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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Scansim Copenhagen : First Look

FS9/FSX/P3D. Three reasons to publish this First Look on Scansim Copenhagen EKCH. First, we never did, probably afraid by the screenshots. Second, the editor is offering a 50 % discount until August 31th. Third ? We might wait for a long time FSDG's own airport. Now, let's take a true - and fair - look at these shots. After all, the developer, Claus, has never ceased to improve its work and - hush hush - has sold more than 2 000 copies already. A good sign.



File Size : 734 MB
Version tested : FSX V3,1.
Installation : Very easy. Just add the folder on FS Library (FSX).
Manual : 18 pages in English (no chart).
Compatibility : AES V.2.10 and later, Denmark Scenery, Denmark Map X, DanVFR.
Not DX10 compatible.


Framerate : Very smooth : 18 - 26 FPS on final 22R).
(tested aboard a PMDG NGX on final approach with UTX 2 Ai traffic)
(processor I7 / 3,4 GHZ / 6 MB / Windows 7 64 bits / all scenery sliders at max, road traffic at 15 %).




 

 
That was my very first look of the scenery and i must admit that the ground layer (grass) and runways are very nicely done, neat. Besides, the forest surroundings (here FTX Global) really enhanced the Platform.
 
 

 
The main tower is a relic from the 1930's (a new one has been built in 2008). Despite the low resolution of textures, we have a clear idea of its architecture.  
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 
Scansim Copenhagen is a patchwork of textures, combining different level of resolutions.  
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

 
This SAS cargo building is just great. I really zoomed these textures without finding any weakness. Very good resolution. But this is frustrating to see that the developer has mixed various texture resolutions all around the airport. See below, a comparison with a hotel and a hangar.
 

 
This Hilton hotel is quite good too (flags are moving).
 
 
 
 
 
And in the opposite, this hangar, just right to the SAS building, has a very poor design. This is something that might be easily update in a next version.
 
 
 

 
 

 
These old hangars could be improved too. But this might have been a choice from the developer to keep  them this way. They are not used by liners and you will barely notice then from your final approach.
 
 

 
Another view of the airport, surrounded by Orbx FTXG.
 
 

 
 

 
I am giving another good point to the lighting system at gates. This is really approaching what Aerosoft has started to develop for its Zurich airport. Every light pole is shining on 360 degres.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
These light effects have been included with the version 3.0 and 3.1. Very good combination with FTXG night lights.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

The bad :

* An odd mix of low and high resolution textures.

* The product includes a library of flyable AI aircrafts. But frankly, this is not the kind of bonus i am looking for.


The good :

* Very good rendition of the airport at dusk and night.

* Good compatibility with Orbx FTX Global.

* Special price until August 31th (11,28 euros - approximately US 15 dollars).

* Very good framerate.

 
 
 
 
Airdailyx, August 10th 2013 / DM /
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

16 comments:

Merlin said...

"The product includes a library of flyable AI aircrafts. But frankly, this is not the kind of bonus i am looking for." I don't get it... Why this is bad?

Unknown said...

Pic 24 cool :-) approach runway 12 - but i wish that Claus could have done a little bit more regarding the surroundings, i grew up with that runway and not a single house or road can i recognize in that area, but i'm also local, maybe that's why LOL - let's see what FT can come up with in the future with their scenery of the airport ;-)

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg / SCANSIM said...

The reason to varius the resolution of the texture is simple, and absolutely not odd...
Its a question about Draw Calls and Framerates. The whole Scenery contains only 8 textures ( 1024 x 1024 )with seasonal variations. If You add just 1-2 textres more to increase the grapichs quality, the result will be a drop in Framerates about 10-25%. Belive Me I tried and consulted Adrian Woods ( Aces ) about this isue related to FSX. Later I plan to release a Deluxe version of Copenhagen Airport, but it will on cost of Framerates. When developing this Scenery, I choosed to compromise, so customers with average PC's also could enjoy Copenhagen Airport. This is one of the reasons that the Scenery still is selling good in third year after first release...
/The Developer

Ben Cap said...

I guess its best to wait for the FSDG/FlyTampa version.

Rolf Harris said...

Only EIGHT 1024 textures? That's insane. What is it, 1997?

AaronGraham said...

Clearly you don't understand scenery design Ralph.

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg/SCANSIM Flightsimulation said...

Dear Rolf, You might find scenery with better graphics, but this will be at the cost of framerates - The EKCH Copenhagen Airport is designed to be usable in conjunction with great scenery's like Denmark Scenery rendering a detailed Copenhagen city center right next to the airport, and two other major Airports EKRK Roskilde and EKVL Vaerloese less than 30 km from Copenhagen Airport. Now the Scenery was released in 2010 when CPU's wasn't as fast as today, and a larger rendering of textures ( Draw Cals ) had an effecient impact on Framerates. Smooth rendering in FSX and Prepar3D is not depended of the numbers of polygons as in FS9, but the numbers of Draw Cals when rendering the Scenery and AI Aircrafts ect. ect. As far as I know its 2013 now, I dont know about You? But I and most of My customers prefere a smooth rendering, not a slideshow.
Sincerely Regards
Claus/Developer and owner SCANSIM.

Airbus319ZA said...

Good frame rates yes.
The product does as it says it will, and there is no better version of this airport as of this moment.

But draw calls better and frame rates better for what reason?

I can understand for those that have a low end system, but I can run any addon airport with high quality textures and still get some 20 to 30 frames (some times more)

Yes it is a good scenery for this special price, but what will Scansim do when FSDG release their own version of the airport, or when Aerosoft does?

Will we see such a great improvement from Scansim?

Because my self and many others that can handle a high quality texture version of CPH Airport will not use this one if FSDG release their version of the airport.

Not meant to be evil or anything, but it is a fact.

ScanSim EKCH won't be doing so great when the FSDG version is released as it stands now.

To me if you add some nice textures and make a version for the high end systems?

Sure I will stick with your version, or at least give it a chance.


A fair critic IMHO.
But great job none the less.
The user knows what they pay for.

Ben Cap said...

Respectfully, take a look in the texture folder of other scenery designers. Some use hundreds of textures & yet still run VERY SMOOTH.

You need better ground textures & shadowing on your buildings. It is 2013 & without the above, you'll struggle to sell copies with the Flytampa version on the horizon.

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg/Developer/Owner Scansim Flightsimulation said...

"Quote" Later this year I plan to release a Deluxe update version of Copenhagen Airport X & P3D v3.2 ), with better textures ( 2048 x 2048 in higher resolutions on Terminals ) and reflective and transperante windows on all Terminals. The 3D model Artwork is allready done. I will also improve the other textures and models. However first I will release the "Copenhagen Airport VFR Expansion X & P3D", covering all Copenhagen City in high resolution Airphoto's ( 200cm/pixel ), & most Sjælland / Zealand ( 475cm/pixel ) witn Seasonal variation ( custom winter & night textures and autogen forrest / vegetation ). This Scenery will offcause be DX10 compatible, and is expexted released ultimo ocktober this year. After this I will update the Copenhagen Airport to v.3.2 with animated trains, buildings in surrounding areas like Dragoer City ect. ect., and new flightplans for the AI Aircrafts, so they only appears on relevant destinations. I hope to release this update before Christmas, and price as well as update price will be unchanged...
Claus/Developer

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg/Developer/Owner Scansim Flightsimulation said...

"Quote" But draw calls better and frame rates better for what reason? "Quote"
I allready explained this hundreds of times. No matter if You have an Ivy Bridgde or Hasswell CPU 3.5 GhZ, if a Scenery is not developed such as the textures is used optimally, You will get poor Framerates. The day the CPU's is about 10 GhZ and VGA Card 5 Ghz, You can create Mega Airport in really high texture resolutions and with less limitation on numbers of textures. With todays best hardware, You still has to limit the numbers of textures and use them on as many objects as possible. This is a fact, just ask Adrian Woods ( Former MS ACES Team ). As far as I concern, this isue is ended now. This is a review, and if You want to know about Scenery Design, read on FSOnline.dk/...
I look forward to competition from other Developers, but Im years ahead of them, so Im not worried...
Sincerely Regards Claus

ALSG X-plane said...

Don't worry Claus, Aaron doesnt know anything about development as well, hes products fails badly. Even though you only used 8 1k textures, its great to see that you are able to make it that crisp, a scenery with only 8 1k textures usually resulted in a blurry mess. But it is great to have HD textures for the scenery, exclusive for users who are able to run those textures.

Looking forward to more of your products! :)

Claus/Developer/Owner SCANSIM said...

Ground textures is in max resolution 0.6 m/pixel. You just set settings as You like. Shaddows You can turn on if You like... Screens on produckt Page is not on max settings, but recommended settings...

FSDG/FlyTampa? Ive seen 4 screens in 3 years from FSDG and 1 Screen from FlyTampa. I believe on this Scenery when I see it released...

Brian Simpson said...

How many previews did FT release before Dubia? ZERO.

Believe it. It's coming.

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg / SCANSIM Flightsimulation said...

Hi :-)
I think Aaron ment that it was Rolf Harris who don't understand scenery design, because Aaron adress He's reply "Ralph", not to Me ;-), And by the way, I dont criticize other Developers in public, and I also dont know Aaron's work, but I will gladly try it out to support Aaron's work...

When You use only 8 textures to a complete Mega Airport about 60.000 polygons, the CPU and VGA render a lot of the Airport with the same few textures. This leves place for render better settings, more AI Traffich and High end Aircraft Addons, without suffer FPS drops. The The textures offcause are with MipMaps as well, but sharppend a little to prevent to much blurries on distance, Usually Blurred rendering is causes by the facts that many FS Usersrun FSX with unlimited Frames. There is an very important reason to "Lock" Your Framerates about 20 - 30 FPS depending on Your "Hardware". In the FSX SP2 and Prepare3D, the CPU first will calculate the 3D polygon's and faces ( Like Buildings, Autogens, Aircrafts and living world ect. ect. and, and then secondly the ground textures. If You set Your FPS on "Unlimmited", this will result in very good endering of all 3D Objects, but "Blurred" Ground textures. This is the reason its a bad idea to run the Simulator with unlimmited FPS. The best solution is to "Lock" the FPS, so the CPU calculate both 3D and Ground textures in equally quality.

Now I now that oday the VGA Card's take a larger share of the rendering than just few years ago when I Developed Copenhagen Airport. The CPU's is also much faster and reliable today ( Third generation QuadCore's / Intel ). I started Develope EKCH with a DualCore ;-)

This leves place for Me to update with better Graphichs in future, and be sure I will, and Im glad to tell You, that You will see both an updated Copenhagen Airport soon, as well as an Copenhagen VFR Photo Scenery with "High Quality Ortho Photo's"...

Sincerely Regards Claus / Developer / Owner, SCANSIM Flightsimulation

Claus Vendelboe Holmberg / Developer / Owner, SCANSIM Flightsimulationendelboe / Developer / Owner, SCANSIM Flightsimulation said...

Hi :-)

I think Aaron ment that it was Rolf Harris who don't understand scenery design, because Aaron adress He's reply "Ralph", not to Me ;-).

And by the way, I dont criticize other Developers in public, and I also dont know Aaron's work, but I will gladly try it out to support Aaron's work...

When You use only 8 textures to createba complete Mega Airport about 60.000 polygons, the CPU and VGA Card render a lot of the Airport with the same few textures. This leves place for higher settings, more AI Traffic and "High end Aircraft Addons", without suffer FPS drops.

The The textures offcause are with MipMaps as well, but sharppend a little to prevent to much blurries on distance.

Usually Blurred rendering is caused by the facts that many FS Users runs FSX with "Unlimited Frames". There is a very god and important reason to "Lock" Your Framerates about 20 - 30 FPS, depending on Your "Hardware". In the FSX SP2 and Prepare3D, the CPU first will calculate the 3D polygon's and faces ( Like Buildings, Autogens, Aircrafts and living world ect. ect., and, then secondly the ground textures.

If You set Your FPS on "Unlimmited", this will result in very good rendering of all 3D Objects, but "Blurred" Ground textures. This is the reason its an bad idea to run the Simulator with unlimmited FPS. The best solution is to "Lock" the FPS, so the CPU calculate both 3D and Ground textures in equally quality.

Now I now that today the VGA Card's takes a larger share of the calculating than just few years ago when I Developed the Copenhagen Airport X. The CPU's is also much faster and reliable today ( Third generation QuadCore's / Intel ). I started Develope EKCH with a DualCore ;-)

This leves place for Me to update with better Graphichs in future, and be sure I will, and Im gladly to tell You, that You will see both an updated Copenhagen Airport soon, as well as an Copenhagen VFR Photo Scenery with "High Quality Ortho Photo's"...

Sincerely Regards Claus / Developer / Owner, SCANSIM Flightsimulation

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