Has anyone seen pics of the FSGenesis photo-real catalina? I don't want to buy it blind. . .Thx!-drew-

The Catalina scenery is definitely a work in progress. I'll try to post some shots in the screen shot forum later tonight. The mesh and photo-real textures look great, but autogen is very sparse. The airport will be reworked in a later patch. Overall, the scenery is a bit boring IMO, but I'm sure the airport update and other tweaks will make it a more interesting place to fly to.Paul

Drew,Looks like someone already did the work! Check out this thread:http://forum.fsgenesis.net/dcforum/DCForumID13/50.html

All in all it's ok. During install it says the airport will be detailed later, along with other improvements. I have a "water island" just north of catalina. A spike of water texture that is about the same height as catalina and maybe a hundred feet in diameter. What's there right now looks great, but it does need work.I'm happy with everything else from FSGenesis, and patches and updates are available for download, so I'm not too worried.

No offense to Justin, but the screenshot there looks absolutely dismal. I've been to Catalina Island, and this does it a disservice.I realize there are updates planned, but come on. Look at the freeware scenery out there (for other areas) which make this look like a beginner's work from the screenshot.Consider first that white building with the red roof... oh, sorry, >both< of them. Maybe it's just a glitch in the screenshot, but it's an old theater and there should be just one.There isn't much to autogen in the way of buildings on the real island so don't expect a sudden population boom.A few shots for your reference (by the way, most are around the main body of water surrounded by houses and buildings and the >one< theater...http://www.colapublib.org/cgi-bin/colapl/h...main&file=7.jpghttp://www.scico.com/cirs/maindesc.htmlhttp://airports.pilotage.com/avx/http://www.catalinaexplorerco.com/home.html

Justin has said that theres a problem at the moment with those two buildings and hes trying to make a fix for it. For some reason its very hard to exclude the building from the scenery but he is working on it and will release updates as he does things. The scenery is unfinished and he does mention that in the readme. The airport is the default one from FS2002 but he does mention that it will be upgraded over time.I downloaded is as I was a galaxy member so it really didnt cost me anything as its his excellent mesh that I like the most. Compared to your weblinks I do agree it does look abit barren but maybe over time it will look ok.For you to purchase it, thats upto you, I dont know what Catalina island will look like in FS2004.But personally at the moment if I didnt have a Galaxy membership I probably wouldnt purchase it. Craig Kiltie

I was VERY disappointed with it. I get the feeling they rushed the release due to the impending Mega Scenery L.A./San Diego photorealistic package due out in June. (Which includes Catalina). The pre-beta screenshots of Catalina on the Mega Scenery site look far better than FsGenesis'and you get the whole L.A. basin, mountain ranges and coastline all the way down to San Diego, to boot.

Hello,I have usually been impressed with the FSGenesis scenery packages and love Catalina, but this is not very impressive. The scenery looks too light in color and does not look "photo realistic" to me at all. I don't know about that "water spout" either, let's hope they fix it soon.Sincerely,Hans

HI All,I just released a version 1.1 patch that addresses the terrain.dll errors and the "spike" out there in the Pacific.Version 1.2 will darken the textures amd add more autogen. Expect it in a couple of weeks, after the Canada Base terrain Cds ship.Thanks-------Justinhttp://www.fsgenesis.netHigh Quality Scenery for FS200x

Thanks Justin.