Airport 2002 Volume 1

By Andrew Herd (20 December 2002)

ilco is well known as a publisher of Flight Simulator add-ons, their Airport 2000 series having received many accolades. Despite the title, Airport 2000 was originally released as an FS98 add-on, with seven detailed airports and seven new planes to adventure in. After the rapturous reception of Volume 1, Wilco followed up with Volume 2, which ran on FS98 and FS2000; and Volume 3, for FS2000/FS2002. A user who bought the lot ended up with 21 new airports, 19 new planes and countless adventures, but one characteristic of the series was that it was definitely on the processor-hungry side. This was hardly unexpected, given the level of complexity of the airports, but nonetheless, it left some users disappointed when they found they had trouble running the later sceneries on systems which appeared to meet Wilco's minimum specification. Now, at long last, Wilco Publishing has released Airport 2002 Volume 1 - its first add-on developed from the ground up for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.

The title features seven completely new airport models, enhanced by a system Wilco calls FSNAT (New Animation Technology) - which the publisher claims is capable of delivering more complicated animations, more static and dynamic objects, more sounds, and higher resolution than any other add-on today without impacting severely on PC performance. The question is whether the new package can deliver on the hype without falling prey to the same problems that its predecessors did. Right now it is available for 34.95 Euro or US$ 29.95 and can be ordered from Wilco's web site or good FS retail outlets.

The first surprise is Wilco's choice of airports, which is:

France : Paris Charles de Gaulle
United Kingdom : London Heathrow
Germany : Munich International
USA : Atlanta Hartsfield
USA : Chicago O'Hare
USA : Los Angeles International
USA : Dallas Fort-Worth International

Now while Charles de Gaulle, Hartsfield and LAX could be found in Airport 2000 Volume 1, Heathrow and Chicago O'Hare were in Volume 2, and Munich and Dallas Fort Worth haven't appeared in a Wilco package before. So Airport 2002 Volume 1 should not be regarded as a straight redevelopment of Airport 2000 Volume 1 at any level - and anyone who plans to use this package with any of Wilco's older sceneries needs to be aware of the potential for conflict. Fortunately, some far sighted person at the publisher has decreed that the airports in all their packages are installed in such a way that they can be deactivated singly, which makes it easy enough to resolve any clashes.

The box states that Wilco's suggested minimum configuration is a 700 MHz Pentium with 128MB RAM, 600 Mb hard disk space and a 64 Mb 3D card (which sounds like a misprint); but their recommended config is a 1.4 Ghz Pentium, with 256MB RAM - quite a step up. Having tried the package, I can confirm that it is possible to run it on a 700 MHz PC, but frame rates are not good. Running it at any speed on a machine with that sort of spec means pulling all the sliders right back, using simple aircraft and forgoing clouds, which totally defeats the object of the exercise. According to Michael Renous at Wilco, the video on their web site was taken on a 933 MHz PC and they were '...developing on a 1.4 MHz/GeforceII as a middle machine and had fps of 15-20 on each airport.'

I did most of the testing on a 1.7 Ghz PIV with 512 Mb RAM and a 128 Mb nVidia GeForce 4 Ti 200 and the only time I saw 15 fps was on the runways. Loading up the POSKY Adria CRJ at any of the airports left me staring at 5 fps within the central areas and I had the identical experience using Wilco's 737. Acting on advice from the publisher, I reduced my scenery settings to 'dense' which dragged frame rates up to a just acceptable 10.5 fps - there is a page of tips on how to increase frame rates in the manual. By comparison, the same machine gives 18 fps at Aerosoft's Frankfurt and 15 at Gary Summons' Gatwick using the 737 in similar situations.

Judging from my mailbox, users are having their share of problems with A2002V1 - it appears that it won't run at all on some Win9x systems and there may also be video driver issues, so expect a patch. Wilco have gone so far as to advise people in the forums that the deletion of some BGLs helps to speed things up, but, and it is a big but, as long as you have beefy enough hardware and your OS can run the package, you don't need to resort to such desperate measures.

Wilco have bucked the trend set by other FS suppliers and A2002V1 is only available as a shrinkwrap. I was pleased to see it delivered in a slimline DVD type case containing a manual, a CD and an installation code. The paper manual contains the minimum advice you need to get going and although the install creates a program group, though for whatever reason it doesn't contain links to the manuals. After a short search, I discovered three pdfs written in five different languages hiding on the CD, covering the aircraft, the FMC and FSNAT programming, as well as a series of approach charts. Given that the installation process asks which language the user prefers, it would have been logical to copy the appropriate set of manuals to the hard disk and link them to the program group. Maybe in the patch? Setup also adds some new actions to the options menu which relate to FSNAT operation.

The package includes a Boeing 737-700, which I found extremely interesting; Michael Renous told me that it was included '...to show the potential of this 3D technology and introduce all its potential. We will integrate all this and far more in the A320 Pilot in Command.' This piece of programming wizardry lets you fly the 737 directly from the VC, which is radically different from the 'look but don't touch' 3D panels we have come to accept in other FS2002 planes.

The 737 comes in the tasteful green of that well-known carrier, Global Star, and while the visual model won't be winning any prizes it is more than acceptable in the context of the rest of package. The plane is fully animated, as you would expect, but the noteworthy thing about it is that it doesn't have a 2D panel. At all. If you swap to 2D panel view, all you get is a banner in your forward view telling you there isn't one, so, incredible though it may seem, all the panel functions have to be accessed via the virtual cockpit - including the Flight Managment Computer. A minute of tinkering was enough to confirm that it really is possible to reset the altimeter, alter the heading, and fool about with the FMC, so the active 3D cockpit is no hype. Respect to the developer.

Wilco have chosen to simulate a 700 series 737 with a glass cockpit, rather than one of the earlier steam versions. The panel shows all the strengths and weaknesses of FS2002 VCs; on the one hand it is a milestone in that it is the first 3D cockpit I have seen which allows direct manipulation of the avionics, on the other it lacks the sharpness and clarity of a photoreal 2D panel.

Call me old fashioned, but I have only seen one VC that looks as good as a 2D panel and that is on FSD's Super Cub, which has the advantage of a relatively limited instrument set. For all its innovation, the 737 panel inevitably inherits the faults I have learned to associate with 3D cockpits, including somewhat blocky graphics and exaggerated lighting effects linked to aircraft orientation, though as Michael Renous points out, the latter problem can be eliminated by switching on the panel lighting all the time.

I realise that none of these shortcomings can be laid at Wilco's door, since they are inherent limitations of FS2002. Nevertheless, I am very impressed with the concept, which saves a lot of frames through not not having to load two versions of the same panel, but it it does raise a new problem of having to alter the view to reach different switch sets. As you can see from the screen shot here, a considerable amount of twisting around and holding down ctrl-shift-enter type combinations is required to operate the mode control panel, or to check out the central displays, for example.

Wilco have eased matters by providing a set of pre-selected views of the VC: Ctrl+2 takes you to the right hand seat: Ctrl+3 to the FMC; Ctrl+4 to the throttles; and so on. The developer has clearly thought a good deal about the problem of selecting views and there is provision to save your own choices by moving to a position and hitting Ctrl-Alt and a numeric pad key - and the manual goes as far as to suggest using eDimensional's trackIR hardware, which involves sticking a dot in the center of your forehead before you fire up Flight Simulator. Mmmm...

Before I finish with the plane, I should point out that it has a full virtual cabin and passenger views and all, which is great considering that at least one recent single plane commercial release lacks such refinements and yet is priced at only very slightly less than the complete A2002V1 package. There are all kinds of neat touches in the 737 and if you switch on the no smoking signs in the cockpit, they come on in the cabin too. Can't recall seeing that before.

According to the packaging, Wilco's new animation technology makes the airports '...come to life before your eyes like never before.' The engine behind this is FSNAT - a scripting language which not only allows the animation of everything from the humblest air stair to the most complicated baggage train, but which also makes it possible to play back events automatically. Scripts may be compiled into the scenery BGLs and triggered up to 20 miles away from the airport - theoretically without any significant effect on the frame rate. One gotcha is that FSNAT has to be enabled on the FS menu before anything happens; you won't see any animations unless your scenery complexity setting is at normal or better and as the installation currently stands, there isn't much of it to see yet.

Sample scripts are included on the CD, as is a compiler and given that the supplied manual lists all the commands available, it should be possible for users to write and compile their own scripts. FSNAT allows animations to be accompanied by directional 3D sound effects, with the result that it should be possible to hear gates moving, doors closing, engines starting, and so forth. FSNAT only kicks in after the first aircraft lands, which means that you have to wait a while for anything to happen, but Wilco promise that some extra scripts will soon be posted, together with a tutorial explaining how to get FSNAT going and added to the sceneries. Their word is good, as a script has already appeared for KLAX; just don't expect to have to zig-zag around support vehicles when you are taxiing around a new installation, that's all.

High points of the package include the cranes at Charles de Gaulle, which are beautifully modelled, even if they don't actually do anything; I spent ages watching them to see if they would turn around, but either the drivers were on their lunchbreak or I wasn't patient enough. The textures are absolutely outstanding, even if you get up close and a great deal of effort has clearly gone into sustaining such high quality. In fact the defining feature of the package is detail - the buildings are modelled in such obsessive detail and it is difficult not to believe that Wilco have chosen the airports as much for their architectural potential as their importance to aviation. I can assure you that the screen shots don't really do justice to the package; quite simply this is the best-looking set of major airports I have ever seen.

Low points include the fact that the taxilines don't always line up with each other, at least one undercarriageless static plane, carpet-chewingly slow texture loading times in one or two places and the fact that the localiser on at least one of the runways at KLAX has been implemented back to front. But, but, but, if you can run A2002V1, the overall effect is v-e-r-y impressive.

The sceneries include night lighting, even on the support vehicles, which are complete with reversing and warning lights and there are seasonal textures where appropriate. If you use the package with JustFlight's UK VFR scenery, Heathrow blends into the background as if it belonged there, but be prepared for some very long loading times as your PC churns through the textures from these two very demanding packages.

I enjoyed using the airports - there is nothing quite like finishing your approach at the end of a long flight (OK, I confess, I used slew to set the planes up 20 miles out), putting the wheels down on the tread slicks, and then taxiing in along immaculately lit pavement to a floodlit stand. Wilco's Visual Docking Guidance System is something else and works immaculately; if you have managed to get the hang of taxiing in FS2002 (try doing it with FS set to half speed), you will love those mothers, but I didn't find any gates that would dock with me, whichever aircraft I used.

Many years ago a friend of mine worked up in northern British Columbia, where he found himself on such good terms with the native people that he ended up learning a good deal about their medicine. Being a surgeon, he thought it was only fair to return the favor and when one of his new friends needed an operation, he obtained consent for some of the others to watch and all in all it was a great success. Months later, when Dave had forgotten all about it, two hunters went up to their trap line in the Yukon and only one came back. There was a good deal of talk in town about it, and when Dave asked about what happened, the survivor told him, 'He got real bad belly ache and we knew he was gonna die, so I did for him what I saw you do that day.' The hunter took another sip of his drink and then he looked Dave right in the eye and said, 'But it didn't work.' He stared at the floor as he remembered and then added under his breath, 'Too many guts.'

Too many guts is the problem that many users have been having with A2002V1. Yep, the sceneries are completely breathtaking, but the cranes alone at Paris must use up hundreds of polygons and I decline to imagine how many are involved in that fantastic roofscape at Munich. Sticking all that real estate on screen at the same time as drawing a 3D panel and calculating all the physics involved poses a tough test for any system. This is the Achilles' heel of complex sceneries; it doesn't matter which way you cut it, FS2002 is a processor hog even in its raw state and when you add on airports as realistic as these the combination poses a serious challenge.

You will need to use better than a 2.5 Ghz Pentium to get acceptable frame rates and to be able to show this package at its best - which is exactly what the box art fires you up to do. A reader with a 2.8 Ghz PIV tells me that he averages 15 fps in the central areas, so anything much slower is going to struggle, as numerous other users have confirmed. Yes, I know that 2.5 Gig systems can be had at bargain basement prices right now, but not everyone has the cash to spare to change their PC just like that.

I have mixed feelings about Airport 2002 Volume 1. On the one hand, there is no doubt that this is a landmark scenery; Wilco have designed a no-holds barred, state-of-the-art set of airports which are visually as impressive as it is possible to get in FS2002. On the other, you need a very fast machine to use them, which means that at the time of writing, few people are going to be able to run it an acceptable speed. The question is: why have Wilco designed such a demanding scenery? It is almost as if they are waiting for processor speeds to play catch up, but with the next version of Flight Simulator only a year or so away, this may prove to be something of a gamble.

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