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Generally, I refrain from mentioning other products in my reviews, but I feel that some sort of an explanation of my past Aerosoft reviews may be warranted. Most recently, the F-16, VFR London and now Madeira have all received high praise from me. I believe quite firmly that this praise is warranted as, in my experience, Aerosoft has consistently produced some of the highest-quality and lowest-cost products for the simulator. Although I may grow repetitive in my lauding of their products, I want to reinforce the knowledge to you, my reader, that what I type is not influenced by any unworthy motives, but is an expression of appreciation from an enthusiastic and honest simmer like yourself.
A rather impressive 1.3GB's downloaded swiftly from the Aerosoft web site and installation was trouble-free. Upon checking the start menu, you're confronted by a manual and a PDF file of charts to Madeira and Porto Santo. The manual is, on the whole, done well enough but there are some uncharacteristic typos and other trivial grammatical errors. Other than the detailed charts, the included information is all fairly basic and I encourage you to check out some of Madeira's history on the internet for your own knowledge.
It seems to me that, for the most part, you can split Madeira into essentially two sections. The first, the south-western side, is primarily commercially and residentially developed. This area makes for really fascinating flying simply because there's so much to see. The second, and in my opinion best, side of the island is the that which nature dominates. We humans could hardly attempt to tame this rugged landscape, and I am so pleased that this area is largely undeveloped in real life. There is something captivating in Madeiras towering peaks of green and tan, and Aerosoft's superb 50CM/pixel texturing and incredibly detailed 9.5M mesh capture the area beautifully.
Madeira's housing, as portrayed in the simulator, seems to be composed of primarily Spanish-styled bungalows. These are all placed fairly well, but most of the objects are partially sunk into the sloping terrain. I suppose one can hardly blame Aerosoft for this, as, unless one were to build a flat area for each and every house (which would murder the performance) the only other choice is to have objects float above the ground. However, you'll still find houses where there are textures on the photoreal base, often grouped at the ends of driveways or cul-de-sacs. The quality of the housing is really outstanding, and it's possible to discern crumbling cement, small windows, and similar details.
Madeira also possesses ample quantities of leafy green foliage. In the simulator, you'll find the sort of tree which you might encounter in warm, moist, but not tropical environments. It's difficult to describe the trees, since, like most packages, they're fairly indistinct green masses, even when viewed up close. However, you'll find chubby, medium-height light-green trees on many of Madeira's slopes. At some of the resorts (visible on the base textures rather than modeled) you'll also see palm-type trees placed in and around the pool areas. As I'll discuss later, much of Madeira's texturing is fairly heavily shadowed at certain times of the day due to the rugged terrain, and the rather apparent green of the trees is completely incongruous with the dark surroundings. I suppose this is unavoidable, but nonetheless it affects the scenery's beauty.
Photoreal texturing is either done well or poorly, with almost no in-between. Frankly, in a scenery like this or VFR London, the base texturing doesn't just enhance the scenery, it transports it to another level entirely. Madeira X is equipped with some of the best-quality photoreal imaging that I've seen; It's possible to distinguish markings on the roads, tunnel entrances and exits, rocks which have tumbled into the seas from the steep cliffs, sand leading into the sea on the beach, a river dumping into the ocean, a waste pool high above the city (with actual water, not just texture), and absolutely stunning images of the cliffs. So, as you can see, the texturing with this package really is the star of Madeira and because of the extraordinary detail I was often prompted to fly without autogen so as to enjoy the scenery more. Quite honestly, it seemed to me that, in some areas, the autogen was more of a detriment to the scenery rather than an enhancement. Additionally, the scenery includes quality night-lighting, which is nice for curving midnight approaches to runway 5.
Madeira's beautiful geography leads to some really stunning plays of light upon the terrain and Aerosoft's superb mesh really plays a part in this, too. The more mountainous north-westerly section of the island is a hodge-podge of light and darkness. Hopefully I'm not sounding too fanciful, but the shadowing is rather dark, but he diversity of the terrain and lighting conditions really make for some stunning vistas.
Madeira, or Funchal Airport is famous for largely two reasons: the runway, which is partially built up on pillars over the ocean, and the wicked approach to runway 5 which has a curved set of guiding-in lights to keep aircraft from straying on to the house-strewn hills to the left. In real life, all of these guiding-in lights flash, but due to FSX limitations only the first one does in Madeira X. Additionally, the PAPI (approach indicator) on the right-hand side of the runway is missing. This is just my personal opinion, but the runway textures seem rather dull, blurry, and indistinct to me, making for a rather washed-out grey appearance. Lastly, all of the parking stands are marked as '01', although the tarmac textures will also tell you which gate you're at. Otherwise, Aerosoft has modeled the airport in outstanding detail. You can go inside the elevated walkway from the parking area to the airport and you'll even see elevator areas, complete with a person on the stairs. There are 3D light posts all over, a detailed balcony complete with shrubs, the swirl-pattern on the airport's walkway, and of course the pillars supporting the runway. The tarmac texturing is also very detailed, and you can even see drainage grids and places to ground aircraft. As far as details, there's a rather blocky static 737 with an airstair hooked up to it. There is something very exhilarating about flying in and out of this airport and I think that this isn't just because of it's unusual runway and approach, but just that it's perched on top of a cliff above the ocean--very neat indeed.
Any inhabitants of Madeira's smaller sister-island may be a bit put-off with me for giving the island of Porto Santo such a small mention, but I must admit that this island, as seen in the simulator, lacks much of the glory bestowed upon Madeira. In real life, this is a thriving tourist island which, among other things, boasts a nine-kilometer-long beach. However, there are some rather neat things which Aerosoft has done, such as extending the photoreal textures of the beach into the water a little so that the transition is much smoother. My favorite spot in this island is on a villa set alone on a cliff on the northern side of the island--it's just right on the edge of a precipice down which is the roaring ocean. However, around some of these cliffs, there are some blocky, yellow textures in the water which it seems Aerosoft didn't completely remove from the photoreal imagery.
Porto Santo airport was built in 1959 and was originally a civil airport. Now, however, there are a host of fascinating military taxiway patterns and parking areas used by the Portugese Air Force. It uses the default tarmac and runway textures, but has Aerosoft's usual great modeling in its terminal and other buildings.
On the whole, this scenery ran quite smoothly, even when using full autogen, weather, traffic, and default aircraft. At times this impaired the photoreal texture quality, however, so I usually reduced settings. Nevertheless, when flying I usually enjoyed around, if not above, 20FPS.
If I might try...
Flying in Madeira is very difficult to describe, but I wouldn't feel this to be a complete review without at least some attempt on my part. I suppose that this island has little appeal for any flyer of tubeliners or fighters, but to anyone who is even vaguely interested in GA, Madeira is just the most beautiful place to ooh, aah, and sight-see. There is something which I've always loved watching as I fly over this scenery, and that is simply the way the terrain moves beneath the aircraft. Every second of every flight brings stunning new vistas of natural beauty, and even on the sections of the island which one might consider 'dull' or rather a jumble of civilization, the artistry with which Madeira has been created for the simulator simply elevates this beyond a casual flying experience, but has a magical way of entrancing, ensnaring the pilot lucky enough to love such sceneries. Do I grow too unprofessional? Perhaps, but neither my words nor my images can really do justice to a package which must be experienced in motion.
Were it possible to send a handshake via the internet, I would be wringing Aerosoft's hand for the enjoyment which this package has afforded me. Madeira's motto, "Das ilhas, as mais belas e livres" (of all island, the most beautiful and free) is true for not only the island in the real world, but most definitely for its simulated counterpart; indeed, this beautiful locale completely overshadows that of the famous Lord Howe Island X, and is undoubtably the most stunning area I've ever flown over. It has all of the perks and glory bestowed upon the magnificent VFR London X, but puts those qualities to use in a rather less metropolitan environment. The beautiful geography and base texturing make this product the sort which renders a reviewer conscious of a growing sense of awe and, perhaps, a worry that he sounds too complimentary--I don't care! This package merits it a hundred times and again
Intel Q6600 at 2.4 GHz
Windows Vista Home Edition 64 bit
MSI P35 Neo II
ATI 4850 512MB
2GB Corsair Dominator
Microsoft Flight Simulator X, Acceleration
Kevin Glover
kevin.glover@hotmail.com
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