Stephen Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 Scenery Update : Faroes Islands XP by Faroe Islands XP v2.0 by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane Mid-January 2019 or three months ago I reviewed the Faroe Islands by Maps2XPlane. The review is here: Faroe Islands XP by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane This is an overwhelming scenery and it does not cheap at US$46. But the value here is a very tangible thing to understand. This scenery isn't about object count or perfection in reproduction of iconic buildings (The Vagar Airport itself though is a perfect replica). This is more in a visual scenic vista vein of the more of like the mountain scenery recreated by Frank Dainese & Fabio Bellini. The scenery covers and reproduces a vast area, and is far more than just a sampled area usually set out around the airport, and in this case the custom scenery covers the complete Faroe Islands that are set high between Iceland and the top of Scotland... in the middle of "god knows where". It is very highly debatable on if the Summer greener season is better than the whiteout Winter textures, just change the date to get the hot or cool seasonal feeling.... As noted in the release review, from the texture coverage and extreme detailed high quality mesh landscapes there is nothing here but vistas out here to "blow your mind" and some of the very best I have seen in X-Plane. In that factor there was absolutely nothing to criticise. The element that was wanting was the VFR feel, seeing areas that were the human impact was upon this pristine landscape. There was some settlements set out around the Islands, but mostly they comprised of just basic autogen custom housing... and distinctively the capital of Faroe in Tórshavn was not much of a capitol of anywhere. Faroe Islands v2.0 So in this updated version Maps2XPlane have focused directly on this VFR aspect... so did they succeed, then lets find out. Tórshavn was the critical point of the release scenery, if there is no VFR focus on the capitol city of the island then to a point does the scenery work? In my view it didn't. Now there is the aspect that Tórshavn does actually look like a capital city, not a big sprawling place, but still a large island settlement of which in real life is all it is. It is to note the way that Maps2XPlane have done their settlement layouts as they are using the regional autogen system built into X-Plane, and mostly replacing the default objects with their own designs... it works on several levels in great framerate (framerate is not really an issue here) but in coverage. It does have it's negatives in that it still has that autogen layout tree and branch sort of feel, but close up the detail is not to bad... Trees usually fill in the open gaps between autogen, but on windswept islands like the Faroes you don't get a lot of those, so the exposure is more noticeable here. The autogen detailing however is very good and highly detailed with local Faroe architecture, so that is a huge advance on the local feel. My main beef VFR wise with Tórshavn was the missing port... ... that aspect has now been resolved with full port facilities. These islands survive on their ports so the VFR view is important, and more of Tórshavn itself has also been added... The Tórshavn Marina and Undir Bryggjubakka has also been added and so has the (drum roll please) the lovely Tórshavn Cathedral... ... yes a church in X-Plane, never saw that one coming, and the detail of the Cathedral is very good to the original (above left)... so it is a start for more churches in X-Plane as a whole. There is still a big part of the port area missing with the "Tinganes" that is still not represented and which is the historic location of the Faroese landsstýri (government), and it is an important part of Tórshavn. The name means "Parliament Jetty" or "Parliament Point". I am going to note this as "a work in progress" as that is what it feels like, but it is important in the VFR aspect... in the background of Tinganes is an usual church... it is the Vesturkirkjan Church, and it is noted as "Beautiful and unique" on trip adviser.... There is another unique church on Toftir called Fríðriksgøta church that has been reproduced well. But the Sandavágur beautiful red-roofed Church is still missing... another WIP? Tórshavn's port is not the only wharf or port that has been added to v2.0. Dotted at every settlement there are now fishing or wharf facilities.... and there are plenty of them. The seawalls are excellent and highly realistic, but I am not crazy about the actual wharf surfaces? close up they are concrete slabs, but they all just look too clean and stand out falsely against the background, it is also highly noticeable from the air? overall they all again look more like a WIP. You miss the photo aspect of the ground detail here and certainly at the major Tórshavn's port complex. Shipping with Ferries and Cargo ships have been added to animate the waterways, also added in are fishing vessels and a lot of sailing boats. The shipping is absolutely excellent, with great detail and with perfect slow animation, that moves the shipping realistically around the scenery... I wanted the ferry to go to Tórshavn's port, but they don't go that close, otherwise brilliant. There feel's like there are too many sailing boats for an island this small, in areas it feels more like a regetta than a weekend sail, but they are otherwise well done. Various other added elements all help in fill in areas, Windmills are now more supplemental, also added are more warehouses, factory autogen... ... and a lot of manicured football fields (Soccer), nice little marinas and so on. EKVG - Vagar airport has not had any changes in v2.0, but in reality non were actually needed as it was very well presented in the first release... ... coming back here in the Carenado 340 was a great experience and highlighted again of why I really liked this scenery so much earlier. Because as a flying destination then Faroe is everything that a pilot requires with experiences and again like before the weather systems up here can make your flying quite dramatic as the weather can change on the twist of a moment... nice clean and clear one moment, to the sheer North Sea hell, with fog, heavy rain and those unpredictable winds that can make any approach as challenging as you will ever need. Strong ocean unpredictable sidewinds, cue nerves and great flying... not! Flying into Faroe requires danger wages... For the GA pilot (on that odd nice day) it is a visual feast of exploring and covering a large area of great custom vistas to die for... EKVG - Vagar delivers in every aspect. Summary This is an update for the original release of Faroe Islands XP by Maps2XPlane (Aerosoft hosted) at the start of 2019. The custom made scenery is focused on the visual scenic vista aspect, than the airport focus standard scenery. Reproduction of the vast area of the Faroe Islands is a master work of high quality scenery and the textures come in both Summer and Winter settings that are switchable via the date or season required. The original scenery covered the custom island textures and the EKVG - Vagar airport and both were excellent, the focus here in this v2.0 update is on the VFR aspect of the scenery that was found wanting. Ground objects are created via the built in X-Plane regional autogen system, it created great autogen networks, but not much else that was not really viable for VFR flying around the islands especially for the capital city of Tórshavn. This update brings updated more detailed regional autogen with both the local housing, apartment blocks and industral buildings, and also there are now the added custom buildings including the Tórshavn Cathedral, Vesturkirkjan Church and Fríðriksgøta church. Football grounds are also now in abundance with a few lighthouses, The main Tórshavn port is now also included as is most wharf or marinas though out the scenery. Animated shipping is also now included and very good it is, fishing boats and sailing yachts are also in abundance. The piers and harbours are also populated with custom objects like cranes, containers, moored boats and ships. But the port/wharf surfaces are generic and not very realistic, certainly from the air. In areas it still feels like it is a "Work in Progress" certainly around the central Tórshavn city with the missing the "Tinganes" Faroese parliament a major missing aspect along with the iconic Sandavágur red-roofed Church, but I feel another update should bring in the last few various elements finally into place. This is a huge scale scenery... but a very worthy one. This Faroe Island scenery is a very feel sort of scenery... mostly because of its appalling changeable weather that creates excellent skill based flying, the constant high quality vistas are also some of the very best in X-Plane and for that aspect alone this is excellent scenery... this is a must have scenery in many respects... certainly one of my absolute favorites. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! Faroe Islands XP by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Faroe Islands XP Price Is US$45.99 Features: Realistic recreation of the complete Faroe Islands with an area of about 1.400 km² High resolution terrain mesh with various texture sets for a seasonal representation Customized local terrain details, e.g. realistically sloped runway at the Vágar Airport Detailed rendition of the Vágar Airport and the eight helipads spread over the archipelago Faroese themed autogen, navigation obstacles and dynamic traffic on the islands Hundreds of custom objects with PBR materials, 3D vegetation, night lighting Requirements: X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum Download size: 1.3Gb Current and review version: 2.0 (April 5th 2019) Installation Download scenery file size is download 1.5gb and with the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as there are three install folders: Faroes4XPlane - Overlay (206.40mb) Faroes4XPlane - Airport (2.01gb) Faroes4XPlane - Terrain (311.4 gb) Total scenery Install is : 2.35gb The developers note you need to adjust the X-Plane "scenery_packs.INI" so the loading order is correct... and that the Faroes4XPlane - Terrain Mesh is below the Airport and overlay files. Documents Manual_Faroe_Islands_XP11_de-en_web (In German and English) ______________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 10th April 2019 Copyright©2019 : X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.30 Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin : US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - SAAB 340 by Carenado (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$39.95 - Cessna 172SP Skyhawk XP11 by Carenado (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$32.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjarke Posted May 17, 2020 Report Share Posted May 17, 2020 Looks very interesting, and I'll say that the few drawbacks You mention really should be corrected (<Tinganes, small fishing boats rather than sailing yachts, photoreal surfaces on harbours), as then this is perfect. And it is really one of the best destinations, as it is a beautiful flight whether you come from Norway, Denmark or England, and probably one of the most challenging approaches as well, not the least considering that you have to bring (and land with....) a fuel-reserve of 1.5 hours, as Vagar can very suddenly be wrapped in dense Atlantic fog. (A DC10 has never landed there, unless it absolutely had to....;- ) I will get this at some point, no doubt.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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