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  1. NEWS! - KDEN Denver is updated to v2.1 by X-Codr Designs X-PlaneReviews "Best Scenery of the year" 2022 was X-Codr's sublime massive KDEN Denver International Airport. Here early into 2024 is a nice little update v2.1 to fine-tune DEN with a few more new features. Denver International Airport locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At 33,531 acres (52.4 sq mi; 135.7 km2), it is the largest airport in the Western Hemisphere by land area and the second largest on Earth, behind King Fahd International Airport. Runway 16R/34L, with a length of 16,000 feet (3.03 mi; 4.88 km), is the longest public use runway in North America and the seventh longest on Earth. The airport is 25 miles (40 km) driving distance northeast of Downtown Denver, 19 miles (31 km) farther than the former Stapleton International Airport, the facility DEN replaced. In both 2021 and 2022, DEN was the third busiest airport in the world as well as the third busiest airport in the United States by passenger traffic; DEN has been among the top 20 busiest airports in the world every year since 2000. KDEN v2.1 First change or new features are that the service vehicles are now branded to the airline, services to Denver Airport (Swissaport). They also have new custom made sounds as well. Entrance elements are also updated. Some gates didn't work correctly with the SAM plugin, but are now fixed... and a few other fixes and improvements were done around DEN. Notable for the v2.1 update is to also update the X-Codr Library to v1.8, and the Living Scenery Technology to v1.11, besides the KDEN scenery package update v2.1... ✓ High Quality Rendition of KDEN - Denver International Airport       o Detailed, realistic terminals, accurate as of mid-2023.       o Realistic terminal interiors with numerous POIs (such as hanging display aircraft).       o Lively terminal interiors with animated escalators, and thousands of animated sitting, and walking people, whose density varies with time. All of which are visible from the aircraft.       o Windows on buildings with interiors loose opacity at night, mimicking the optics of real glass, for gorgeous night views.       o Realistic, high resolution, hand-crafted textures complete with PBR normal maps and realistic, accurate wear.       o Accurate, highly detailed buildings through the airport, including the new Southwest hangar. ✓ Realistic, natural ground textures       o Tile-free pavement textures with textures detailed down to the pebble       o Realistic normal maps give pavement depth       o Accurate, detailed markings, with realistic reflections       o Hand aligned concrete lines where possible, for natural transitions to newer, brighter pavement areas       o Realistic, hand painted grunge, with unmatched up close detail, that is cohesive with the rest of the scenery. ✓ Lively scenery through use of our Living Scenery Technology plugin for animations, and Stairport Sceneries SAM for jetway systems       o Thousands of walking animated people, with minimal performance impact       o Cars traverse the airport roads realistically, vs spawning in the middle of a road.       o Accurate, realistic speeds for people and cars throughout the airport.       o Animated electronic display boards on Concourse B display local time and temperature.       o AC fan blade speeds vary with the local temperature.       o Realistic, ultra detailed jetways through use of SAM       o All major parking spaces have excellent SAM marshallers to guide you in ✓ Maximum performance       o Every model is meticulously optimized for the best possible performance.       o Localized LODs reduce rendering load by over 80% on average, relative to traditional LODs       o Texture reuse other technical techniques improve VRAM efficiency.       o Shadows are disabled on objects that don’t benefit, for big performance gains. ✓ Full X-Plane 12 support       o Realistic weather effects       o Optimized native aircraft services.       o Use of the excellent native 3d vegetation The v2.1 update is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore... the price, for all this, only a brilliant US$29.95 _______________________________ Yes! KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v2.1 by X-Codr Designs is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD Price is US$29.95 Features This scenery is a ultra detailed recreation of Denver International Airport. Some of its features include: Ultra detailed rendition of Denver International Airport Winter and wet rainy versions are included as well Highly detailed custom buildings Most parts of all concourses have detailed custom interiors Detailed yet performance friendly models Normal maps for great bump mapping and glass reflections Ultra detailed ground textures 1 pixel per 6 inch orthophotos equivalent to ZL20 Orthophotos have been cleaned of duplicate flat textures under 3D models (such as traffic and bridges) Extreme detail for pavement, while still maintaining minimal repetition Highly detailed normal maps for impressive specular reflections X-Codr Designs SoundXP Plugin (Windows 10 ONLY) Ambient airport sounds will be played based on your location in the airport - a first in X-Plane Listen to chatter, announcements and other sounds when inside the terminal, trucks rumbling by and beeping when near busy ramp areas, and the drone of traffic speeding by when on the landside of the airport Dynamic living airport Watch heavies, regional commuters and other air traffic bring the airport to life with superb WT3 routes by Brian "Cpt. K-man" Navy (Bird Stryke Designs) Animated jetways using Autogate by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Animated car traffic using Ground Traffic by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Native ground services will service your aircraft upon request Highly detailed custom mesh using Ortho4XP Detailed under and overpasses Sloped runways and taxiways, and ditches Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 7.5 GB Current version: 2.1 January 22nd 2024 ____________________  NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 1st February 2024 Copyright©2024 : X-Plane Reviews 
  2. Scenery Review: Grand Canyon West - 1G4 by X-Codr Designs By Dennis Powell Introduction Striking geological formations and bold colors await visitors at one of America’s most iconic National Parks. The Grand Canyon, a marvel millions of years in the making, scarcely requires an introduction. Since its establishment as a National Park in 1919, this awe-inspiring canyon has captivated people, drawing attention even before the arrival of the earliest European explorers in the New World. Today, it holds deep cultural significance for at least eleven Native American tribes, with connections to the canyon tracing back to times before recorded history. Today, Grand Canyon National Park, with its multitude of attractions, draws millions of visitors annually. Nestled at the northwest corner of Arizona, the Grand Canyon West Airport is just a short flight from Las Vegas, Nevada. Owned by the Hualapai Tribe, this airport is perched almost at the canyon's edge, offering spectacular views of the vast chasm and the Colorado River, which continues to carve out the canyon to this day. In X-Codr Design’s latest offering, the experience extends far beyond just the airport. The package also includes a nearby visitor centre, complete with a skywalk balcony overlooking the canyon rim, a bustling tourist town, a trailer park, and other notable attractions scattered throughout the area. The highlight is undoubtedly the terrain mesh, which brings the canyon's unique geography to vivid life. Ortho photos enhance the natural colors, and an added X-Codr Designs library enriches the scenery with detailed plant life and more. This package offers an expansive exploration experience, bringing the Grand Canyon itself to life with extraordinary detail. Installation Installation of 1G4, Grand Canyon West, is a straightforward three-part process. The main scenery package for X-Plane 12 occupies 524 MB, while the terrain mesh and the scenery library are considerably larger, at 3.62 GB and 1.32 GB, respectively. Fortunately, the package includes an installation guide to assist with transferring all three files into your custom scenery folder. The great news is that no additional software, such as Scenery Animation Manager, is required. Everything necessary to fully enjoy this airport is contained within the initial purchase. One notable aspect during installation is the extended loading time when you first launch X-Plane after installing this scenery, primarily due to the substantial size of the terrain mesh. In my experience, it initially seemed as though the simulator had frozen. However, after this initial phase, X-Plane should adapt to the new scenery data and resume opening as usual. Documentation Turning to the documentation, you are provided with a comprehensive PDF. This document offers a brief introduction to the airport, alongside detailed installation instructions. These guidelines are designed to assist you in seamlessly integrating the airport into your custom scenery folder, ensuring that all necessary files are correctly placed. The PDF also includes steps for installing alternative versions of the airport, specifically those without vegetation. I found the instructions to be exceptionally clear and straightforward, presenting no difficulties during the process. Exploration Walk Through Thanks to the terrain mesh, miles of the Grand Canyon itself are open for exploration. In my view, the mesh significantly enhances the canyon's appearance compared to the default scenery found in X-Plane. The entire scenery package employs orthos, with X-Codr Designs meticulously eliminating the time-of-day-dependent shadows often found in other photographic sceneries. This attention to detail effectively preserves the immersive experience and is greatly appreciated. Navigating along the Colorado River at the canyon's base is a reliable way to avoid getting lost while exploring this iconic National Park. At the westernmost point near the airport lies Guano Point, home to the remnants of a mining operation that began extracting guano in 1930. The views from this old mine are spectacular, offering a 360-degree panorama of the canyon. Moving eastward towards the airport, you encounter the Eagle Point Visitor’s Centre and the renowned skywalk over the canyon. The main building features a limited interior visible through the windows. An outdoor theatre with a sculpted fabric roof and several Teepees and rudimentary buildings reflects the historical presence of Native American tribes. The visitor’s centre, with its detailed exterior, stands out as a highlight of this scenery. To the southeast of the airport is the Hualapai Ranch, a quaint tourist attraction resembling a Wild West town, complete with guest cabins and a barn with open-air stables. Nearer to the airport, a small trailer park adds intrigue, though its purpose remains unclear; possibly housing local workers or a worksite. Grand Canyon West’s main runway, a 5000-foot strip of well-maintained asphalt, is faithfully rendered. Notably, the runway's transparent texture, a holdover from X-Plane 11's requirements, means AI aircraft do not operate here, ensuring a solitary flying experience, with no chance of collisions. The airport itself focuses on helicopter tours, featuring numerous helipads accurately depicted in the scenery. The main airport and heliport are separated by a fence line with several gates for helicopter tour customers. This is the only area where the gates seem slightly overdone. Each structure within the package, especially the unique main terminal, is custom-built and modelled with impressive attention to detail. A notable feature in the parking area is a circular lot with varied textures, possibly reflecting an artistic element of the Hualapai Tribe, the airport's owners. Night Lighting I began exploring the night lighting just after sunset. During twilight, the off-airport lights posed a challenge to discern, but they grew increasingly pronounced as the darkness deepened. A prime example was the row of very bright lamps along the flight line from the FBO. In stark contrast, the lighting near the tourist town, situated just over a mile away, was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible unless one was in close proximity. Performance Impact My computer is somewhat of a 'Frankenstein' creation, assembled over the years by my son and me. It's powered by a somewhat dated CPU running at 3.5 GHz, a quad-core processor whose compatibility with X-Plane's core usage I'm not entirely sure of. We have 16 GB of RAM, and recently upgraded from an older AMD graphics card with 8 GB of VRAM to a newer Nvidia model boasting 12 GB of VRAM. To my pleasant surprise, this scenery package yielded frame rates in the mid to upper 30s, a significant improvement over my past experiences. Previously, with an older card and a different X-Codr Designs scenery package, my computer struggled to the point of being unusable. However, this package, despite its detailed terrain mesh and orthos, ran very smoothly. This leads me to believe that even moderately updated, or slightly older systems, should be able to run this package without any notable loss in performance. Conclusion Grand Canyon West Airport by X-Codr Designs offers an engaging and detailed experience of a quaint airport set against the backdrop of the Grand Canyon's awe-inspiring landscape. The airport, while not extensive in size, impresses with its meticulous details, and the added attractions enhance its appeal. It's a perfect destination for helicopter enthusiasts and the fixed-wing community alike, thanks to its proximity to Las Vegas. The effort X-Codr Designs has invested in the buildings and in achieving realistic runway textures is laudable, reflecting their commitment to authenticity. Although there are a few placement choices regarding the security gates along the fence line that might seem peculiar, this does little to detract from the overall excellence of the scenery. Additionally, the decision to use transparent textures for varied textures, more suited to X-Plane 11, is a minor point and doesn't diminish the experience for X-Plane 12 users. Overall, this scenery package stands out as a must-have, capturing the iconic essence and beauty of the Grand Canyon region in an exceptional way. Dennis Powell, Sunset Arts LTD. ________________________ Grand Canyon West - 1G4 by X-Codr Designs is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: Grand Canyon West - 1G4 Priced at US$14.99 Features: Detailed rendition of 1G4 – Grand Canyon West: All buildings feature ultra-high-resolution textures. All buildings feature advanced PBR normal maps for realistic reflections and bump mapping. All buildings are highly detailed, down to even door handles. Most buildings feature "lite" interiors to give windows more depth. Large scale realistic ground textures with high frequency tiled normal maps for detail. All models optimized for maximum performance. Living scenery: Integration with X-Plane 12 weather effects Ground equipment automatically serves your aircraft upon request. Local Landmarks Detailed rendition of the famous Grand Canyon Skywalk. Detailed rendition of Guano Point and the old tramway Detailed rendition of the Cabins at Grand Canyon West. Custom surroundings 30m mesh surrounding the airport covering roughly 40% of the Grand Canyon (+36-114/+35-114) ZL16 USGS NAIP Orthoimagery is used for both ortho tiles. Nearly all ugly shadows removed from Orthoimagery for a clean realistic view of the canyon. Forests procedurally placed from ortho show X-Plane 12 3d vegetation in the correct areas, and nowhere else. Alpilotx’s UHD Mesh V4 provides all other overlay elements (used with his permission). Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 (both versions included) Windows, Mac, or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 4.8 GB XP12: September 7th, 2022 XP11: 1.01 (February 7th, 2022) Review System Specifications Windows 10 Intel i5-6600K 16GB RAM RTX 2060 with 12GB VRAM __________________________________ Scenery Review by Dennis Powell 29th November 2023 Copyright©2023: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copying of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions).
  3. Scenery Update : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v2.0 by X-Codr Designs We all look at the extremely created MSFS (Microsoft Flight Simulator) scenery, and dream of the same detail for X-Plane. The fact is a bit of a misnomer, in that highly produced video's can hide the reality of the weaknesses of the product. A lot is very, very good, but it is also not the full story. In X-Plane that superlative quality and quality is available if you want it, surprisingly it is not the most expensive scenery on sale either. Only issue is, there isn't enough of it. But the point here is that the same level and quality can be done or achieved in the X-Plane Simulator, and yes it can match MSFS when it wants to. Two names come to mind. ShortFinal Designs and their magnificent San Francisco and Munich, both are currently updated to X-Plane 12. The Second is X-Codr and his first mega scenery in Denver... or KDEN, Denver International in Colorado, USA. Big here in Denver it is on another level again. DEN is by land area the largest airport United States, and second largest in the world. At over 16,000 feet long, runway 16R/34L is also the longest public runway in the United States, and seventh longest in the world. Big here has another dimension added to it, not to mention the extra taxi fuel required to get to the takeoff points, in fact on some routes, you can spend more time taxiing on the ground at KDEN, that being actually in the air. X-PlaneReviews covered the release of the KDEN mega scenery for X-Plane 11 here... Scenery Update : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v1.5 by X-Codr Designs On September 5th 2022 there was a version update for the DEN scenery, "Added link for the X-Plane 12 version", and that was about it. The update allowed you to use the scenery in X-Plane 12, but it was not actually a X-Plane 12 scenery, if that sort of makes sense. There were no X-Plane 12 features or details, it worked... and that was about it. X-Plane 12 KDEN v2.0 First of all is the install. Basically you have to totally rip the guts out of the earlier version and replace it with the new. And not just the actual scenery either, but all the plugins as well. There are three downloads... Main Scenery file (7.54 GB), KDEN Mesh (3.82 Gb) and the X-Codr Library (2.97 Gb), and all have to be downloaded to replace the original files, and they are all big download sizes to a total 14.33 Gb. Then there is another change to Living Scenery Technology (LST) as well, so that the correct plugin in v1.10 has to be installed for it all to work. The SAM3 Plugin is also required, but again the correct one in version v3.1.10. It is all slightly complicated, miss or not install a step and it won't all work correctly, get it right and lo and behold you get quite a sight... Your covering a very large area, and have a huge if massive object count as well. Does that affect your framerate... unfortunately the answer is yes, a lot. But there are options. The best is to reduce your "Rendering Resolution" from OFF (Full Resolution) to Ultra, oddly reducing the Texture Quality won't have any impact on the framerate, RR will, and gave me a far more working movement in the scenery. So there is a payoff in using the scenery. Notable are the hard areas between the custom (photo/ortho) base and the X-Plane default, it is a lot like that in the real world, but not as pronounced. The problem is not the custom textures provided by X-Codr, but the far older X-Plane default textures, overall it still works fine, but again this highlights the age of the ground textures in X-Plane. That said, all custom mesh is new and updated to current standards, no grass though, but it is a gigantic area to cover, and maybe a framerate killer to far. Denver International Airport IATA: DEN - ICAO: KDEN - FAA LID: DEN 07/25 - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 08/26 - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 16L/34R - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 16R/34L - 16,000ft (4,877m) Concrete 17L/35R -12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 17R/35L - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete Elevation : 5,431 ft / 1,655 m Not obvious at first, but all the Terminals and three separate huge concourses have all been remodeled, re-textured as well. And close up the buildings are all quite different (wear) in look and feel. "Grittier" is the word I would use, and not so "shiny, shiny" Remember that X-Codr's original KDEN was quite early in his career, brilliant actually for the time. But there has been a lot of developer progress in the intermediate years, certainly with his surface materials in the later work (stone and concrete here is all very realistic). That aspect certainly shows here, as you don't stand still in making the product more realistic with the better tools and skills you have. It's impressive to spend time on just looking at buildings and the detail, it is all quite impressive. The main arrival Elrey B. Jeppesen Terminal and it's unique sail roof is hard to get right. It can come across as modeled, but here the flowing fabric feel is now very evident, extremely well done. The first release of X-Codr's Denver was late November 2018, five years ago. Since then and partly displayed in the earlier scenery releases, was the terminal developments going on at DEN. There are two. First is the new inner section on the Concourse B (East) Gate B62-B71... all new and it looks like it, but the detail here is extremely realistic. Second is the extensive extension to the Southwest Concourse C (again on the eastern side) Gates C48-C71. Clever is the relationship between the original and new structures. Both have weather wear, but the new Concourse feels and looks more modern, so hard to get right, but very authentic... There is a lot of see through glass in the new Concourse as well, exceptional is the word again. Both the United and Frontier Hangars have been re-textured, again with that exceptional concrete feel, and come with more ground detail. All new at Denver is the Southwest Engineering facility, and now also depicted here in the KDEN scenery. It is situated in the far north section of the airport. The General Aviation area has also been remodeled and textured, with an excellent "Signature" facility centre (Terminal). Cargo is not a really big feature at Denver, the facility is big, but not huge by comparison. Again the area has had a lot of attention, remodeled and has far better "grittier" textures that are excellent up close. With the change to Living Scenery Technology (LST), and away from the very dated GroundTraffic plugin. This technology allows more flexibility and the introduction of new features. The Original KDEN had realistic interiors, but now you not only get a full internal interior, but an extreme fitout as well... certainly as good or even better than of the many MSFS scenery standards. I will repeat that point... every part of the INTERIOR! The arrival Terminal, all three Concourses, even the connecting bridges are all modeled internally here, the TOTAL area is totally explorable and accessible, the detail is totally overwhelming.... Mindblowing! The new Southwest C Concourse is simply well worth a few minutes of your time to explore, as is the new B Concourse, so masterful is the work, this is DEN in miniature, all of it... even the McDonalds. The above alone is enough to blow your mind... but we haven't finished yet? there is also the animations, walking people, flexing people, people reading their phones.... moving escalators, yes real operating moving escalators between floors... "you gotta be kidding me!" It's just all so damn awesome... even then the new Signature (General Aviation) reception is also expertly modeled internally. Control Tower Internals are also modeled... lovely glass! also is the lower control room modeled as well. A tip is that you can listen in at LiveATC.net which provides live air traffic control (ATC) broadcasts from air traffic control towers, and KDEN is on the list. But even the experience of all this external and internal detail, can be ruined by getting something else wrong, that is not the case here of course, but it is worth pointing out... and that is the mentioned glass. Getting glass wrong here would have made the interiors not work at all, it is getting the feel right, too clear and it looks artificial, too dense and you can't see the internal detail. But that aspect is covered well here, as all the glass is excellent, even perfect in it's "see-through" factor, but not hiding the interiors. Aircraft are visible as well from the internal perspective. SAM3 interaction works here as well, and on every gate. (Plugin required) Reasons are multiple. But here is the (real) Denver International update to X-Plane 12 with all the X-Plane features like wet surfaces and more importantly for this part of the world, snow and ice. Grunge was always brilliant here, but add in rain and pooled water, and it brings the excellent dirty elements to the surface... the realism is overwhelming. Colorado or Denver is famous for it's spectacular snow in's. X-Plane 12's winter seasons can now oblige in that factor as well. This KDEN Denver scenery by X-Codr Designs, does show the heights that can be obtained in quality and extreme features for the X-Plane Simulator... almost to being the standard bearer of what can be achieved with in the X-Plane 12 platform currently. Yes it can out perform MSFS, even then some more with exceptional talent and a minute attention to detail. ______________ Summary This is the X-Plane 12 update from X-Codr Designs of KDEN Denver International to version v2.0, in Colorado, USA. Originally released in late November 2018, now five years ago. This is a comprehensive update to X-Plane 12. Not just a quick transition to X-Plane 12. But a full modeling and texture overhaul, including new extension terminals on Concourses B and C, new Southwest Maintenance Facility, redone GA Signature Terminal, and total ground texture update. Added also are excellent animated active people, with moving escalators, and a full interactive coverage of all interior areas. Detail of such externally and internally is simply off the planet. Probably the best airport scenery example currently in the X-Plane Simulator Download is however quite large (total 14.33 Gb), and a change or update to the Living Scenery Technology (LST) plugin, and SAM3 has to be the current version, it is complex and requires time to get right, but the wait is worth the effort. Framerate can be hard as expected, so minimum a 8Gb+ Graphic capability is recommended, Adjustments to your graphic settings may also be required, but considering the extreme requirements here the scenery is however very usable in the Simulator. This is also a free update to anyone that has the current (X-Plane 11) to the X-Plane 12 version, another brilliant deal, with no upgrade cost. Really the X-Codr KDEN scenery should be labeled "Extreme", but for all the right reasons. In every area the scenery would score a perfect 10, a deserved award... certainly the current contender for the best airport scenery of 2023, and it's only September! Denver International HD will blow your mind! Certainly it can top anything Microsoft can throw at quality scenery, and all this for under US$30 bucks.... "Blows your mind man!" ______________ Yes! KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v2.0 by X-Codr Designs is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD Price is US$29.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 7.5 GB Current version: 2.0 Sep 6th 2023 Features ✓ High Quality Rendition of KDEN - Denver International Airport       o Detailed, realistic terminals, accurate as of mid-2023.       o Realistic terminal interiors with numerous POIs (such as hanging display aircraft).       o Lively terminal interiors with animated escalators, and thousands of animated sitting, and walking people, whose density varies with time. All of which are visible from the aircraft.       o Windows on buildings with interiors loose opacity at night, mimicking the optics of real glass, for gorgeous night views.       o Realistic, high resolution, hand-crafted textures complete with PBR normal maps and realistic, accurate wear.       o Accurate, highly detailed buildings through the airport, including the new Southwest hangar. ✓ Realistic, natural ground textures       o Tile-free pavement textures with textures detailed down to the pebble       o Realistic normal maps give pavement depth       o Accurate, detailed markings, with realistic reflections       o Hand aligned concrete lines where possible, for natural transitions to newer, brighter pavement areas       o Realistic, hand painted grunge, with unmatched up close detail, that is cohesive with the rest of the scenery. ✓ Lively scenery through use of our Living Scenery Technology plugin for animations, and Stairport Sceneries SAM for jetway systems       o Thousands of walking animated people, with minimal performance impact       o Cars traverse the airport roads realistically, vs spawning in the middle of a road.       o Accurate, realistic speeds for people and cars throughout the airport.       o Animated electronic display boards on Concourse B display local time and temperature.       o AC fan blade speeds vary with the local temperature.       o Realistic, ultra detailed jetways through use of SAM       o All major parking spaces have excellent SAM marshallers to guide you in ✓ Maximum performance       o Every model is meticulously optimized for the best possible performance.       o Localized LODs reduce rendering load by over 80% on average, relative to traditional LODs       o Texture reuse other technical techniques improve VRAM efficiency.       o Shadows are disabled on objects that don’t benefit, for big performance gains. ✓ Full X-Plane 12 support       o Realistic weather effects       o Optimized native aircraft services.       o Use of the excellent native 3d vegetation The v2.0 update is free to all current X-Codr KDEN purchasers, just go to your X-PlaneStore account... Note the Living Scenery Tech and SAM3 plugins are required for this scenery. __________________ Review System Specifications Windows - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD Software: - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.06r3 (This is a release candidate review). Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00, Living Scenery Tech and SAM3 Scenery or Aircraft - Boeing 737-800 by Laminar Research (free with X-Plane Simulator) Update Review by Stephen Dutton 12th September 2023 Copyright©2023: X-Plane Reviews 
  4. NEWS! - Scenery Updated : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v2.0 by X-Codr Designs X-Codr has released v2.0 of KDEN Denver International Airport in Colorado, USA. This massive sprawling MEGA airport by land area, is the largest airport United States, and second largest in the world. At over 16,000 feet long, runway 16R/34L is also the longest public runway in the United States, and seventh longest in the world. X-Codr's Denver did already have a X-Plane 12 update, well sort of, on September 5th 2022. But that version was not actually a full transition to the new X-Plane 12 version. That aspect changes here with a full X-Plane 12 conversion, plus a lot of nice goodies to keep the scenery updated, plus a few nice new clever features, like walking animated people and even animated escalators. This is also an update, not an upgrade, so for previous purchasers of the X-Plane 11 version, this update is free... just go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account. Notable is that you have to change everything for the new v2.0 KDEN to work. This includes the Main Scenery file (7.54 GB), KDEN Mesh (3.82 Gb) and the X-Codr Library (2.97 Gb), There is another change to the Living Scenery Technology (LST) as well, so that plugin has to be installed for it all to work. The SAM3 Plugin is also required. The X-Plane 11 version of KDEN is still available on request. Version 2.0 September 6th 2023 Completely remodeled terminal areas Completely remodeled main cargo area Completely remodeled GA area Retextured hangars New concourse extensions New Southwest hangar Vastly improved ground textures New animated 3d people Improved mesh smoothness Various improvements throughout airport Various bug fixes ✓ High Quality Rendition of KDEN - Denver International Airport       o Detailed, realistic terminals, accurate as of mid-2023.       o Realistic terminal interiors with numerous POIs (such as hanging display aircraft).       o Lively terminal interiors with animated escalators, and thousands of animated sitting, and walking people, whose density varies with time. All of which are visible from the aircraft.       o Windows on buildings with interiors loose opacity at night, mimicking the optics of real glass, for gorgeous night views.       o Realistic, high resolution, hand-crafted textures complete with PBR normal maps and realistic, accurate wear.       o Accurate, highly detailed buildings through the airport, including the new Southwest hangar. ✓ Realistic, natural ground textures       o Tile-free pavement textures with textures detailed down to the pebble       o Realistic normal maps give pavement depth       o Accurate, detailed markings, with realistic reflections       o Hand aligned concrete lines where possible, for natural transitions to newer, brighter pavement areas       o Realistic, hand painted grunge, with unmatched up close detail, that is cohesive with the rest of the scenery. ✓ Lively scenery through use of our Living Scenery Technology plugin for animations, and Stairport Sceneries SAM for jetway systems       o Thousands of walking animated people, with minimal performance impact       o Cars traverse the airport roads realistically, vs spawning in the middle of a road.       o Accurate, realistic speeds for people and cars throughout the airport.       o Animated electronic display boards on Concourse B display local time and temperature.       o AC fan blade speeds vary with the local temperature.       o Realistic, ultra detailed jetways through use of SAM       o All major parking spaces have excellent SAM marshallers to guide you in ✓ Maximum performance       o Every model is meticulously optimized for the best possible performance.       o Localized LODs reduce rendering load by over 80% on average, relative to traditional LODs       o Texture reuse other technical techniques improve VRAM efficiency.       o Shadows are disabled on objects that don’t benefit, for big performance gains. ✓ Full X-Plane 12 support       o Realistic weather effects       o Optimized native aircraft services.       o Use of the excellent native 3d vegetation Now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore... the price, for all this, only a brilliant US$29.95 _______________________________ Yes! KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v2.0 by X-Codr Designs is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD Price is US$29.95 Features This scenery is a ultra detailed recreation of Denver International Airport. Some of its features include: Ultra detailed rendition of Denver International Airport Winter and wet rainy versions are included as well Highly detailed custom buildings Most parts of all concourses have detailed custom interiors Detailed yet performance friendly models Normal maps for great bump mapping and glass reflections Ultra detailed ground textures 1 pixel per 6 inch orthophotos equivalent to ZL20 Orthophotos have been cleaned of duplicate flat textures under 3D models (such as traffic and bridges) Extreme detail for pavement, while still maintaining minimal repetition Highly detailed normal maps for impressive specular reflections X-Codr Designs SoundXP Plugin (Windows 10 ONLY) Ambient airport sounds will be played based on your location in the airport - a first in X-Plane Listen to chatter, announcements and other sounds when inside the terminal, trucks rumbling by and beeping when near busy ramp areas, and the drone of traffic speeding by when on the landside of the airport Dynamic living airport Watch heavies, regional commuters and other air traffic bring the airport to life with superb WT3 routes by Brian "Cpt. K-man" Navy (Bird Stryke Designs) Animated jetways using Autogate by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Animated car traffic using Ground Traffic by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Native ground services will service your aircraft upon request Highly detailed custom mesh using Ortho4XP Detailed under and overpasses Sloped runways and taxiways, and ditches Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 7.5 GB Current version: 2.0 Sep 6th 2023 ____________________  NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 7th September 2023 Copyright©2023: X-Plane Reviews 
  5. NEWS! - X-Codr updates KSEZ - Sedona to X-Plane 12 X-Codr of KDEN-Denver fame has updated his Sedona scenery to X-Plane 12. There is no version number, just the X-Plane 12 moniker. Sedona is noted as America's most "Scenic" airport. In being located atop a bluff in the center of the stunning Red Rocks State Park. Sedona Airport is a non-towered airport located 2 miles (1.7 nmi; 3.2 km) southwest of the central business district of Sedona, a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The airport covers 220 acres (89 ha) and has one runway and one helipad. The airport SDX is located on top of a high mesa overlooking a major portion of the city; it has been termed a tabletop runway. It is not uncommon for tourists or locals driving around downtown Sedona to see an approaching airplane fly overhead and then suddenly disappear into the mountains without ever appearing to land. The airport is also located very close to the Red Rocks of Sedona. Features include... Ultra detailed rendition of KSEZ - Sedona Buildings are detailed down to door handles and gutters Most "feature buildings" have full 3d interiors, including food on the restaurant table High quality normal maps utilize X-Plane 12's gorgeous photometric PBR rendering engine High quality realistic ground textures Hand crafted detail textures and detail normals add unparalleled detail with virtually indistinguishable tiling Hand painted, subtle grunge overlays for the whole airport make the airport feel life like and natural. Up to date layout as of 2021 including significant changes to the center-north ramp Living Airport Cars will randomly wander the airport roads, and occasionally drive up to the gate, open it, and drive to a spot on the apron. 3D animated people 3D animated trees using X-Plane 12's new forest system 3D animated grass and shrubs Custom surroundings Generic, regionally appropriate autogen for the surrounding valley Stunning hand crafted rock formations for most of the Sedona Valley Low poly landmarks (schools, old stadium, etc) Custom Ortho4XP Mesh Custom UHD Mesh V4 overlays (courtesy AlpilotX, used with his permission) Optimizer for excellent performance. VR ready, constant 60 fps with near max settings on high end systems. The images shown here are X-Plane 12, the X-Plane 11 version (also available) is now called the "Legacy" Package. If you own the original (X-Plane 11) Sedona, then this X-Plane 12 update is free, just go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account and download. You will need to update your X-Codr Designs Library Package as well to use this scenery. All images are courtesy of X-Codr. __________ Yes! KSEZ - Sedona by X-Codr is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KSEZ - Sedona Price is US$$21.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11 (both Packages included for the same low price) X-Plane 11 (will NOT run on X-Plane 10) Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum. 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 3Gb Current version: 12 (October 26th 2022) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 31st 🧙‍♀️ October 2022 Copyright©2022: 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) All Rights Reserved
  6. NEWS! - Enhancement Package AEP v1.1 update by X-Codr "Airport Enhancement Package" replaces the vast majority of all default airport assets in order to provide more detailed models, higher resolution textures, new technology such as PBR normal maps, and new features such as weather effects, seasonal effects, and regionalization to give different areas of the world a unique feel. From ground textures to buildings to trees, Airport Enhancement Package dramatically improves it all to bring every default airport to a new level of realism. And here is a major update to the AEP package. Changelog v1.1 Version 1.1 (July 6th 2020) New higher quality taxi lines New much higher quality ramp parking lines Replaced traffic cones with much higher quality models and replaces more traffic cone variants Retextured most ground equipment at double the resolution Improved facade attached objects Improved pavement rain textures Various normal map fixes Airport Enhancement Package has numerous features including: • Almost all airport buildings replaced with new high quality models • Majority of airport facades replaced with new high quality facades • Majority of all ground clutter replaced with new high quality models • All static ground vehicles replaced with new high quality models • All airport objects such as runways lights, beacons, and navaids replaced with new high quality models • All models feature advanced modeling techniques o All models feature UHD textures between 2 and 4 pixels per inch o All models feature advanced PBR normal maps for small details and realistic reflections o All models feature advanced LODs to maximize detail while maintaining great performance o Most models feature lite interiors to provide an added sense of depth and realism without the performance cost • All airport vegetation replaced with new high performance 3d vegetation o Advanced LOD techniques used to create detailed 3d trees with minimal performance impact o Vegetation automatically switches based on region, for example, tropical areas may have palm trees while mountains may have pine trees. • All pavement textures replaced with new high-quality textures o All pavement textures feature ultra high resolution for great detail o All polygon pavement textures feature PBR normal maps for maximum realism and detail o Pavement uses large scale decals to break up repetition giving airports a realistic natural feel o All airport terrain textures feature normal maps and decals for maximum detail and realism with minimal repetition o All markings replaced with new high quality markings • Limited Regionalization gives airports a unique feel o In rural areas more damaged pavement is randomly mixed in with normal pavement o In more rural and tropical areas more worn hangars are mixed in with the newer hangars found elsewhere o Vegetation dynamically changes based on the location. • Dynamic weather and seasons o Polygon pavement features rain effects o All pavement features snow effects o Vegetation dynamically changes with the season. See brown and gold trees in the fall, and trees with no leaves in the winter • All models match the default style as closely as possible, ensuring you see exactly what the author intended except in a much higher quality. The updated v1.1 AEP is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore. ______________________________________ Yes! the Airport Enhancement Package v1.1 by X-Codr is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Airport Enhancement Package Price is US$22.95 Requirements X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM recommended Download Size: 2.1 GB Current Version : 1.1 (July 6th 2022) ___________________________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 8th July 2022 Copyright©2022: 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) All Rights Reserved
  7. NEWS! - Scenery Released : Grand Canyon West - 1G4 by X-Coda Fresh of his triumphant and clever Yellowstone National Park scenery, X-Coda is back with another national park area, and this time it is the Grand Canyon in Arizona. 1G4 Grand Canyon West Airport sits atop the south rim of the Grand Canyon. When on approach for runway 35, below you is the Colorado River snaking through the Grand Canyon, to the right is Guano Point and the old tramway, and to the left is the famous Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass bridge that extends over 60 feet over the Grand Canyon. The approach for runway 17 is equally scenic with the Cabins at Grand Canyon West as well as a historic western town to your right, and directly ahead, a clear, stunning view of the Grand Canyon. Easily flown from Las Vegas (FlyTampa's Las Vegas is highly recommended), the trip up to the "Rim" has to be experienced in X-Plane, and this new scenery is an ideal drop-off point to explore not only the Grand Canyon, but the excellent facilities up there. 1G4 - Grand Canyon West is a detailed beautiful recreation of the real airport for X-Plane. In addition, the famous Grand Canyon Skywalk, Guano Point and the old tramway, and the Cabins at Grand Canyon West as well as the historic western town are all included. In addition, a 30m Ortho4XP mesh with ZL16 NAIP imagery that has had most major shadows removed from the imagery is included covering roughly 40% of the Famous Grand Canyon. Features Detailed rendition of 1G4 – Grand Canyon West: All buildings feature ultra high resolution textures. All buildings feature advanced PBR normal maps for realistic reflections and bump mapping. All buildings are highly detailed, down to even door handles. Most buildings feature "lite" interiors to give windows more depth. Large scale realistic ground textures with high frequency tiled normal maps for detail. All models optimized for maximum performance. Living scenery: Wet ground textures for the airport. Ground equipment automatically serves your aircraft upon request. Local Landmarks Detailed rendition of the famous Grand Canyon Skywalk. Detailed rendition of Guano Point and the old tramway Detailed rendition of the Cabins at Grand Canyon West. Custom surroundings 30m mesh surrounding the airport covering roughly 40% of the Grand Canyon (+36-114/+35-114) ZL16 USGS NAIP Orthoimagery is used for both ortho tiles. Nearly all ugly shadows removed from Orthoimagery for a clean realistic view of the canyon. Forests procedurally placed from ortho show vegetation in the correct areas, and nowhere else. Alpilotx’s UHD Mesh V4 provides all other overlay elements (used with his permission). A brilliant scenery at a brilliant low price, if you fly choppers you "Gotta" have it, the Grand Canyon... That is! Images are courtesy of X-Coda Designs _____________________________________ Yes! - Grand Canyon West - 1G4 by X-Coda Designs is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Grand Canyon West - 1G4 Price is Currently US$14.99 Requirements X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 4.8 GB Current version: 1.0 (January 23rd 2022) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 25th January 2022 Copyright©2022: 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) All Rights Reserved
  8. Scenery Update : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v1.5 by X-Codr Designs I'll look at X-PlaneReviews release review of X-Codr Design's sensational KDEN - Denver airport that took 8 months of painstaking work to bring you the most high quality scenery of Denver's mega-hub, the point is I didn't do a review but only a pre-release overview? Now that maybe a strange and interesting thought, but the reality was that when I looked at the scenery and as really good as it was. then X-Codr's Denver was at the time just missing the mark, and mostly in the night textures. No offence to the developer in that a first scenery is always going to be a huge daunting task, add in the fact that the choice of airport is one of the largest in the mid-west of the grand olde US of A and that alone was always going to be a compromise, another factor is that X-Plane in scenery dynamics is a serious business, get it right and it looks brilliant, but it needs skill to bring out those dynamics and not make everything bland, so huge ambition hit the world of reality. So obviously there has been a few post-release updates already to KDEN since that release, but here is a big one in v1.5 and it covers almost all of the elements that didn't quite hit the mark on the release version. Denver's International gateway DIA is a monster of an airport, it is HUGE, even by say Atlanta's comparison. Your taxi fuel accounts have to be as much as a consideration as your flight time fuel loads just to reach certain runway takeoff points or to taxi into the terminal area, I love the taxi aspect, but it can certainly add into your gate to gate time if you don't take this huge sprawl into account, layout navigation is actually quite easy in not getting lost, but at some certain hold points the main terminal area are a set of buildings set out on the horizon. At 33,531 acres (13,570 ha), then DIA is the largest airport by area in the US and the second largest in the world after King Fahd International in Saudi Arabia. Arrival at KDEN via LONGz1 SID and the DIA airport is showing how really well now scenery can be intergrated into the default mesh... ... X-Codr provides two mesh/overlay installations in Y and X (Y has to be set before X obviously) but it works extremely well, and also there are Ortho4xp patches provided if that is your preference. The ortho itself has now been totally recolored to better match the airport ortho and other 3rd party ortho.... and it shows with the differences from every angle. The mesh and airport together are big Gb downloads (1.5gb each) but the detail is worth the hard drive storage. Noted is that there is a lot of refinement that has been done in this update, with now far better compression of over in that 300Mb in disk space and VRAM were saved just in ortho alone, and other refinements are all the way through this update pack. The south approaches are dominated by the incredible huge (Batwinged?) presence of the Westin Hotel, and it almost hides the DEN iconic circus soleil membrane styled roofing of the main arrival Jeppesen terminal and it is made of Teflon-coded woven fiberglass for strength and is also impenetrable to radar... all the detail presented here are simply really well modeled and totally highly realistic... The reflective glass on the original Westin Hotel was actually pretty good, but the problem was it was also far better than the rest of the airports glass and textures. Upgraded in v1.5 is that all the glass areas are now highly PBR reflective and detailed and the scenery now extrudes quality and realism. Denver International Airport IATA: DEN - ICAO: KDEN - FAA LID: DEN 07/25 - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 08/26 - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 16L/34R - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 16R/34L - 16,000ft (4,877m) Concrete 17L/35R -12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete 17R/35L - 12,000ft (3,658m) Concrete Elevation : 5,431 ft / 1,655 m Denver's airport layout is very typical of most U.S. major hub arrangements, a welcoming terminal then (in this case) three separate huge concourses connected together by an underground rail system. Concourses are really simple in A, B and C... A is the closest to the Jeppesen Terminal and is for the International arrival and departures. Concourse A has 51 gates, which includes several "ground load positions" requiring passengers to exit the main concourse through shared doors to access their aircraft. Concourse A handles all domestic airlines except Alaska, Southwest, and Spirit as well as all international arrivals (excluding airports with border preclearance). There are currently twelve dedicated gates for international arrivals; five of those are equipped to handle widebody aircraft and two are 3-jetway gates capable of handling an Airbus A380. Two airline lounges are currently located on the top floor of the central section of Concourse A: an American Admirals Club and a Delta Sky Club.[26] Concourse A is mainly different from the other two in because it has the pedestrian bridge from the main terminal. Concourse B, is almost twice as long as "A" and "C", so it over shadows the two other island concourses. Concourse B has 70 gates. United Airlines is the sole occupant of Concourse B. Mainline United flights operate from the main concourse building, whereas United Express operations are primarily handled at the east end of the concourse, which currently includes two concourse extensions for smaller regional planes. Four gates near the center of the concourse are equipped to handle widebody aircraft and each have twin jet bridges labeled A and B. There are two United Clubs on the second floor of Concourse B, situated about an equal distance away from the people mover station: one near gate B32 and the other near gate B44. Concourse C, has the bonus of having the Main Control Tower as part of the concourse. as 29 gates. Southwest Airlines is the primary occupant of the concourse with only two other airlines, Alaska Airlines and Spirit Airlines, utilizing the concourse. A 2014 expansion added five new gates to the west end of the concourse. The expansion, at a cost of $46 million, allowed Southwest to consolidate all of its operations into Concourse C (prior to the expansion, Southwest was using two gates on Concourse A, which it had inherited from its merger with AirTran Airways). American Express recently began construction on a 14,650-square-foot (1,361 m2) Centurion Lounge in the upper level of the eastern wing of Concourse C. The lounge is expected to open in mid-2020, and will be the second largest of its kind. Outwardly everything looks the same as the original release scenery. But in v1.5 almost everything in the texture aspect has been completely redone. The textures have lost their flatness and are now if you look closely are also now quite beautiful, you are seeing here a lot of Misterx6 style and of quality, that same feel is now showing in this scenery and I like it a lot. A lot of attention has been given to the ground textures here at DEN. The problem with a lot of acres of concrete is that it can look really bland, worse it reflects the light twice back, so it has no feel or depth. No developer can fix highly reflective white glare, but the grunge, oil and rubber dirt has been heightened here at DIA with great success. Yes it was slightly mottled in the original version, but the effects have all been all redone and deepened. This is masterful work to get this sort of wear and rubber detail, almost every U.S. scenery developer now has to create the same level of making white concrete actually interesting. The PBR reflective (wet) active textures and burnt-in ambient occlusion are also first-rate, it is a huge jump forward. Glass is very interesting as well. Reflections are very good, but look closer in the right lighting conditions and there is the wet dirt fall on the glass panels, it is all very good if great detail and highly realistic.... .... all the different styles of glass are different but highly realistic, note the fantastic reflections on the apron tower windows... very good. There was modeled concourse interiors in the original release, but there has also been a lot of revision work done here internally. Plus point is that the waiting passengers are now actually sitting down, a small point but it gives the whole terminal scenario a bit of a more realism feel to it, certainly all the main A,B and C concourses can be explored, and are worth doing so.... ... moving walkways and even hanging aircraft are well done for the detail shown internally. There is now a required installation into your custom scenery folder a X-Codr Designs Library that is now used for all these higher quality assets, the library is quite a big at a 1.16Gb download so it is quite an extensive package. The SAM (Scenery Animation Manger) system has replaced the older Marginal autodock VDGS airbridge layout. So all the airbridges have been redesigned and replaced and even the complicated long arm versions are really well done. Also added in are the two and three pier installations and they all work with two door aircraft in say the Boeing 747... ... and I really love this three pier arrangement that can be adapted to either an widebody or single aisle aircraft. The original X-Codr KDEN night texture lighting was a bit average, it was okay but not highly realistic. The night textures have all been redone and the effects now are far better in v1.5... clear glass is always really problematic at night, however they pass the realism test here. The Jeppersen Terminal looks however still a little too saturated, and needs a little more calming down, but I like the far better Westin Hotel textures, the originals were horrible grey squares... ugggh! But this image below shows off some of the spectacular lighting at the concourses.... it is incredible of what we can do now in simulation. Highlighting the detail here is interesting... There is some of the very best gradient work in X-Plane scenery here, all levels and ground variations are uniquely covered and also highly detailed... .... it all makes for some of the best and most interesting arrival and departures experiences in the simulator, the detail is incredible, and the gradients can be seen and felt from the aircraft for that realism factor. Infrastructure detail is really off the planet, it is all a feast for the eyes. Both United and Frontier maintenance hangars are also covered really well... ... and overall you can't be but very impressed by the detail and activity at this mega hub scenery. ____________________ Summary The original release of Denver's megapolis International Airport by X-Codr Designs was a bit of a tour-de-force, ultimately it was brilliant, but still missing that something in a few areas, there has been a few updates in between, but this is a major update in v1.5, and an spectacular update it is. This is a maturing update to the scenery, it covers all the aspects that were just a little below par to get the package into that elusive higher quality bracket... but the update here is a great success. Covered in v1.5 has been a complete texture revision with outstanding results and PBR quality. That brings in more lifelike glass reflections and even better glass detail, night textures needed attention and they have had that with the more realistic look and feel done really well. Ground textures have also had serious changes to make them more gritty or grubby or grungy or whatever you want to note as more realism, but that they are some of the now the best grungy concrete textures around is a still the ultimate aim. Internal details has now added in even sitting people and the new X-Codr Design Library adds in a huge whole new level of a new library of detailing. The SAM (Scenery Animation Manger) has replaced the older Marginal autodock VDGS airbridge system with huge benefits of more twin and three pier gates and resulting in even more bay choices, it has also been fashioned to match the real gate systems and is a great addition to the scenery. Note the KDEN scenery covers a large area and has a huge amount objects, you can run the scenery on a 4K board, but a 8K is certainly highly recommended, hard drive space is quite at a premium as well. This v1.5 update is free to all previous the purchasers of KDEN - Denver from X-Codr Design. If you don't have this scenery then you are easily missing a huge important part and aspect of your North American route network.... Highly Recommended! _____________________________________ Yes! KDEN - Denver International Airport HD v1.5 by X-Codr Design is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KDEN - Denver International Airport HD Price is US$29.95 Features: Ultra detailed rendition of Denver International Airport Winter and wet rainy versions are included as well Highly detailed custom buildings Most parts of all concourses have detailed custom interiors Detailed yet performance friendly models Normal maps for great bump mapping and glass reflections Ultra detailed ground textures 1 pixel per 6 inch orthophotos equivalent to ZL20 Orthophotos have been cleaned of duplicate flat textures under 3D models (such as traffic and bridges) Extreme detail for pavement, while still maintaining minimal repetition Highly detailed normal maps for impressive specular reflections X-Codr Designs SoundXP Plugin (Windows 10 ONLY) Ambient airport sounds will be played based on your location in the airport - a first in X-Plane Listen to chatter, announcements and other sounds when inside the terminal, trucks rumbling by and beeping when near busy ramp areas, and the drone of traffic speeding by when on the landside of the airport Dynamic living airport Watch heavies, regional commuters and other air traffic bring the airport to life with superb WT3 routes by Brian "Cpt. K-man" Navy (Bird Stryke Designs) Animated jetways using Autogate by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Animated car traffic using Ground Traffic by Jonathan Harris (marginal) Native ground services will service your aircraft upon request Highly detailed custom mesh using Ortho4XP Detailed under and overpasses Sloped runways and taxiways, and ditches WT3: WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are provided and overall the airport generation functions perfectly. Requirements: X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 3.8Gb Current and Review version: 1.5 (August 5th 2020) Installation Download scenery files required are in three downloads, KDEN Airport (1.53Gb), KDEN Mesh (1.61Gb) and the X-Codr Designs Library Package (1.16GB) KDEN Airport Ortho4xp Patches KDEN - Denver International Airport ClassicJetSimUtils (ground Routes) KDEN Mesh Y KDEN Overlay Z KDEN Mesh X-Codr Designs Library Package (The library Package is inserted into your Custom Scenery Folder) Total scenery installation is 11.30Gb (yes 11.30GB!) SAM Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 2.0 is required for this scenery Documents One extensive manual in English with notes (6 pages) but no charts Denver International Airport Manual.pdf _____________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 7th August 2020 Copyright©2020 : 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 - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1Tb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41 and tested in v11.50b17 (really good!) Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini  Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 Scenery or Aircraft - Default Boeing 737-800 by Laminar Research
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