FlightSim.Com Reviews: LAGO Scenery Singapore

LAGO Scenery Singapore

by Chiew Yee Kin (4 May 1998)

ingapore is a former colonial port of the British Empire that has transformed into a busy metropolis that boasts of the world's best airport and busiest sea port. Lago's Scenery Singapore captures the essence of Singapore into one beautiful expansion pack. OK, let's not waste any more time and get the ball rolling.

System Requirements

The system requirements must be met and followed religiously otherwise you won't enjoy the scenery to the maximum. If you can't take, for example, the Hong Kong scenery found in FS98, then it means getting a new computer or some major upgarding. LAGO recommends a P-200 but make sure to upgrade to something above the recommended as the release of Windows 98 would enable Multi Monitor setup which means you can have one monitor showing the instruments and the other showing the front view. A 3D card is a absolute must in the expansion pack if you want to experience "REAL" 3D Flight.

Installation/Documentation

Installation is very simple with the autorun feature included to install Scenery Singapore. Just read the manual if something goes wrong or if you have FS5.1 or FSFW95. The manual is very thin and straight to the point with achoice of English, German or Italian. There are also approach plates, NDB, VOR and ILS references near the end of the book which would be discussed later.

So What Is In There?

Four airports/airbases, namely Changi International, Paya Lebar (Old Singapore International), Seletar Airport (for private and chartered flights) and Tengah Airbase (military). Over 400 buildings and objects are available scattered around the island mostly in the East, the City, Woodlands and Johore Bahru. These objects are very detailed, even the billboards advertising Tobacco products like Salem and Winston can be seen from far.

Some of the buildings here have a shocking resembilance to their real life counterparts. The terrain engine used here is the REALTERRAIN technology which Lago is using in its other products like "Tokyo" and "Italy98" which means that satellite imagery is "pasted" with terrain with accurate heights. Since Singapore is a relatively "flat" island with the highest peak rising only 165 metres above sea level, only limited parts of the island are raised therefore not using the engine to its max. Check out the included Venezia Demo Scenery if you want to see some mountains and valleys. By the way if your computer can keep up, try flying low and fast (like in a Bell)--the terrain moves by you with a real sense of speed.

Pros

There are several flights to choose from, like a city tour or carrier landing. There is a carrier located at the eastern edge of the island so check it out.

Cons/Wish lists

Well this product has some cons or misses in it but it is still a good effort by the publishers considering they live some 10000 miles away from Singapore. The VOR/ILS/NDB/ATIS references are still unchanged from the original FS98 with no ILS for the smaller airports. There is no Sembawang runway or any helo pads modeled here.

Notes

The CD also includes patches for FS98, FSFW95 and other Lago products, converters for FS98 and FSFW95, their Webpage along with Internet Explorer (so that you can see it offline) and Venezia Demo Scenery.

Chiew Yee Kin
yeekin@pacific.net.sg

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