Evaluating Different Sceneries And Mesh
By Terblanche Jordaan (22 November 2002)
his is not a exactly
review - but I thought it well to compare what is available for mesh
scenery of EDDF (Frankfurt) and EHAM (Amsterdam) and give my humble
opinion of which one is the best.
I've taken LOWI (Innsbruck) as the example because of the high
mountains surrounding this wonderful village in Austria. The display
properties were set to max in everything.
 Figure 1: Mesh Default |
 Figure 2: Gaia Mesh |
 Figure 3: Mesh KGHHD |
 Figure 4: TerraMesh by LAGO |
Where To Find
The default you get from Microsoft FS2002.The GAIA mesh is exclusively produced by: Fsfreeware Group and Raimondo Taburet and you could find them on http://www.fsfreeware.com/pages/mesh_index.html and it will cost you $5.99 and the file (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) is 20 Mb.
LAGO's TerraMesh is fantastic but the files are huge (and by huge I mean BIG--34 Mb for Western Austria only). It will cost you 5 Euro and you could find it on http://www.lagoonline.com/ENG/prodotti/pdt.asp?id=100009
Last but not least is the mesh by Josiah Haut on his site that he calls KGHHD. You could find it on http://www.sim-outhouse.com/~kghhd/ and let me tell you - this guy did a fantastic job! The whole of Europe (from Norway to the UK, from Portugal to Hungary and everything in between) are covered by his mesh and it is FREE! The whole file is 40 Mb and with that you get it all.
Of the four I will give LAGO credit for the best mesh - but it is big and slows down your computer considerably when you fly those wonderful mountains. I will go for KGHHD if I am you ...
Next Up Is EHAM (Amsterdam)
I used to live and study in Amsterdam for more than two years. I often took the train out to Schiphol and wandered around on an airport that looks more like a shopping mall than anything else. It is truly one of the most attractive and well equipped airports in the world.
 Figure 5: EHAM default |
 Figure 6: EHAM Eurowings |
 Figure 7: EHAM by LAGO |
 Figure 8: EHAM by NL2002 v2 |
Special mention to the guys who did NL2000. They made the whole of the Netherlands as freeware and it is beautiful to fly from one small town to another. Their web site will have all the information to download the scenery plus advice if you only want Schiphol. You could find them at http://www.nl2000.tmfweb.nl/ Personally I think that Aerosoft's product Eurowings must be the biggest disappointment of 2002 or maybe the anticipation was just too much. This is not a review on their product but I think although the aircraft are nice, the panels a mere okay and the scenery a regret, I will not trade any my existing scenery for anything from their CD. It's hard to believe they are the same people who gave us German Airports 1, 2 and 3.
And Finally EDDF (Frankfurt)
 Figure 9: EDDF default |
 Figure 10: EDDF from German Airports 2 |
 Figure 11: EDDF by SimFlyers |
My computer:
|
Well - that's my two cents worth of drops in the pot underneath my FS2002 bed.
Have fun!
Terblanche Jordaan
t.blanche@iafrica.com
