OLBA2002
By Ryan Barclay (15 September 2003)
 Shot showing main terminal and taxiways |
orn during the fall of
1999, Lebor is a flight simulator scenery design group that develops
scenery add-ons for the country of Lebanon. For those who wonder
where their name comes from, "Lebor" is a fix at the northeast border
of the country. Lebor's previous scenery releases have been quite
impressive, with a high level of detail and precision even down to
the smallest things such as wheels on the aircraft terminal tunnel.
I aim to give you an un-biased review with opinions of their latest
release, OLBA2002 for FS2002. OLBA2002 for FS2002 only is a detailed
scenery representing Beirut International Airport. The scenery uses
the latest graphic and scenery technology in FS2002 and it features a
custom hand painted layout with custom 3D objects, textures, an AFCAD
file and a Beirut city coastline and landclass.
THE INSTALLATION
The package comes with a great installation interface for those non-technical simmers. The set-up is pretty minimal, just let the installer do the work. The only time you do need intervention, is when adding the scenery to the FS2002 library, which I'll explain in detail below.
 Professional installer - gives good first impressions |
 Adding the scenery to the database |
Adding the scenery to FS2002 can be quite daunting for a first timer, but is a very simple process for a dedicated simmer (right, above).
Firstly, you need to click on 'Add Area' and browse the dialogue box to point to the Lebor_OLBA2k2 folder, which for most standard installs is located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Games\FS2002\SCENEDB\Lebor_OLBA2k2. Then you will need to set the title of the scenery area name to Lebor_OLBA2k2 or whatever you wish. After this is all done, click OK, and then OK again on the FS2002 library and the files and information will be added to the FS2002 scenery library.
 Private terminal at Beirut International |
THE REVIEW
I decided that I would choose a light aircraft to start off with - they are usually best to actually take in all of the scenery, while jets are usually above the clouds before you can even see where you are. I chose the FS2002 standard Beechcraft dual propeller aircraft for a test aircraft.After waiting several minutes for FS2002 to compile everything, and load the scenery into memory, I was presented with a highly detailed landscape with lots of eye candy overall. I looked to my left; I could see jet liners at the terminal with terminal tunnels fixed on them. Looked to my right and could see various things going on. When I switched to a spot plane view, I could see what looked like a car park in the distance - so I could not resist and taxied the aircraft to it. The details on the cars, were reasonable too, but could have been improved slightly - perhaps including more 3D effects and not looking like singular blocks. The car park also included a neat triangular advertising pole, which was quite impressive as the writing was clearly visible.
 Jets at the terminal |
 View of the light terminal and the car park from the control tower |
As I made my way towards the runway, I decided to take a quick look at the detail of the terminals... I loved the terminal tunnels - the wheels and all of the other extra details that standard scenery does not have really made it rise above the rest. Lebor have proven that they care about the most smallest of details - they have built their name on quality not quantity; and I like it.
 Highly detailed terminal tunnel |
 Great ground texture |
 Taxiway markers - texture could have been improved |
 The runway with the included add-on concrete texture |
The runway seems longer than most standard runways, and really looks the part. The add-on concrete texture included with the package creates a more realistic concrete runway than the standard FS2002 texture - I highly recommend you install this.
 A lone VOR |
 The airport |
It's all of the little things that count; Lebor have included this VOR (above left) to add that extra level of realism to the scenery package.
As I lifted off, I could finally see the airport as a whole and really appreciated the level of detail Lebor have worked so hard to achieve (above right).
PROS
If you are looking for a highly detailed airport for FS2002, this is the airport for you. There is lots of detail and eye candy for you to enjoy - Lebor really makes it as real as possible.
CONS
I think there could have been more aircraft floating about nearby; in the terminals, hangars, etc. There could also have been more service vehicles such as push-backs, fuel tankers, food wagons and ground patrol.
Additional Screen Shots
Ryan Barclay
Download
the OLBA2002 scenery package
ryan.barclay@flyawaysimulation.com
