After being in love with the PNW, I'm not seeing the value of the addon airports. I recently purchased Concrete and Darrington ($60) and dont really see the value vs. just buying PNW ($40). PNW default airports are very good and the little bit of eye candy that you get in return doesnt justify the cost of the addon airports. Anyone else feel the same way. I will be putting the wallet away until there is another big release from FTX.

Well, I guess that's your opinion. I happen to love their addon airports and the detail they bring to the area surrounding the airport. It all depends on what you want in your install of FSX. If you are saying that the airports are over priced, I will sorely disagree with you. There is great attention to detail in the aiports and surrounding scenery which involves a heck of a lot of developement time.

I bought Darrington along with FTX NA Blue and I think I have logged more time around the 1S2 addon airport area than the rest of the NA Blue coverage area as a whole....I'll be picking up Concrete when I am back from out of town and I expect to push out my A2A Cub from the hangar and lose many hours doing circuits there and at Israels Farm.

When you only fly straight into the airport and only look at everything from that perspective then almost all the detail is wasted, although obviously the overall feeling of being there (just the idea that everything looks as it does in real life) is a lot greater than with the default (PNW) airport scenery. To really enjoy all the detail, you should take the ultralight or a helo and fly low and slow all around the area, or even get out of the aircraft and walk around using BOB (the free Orbx addon that let's you see everything from the perspective of someone walking around). There are also cars in which you can driver around btw. When you stay in the air, you are bound to miss out on a lot of things! However, once you discovered all there is to see, the next time you will only fly over it will be a lot nicer because then you know how much there is to be seen down there and how much it looks like in real life! To me that all adds to the immersion! So even though I don't always check out the scenery on foot, I still enoy it, even when I only see it during approach.BTW It's not just 'a little bit of eye candy' that is added: you get photoreal scenery (in a large area around the airport) filled with 3D objects, a lot of them custom made, modelled to their real life counterparts: right now Concrete and Darrington are the best you can get out there. It sort of takes FSX into another direction: it's not just a flight sim anymore (again, when you only look at the detailed towns out of the aircraft, almost all detail won't bee really seen) but it becomes some sort of earth sim. :( So all in all it depends on what you like to do in FSX if these airports are something for you or not.I would like to add though there is something wrong (if you don't mind me saying so :( ) with your perspective on things not justifying the cost...! PNW itself is very, VERY good, even so good that the price difference between PNW and the addon airports may look a bit odd at first indeed... But ... then I would also like to say that it's not that the airports are too expensive (not when it comes to what they offer nor when it comes to how much time and effort it took to create them): it's that PNW is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to cheap!!! If you know what I mean...! :(

Like everyone else has said, it's all a matter of perspective. If you are a commercial aircraft flyer, then you most likely will not be able to appreciate the airports as they are better seen and experienced as flying GA. Departing from Stark's, and landing at Darrington or Mear's (Concrete) is a surreal experience, especially if you take a route near Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.I love the addon airports because of the authenticity that they bring to not only the airfield, but the surrounding areas as well.

Orbx's PNW is like a gold, velvet and silver crown, and the payware airports are like diamonds, emeralds and pearls that set it off, making it dazzle and glow. Like a precious jewel in a perfect setting, each airport is a special work of art and beauty. Stephen

After being in love with the PNW, I'm not seeing the value of the addon airports. I recently purchased Concrete and Darrington ($60) and dont really see the value vs. just buying PNW ($40). PNW default airports are very good and the little bit of eye candy that you get in return doesnt justify the cost of the addon airports. Anyone else feel the same way. I will be putting the wallet away until there is another big release from FTX.

In the past I kinda felt that way about airport scenery additions as I would usually buy them, fly around them 3-4 times , ooh and ahh-and then never use them again.In this case I see things differently. This is an evolution to get close to perfection of a total scenery package on our present sim. While owning PNW there have already been quite a few free airports issued that are also payware quality. Then there are Concrete and Darrington and Starks and Israel's. There have been updates to the scenery itself. As you mentioned, PNW rests on its own merits, but with these additions in total it goes to even newer heights. I view my contribution to these sceneries as a contribution to a process of getting a large area of the world that is rendered like never before in every detail.Continuing this process forward is in our best interests! It isn't any longer about 1 single airport but a huge geographic area where reality is present everywhere, including the airports.So for me it has changed-it isn't about 1 airport-it is about getting them all done.. some will be free and some will be pay but in the end there is a total reality transformation.

So for me it has changed-it isn't about 1 airport-it is about getting them all done.. some will be free and some will be pay but in the end there is a total reality transformation.

And we will all be bankrupt. :( Seriously, I fully agree with what you say (I am also dreaming about that total reality transformation!), but I am not sure how much more airport addons I will be buying. I mean, Concrete costs 27 dollars and that's totally fine with me. I surely will buy a LOT more comparable addons (like Concrete and Darrington that is: Twin Oaks doesn't offer enough extra's for me) and I would LOVE to see the whole regio done, but PNW alone has 400 to 450 airports... let's say 100 of them are worth getting in great detail, that would be er... 2700 dollars... er... well, I do LOVE Orbx products, but there is a limit to what I can spend on FSX, of course... :( I think I will focus on smaller regions within PNW. I've heard they will also do Skagit and that would mean we get a complete valley done in great detail (Skagit > WA56 > Concrete > Darrington: they are even planning to connect WA56 to Concrete with a photoreal river): to me that's already AWESOME (I am already spending all my time in that small region now!)! I'd love to get the whole of PNW like this, but I think that in the end it simply would cost too much...Of course we don't know what the future will bring (new software and hardware that will make larger regions available in glorious 3D...?).

I think the users that live in this region are super excited and that's why they enjoy the scenery. I live in the upper midwest and would love to see them do northern MN/great lakes region but I doubt that will ever happen hehe. I guess I've just gotten used to the pricing structure. Ask a non-flight simmer what they think and "that's outrageous! - 40$ for an airport scenery!!" or something to that effect. I'm just used to addons so I try not to complain too much....I don't run PNW cause performance is bad on my end. But if I had a better PC I'd buy it and then just get the freeware airports.

I think the users that live in this region are super excited and that's why they enjoy the scenery.

I live in the Netherlands but I am also super excited about PNW: I haven't flown anywhere else than in PNW since the day it was released. :( I don't doubt if Orbx will ever do my region: I know they never will. :(

I think the users that live in this region are super excited and that's why they enjoy the scenery. I live in the upper midwest and would love to see them do northern MN/great lakes region but I doubt that will ever happen hehe. I guess I've just gotten used to the pricing structure. Ask a non-flight simmer what they think and "that's outrageous! - 40$ for an airport scenery!!" or something to that effect. I'm just used to addons so I try not to complain too much....I don't run PNW cause performance is bad on my end. But if I had a better PC I'd buy it and then just get the freeware airports.

I feel a little different. Having flown to all the Continental States I find the Western Part of the US simply the most spectacular and beautiful to fly in.I have to admit even though I've flown to Duluth a few times and think it is very scenic, I don't think I'd be as excited for scenery though I would get it for sure since I live in this area .The other thing I have found is that the sim actually given lots of ideas for future trips-whether by plane or car-and it has never let me down.So I am excited to see even greater detail of this spectacular area. Based on the sim in the past I made a trip to Chelen airport/Lake Chelan/Stehekin, and now based on what I am seeing in PNW there will be a future trip to Concrete/Darrington and surrounding area.Perhaps Orbx should take a cut from each of these cities for increased tourism fees! :(

I understand - I didn't say "all" FTX users, just users in general tend to get excited about their home airport or scenery...

I understand - I didn't say "all" FTX users, just users in general tend to get excited about their home airport or scenery...

True-but due to the scenic qualities of this area I have a feeling that is why orbx started here. Starting in the Midwest I bet would have had much less interest. I hope they push south to California next and then head east.

I'm not sad that I own PNW or Darrington and definitely appreciate the added realism. Remember Flight Unlimited II? It only covered the Bay area but the scenery was what pulled me away from MSFS. Point being that quality scenery is added value.PNW and its addon airports is fast becomming a mecca for VFR flyers and sailing aficionados. Besides that - it is a terrific geographical region extending to Alaska and down to KSFO and points south.Kudos to the FTX team for taking up the ball and running with it - if you feel like most of us you will support them with your purchases.jja

I understand the thinking of the thread starter ... "for xx bucks I get a whole region with hundreds of enhanced airports (just look at the buildings, the layout and you even have 3D grass there)" and "for xx bucks again I only get one or two very, very detailed airports".I don't think he criticizes the work of art done in each jewel or diamond (I absolutely agree on those terms) but the value in itself - fly to hundreds of nice airports for x and fly to three or four even nicer ones for y bucks.But, as most guys here mentioned, you really get a lovely piece of software when buying the special payware released airports. OrbX even continues to deliver freeware in the PNW area and of course acts side to side with OZx, which just released some more nice airfields for PNW (reminds me that I "have to" donate btw).And don't forget that OrbX lately lowered its prices and the latest release from them comes with two airports to the price of one - search the Net for a company like this, with products in this quality and speed and with the same nice guys in the support area and you will define "value" in a new way.Lets don't forget that those companies need our support and although my girlfriend hates me for every new addon I buy, some of them really look nice, she says.I can't afford all titles so far, but I'm quite confident with the money I've spent. Of course, OrbX are luckily not the only company to develop nice and valuable addons for FSX scenery and especially the smaller ones receive great respect for their efforts on this though market whereas some big player sometimes lacks of quality in my opinion.