Introduction

Aerosoft has once again put theirexpert skills into practise with the release of Geneva Professionalfor P3D V4. This may be one of the last P3D V4 products we see fromAerosoft as they have recently announced that they will be scalingback their production of P3D V4 sceneries and instead be focusing onMFS 2020 and P3D V5 in the near and distant future.

Despite this news, hopefully this latest installment can live up towhat we expect from Aerosoft products. Aerosoft have stated that theuse of a DynamicDisplayEngine would help improve the airport lighting,and we can expect to see some new unseen features as well.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with Geneva, it is the secondbusiest airport in Switzerland and is a very popular destination inthe winter season. Located close to the Alps, this airport serves as agreat hub for those wishing to hit the slopes during the colder partsof the year. The airport also has one of the longest runways in Europeat 12,795 feet. There is also a general aviation terminal located northof the airport and there are plenty of parking spots scattered allover the airport as well, so you will never be short of parking space.

Installation And Config Tools

As always with Aerosoft products the installation was quick andsimple. Just a click of a few buttons and the job was done. After theinstallation was complete I was prompted with the configurationapplication where I found, unusually, a number of additional featuresthat I would not normally see within Aerosoft products. One of thesewas the option to have SODE jetways enabled. There were also optionsfor enabling static aircraft, which again is a feature I do not thinkI have seen before with Aerosoft scenery.

Aprons, Taxiways And Signage

The taxiway system in use at Geneva is complicated, as unlike otherairports where you would expect to find all taxiways markedalphabetically, at Geneva only the taxiways leading off the runway aremarked like this. All other taxiways except the general aviation ramphave designations such as: Outer, Inner or Link. At first I found thissystem confusing, but after a while I found it made a lot of sense.

In regards to how Aerosoft have modelled this, I do believe this tobe accurate with correctly placed taxiway signage that is visible inboth a day and night environment. Furthermore, there was also a lot ofpictograms on the apron itself to guide you to the relevant gate. ThisI felt was highly realistic and made it easier to navigate within theapron area itself. As well as this, there was a myriad of road markingand stand markings all appropriately positioned across the ramparea. I would say that Aerosoft have gone above and beyond with theuse of ground markings as not only does it look stunning but it isalso very detailed as well.

When it came to the taxiways and apron textures, I was disappointedin how Aerosoft had decided to model this. For the ground movementareas, they looked brand new as if they had just been paved with theuse of repetitive concrete slab textures. Having some weatheringincluded in the textures would have been far better, so I wasdisappointed that this had not been done.

Terminal Buildings And Apron Area

The terminal buildings at Geneva have quite a unique layout, anddue to this, it made the apron area feel very cramped. I also felt theterminal buildings were modelled very well and were accurate to thereal airport. My only criticism being that it would have been nice tohave seen the interior of the terminals modelled. As well as the mainbuildings, the airport also included many other smaller details, suchas blast fences, backroom fuelling stations, etc.

I have to say this appears to be one of the most detailed airportssceneries that I have ever had the pleasure of covering and everythingappears to be placed accurately and looks fantastic thanks to PBR.

Night Lighting

I found Geneva to be rich with lighting across all areas. Therunway features both centerline and edge lighting, and all marked withthe appropriate colors as you would expect. However, due to the useof the DynamicDisplayEngine, I would say the lighting looks as thoughit was from X-Plane 11 (high praise indeed). The same can be said forthe taxiway lighting as well as the apron areas. I particularly likedhow the terminal areas were very well lit and the light intensity wasaccurate throughout. My only criticism was that I found the generalaviation area to be a bit too dark in places.

Surrounding Area

Unlike some other Aerosoft products, it seems the developers ofthis particular scenery have decided to concentrate solely on whatlies within the perimeter fence. Whilst this is an airport scenery, itwould have been nice to have seen a few additional objects of thecity, but unfortunately this was not to be the case.

SODE

For the very first time I have found an Aerosoft scenery productthat uses SODE jetways included as standard. The upshot of this, isthat I don't need to do a whole lot of editing in order to enable thisfeature. The jetways themselves work as they should, and can attach tothe aircraft without any problems. They are also transparent, so ifyou have GSX level 2 installed, you can see the passengers board anddisembark.

Performance

I experienced no issues when it came to the performance ofGeneva. No stutters or FPS drop were observed, and everything ranextremely smoothly.

Seasonal Textures

Aerosoft's Geneva Airport also includes seasonal textures which aretriggered by the in-game date. This works well in most areas, exceptfor the runway, which I think is lacking. Personally, I think thesummer textures show the airport at its best.

Conclusion

To sum up, I found Geneva Professional by Aerosoft to be one of themost highly accurate and well modelled airports I have had thepleasure of reviewing of late. It also offers very smooth frames andis fun to fly into. I do wish that Aerosoft had included interiors ofsome of the buildings, but even without that, I still feel that thisis a scenery worthy of your time!

System Requirements:

• Lockheed Martin Prepar3D V4.4
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 (64 bit)
• CPU: Quad Core CPU with 3.5 GHz
• Memory: 16 GB DDR4 RAM, 2666 MHz
• Graphics card: 4 GB VRAM, DirectX 11
• Free disk space: 1.5 GB, SSD highly recommended

Alex Dickinson

Purchase Aerosoft - Geneva Professional for Prepar3D