for Flight Simulation that are often just a bit overpriced, this is a real STEAL! My first encounter with Project MAX, but if this is what they are capable of, then I cannot wait to see what they produce as their skills get better and they bring more stuff to the market. Well done guys! Can't praise this enough! Check out my video review on my YouTube channel this coming weekend (VirtualAirlinePilot channel - 29NOV'20) DISCLAIMER - I am not associated with Project MAX and my review is my own unbiased opinion. Review System - Prepar3Dv4.5 running on an Intel i9-9900k Overclocked CPU; 32GB Ram; 1TB Samsung SSD; GeForce GTX 2080Ti 11GB Video; Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

TABURET - SHOREHAM AND ADUR MSFS

TABURET - SHOREHAM AND ADUR MSFS

Review system - Intel i9-9900k CPU overclocked; 32GB Ram; 1TB SSD; GeForce RTX 2080Ti 11GB Video card; Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition. This is a review of the SHOREHAM, BRIGHTON CITY AIRPORT (EGKA) scenery enhancement for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Created by long time developer, Raimond Taburet, this is a small but significant enhancement that improves the Asobo/MS default scenery of this picturesque little airport located on the English South Coast, very close to the South Downs National Park. If you are a fan of VFR flying in the beautiful English countryside, then this is for you! Its is not a greatest package and certainly not in the Orbx league - yet! But if you live in Sussex and know this area then you will appreciate this lovely little gem of a location in which to go flying. NOTE - Myself and one other purchaser had an installation issue where installing the scenery folders into the COMMUNITY subfolder, as is the usual practice, did NOT work. The simulation loaded 100% but refused to open at the airport! After contacting Raimond by email, the response was very quick - and by installing the scenery into the OFFICIAL\ONESTORE subfolder and NOT the COMMUNITY folder, solved the problem. Thank you Raimond! On Sunday 27th September, I release a video review of this scenery on my YouTube channel - virtualairlinepilot - but for now, I rate this scenery as very good. It completely redoes the ADUR River to make it look as it should and the airport layout, runways and taxiways and signage is also vastly improved. Recommended! - Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

TROPICALSIM - ALBUQUERQUE INTL 2020 KABQ P3D

TROPICALSIM - ALBUQUERQUE INTL 2020 KABQ P3D

This is an UPDATE to my original review posted here. The description by TropicalSim states that they have FULL NIGHT LIGHTING and DYNAMIC LIGHTING as part of this product and as part of my review, I mentioned that I could find NO NIGHT LIGHTING and DYNAMIC LIGHTING in the product! I am very happy to say that I have solved this problem! Initially, I installed the scenery on to my E: drive and NOT to the default Prepar3D location specified by TropicalSim (usually C:Program FilesLockheed MartinPrepar3D). Then I added the scenery myself using the XML method (I have their FARO scenery product installed this way with no issues), opting NOT to let the installer do it. After a conversation with a very helpful chap at TropicalSim, it would seem that the EFFECTS files did not find their way into the Prepar3DEffects folder and thus no night or dynamic lighting was evident! I like to have my scenery spread across two drives so as not to fill up my C: drive. I have to experiment with the install, possibly moving the effects files MANUALLY into the Prepar3DEffects folder and see if it works. But I am happy to apologise to TropicalSim and to viewers here and say that they DO INDEED have Dynamic and FULL Night Lighting in the product - and it looks great. So I award five stars. Well done!

See full review

TROPICALSIM - ALBUQUERQUE INTL 2020 KABQ P3D

TROPICALSIM - ALBUQUERQUE INTL 2020 KABQ P3D

This is a SHORT REVIEW OF Albuquerque 2020, a new scenery for P3D by TropicalSim. A nice little scenery and very welcome, as this part of the USA is sadly neglected. All that has changed with the release of this little gem from the team at TropicalSim! I thought long and hard about awarding it FOUR stars instead of THREE. It's not Orbx or FlyTampa quality, but it is very good, has SODE jetways and includes a wide expanse of the local surrounding area as well as the airport and so for me it gets four stars. For a real closeup look at this product, visit my website - virtualairlinepilot.org - for a helicopter video tour of this wonderful airport and to find out more about it. For me, the only downside is the lack of dynamic ground lighting in the Terminal vicinity and the stands. But I am very happy to have purchased it! Enjoy! Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

AUSCENE 2 - ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL X FSX P3D

AUSCENE 2 - ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL X FSX P3D

This is an UPDATE to my earlier review of 1st August 2020 - I have been contacted by the Developer to say that they have now added SODE Jetways for GSX users which is excellent! They also appear to have been having complaints about the scenery due to my review. I will state and reiterate again - YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY! But most if not ALL airport sceneries are layered ABOVE everything default (Layer 1 descending). So Adelaide could easily be layered at the top (1) and all should be well. But in doing this, on my system, much of the scenery disappeared! My advice is to install the product and allow it to add to the library and then test the scenery. If you do not see the treeline surrounding the airport or do not see the patchy, grassy airport environs and are greeted by a bland light brown tarmac, then this has happened to you! Just change the scenery layer and it should all be fine. Lee James - 05 AUG 2020

See full review

AUSCENE 2 - ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL X FSX P3D

AUSCENE 2 - ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL X FSX P3D

This is a review of AUSCENE 2 - Adelaide International version 2.1 for FSX/P3D. Test system - ChillBlast Intel i9-9900k CPU overclocked, 32GB System RAM, 1TB Samsung Evo SSD, GeForce RTX 2080Ti 11GB Video, Windows 10 64-bit Home. This scenery was installed into Lockheed Martin's Prepar3Dv4.5 Hot Fix 3 (HF3) Pro license. Please note that this new version of Adelaide is NOT an upgrade, in the sense that you just install right over the top of an existing ASCENE version; The original version, if you have it, should be removed as the newer version 2.1 is a new FULL install. Unfortunately, the product for me scores lower for a lack of instructions concerning the install. The file size download was something I found confusing to begin with as the original version of AUscene Adelaide was 495MB, whereas the newer version 2.1 is smaller at 247MB! Usually I would expect an "improved" version or upgrade to an existing scenery to be a larger download. However, the scenery is fine. It is not Orbx quality, but it is very acceptable. For those users who have Orbx Global Base, Vector and Australia v2 installed, I can confirm that this product is compatible and works very well with the Orbx products installed. However, the layering is critical, I have found. Normally, Airport sceneries are layered ABOVE all base products such as Default Terrain, Default Scenery and the Base files. But in this case, I found that normal layering results in a huge loss of objects and the rise of default buildings and structures! Layering this scenery BETWEEN the Orbx Base products and Orbx Australia gives the same result. But by placing this scenery BELOW the Orbx products, but ABOVE the Default Base files as usual, it works. Most noticeable is the fact that the missing trees come back, as does a large part of the coastal infrastructure, west of the runway 5 threshold, all missing and flat looking if the scenery is not layered correctly. Your results may vary, but this is a pleasing scenery that works and to be honest, really enhances this little corner of Australia - and an airport that has been crying out to be developed for your Simulator! After I managed to install this correctly, I found that the quality is good with many nice touches. To read more on this, visit my blog - virtualairlinepilot.org. Lee James - AUG 2020 West Sussex UK

See full review

FSDG - MAURITIUS FSX P3D

FSDG - MAURITIUS FSX P3D

29APR'19 - This is a review of the FSDG Mauritius X Scenery produced by the Flight Sim Developers Group, first released in December 2017 for the P3D, FSX and FSX STEAM versions of Flight Simulator. Review System:- i7-7700k CPU overclocked to 4.5Ghz 16GB System RAM 500 GB main SSD for OS 7200rpm 2TB Hitachi HDD with FSX-SE installed there. GeForce GTX 1080Ti Video Card with 11GB Video RAM Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition FS version - FSX-SE (Steam Edition) by Dovetail Games. I run FSX-SE at 2560 x 1440 resolution on a 27" monitor in DX10 mode using Steve's DX10 Fixer. Texture Max Load is set at 2048. Also installed is Orbx FTX Global Base. FSDG have really done an amazing job on this scenery! It simply stunning! They have modelled the complete island of Mauritius in high detail, including the smaller islands of ILE PLATE (Plate Island), ILE RONDE (Round Island - and the smaller neighbouring island of Serpents) as well as COIN DE MIRE (Flat Island and Gabriel Island) and GUNNER COIN, found on the north side of the island. Absent from this scenery is the larger land mass of Rodrigues Island, to be found 560km (303nm) to the east of Mauritius. I took a Cessna Stationair and departed runway 14 and then turned north along the shoreline, climbing to 2500 feet, to circum navigate the island. The coastlines are simply wonderful! And the bays, beaches, corals and waterclass are outstanding! This is Orbx quality stuff and the landscape details are just beautiful to fly over. Continuing north along the coast, you will see the smaller islands of ILE PLATE and ILE RONDE just off the coastline. They are nicely modelled with one of them hosting a small light house. Turning back to the Mauritius coast, we continue west, then south along the shoreline and you will see the Botanical Gardens to the left and eventually you will reach Port Louis and its seaport with ships in the docks. Continuing south, I covered the whole coastline in about 65 minutes at 2500 feet in the Cessna and the shorelines are stunning! The island itself sports a very green and tropical look and feel to it, consistent with this island paradise in the Indian Ocean. Returning to the airport, I descended for a landing on runway 32 and then taxi-ied around the airport. The airport is very nicely done. The scenery content is consistent with the latest charts and the ground markings and taxiway signs are correct. You will see animated busses around the ramp along with other static ramp vehicles - very nice. The airport is well modelled and very acceptable. Switching to DUSK and DAWN mode, revealed a very nice set of ground lighting at the airport and some very beautiful lighting among the landclass itself away from the airport. It will be fun to explore at dusk or dawn. NIGHT mode not tested. There is much to explore in this product and I find this scenery a very excellent piece of work and well worth the price. Now, the negatives - and there are not many thankfully and they really only centre around the airport. The ramp, runway entry points and run up area have elevations issues. My Cessna's landing gear disappeared below the ground level at various points on the ramp area and upon entering the runway. That said, this did correct itself as I continued, so it is hit and miss really. I flew the PMDG 777-200LR into Mauritius last week and this problem did not occur, so I need to investigate it. Also as you approach runway 14 from about 800 feet out over the bay, the lead in lights disappear and the runway then reverts to a photoscenery object - until you land and roll out, where upon the main tarmac runway re-appears again. Disappointingly, there are no static aircraft and only the busses are dynamic, so the airport does feel a bit quiet and unused; It would be nice to see an update that included some more dynamics to improve the feel of the place - and these days, some bird activity would be nice too! I fly online almost exclusively so AI is not set for me. Statics would be nice! Strangely enough, I did see a huge lorry wending its way north towards Port Louis on the highway located on the west side of the island! All in all, I recomend this product. It is in my opinion, better than any of the freeware versions out there (and some of them are very good!) and the modelling is extremely good especially the the shorelines and waterclass! Lots of static boats and ships to be found inhabiting the bays and lots of tropical green! Truly a paradise. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

PILOT'S FSG - LEAM - ALMERIA AIRPORT FSX P3D FSW

PILOT'S FSG - LEAM - ALMERIA AIRPORT FSX P3D FSW

This is a review of PILOT's Almeria Airport scenery (LEAM) for FSX P3D FSW (Note that there is a separate download version for P3D v4?). Firstly, let me say that this is arguably one of the best small sceneries I have seen for FSX for some time - but it is actually huge and covers a large area around the airport! Yes, the big guys continue to produce amazing scenery for FSX and P3D, but this is wonderful gem of a product is up there with them! The scenery is a large download (1.64GB for the FSX version) but it covers not just the airport, but an extensive area all around the vicinity. The attention to detail is amazing and the pictures don't really do this justice! There is extensive use of textured buildings, vehicles and the scenery has everything you can wish for, including moving vehicles and moving people all over the ramp! The airfield is extremely detailed and landing there and parking up feels very much like a real life airport! The airport comes alive in front of you! I run my SIM at a resolution of 2560 x 1440 on a 27 inch monitor using 1024 texture size - and the place looks wonderful! Imagine what it is going to look like using a texture size of 2048 and above!! VAS is excellent. I flew the FSLabs Airbus A320 X out of Gatwick and into Almeria today just before this review. On the approach, VAS never went below 1.4GB available and on landing in cockpit view and after panning around a lot to take pictures, VAS was still above 1.1GB available. Framerates are no problem at all being around 48 to 55fps. How they manage to pack in all this detail and still keep VAS usage so low and frame rates so high, is beyond me! Please note that PILOT's produce a SEPARATE version of this scenery for P3D, so I assume that this version noted for FSX-P3D-FSW is for P3D version 3 while the other version is for P3D version 4 or above. If you do a search on Simmarket for LEAM, you will see the two versions. But I am not entirely sure. Installation is easy as you get to choose your SIM version in the setup and it even found my FSX-SE installation on my D: drive! When you download the product and begin the install, make sure you unzip the complete contents of the zip to a temporary folder - the SETUP.EXE file needs to find certain files located in the same folder as itself. This scenery on my system is installed and used in FSX-SE (Steam Edition) and I also use Orbx FTX Global and FTX Europe LC, together with AS2016 for real time weather along with Cloud Art and REX Enhanced. Test system is an i7-7700k CPU overclocked to 4.5GHz, 16GB System RAM, Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition installed on a 500GB SSD. FSX-SE is installed separately on a 7200rpm 2TB Internal Hard drive. Graphics is a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with 11GB of video Ram. FSX is running at 2560 x 1440 resolution using 1024 size textures. At 25 Euros, they have the price just right. If you like to fly down to southern Spain, this scenery is a MUST HAVE! I have no hesitation in recommending this scenery. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

A_A SCENERIES - KUALA LUMPUR AIRPORT V2 KLIA FS2004

A_A SCENERIES - KUALA LUMPUR AIRPORT V2 KLIA FS2004

Review of A_A Sceneries Kuala Lumpur International WMKK - 30th September 2015 for FS2004 (FS9). Test System - Intel Pentium Dual Core E5400 2.72Ghz, 2GB dual channel RAM, GeForce 8800GTS 2GB Graphics on a Windows XP Pro SP3 Operating System. Test time about 2-3 hours. To begin with, I installed the scenery which was straight forward enough. The executable installs a LANDCLASS scenery below the main airport scenery (just check that the landclass is of a LOWER priority or sits UNDER the airport scenery) and adds it to the FS Scenery library so you don't have to. I looked at the scenery in DAYTIME and flew around the airport in the Cessna to have a look. The airport is highly detailed and the textures are extremely well done. A lot of work has gone into the the FS9 version - a real testament to the work and tenacity of the developer at A_A Sceneries! However, the textures are large and detailed and I did experience some slowness in loading. My CPU is not the fastest though and yours may not be as old as mine. But the fact that this scenery runs well on my set up suggests that it is well designed and will cause you no issues. However, I then discovered that I could NOT select DAWN without crashing the sim! I also experienced a loss of textures during night and dusk time. I have to say, however before I go on, that the developer has worked tirelessly with me to resolve this and some other issues I had with the scenery (in the end caused by a BMP file in the Effects folder that was badly corrupted) and since the product has been made available he has updated some files which have highlighted some small problems. He has released missing seasonal textures, a small photo update and for me at least, has targeted a corrupted file that cause me no end of problems. Hats off to this chap who really helped me work through so that I can now review the product! I can now select all time options (DAY, DUSK, NIGHT and DAWN) and the airport is wonderful - a huge improvement on the existing freeware version. The on-airport trains are excellent, the shading all over the airport is very good and the attention to detail is exceptional. Included is the new Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Terminal area and additional runway 15/33 (this part of the scenery is also extremely detailed) and despite the documents stating no static aircraft, there are in fact a number of Malaysian Airline aircraft statics in the scenery, all well done. Runways and grass areas and the ramp are all as they should be (I have flown into the real KLIA many times over the years) and the scenery fits well into the default terrain and most add-on mesh terrains too. The area directly surrounding the airport is also done with the addition of the LandClass scenery mentioned above. This really helps to show off the location of KLIA which nestles in the huge lush forest areas of south central Malaysia. In real life, you take the train (KLIA Express - not modelled) to the city of Kuala Lumpur which takes 28 minutes. Today after finishing the updates to correct the issues I had been having I flew from Phuket (VTSP) to KLIA (WMKK) flying the Malaysian 787 service (using the Boeing 737-800 from the IFly Developer Team for FS9) and experienced no problems in the scenery at all. However, it does help after installing, to reboot your computer and then clean up and defrag the hard drive to help cure the slowness of the texture loading. I can say now that WMKK loads a lot faster and is much better than when I first got it. My thoughts on this product? Its about the best you can get for Kuala Lumpur for FS9. Its vibrant, detailed and visually very good indeed. And the support I have received on the small issues I had with it, are top notch! Other developers should take note! And the price is a real bargain for the quality of this work. Well done A_A Sceneries. I hope you continue to develop for FS9 as I will be purchasing again! Thank you. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

ARMI PROJECT - CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HECA FS2004

ARMI PROJECT - CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HECA FS2004

Update! - it seems that installing the AFCAD update as I suggested above has solved the problem of the missing ILS for runway 05C. It now does work. However, having looked at it using Lee Swordy's AFCAD2.21 utility, the ILS identifier is incorrect but the frequency of 109.90 seems to work ok. Hope this helps. I neglected to mention that the scenery does also look good at dawn too! Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

ARMI PROJECT - CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HECA FS2004

ARMI PROJECT - CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HECA FS2004

Review of Cairo International Airport (HECA) scenery for FS2004 (FS9) by Armi Project - 6th September 2015. Test system - Intel Dual Core E5400 2.70Ghz CPU, 2GB RAM, WD 7200rpm HDD, NVidia GeForce 8800GTS 2GB graphics card running on a Windows XP Pro SP3 Operating System. To begin with, if you liked the Armi Project version of Bangkok VTBS (also available here on Simmarket - he was the first to do this for FS9) then you'll enjoy this! The scenery is very accurate and visually awesome! Texturing, even on the taxiway edges, is wonderful. The author has done a very good job of representing this major Egyptian airport with everything placed as it should be and a wealth of texturing and shadowing all over the scenery. The photo ground is also very well done and works exceptionally well within the limits of the scenery. Those limts are extensive as the photo ground goes out well beyond the airport! As you do extend further out, the scenery limit does not bind well with the rest of the landscape but that can be accepted since the photo ground extends well outside the airport environs. Roads and motorways are also good. Buildings in and around the airport including a major hotel (the Sheraton), have been very well done. Taxiways are pretty complicated at Cairo especially at night and so the taxiways signage is important - and even here the author has done a good job. The ramps, taxiways and routes around the airfield are accurate as per the latest charts that I have (AUG 2015). It should be noted that there are no static aircraft included with the scenery even though the description says so. There are, however, a myriad of service vehicles, trucks and other such static objects around the airport all well placed. it would have been nice to have some static aircraft included. I also discovered that the ILS for runway 05C is missing in the scenery. The latest charts (LIDO - August 2015) have it as ILSDME Runway 05C - 109.90/045 - IZFC. This is not a real issue as the scenery is very accurately placed such that RNAV approaches work well and you can use the VOR to navigate into HECA. It is easy enough to add the ILS to runway 05C using Lee Swordy's AFCAD2.2 utility. Also note that the author has released an updated AFCAD as a second zip download. I have compared the two Afcads and can see little difference really. What I did find was that ALMAZA AIRPORT, which lies just a few hundred yards southwest of the Sheraton Hotel, which is on the field at HECA, suffered from bleed through with the original Afcad. This although not entirely removed, did look a lot better with the newer Afcad update. One last thing - I found that by placing the updated Afcad BGL file into the FS9\Addon Scenery\Scenery folder, instead of inside the FS9\Armi Project - Cairo Intl FS9\Scenery folder made a lot of difference. Not only did it improve the issues with ALMAZA Airport but it just worked better. The install routine places the original Afcad file (AFX1_HECA.bgl) into the installation's main default scenery folder (FS9\Armi Project - Cairo Intl FS9\Scenery) so first rename the file found inside the HECA scenery folder (AFX1_HECA.bgl) to AFX1_HECAbgl.OLD and then place the updated AFX file into C:\FS9\Addon Scenery\Scenery which should help if you have any problems. My opinion? A very well done airport addon that is well worth the asking price with very good frame rates and it really does bring this airport to life. Great to still see some development continuing for FS2004! My congratulations to the author. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

FSDG - SHARM EL-SHEIKH FSX P3D

FSDG - SHARM EL-SHEIKH FSX P3D

Update to the previous review of the FS2004 (FS9) version - Purchasers please note! If you have the previous version of the FSDG Sharm El Sheikh 2012 scenery for FS9, you MUST UN-INSTALL THIS FULLY BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE UPDATED NEWER VERSION! Strangely enough the requirement to do this is mentioned in the documentation *AFTER* the scenery is installed! Would have been nice if it was mentioned by the Installer upon running it. A complete removal of the previous scenery version followed by a clean install of the newer version solved the CTD problem. Now to the scenery. The Orange landclass is still there and looks very different to the surrounding terrain and therefore does not fit in with it at all. However, the newer landclass now includes some ground features not present in the earlier FS9 version. The landclass problem is particularly difficult if you head southwest away from the airport towards the coast. You will see that the coast line does not line up, nor does the landclass itself (the orange ground overlay) does not work and produces a hard edge at this point of the surroundings. If you can live with this, then the airport is excellent, as was the previous 2012 version. From what I can see, having compared the two versions, there is little that has changed. I cannot see anything in the documentation that is referred to as being new at all. Perhaps the "features" on the landclass have been updated. There certainly seems to be a few new bits and pieces. Its good that the update was free - I could not see any reason why previous version owners would want to pay for this upgrade, since the 2012 version for FS9 was excellent. I'm guessing that there are perhaps newer features in the FSX and P3D versions and certainly the one installer is an advantage, particularly if you run all three Simulations. I am perhaps a little disappointed that nothing really new has been added to the FS9 version. My tip - if you have all three SIM versions then by all means grab this product. If you have the previous version for FS2004, stick with it. The airport and its environs in the 2012 version is very good work. I give 3 Stars because of the lack of an un-install warning in the installer that resulted in me having a CTD upon newly installing this product. Test System - Intel Pentium Dual Core E5400 CPU, WIN XP Pro SP3 OS, 2GB dual channel RAM, 1TB 7200 HDD, NVidia GeForce 8800GTS Graphics installed and FS9 with the 9.1 update installed. Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

FSDG - SHARM EL-SHEIKH FSX P3D

FSDG - SHARM EL-SHEIKH FSX P3D

This review is for the FS2004 version - Bought this right off the bat as I have the 2012 version already which is excellent. However, I cannot find any improvement in the FS9 version of the scenery. And the lovely desert work is now replaced by an Orange square which looks pretty horrible! I also received a CTD (crash to desktop) after the first 3 minutes of flying. I need to investigate this further and will update this review in due course, but it looks like there are some BGL compilation issues here. System - Intel Duel core E5400 CPU on a WIN XP Pro SP3 PC with 2GB Dual Channel RAM.

See full review

AKESOFT - GRANADA X FS2004

AKESOFT - GRANADA X FS2004

Review of GRENADA (LEGR) by AKESOFT for FS2004: A Century Of Flight - 16FEB'15. System in use - FS2004 (FS9.1) on a WINXP Pro SP3 Intel Dual Core E5400 CPU, 1TB HDD 2GB NVidia Geforce 8800GTS Video and 2GB Dual Channel RAM. This is just a lovely little scenery! The installer is a standard version and all went well and easy enough with no issues. Visually, the airport and it's environs are stunning! If you fly into the runway from the East or the West, there is plenty to see. If you have FSGenesis terrain installed, the airport really looks great sitting among the mountains. Framerates are very smooth and I encountered no stutters or pauses at all. The airport is very well modelled with lots of nice features. The only thing missing were charts for the airport which, if you don't know where to find them, can be difficult to obtain. Thankfully, they can be obtained free from the Spanish AIP website. Note that the only approaches available on the charts are into runway 09 and not 27, although the STAR chart does mention runway 27. I was very impressed with this little scenery. Well put together, plenty of detail and a good price too. There are airline flights into Grenada from Madrid, Barcelona and from London City in the UK. To test it out, I flew an EasyJet (fictional) A320 service out of London Luton in 2 hours 36 minutes. Very impressive little piece of work! Well done Akesoft and well done for still supporting FS2004! Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

BDOAVIATION - JUANDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

BDOAVIATION - JUANDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

Review of Juanda International Airport for FS2004 (FS9). This is a lovely scenery and the ground visuals are very good. The workmanship on this design is of a good standard and is fairly high quality. It is really refreshing to see a developer working on Indonesia and producing good quality airport sceneries such as these. The scenery is let down however, by the intermittent acquisition of the ILS beams when approaching either runway and the ranges of the beams (less than 10 miles on occasions). I have tried to alter the range settings using the excellent AFCAD 2.21 utility but I was unable to do so. The only other issue is the extremely fast and somewhat erratic service vehicles (particularly the tugs) that run across the ramp. Is it worth the money? I believe it is - just! The quality is good and I was looking for something good to allow me to explore Indonesia. My worry is the developer support. Currently I have an issue with their WIMM scenery where the ILS frequencies are wrong at both ends of the runway. I have contacted them about this but have not received a reply. Again, attempts to correct the issue have failed. The developer's work should not be doubted however - they continue to develop for FS2004 and the detail is of a good standard. But support is important for good customer relations. Let's hope they pass the test! This scenery is however, recommended. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

TAXI2GATE - HAMAD INTL AIRPORT FS2004

TAXI2GATE - HAMAD INTL AIRPORT FS2004

Review of the New Doha International Airport (OTHH) for FS9 by TAXI2GATE. Review system - E5400 Dual Core CPU, 2GB Dual Channel DDR RAM, 1TB 7200rpm main hard disk, NVidia 8800GTS 2GB Graphics card using FS9.1 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 OS. Time spent examing the product - three hours. Firstly, thank you Taxi2Gate for continuing to support FS2004 users with your quality work! And yes, whilst this scenery might appear to be smaller and less of a detailed offering than their last ORLANDO KMCO product, it is still a wonderful piece of work to provide a complete, fully detailed airport scenery of an almost brand new International Airport in a country many people know practically nothing about! Construction began on the real world New Doha International Airport in 2005 but the airport was only fully opened this year (2014), with airlines moving over from the old Doha Airport (OTBD) in May 2014. Installation - This scenery product comes in a standard download and is installed by running the scenery EXE install file contained within. The product installs effortlessly into the default FS2004 install location (C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT GAMES\FLIGHT SIMULATOR 9\) but the install can be re-directed to a different location if you have FS installed elsewhere. Note that unlike the previous ORLANDO KMCO product mentioned above, there is NO MANUAL included with the release of this scenery. When firing up New Doha International Airport for the first time in FS9, my impression of the place generally is that it is excellent. I find a really nice airport, complete in almost every detail. The scenery does lack the depth of the KMCO product in that little or no photo-scenery or landclass additions seem to have been included, (unlike in the FSX version) but what it lacks in this area is more than made up for by the sheer quality of the texturing work on the airport itself. Runways, taxiways and aprons are highly detailed with skid marks and oil marks all over the place. This really gives a sense of reality about the ramp generally. Add to this, the main Terminal area is constructed to a very high standard with gates and jetways, signage and ground markings, all highly detailed. The terminal features a see-through glass effect with passengers visible inside. You really need to sit on the apron and just take in the sheer classy way it all looks! The thing that does it for me is the shading and shadow work which really makes the place come alive. I taxied around the whole airport looking at even the smallest buildings and roadways - the same detailed work can be found everywhere. I must say that I also admire the way the desert sand is displayed within the airport environment as well. Outside of the airport, the famous PEARL landmass is there and some buildings have been included, but it is a rather simplified piece of scenery and serves perhaps as a landmark only which can be seen on the approach to runway 16R. The city of Doha and its high rise buildings have been included and they are of a slightly better visual quality and sit on a more detailed area of land, but the area outside the airport, overall, is not detailed to the same high standard as the airport itself. You can perhaps forgive them for this since the product was released quickly to get it to market and perhaps updates such as those I mention here, could be added later. Nevertheless, make no mistake - you get an entire new airport, which is miles better than the default and in my opinion, much better than anything else available currently. Additionally, the airport is very well lit during the darkness hours and you should see the place at dawn, dusk or at night. The taxiway lighting is nice to see and the bulbs, part of the edge lighting, are very detailed. Taxiway signage around the airport is awesome and even the signs are shadow textured, giving them a certain rustiness! Improvements? Well, I would have liked to see a MANUAL of some kind, as there was with the ORLANDO KMCO product. And it would also have been nice to see some static aircraft and some moving vehicles, especially as the quality of the roadwork is so good. Have a close look at the multi-lane roadway leading up to the Terminal forecourt - complete with road signs above the lanes! Although the airport does have hundreds of static vehicles and objects all over the place from baggage trucks to aircraft tugs, vans and mobile stairs, it would also be nice to see some dynamic scenery. My overall impression is that, despite the lack of detailed landclass outside of the airport, this is a good quality product, released quite quickly for FS9 customers, for which we must be very grateful. Parts of it are good enough to put TAXI2GATE up there with the best of them. Whilst they will no doubt always concentrate on their FSX products and perhaps versions for P3D as well, it is to be admired that they continue to support FS2004 as a platform for their work and our enjoyment. My considered opinion is that the ORLANDO KMCO product was much better, especially the area outside of that airport being part of the work also, but I also believe that TAXI2GATE certainly have the skills to put them up there along side the greats such as FLYTAMPA and FSDreamTeam. Whether they will take the time to give FS9 customers the benefit of their extra creativity, we will have to see. Given the fact that I really wanted a decent Doha airport scenery for FS9, this product more than does it for me! TAXI2GATE are to be congratulated on yet another FS9 quality product. Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

TAXI2GATE - KMCO ORLANDO INTL FS2004

TAXI2GATE - KMCO ORLANDO INTL FS2004

Review of ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT scenery (KMCO) for FS9 (FS2004) by TAXI2GATE - Firstly, once again, we must thank a company whom I consider to be a major force in the business of Flight Simulator scenery creation, for continuing to support the FS9 (FS2004) version of our favourite hobby! This scenery really is right up there with the standards set by the likes of FLYTAMPA and FSDREAMTEAM! What I find wonderful is the very clever use of photoscenery and more importantly, how it is lit during the dawn/dusk/night hours - it's beautiful! You really need to take a helicopter or a small light aircraft and explore this airport and its environs from about 700 feet at a slow speed, during the dawn, dusk or night hours and really see what TAXI2GATE have managed to achieve with their very clever use of the photo scenery part of the product and their uncanny ability to light the areas for maximum visual effect. The developer really has managed to capture the essence of this famous international airport with the pin point placement of trees and other remarkable ground features, all beautifully textured and subtly placed for maximum effect! Little if nothing is left out with almost every major building featured in the scenery. The parking areas and stands are wonderfully created, allowing you to see right into the lounge areas of the gaterooms. The ramp is loaded with static vehicles of every kind and once again the very subtle use of lighting during the non-daylight hours is fascinating! This is a major piece of work that has been extremely well done in almost every respect. For me, the only real issue is the lack of dynamic scenery. There seems to be a reluctance by developers of this calibre to add moving vehicles and static aircraft parked at the gates. Whilst I understand the potential impact of adding such features, it would have been nice to have the option to install some or all of those features. It seems a pity that this truly fantastic piece of work has been let down slightly by the lack of any moving vehicles or additional static aircraft to really add a bit more life to such a beautifully crafted airport project such as this. Other developers do often add the option to install "Extras" like this by proving the BGL files for users to add after installation if they so desire. However - do not let this detract from what is an excellent piece of design work which is truly wonderful to look at. For me, the existing wonderful sceneries of Tampa International Airport by FLYTAMPA and Miami International by LATINVFR have now been joined by this truly phenomenal rendition of Orlando International by TAXI2GATE, making Florida THE place to fly into in FS9 (FS2004)! Highly recommended!. System used in this review - Pentium Dual Core E5400 CPU, 2GB Dual Channel System RAM, NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 2GB graphics card, Seagate 1TB hard disk and FS9.1 installed on a Windows XP Pro SP3 Operating System. Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

SKYSOFT - PANZHIHUA BAOANYING AIRPORT ZUZH FS2004

SKYSOFT - PANZHIHUA BAOANYING AIRPORT ZUZH FS2004

Panzhihua Baoan Ying Airport (ZUZH) is a small airport that sits on top of a hillside some seven and a half thousand feet up (see images above). It is served by Air China, who also fly a codeshare with Shenzen Airlines and Sichuan Airlines. As well as congratulating SkySoft Simulations for their seemingly unending support for FS2004 users, they should also receive the praise due to them for this little offering. Panzhihua is a lovely little airport, packed with detail and visually a very impressive product, all sitting among some of the best looking surrounding terrain detail I have seen in a while. If this is how it looks in the simulation, then it must be an impressive place in the real world! And the price? It's a steel! I say grab it while you can! This is a proven and very skilled development team who really know their stuff and now, thanks to them, we are seeing Chinese airports being offered to the Flight Simulation community as they really should be, in stunning detail and at very affordable prices. Make no mistake, whilst the number of flights and routes into this airport may well be minimal, you will want to fly in and out again and again! System used - Pentium Dual Core E5400 CPU, 2GB Dual Channel System RAM, NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 2GB graphics card, Seagate 1TB hard disk and FS9.1 installed on a Windows XP Pro SP3 OS. Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

THAI CREATION - NAMASTE MUMBAI : CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

THAI CREATION - NAMASTE MUMBAI : CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

Review of Thai Creation MUMBAI (VABB) for FS2004 (FS9) - Another stunning scenery from this one man outfit! Created over many months and in some ways a labour of love by the man who created it (if you have been following him on Facebook, you'll know that at one point he questioned whether he was going to finish it!), this scenery package comes complete with VAJJ Juhu Aerodrome, in addition to the main Mumbai International Airport scenery. This review is the result of about an hour's flying in and around the airport and on-ramp taxi-ing. System used was a Pentium Dual Core E5400 CPU, 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM, GeForce 8800GT graphics card on a Windows XP SP3 computer running Flight Simulator 2004 with the 9.1 update. The scenery for me never really dropped below 22fps. Lovely smoothness and feature rich textures on the ground and seen from the air. Dynamic traffic all over the airport and excellent attention to detail even on the vehicle colours and logos! Lovely Fire Station and vehicles. I flew several circuits of the airport and observed it from 1500 feet and again flew a circuit at 5000 feet. The results are very good indeed and visually the scenery is stunning. There is some slight juddering of the scenery as it loads here and there but not enough to ruin the experience for me. Make sure after you install this scenery, that you defrag your hard drive properly to ensure FS loads the scenery in a fluid manner. The level of detail is immense so some slower PCs might struggle, but these days with the sort of hardware most of us have, there should not be a problem. My only criticism is the lack of static aircraft. There is plenty of static and dynamic vehicles and the airport is a very detailed place with a living feel about it. Some static aircraft would just have finished it off nicely. Four stars because I usually never give five unless the product under review is exceptional. This is close but not quite, as it is missing static aircraft and there is no documentation published with the product! However, if you want to enjoy one of India's busiest and most vibrant airports, this is the scenery for you! My congratulations to the author. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

ARMI PROJECT - OERK KING KHALID FS2004

ARMI PROJECT - OERK KING KHALID FS2004

Review of ARMI Project King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia (OERK) for FS9. This is probably one of the few sceneries for the Middle East to come out in recent times, certainly for FS9. Whilst Sharm El Shiekh, also released this year, is in the Middle East, this scenery could well be described as a major development, certainly for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh in particular to be finally put on the scenery map! I slewed, flew and taxi-ied around this airport for around 50 minutes to have a good look at how the scenery has been put together. First impression that hits you is the ground. The airport is layered onto a photo ground scenery, but this photo layer is one of the best I have seen on a scenery like this! Not only is it clear with hardly any blurring at ground level, but the airport scenery that is placed upon it, actually works and fits in properly with it. Its really encouraging and overall gives an extremely realistic feel to the place. Next big thing for me was the way that the desert has been rendered and again, the little attention to detail that makes the airport blend in really well with the desert ground scenery layer. I found a fair bit of shimmering around the scenery but I did not find that a detraction. It might be my graphics card or it might be due to the method used to keep the frame rates so good - I never got lower than 32fps (locked at 43fps) even in the densest part of the airport! Absolutely wonderful! For me, this is a complete scenery, extremely well done with great attention to detail. The Main Passenger Terminal, along with the Royal Terminal and Cargo and General Aviation Terminals have all been done in faithful detail. Even the Tank Farm and the Military Hangers have been modelled! Have I mentioned the trees? You need to fly low over the field (with the Tower's permission!) to view the wonderful tree-lined avenues. The extensive use of trees (palm as well as ordinary trees) is excellent and reflects the modern way that this airport has been built. Another item worthy of mention is the airport fencing. There is lots of it all in the right places as far as I can see. Overall, this scenery is quite exciting if only for the level of detail and the attention paid to getting it to look right on top of a well made photo ground layer. I also looked at the airport during dusk, dawn and night time and I can happily say that the lighting from the many lighting posts around the various ramps, along with the illuminated ramp areas, is excellent. In general the airport looks lovely around dawn and will be a great place to land at. Runways, taxiways and ramp detail are excellent and well up to standard. The really unique look and feel of the airport ramp at Riyadh has certainly been captured here, along with how it looks right there in the middle of the desert. Whilst the ramp is littered with static airport vehicles of all types, my only little gripe is the lack of dynamic (moving) vehicle traffic and no static aircraft. Would have been nice to add this to just show a little life on the field. However, make no mistake, this scenery is lovely and is well worth the price and the time and effort to install it and explore it. Just wonderful! Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

ARMI PROJECT - VTBS SUVARNABHUMI INTL FS2004

ARMI PROJECT - VTBS SUVARNABHUMI INTL FS2004

Note: This review is of the new UPDATE to the original 2010 version, released on 20th SEP 2012 and available for purchase as above. Also, please note that if you have the ARMI Project VTBS2010 version from Simmarket that this version updates, you SHOULD REMOVE OR DE-ACTIVATE THAT SCENERY! The author of this new update does not mention this here at Simmarket or in his included ReadMe file. Whilst this new update is a complete new scenery and so does not overwrite the 2010 version, having the two installations active will severely reduce your frame rates! I downloaded and used the original 2008 free version and enjoyed it for some time and when the VTBS2010 version came out, I purchased it right away. Thankfully, I experienced none of the memory leaks and frame rate issues mentioned here by this author relating to that scenery. Nevertheless, I updated to this version partly because it was a free update and because I wanted to see what has been improved. Whilst I do not doubt that the author here (who does not identify himself at all, strangely) did indeed take a year to remake the scenery, its difficult to see what has changed generally. Initial framerates with this update were worse than the 2010 version but after I disabled the 2010 version (not mentioned in the ReadMe file) the frame rates were about the same. Test flights were done using the Cessna "Seven Charlie Mike" Cardinal payware add-on aircraft in FS9.1 on a Dual Core PC running Windows XP Pro SP3 with 2GB ram and a 512MB GeForce 8800 GT video card based system. After four flights of the same duration and over the same short route, I can find little that is visually different about the two airport sceneries except that much of the pretty good LANDCLASS from the 2010 scenery is now gone. That said, the area to the east of the airport is more detailed and possibly you'll see more traffic on the motorways as you pass over them. In addition, the airport sign is now placed into the scenery which WAS missing from the 2010 version - and the advertising display boards on the passenger jetways have now changed from the older, perhaps more colourful ones to different ones promoting Thai Airways. This may well be as it is today at VTBS but I cannot verify that. The scenery was not tested at night so I have not seen how it appears during the hours of darkness. As I say, possibly the biggest change is the missing LandClass from the surrounding area to the west and south west of the airport. Apart from that, I see little difference between the two versions. Possibly the newer updated 2012 version may be more accurate from today's charts and today's real world airport. I would be happy to recommend this scenery to any new purchaser and if you have already purchased the VTBS2010 version, since this update is free, I see no reason not to get it and install it. I invite other purchasers possibly to comment as I can see little change from the 2010 version. Personally, it would be nice to see the author identify himself (he says that he has "taken over" the project from the original authors - still ARMI?) and I hope that he will update the ReadMe to advise current VTBS2010 owners to de-activate their current scenery installation. Other than that, its a fine scenery and worthy of praise. Lee James, West Sussex UK

See full review

THAI CREATION - SUA S'DEI ANGKOR SIEM REAP AIRPORT FS2004

THAI CREATION - SUA S'DEI ANGKOR SIEM REAP AIRPORT FS2004

Another excellent product from Thai Creation! Visually near perfect with good framerates and wonderful colour! Very good renditions of the ruins as well as the airport, right down to the marks on the runway. However, there is one important item missing from this scenery - the ILS for runway 05. The local rules state that landings must be made on runway 05 and takeoffs in the other direction on runway 23. The latest charts show runway 05 as having an ILS with a frequency of 108.30 but after examining the airport's AFCAD, there is no ILS anywhere in the scenery. I have managed to correct this using Lee Swordy's excellent AFCAD 2.21 utility and hope to upload it to AVSIM shortly. Maybe an update is in store - otherwise an excellent scenery that continues the trend set by this very good scenery developer! Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

AEROSOFT - YEKATERINBURG X (DOWNLOAD)

AEROSOFT - YEKATERINBURG X (DOWNLOAD)

Another really spectacular product from Aerosoft! Yekaterinburg (or Koltsovo as it is also known) handled 1.7 million passengers and over 15,000 metric tonnes of cargo in 2006. In the following year, that had risen to 2.3 million passengers, a 32% increase! This airport lies at an elevation of 764 feet and is located in the Sverdlovsk Oblast region of central Russia. Yekaterinburg is the fifth largest airport in Russia and is built to handle all aircraft right up to the Airbus A380. Yekaterinburg has flights serving destinations within Russia and as far afield as Helsinki, Dubai, Beijing, Baku, Franfurt and Istanbul. The scenery is extremely well done with features that we have come to know and love from Aerosoft. The ground terrain textures and the way the grass looks is just amazing! As well as the excellent terminal, apron and general building detail, the road system to the northwest of the airport and just outside it, are very well modelled and look just like it should from the air. Looking closer, you can also see the cars driving along the motorway! And this in the FS9 version too! Framerates are excellent and having just completed a flight in the PMDG 747-400 from Katmandu to Yekaterinburg (around 5 hours), I can vouch for the stability of this scenery. No stutters, framerate drops or anything. A quality product all round and something very detailed and slightly unusual to explore in the centre of Russia! The buildings are brilliant right down to the glass and the doors. The fenceline is well done and the ramp, taxiways and runways are all right up to the quality we have come to expect from top designers like Aerosoft. The runways are huge and the surrounding terrain looks good if you have Ultimate Terrain Europe installed (which I use). Aerosoft has again chosen to model much of the surrounding environment outside the airport so the effect is a very good detailed scenery for a very good price. Good value for money and again, as the other reviewer said, good to see aerosoft still developing for FS9 (FS2004). Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

THAI CREATION - NAMASTE NEPAL: TRIBHUVAN INTL AIRPORT FS2004

THAI CREATION - NAMASTE NEPAL: TRIBHUVAN INTL AIRPORT FS2004

I bought this scenery as soon as it came out! Thai Creations have been working on this scenery for some time and it's good to see that they have continued to develop for FS9 despite now venturing into scenery design for FSX with the recent release of their PARO BHUTAN scenery for FSX. Good news for both FS platform!. This scenery is excellent. I, for one, believe that the designer has got the amount of vehicular traffic in the scenery absolutely right. Frame rates are good and the depth of detail, especially in the ramps, runway and grass areas is very good indeed. Texturing is wonderful. Yes, this is a small scenery as Katmandu is not a seriously large airport, but for 14 EUROS it is a steal in my opinion! The scenery is very accurate and good enough to allow the IGRIS ONE BRAVO departure out of runway 02 to be flown very realistically with the mountainous location a serious challenge. Try it if you dare! My system is a fairly basic dual core CPU system with 2GB of RAM and a 512MB GeForce 8800GT video card, all on a WIN XP set up, so its not the newest and fastest system. But I have all of the Thai Creation work so far and it all runs very well. The ambiance of the airport is lovely with static ramp vehicles, well textured buildings and fencelines all placed to make the environment on the airport very realistic. I fly online most of the time so AI traffic and its movement are not issues for me, as they seem to be for the previous reviewer. However, as I expected, Thai Creations have issued a fix to deal with the concerns of the previous reviwer - which is the kind of service I have come to see this developer show to his purchasers! Well done for that. I can thoroughly recommend this scenery if you want to fly into the high places of Nepal. Katmandu is a four and a half hour flight from Hong Kong and is also close to parts of Vietnam where Thai Creation have produced other excellent sceneries (see elsewhere on Simmarket). Highly recommended and for once a very realistic and honest price set for this quality scenery product. It really is a steal! DISCLAIMER - I do NOT have any affiliation with Thai Creations or Simmarket except as a customer of both organisations. Lee James - West Sussex UK

See full review

THAI CREATION - NI HAO MACAU: MACAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

THAI CREATION - NI HAO MACAU: MACAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FS2004

The fifth offering in their collection of excellent Asia scenery, this is Macau International (VMMC), located on Taipa Island, west of Hong Kong and often used as an alternate airport for long hauls into Chek Lap Kok. Despite this, Macau is an International Airport in its own right, boasting over 5 million passengers a year! Thai Creation have an excellent but brief record of producing great scenery for the Far East This is only their fifth scenery release) and this product ticks all the boxes for a truly wonderful scenery. The things we expect from the big boys of FS scenery design are all here! Wonderful texturing, great runways and taxiways which look amazing especially at dawn or dusk. The terminal ramp area has just the right amount of oil stains on the concrete and is littered with static airport vehicles - just the right amount of them to make the place looked used - and a small helping of dynamic baggage trucks and airport cars darting about the place as well. In addition to a great airport, these chaps have seen fit to include the city area and casinos, along with some wonderful ground and elevated terrain texturing in the surrounding airport vacinity. My system is a Dual Core Intel Pentium 2.70 CPU using Windows XP Pro SP3 with 2GB of RAM, a fast 500GB hard disk and a GeForce 8800GT 512MB graphics card. My system has been fully optimised for FS9 by FS-GS Unification Systems to get the best out of FS9. For a one hour flight around Macau, followed by a 20-minute taxi around the ramp and terminal areas using the CESSNA 7 CHARLIE MIKE add-on aircraft, I found this place to be wonderful but with one or two issues that deserve mention. Despite framerates between 33-41fps on this system (never dropped below 31fps) the scenery suffers from stuttering at many locations. In addition, there are mistakes where the scenery is non-aligned at the point where the Macau scenery stops and the default starts again. This is especially seen over to the north west of the airport. I use terrain from FSGenesis for the entire World. The only other mistake I can find is that the red runway sign on taxiway GOLF leading from the main ramp area to the runway 16, is marked as for runway "34" - a small mistake that does not detract from the scenery unless you are taxi-ing in low visibility! Note that there is no manual with this scenery and the install file is a standard routine that will install into your FS folder, and create a folder called SIMMARKET if you do not already have one. Despite these issues, this is just a wonderful scenery and I would imagine Thai Creation may well look into the issues mentioned here if enough users have them. At this price, this scenery is simply wonderful and a true MUST HAVE if you like flying in Asia! Four Stars only because of the small issues I found. Well done Thai Creation!

See full review

THAI CREATION - XIN CHAO HANOI NOI BAI INTL FS2004

THAI CREATION - XIN CHAO HANOI NOI BAI INTL FS2004

I purchased this scenery because I enjoy Asia and only now are we beginning to see some good airports for this part of the world. Screenshots are good but the scenery I have to say is excellent and looks better than the screenshots! With a dual core CPU and 2GB of RAM I get a steady 38-42fps all around the airport area. The author has done a tremendous job of describing the airport and its surroundings and the detail is superb. The grass areas upon which the runways are situated are extremely well rendered, almost photostyle but in a very sharp, crisp textured way. The airport fencing is good and the Terminal area is wonderful! Excellent use of colours that accurately reflect the real Terminal. The airport traffic is dynamic and well done as are the cars driving up and down the main airport road leading to the highway, complete with its "Speghetti" junction just south of the airport. There are extended textures describing the outer airport area and the village buildings are very nicely done but without the photostyle ground texturing. I have Ultimate Terrain and Ground Environment Pro installed into my FS9 setup and whilst the transition from the author's scenery area into the GE Pro terrain is not accurate, its close and is acceptable. This little airport is an example of what can be achieved by authors who do not necessarily have the capabilities of FlyTampa or ImagineSim but who do know their stuff! Its one of the nicest small airport sceneries that I have ever seen and here's hoping that the author will consider extending the terrain around the airport by updating the landclass and adding the city of Hanoi in all its glory! However, if you want to visit Vietnam in FS, this is THE place to start! Can't recommend it enough - great work! Lee James, West Sussex UK - December 2010

See full review