Development

When did you start developing for flight simulators and what got you interested in it?

I first started developing for flight simulators back when I used FS2004, where I created the largest collection of Aer Lingus repaints available for that simulator. A year ago I got into X-Plane and whilst the simulator itself is very good, I found the airports disappointing, as many of them have no airport scenery at all, just runways and taxiways.

Tell us about the nature of your designs and what you do?

Being unhappy with the default airport scenery, I looked into ways on how to improve them. It was whilst looking that I heard the term "Lego-Brick" airports. By using objects from different libraries you can create some truly wonderful airports, all without any 3D design work. There are many object libraries and the great thing about them is that they are growing all the time. After seeing Freddy De Pues amazing scenery I thought it was time to learn.

What do you consider your best or most popular work?

Personally, I would say that EIDW Dublin Airport has been my best creation. It's my home airport and my last edition of Dublin took me several months to complete. To date, it has over 3000 objects! Little details such as trees placed in dark patches around the airport so as to create the illusion of natural shadows (not normally noticed) make a big difference to the appearance of the airport.

What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of a project?

Airports which contain complex terminals with curved buildings are a real challenge to design, as I create in Overlay Editor rather then WED. This makes it quite hard to do a good curve on a building.

What have been your favorite projects?

My favorite airports are Dublin, Shannon and a few GA airfields. I also like my Middle Eastern airports. There aren't many X-Plane simmers there, but there are lots of long haul flights in the Emirates.

What software packages and tools do you use to develop?

I use Overlay Editor only along with Open Scenery 2 and RUScenery.

Who would you consider to be your mentors or inspiration in the development world if you have any?

Freddy, Wycliffe, amongst others have really helped me in getting to know the in's and out's of X-Plane scenery design, and I am most grateful to them. Having my work reviewed by Aerosoft is also great, as it means that I am at a stage where my work is noticed by the 'big boys'.

For anybody reading who is thinking of trying their hand at scenery design, what advice would you give them?

WED seems really complicated. Use Overlay Editor and start off creating small default airfields. See what works best for you, practice in turn, use simple tricks like adding trees around the airport. Most scenery releases I have seen to date don't do that, maybe creators think it's time consuming, but I always add them and place them in shaded areas so they look more natural.

Also don't be afraid to expand outside of the airport. For example, in my EIDW Dublin City scenery, I have created Dublin Port and its harbors around the coastline, which are all in the flight path to the airport. It's all fun and adds a great deal to the sim experience.

Do you develop payware/freeware or both and why?

I don't mind paying for quality airports at all as some of them are of a very high quality, but recently an airport, that was being offered as a commercial product, used default X-Plane objects and OpenSceneryX and it really irritated me! What should have have happened, in my opinion, is that the airport should have been advertised as donation-ware; where if people liked it, they could make a small donation. Many of us do this because we love giving to the community; it's how we get our enjoyment, and when people take advantage of that for cheap financial gain, well...

The Team

How many people work with you or your team?

It's just me really, but occasionally my nephew (who's ten years old) assists his Uncle Rene by fetching a cold Guinness from the fridge; a very important job!

Real Life

Do you have any experience in real aviation?

None at all really, other then working in a travel agency and flying a lot as a passenger.

What started your interest in aviation?

When I was two years old we lived in the flight path of Dublin Airport and it was from this early age that my love for all things aviation related started.

Any memorable flights in real life?

Once I got to sit in the jump seat of one of the last Aer Lingus 747-100 flights from Dublin-Shannon to New York, but only on the Dublin Shannon leg...super cool!

You got to sit in the jump-seat of a 747-100? That is cool! What do you remember most about it?

Mainly how small the cockpit was. Aer Lingus, our national carrier, used to have to make a stop at Shannon Airport, either on the outbound or inbound flight from/to Dublin. My friend and I planned a weekend spotting in Shannon Airport as the Concorde was due in that weekend for training flights. We were around 15 years of age at the time, sitting in the 747, when a call came out over the P.A. asking to make ourselves known to the cabin crew. A girl got on the intercom to the cockpit and I remember quite clearly, she said 'No Captain, not kids, teenagers...'

It turned out that my friend's mother rang Aer Lingus and asked if we could see the cockpit as we were both aviation crazy. In the end I was asked if I wanted to sit in the jump seat for the flight into Shannon. HELL YES!!! By the way, Shannon Airport was a designated emergency landing location for the Space Shuttle at that time, the only one outside of the U.S.

Would you like to share what you do in real life?

I'm currently unemployed, but I love cycling. Most of my cycle tours somehow take me around Dublin Airport; now there's a surprise!

What other hobbies or things do you do for enjoyment?

Apart from cycling which I've mentioned, I love photography and I would class myself as a professional Guinness drinker!

Have you ever considered doing flight simulator development full-time?

I would love to!

Future

How do you choose your next new design or project?

Future projects are normally done by requests or by simply seeing a cool airport on Airliners.net, which makes me think...hmmm, I could make that scenery.

If you could add one feature to X-Plane or any of its associated programs, what would it be and why?

I think it would be great if the creators of X-Plane released a set of files for terminal buildings with basic layouts but with blank texture files, so as to allow people to modify and create brand new airport terminals with new textures. It's slightly annoying when every airport is either sandy brown or grey. I think it would really help and add a lot of diversity.

What simulators do you design for now and what ones do you plan to develop for in the future?

Just X-Plane.

If you could visit any airport in the world, what would it be and why?

St. Martin definitely! I would love to 'fence surf' there!

In what ways do you see development changing in the future?

I'd like to see more people trying their hand at developing scenery. There is always a 'war of words' between Microsoft FS and X-Plane FS. Which is the better sim, etc... Most people say MSFS due to the fact that at least the default airports have objects, but what a lot of people don't realise, is that you can make some really incredible airports just by using the default objects in X-Plane.

Your Thoughts

What can sites like FlightSim.Com do to support you and the hobby better?

Post work, share, and support developers. Without developers, simulators stay static.

How do you feel about the future of flight simulation in general?

I think flight simming will always remain popular as a hobby as it's a good way for people, who plan to become pilots, to practice, or for retired pilots who can no longer fly the real thing, to get enjoyment.

I know a few hardcore FPS gamers who have switched from shoot 'em ups to flight simming as they wanted something that required more skill and brain use!

What are some of the most important things a site or community can do to help the developers?

Creating free tools and objects for placing in sceneries really helps, but what helps the most, is remembering that most users don't have high-end computers. Creating sceneries or aircraft that require a lot of RAM, high end video cards, etc. puts a lot of people off.

What would be ideal, is if we could have an end product that looks good on an average machine, but looks simply amazing on a high end machine.

What would you like people to know about you or your team and work?

Each time you download an add-on, be it scenery or an aircraft, leave a comment. It doesn't matter if the comment is good or bad, what's important, is that it encourages the developer to improve on their design. Spending five to ten hours on a scenery and have it downloaded 400 times without a comment is most disheartening and makes you wonder if it's worth doing all the work. Flight simulation is a community where everybody should participate and commenting is a part of that.

Rene Bruun
Download Rene Bruun's Scenery