Reina / Koningin Beatrix. Our impressions!

Dom and D'Andre are island hoping again! I wonder just how long the developers will keep us in this region of the world? Hey, we like it here! This time we head a bit further South to the island of Aruba. TropicalSim has done a magnificent job returning to the island for the 3rd time and not just giving it a face lift, but almost completely reworking the entire project from scratch. We have thoughts, we have opinions we have... Our impression! Come see what the hoopla is all about! 

Tropical Sim ARUBA Reina Beatrix TNCA

Impressions

We'll kick things off with Dom first with FSX and D'Andre will carry us in to the FS9 version.

Version tested : FSX. V.1.0
File : 116,5 MB
Installation : Easy but you need to register the folder manually.
Framerate :  Very friendly on mid-core high-core processors. more than 25 Fps on I7 3,44 Ghz.
Manual : 4 pages in english. No charts, although best networks have their own resources.
http://aw.ivao.aero/
http://www.curacao.vatcar.org/home/


The Bad:
* We could expect the whole island ! TropicalSim's Aruba designs half of the island already.
* As usual, 2 or 3 static aircraft on aprons would have increased the realism.

The good:
* Quality work on the main terminal.
* Details around the harbor.

As mentionned by the Brazilian team, this is their third version of Aruba airport. A first one for FS 2002 years ago, then the second, for FS9 and FSX and now this new version. From their previous works, let me say that Tropical Sim (2 developers, Leandro and Carlo) is progressing step by step. I didn't like Porto airport but Trieste was quite better and i didn't like VC Bird but then, T.S. surprised me again with Washington R. Reagan.

Why choosing Aruba ? It's the easiest way. T.S. has the photo materials of Aruba, it's just need some adjustment. In the meantime the team can focus on their heavy project,  Rio Galeo.  What has changed since their last version of TNCA is that Latin VFR has released Caracas and that there is many more airports in Caribbean. Aruba is 220 nm from Caracas and in a 500 nm radius from Santo Domingo, San Juan or Princess Juliana...

FS9

Okay FSX people, you can leave now. It's FS9's turn.

D'Andre here. Now unlike Dom, I am actually a fan of the recent previous Caribbean airports from TropicalSim. Heck, I bought them all! This is one of the teams who have continued to strive and achieve higher quality and details in each project. Another thing I respect here is the fact they are expanding outside of the airport boundaries and into the surrounding areas.

I agree with Dom in the opinion that the project would have been a lot nicer if the entire island was covered. However, I am very pleased with the size of the area they did cover.

Here we get a much better look and feel than the previous version. The colors and textures look much better and the enhanced surrounding environment compliments the scenery very well.

 Here it is quite obvious where the improvements were made on the air-side of the terminal.

 Updated ground textures made a HUGE difference. Well done here.

 If you compare to the previous FS9 version the difference is night and day. Was the terminal expanded?

 Here we get a look at the firehouse and logistics area much better enhanced. Newer fire trucks as well.

 I love the advertising boards.

Here you see the biggest enhancement of this project and that's the surrounding photo ground and covered autogen. This is a very big deal to me as I really hate flying into an airport void of scenery.

 The entrance area much more enhanced and colorful and lined with T'Sim's trademark palm trees.

 Very nicely done.

 Not the best car models lining the lot but you aren't really likely to just be hanging out here anyway.

 Love the custom trees!

 The environment is captured perfectly here. Very well done!

Here is a nice shot of the GA terminal. One thing I would have liked to see here is the Drzewiecki's static GA models. That would have been cool.

 Here we get a feel of the of the area covered which is larger than pictured.

 As the Sun goes down, the lights come up!

 Very well lit at night!

 At pitch black night, the area is very well lit.

This last shot is the very best! I love how the surrounding autogen gives a really good feeling of a surrounding populated area. Very nice lighting!

Now if this were 3 years ago, this would have been quite a remotely located scenery. But now there are so many AES enhanced airports near the area and I am sure an updated version of Curcao will come along too.

Here is a map of where you can fly among many other payware airports without AES (not listed)

This updated version of TNCA is the best ever and it really captures the look and feel of the actual place. TropicalSim has done a great job here. Now if you already purchased the previous version and wondering if it's worth paying for the upgrade, here is an incentive: For new purchasers of this scenery, it's only $23 bucks which is a VERY reasonable price point. If you already own the last version than your pricepoint is about $10 bucks. That's less than half! So do it! It's worth it.

Now whereas Tropical overall did a great job upgrading this scenery, one major thing this scenery lacks is the perimeter fencing. No fences at all. Total bummer here and the last version lacked this feature too... But honestly that's the only negative thing. Some nice enhancements would have been high quality GA statics and some moving vehicles. I would have liked to see the entire island covered but that's it. Not too much to improve here which really shows just how good this scenery is.

Great job T'Sim! The updated AES files have already been sent to Oliver and should be included in the next version of AES. No word if previous customers will need to pay additional credits.

You can get your copy now available on Simmarket! The P3D version is also available there.

As always, thanks for reading and happy simming!

I wonder where i'll be heading to next...

Cheers!

Dom & D'Andre 


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