SimFlyers Atlanta
By Michael Reskovac (26 September 2001)
ell
hello there again fellow flight simmers. It's been a long
hiatus since my last review mainly because of work related issues but
I'm happy to be back and rejoining the world of aviation
make-believe. Numerous new products have been released and there are
some that are soon to be released including FS2002. After a long
wait, I'm anxious to see what the next few years are going to bring
to us in the way of realism.When I was asked to do this review on SimFlyers new Atlanta scenery, I was a little nervous. I never had any luck with scenery I downloaded and I'm in no way a Cheez Whiz when it comes to installation of scenery. My last futile attempt resulting in my flattening my entire FS scenery database. This really angered the beast within me. I had to reinstall everything but at that point I decided to take up golf instead of scenery downloads. So, after a long night of pondering, I decided to regain my manhood and give it a go.
I figured that the scenery I was about to download would take a whole day or fry my hard drive in the process. Not at all. After reading the disclaimers on this scenery, I find out it's a mere 3 mb. At this point I was happy and reassured myself that I wouldn't screw anything up. After the download was complete, it was time for the moment of truth.
The scenery installs itself. What? I don't have to do anything? I love this stuff. The only thing you have to do is to type in the product key for the full install and that's it. The product key is what you purchase from SimFlyers. After you pay for it, this number is placed in the little window they provide when you're ready to install it and away it goes. Just a small word here though. Downloading the scenery is possible without the product key. However, all runways will be missing and there are billboards everywhere. If for some reason your thing is to turn a major international airport into a grass strip then have at it. For your sake I hope your J3 Cub fits nicely under the 777. For the rest of us highly detailed oriented realistic aviation junkies out there, purchase the product key. It works so much better.
As for the install process, a word of warning. About halfway through
the install process, it will look as if your computer just took a
vacation. This is normal. Your computer will take its time in
installing this scenery and the very long pause is normal. So before
you decide to whip out your three iron and take a good swing at your
hard drive's temple, relax, sit down and have a Twinkie. In a matter
of minutes, everything will be back to normal and you're ready to have
some fun, I promise.
After I was transported to the end of 9L at Atlanta I was very impressed. There are planes everywhere. I'm not talking Meigs Field planes here; I'm talking about heavy metal. For the most part, most of the gates are filled. There are planes taxiing everywhere. Delta Airlines is the dominating airline here along with Air Tran and the rest of the majors. It was nice to see a nice representation of realism as I taxied around a bit and tried to find a gate. I'm pretty familiar with Atlanta because I visit there quite a bit from my day job as an airline pilot. The only issue I had was the density of this airport. Yes, there are a lot of planes running around but not as many as you would normally find at a major airport. I wish there would have been a few more aircraft on the taxiways waiting to depart to add to that realism just a tad more.
I was able, though, to tell right away that the general layout was dead on and all the buildings were present. There are vehicles everywhere. There are things moving around like they have no idea where they are going just like the real airport. Imagine that. If you don't use your cockpit views very carefully around the ramp area here, you are certain to ruin some poor guy or gal's day by running over their catering truck. Night lighting is very accurate. Taxiway signs are lighted as well as all taxiways and all markings are there for your liking. SimFlyers recommends that you move all your scenery sliders to the max (most dense) or you might miss out on what they have provided you for your viewing enjoyment. They are right too. Frame rates are generally good, so by doing this you shouldn't have a problem.
The JetDock system that SimFlyers has come up with is top notch. I'm
sure that we have all tried to park a 747 into a gate that was
adjusted to a MD-80's door height. It's a long way down and I'll be
the first to tell you that wheelchairs don't fly very well. However,
SimFlyers has fixed all that. First, depending on what type of plane
you're flying, the jetway will move to the proper height by itself.
How does it do that, Mike? Well, read on...
Let's say that you are just a tad monstrous today and decide to take a 747-400 around for a quick trans-continental. When it's time to park the beast at the gate, there are certain items that you must do to ensure that your gate will be there. All these steps require only one thing. Your audio panel. Certain frequencies that are placed in Com1 and the same frequency that is placed in Nav 2 will determine what type of plane you're flying. Lost yet? So am I. For instance, for the sake of argument we will use the 747. When you're ready to park you will click in 127.47 into Comm. 1. (Notice the 7.47, neat huh?) The frequency of 108.00 is placed into Nav. 2. That's it. Your gate moves to the right height and you're all set.
When you're ready for pushback, change the frequency to the default pushback freq and everything disappears. Almost every type of airliner has its own freq and the heights are pretty much always right on. It's also important to know that not all of the available downloads are the same size and shape. There might be a little difference noticeable. I have tons of aircraft in my library and tried almost all of them (except the space shuttle) and they all fit rather well. All these frequencies are found in the documents folder in the download. I'm no exception to flying first and reading last. I tried that with this and nothing worked. After reading how to work the jetways, I was in hog heaven. So please read the documents first. You will save yourself the urge to whip out that three iron again.
Nothing is more aggravating in a pilot's career then to show up at
your gate after a long 5-day and not have anybody there to park you
or service the airplane. SimFlyers has come up with what they call
Service Armada. What is that you ask? Well, for starters it is
nothing more then having the ability to bring service vehicles to
your aircraft while waiting to be boarded. Everything is here,
including the catering truck that adjusts to your aircraft's height,
the belt loaders and luggage carts. Even the fueler is downstairs
waiting patiently for your fuel load. You can actually get fuel from
the fuel truck, which is a very nice addition. By far this is a step
above what we have had to deal with in the past and I like it.
However, there is one thing that bugged me a bit. For starters when
you place the appropriate frequencies in your audio panel, everything
magically appears without warning. The same for when you're ready for
a push. Everything just disappears. For that I think some movement
of the service vehicles would certainly have added to the realism of
this scenery.
In conclusion, I was very pleased with this scenery. The install process was a snap, the layout was accurate and the new Service Armada is certainly a cut above the rest. I would recommend this product to anyone that visits Atlanta pretty often or needs a new terminal to get fuel before you head over the pond to London. It really is visually pleasing to see everything going on around you. But anyway, here is the low down.
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