FSXtension preview from Simulation Data

In its weekly newsletter, french designer FranceVFR has disclosed some advanced projects from its new brand Simulation Data. Besides TRUElandscape basically focused on french landscape, there is a new interesting project known as FSXtension.

Enigmatic project from Drzewiecki / Solved, see post feb, 25

The polish team, Drzewiecki Design, has just leaked yesterday two screenshots from one of their futur projects. If some of you know this place, please, indulge us ! and send us a comment. (updated)/

First screens of Victoria LEVT

After its Valencia airport, the spanish team Akesoft is now working on its next project, the Vitoria-Gasteiz airport and surroundings. A video and three screenshots are already showing the high definition photoreal ground, obtained from Gobierno Vasco administration. Akesoft's team claim they will use the highest definition ever seen in spanish sceneries.

link : http://akesoft.ake-airlines.es/

Fight over Corsica island

With its montains and coastline, Corsica island has becomen a first choice for visual flights in France and Mediterranean sea. Its not astonishing if three french designers are developing sceneries of the so-called "french beauty". France VFR, the forerunner, launched a Corsica VFR for FS9 with a LOD10 mesh in 2005. This scenery was completed by several personal works, like Tony Agramont's autogen.

Back in 2011, three different products are about to be available AT the same time. France Touristique Scenery completely overturned this market last year with its Corsica North, designed from a 50 cm/pixel resolution (maximum resolution offered by IGN french cartographer). Then came SceneryBox with a full range of departments sceneries. Now, the commercial fight is to reach its height with two imminent release : France VFR new generation Corsica and France Touristique scenery South. In the upper right of this post, a table shows and compare these products. I will just add two things : first, mind the weight of the files (the higher the quality, the heaviest the file) and second, we must ask ourself ; what is my style ? VFR or IFR ? Scenery beauty or detailed airports ?

nb : France Touristique Scenery will release Corsica South between mi-february and march. France VFR is preparing several regions. Rhone-alpes shall come first, folllowed by Corsica in spring.
SIRX project was also about to release photoreal "tiles" of Corsica but they dont communicate any more.

Serial scoops in Europe

Hush-Hush, In its pre-order page, Aerosoft confirms its wish to distribute FreeZ Zurich scenery as a "Mega airport Zurich". The german editor has also planned (for the end of the year) a Mega airport Lyon scenery (LFLL). This plate-form is the fourth french airport and has been renamed as Saint-Exupery airport in memory of the illustrious pilot and writer. Well done Aerosoft.

Bern-Belp LSZB, aviation paradise

Located at the foot of the Belpberg hill, the small Belp airport is a pure sample of aviation ; a concentrated of choppers, gliders, light aircrafts, turbines, and sometimes even some Boeing 737-400 or small Airbus are landing here. This is also a formidable base for swiss Alps trips. I usuall fly over Thunersee (heading south-east), then, Reichenbach airport, toward some cirques.
The flylogic airport (180 mb exe. file) is a model of meticulous work and 70 % of the buildings are covered with a high quality photoreal textures. The framerate is good and the scenery includes a traffic utiliy, seasonal textures, AES-Lite and a 18 page manual, english and french. According to this manual, the ILS 14 approach, near the hills, is thrilling. I tested the scenery with My Traffic and i got plenty of turboprops, Cessnas and two Dornier of the Belp base airline Flywork.
Useful ressources :
http://bernairnewslszb2000to2010.blogspot.com/ (wonderful pictures)

http://www.vacc.ch/
http://www.flylogicsoftware.com/

Fly Tampa Athens LGAV : new screenshot !

Live in FSX, Zakynthos Zante X

The Zante X scenery (260 megabytes. !) is not totally new stuff. But, bad luck, it was launched at the same time that Larnaca, Holidays airports, Mega Munich and Olso etc, during the october rush. The scene covers 25 square miles around Zante airport, Zakynthos city and the montain Skopos, improved by a special mesh. The main terminal is brought out by very interesting photo-real textures, giving a crazy in-depth optical illusion. Everything is smooth (full autogen is suggested) and the ground textures are very effective, especially the tires marks on the runway. Live In Fsx team, on its forum, is showing a first video of its next airport ground textures. Corfu is on the way, we will be patient.

Oh, one more thing. There are some birds (again !) in the sky, around Zante X. So, i am going to open a blog on virtual birds ornithology in FS world.

When Greece will wake up

On a cold and dark winter, fly to the sun ! Greece is the new playground since Aerosoft Santorini and Kos sceneries came out. Three projects will come alive soon (on green on the map below) : Heraklion and Corfu airports from greek designers Live In Fsx (who already made Corfu Island and Zante) and of course Athens LGAV from Fly Tampa, all for FSX and Athens LGAV probably also for FS9. This article would not be complete without mentioning the GAP team (Greek Airports project) who released Rhodes island and airport and have just finished freeware Chios airport V2 for FS9.

Incoming very soon...Cracovia.

The Drzewiecki design group will hit again with Krakow Balice 2011. The scenery is almost finished for FS 2004 and will be probably released next week. FSX version will follow later on.

Akesoft Valencia LEVC : quality freeware

You might have heard about this spanish Valencia freeware already. Here is a short focus. Distributed by Akesoft (http://www.ake-airlines.es/akesoft/LEVC-X/, the file is 65 mb heavy, is for FSX and FS 2004 and has an automated installation. On FSX, the folder can be transfer from Programfiles to your FSX scenery\addon scenery\ folder. We don't know much things about the team behind this project although it is supported by the spanish (IVAO) VA airlines Ake-Airlines.

The photo-like ground textures equals good paywares and the airport is fully depicted with its main terminal, gates, jetways and cargos aeras, plus the Air Nostrum hangar. Are still missing though, some industrial plateforms and surrounding houses but the project is maybe unfinished. I have just one regret about the FSX defaut roads traffic that has not been removed or adapted to the airport. A few textures are flikering but once again, this might be my own settings (i am using Nvidia inspector now). Akesoft works with 3DS MAX and Photoshop. This promising team already announced new projects : Vitoria LEVT, San Sebastian LESO (oh yeah! ), Reus LERS, Girona LEGE and Pamplona LEPP.

UK2000 Gatwick V3 : effective effects

The last product from UK 2000 is not just a good polishing and updating. Gary Summons knows he has to surpass FSX possibilities to stay amongst the best. Gatwick V3, a 80 mb file,changes completely the ground (adding 50 cm images), the buildings textures and a accurate AFD file. But it also adds stunning textures and lights effects. New runway lights are very effective under the londonian fog (i can even see them at 1/4 mile visibility) and the rain effect is totally home-made. Gary also found a trick to apply snow ground on the airport and reduced some blurry effects encontered with some configurations. Despite the size of this airport, the second largest in UK, the FPS are quite smooth ; around 12 frames/second wih a Airbus X at gate, with dusk and 50 % Ai traffics. (my computer is quadcore 2,33ghz+nvidia GTS250).










Left : custom-coded ground polygons
Right : new effective lightings on runway

Zoom on Polish airports vol.1

Screenshots were not lying. The three polish airports compiled by Drzewiecki designers almost reach perfection. All textures plates on buildings are made of high resolution, grounds, grass and runways rendition is neat and spotless. The airports, international class (Katowice, Gdansk and Jasionka RzesZow) are all completed by large photo-based textured areas and specific autogen. I was astonished by seasonal textures. At Katowice, one can literaly think that the snow invaded the runway but was sweeped away.

We, foreigners, do not know these places but they have been well chosen for limitless flights possibilities. Gdansk can be our departure point to Sweden, Germany and baltic countries. Katowice is not too far from Czech republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The real Jasionka airport has summer connections to Turkey.

The file has its weight (about .97 gigabit) but the installation is perfect and the framerate is very smooth. One regret : there is no charts nor explanations on approachs patterns.

Overall quality : 9/10 FPS: 9/10 Interest : 7,5/10 Overall package : 7/10

Bilbao : our test

Tropical Sim has patiently work six months on this project. On my opinion, they know that some of their older sceneries were - quality speaking - a bit questionable. So, they take the time to master new functions. A first surprise comes from the extensive photoreal ground texture all around the airport, in the manner of Latin VFR. The naked Bilbao (defaut scenery) is nice with its bay and surroundings montains but there, with the addition, it is marvelous. Compared with some sceneries, as Cancun, the buildings are much more worked with an effort on textures, every where. Finaly, the complex architecture of the terminal itself is expressing designers fresh ingenuity.

The airport is a challenge. Its main runway is about 2600 meters long, a 500 meters more longer than Toncontin Tegucigalpa for instance.

Overall quality : 8/10 FPS : 6/10 Interest : 9/10 Overall package : 7/10
A nice quality product. The scenery gives poor FPS performance on low end machines but Tropical Sim has established a list of removable .BGL files (you can give up a lot of trucks here and there). Overall packages : score 7 because of the price.
















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Tropical Sim really took care of the buildings