For those that have been waiting like myself, Simflyers has released there long awaited KPHX (Phoenix) scenery.

I can't wait to here how this new scenery is on Framerates...Thanks...

Please do reply with how it is as far as smoothness - I don't own any Simflyers stuff but I know it has the reputation for slowing things to a crawl - as an AZ resident, I definitely want to get this, just want to see how it performs first...

You folks that get it, try it out on VATSIM! ;)

Well, I easily maintained my 25fps lock, no AI as I fly VATSIM only.AXP 2700+ w/ BFG 5900XT OC @ 1280x1024 no AA 4x AF. Overall, to me it "feels" very smooth, compared to say DFW, which can be a little sticky sometimes.

>Please do reply with how it is as far as smoothness - I don't>own any Simflyers stuff but I know it has the reputation for>slowing things to a crawl - as an AZ resident, I definitely>want to get this, just want to see how it performs first...Hi Ryan,There is another thread on here where Ernie Alston replied that Simflyers KPHX Sky Harbor is pretty good. Not too much different than than the default Phoenix Sky Harbor.My feelings, I agree! And the scenery is very good looking!Now I will state a couple of anomalies I have noticed. First, let me state that I have FSGenesis Mesh and Landclass for the entire Continental US installed. And I have heard the very best setting for this mesh is to have your FS9.cfg parameter 'TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=' set to 20. Not 19, not 21... but to 20. When installing the scenery it gave me a 'Warning' and suggested that I set it to either 19 or 21 and then said it was install with it optmized to 19(I think, can't remember for sure). When I started out at I went to something like Gate B2, I was pretty much in the very center of the airport. I pushed backed. Then almost as soon as I went foward my plane fell into an invisible sink hole and crashed. Is this due to me not changing my TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL= according to the Warning I got? Or just a bug of this brand new scenery? I don't know, but it could very well be due to my parameter not being at the recommended setting. Anyway, I went ahead 'slewed' over to a taxiway that runs along one of the runways. You know, one of the black colored taxiways. No sinkhole invisible sinkhole problems there. I taxied along and wow! It looks great. And various aircraft were parked at numerous parking spaces that looked just like what I thought the real thing would look like! :)Secondly, the new Simlyers releases comes with an new 'Display Tool' that allows you to select what detail you want or don't want. I have 11 of their airports. Almost all of them just have the choice of whether or not I want 'Static Aircraft' displayed or not. When I look on the Simflyers web site where it has a little pic of this new tool it looks to me as if KPHX is supposed to have several different options in the Display Tool. But KPHX is the only airport that is not showing up in my Display Tool!!! Arrrgghh! :-lol Bug of this brand new scenery? I hope so. I plan on posting about this on the Simflyers forum. That is, if no one lese has already.As far as FPS performance, I would have to agree with Ernie Alston. To me it doesn't seem to be too much different than the default KPHX. Hope that helps.Regards,Jim

Jim,Go to the Display Tool that sits in the main Simflyers folder. I installed PHX and it was listed on the bottom of the list for me.

Yeah, I know. And I'm telling you that KPHX is not on the list for me!! Now, I installed KPHX and then installed a couple of their older sceneries(not brand new) after KPHX. KJFK and KPHL. I kind of wonder if that's why KPHX is not showing up on the list for me. Anyway...KPHX is not on my Display Tool list!!:-boomI'm kind of wondering, how many types of display options do you have for KPHX?Jim

Jim,I noticed your PHX mesh with the screenshots you posted. I would recommend another file to *supplement* the FSG LC in the Phoenix area.The file is named & can be found on the avsim server/s, but the only catalogue files you will need from this are the 3 I have mentioned below to make it effective for you. SCENERY/PHXMESH/Scenery/phx30m10.bglKPHXARPT/phoenix2.bgl KPHXARPT/phoenix.bgl I too have the FSG LC & western US mesh; I have found that when I use these bgls, it really brings the greater Phoenix metro to an gretare level of realism. There is also a nice meld bewteen the FSG LC & the bgls I'm mentioning here. If you have the time, look into it...I simply create a folder for subject BGLS & layer them JUST below the default "photoreal Phoenix" bgl in the FS senery library (if you have it activated), but certainly above the FSG stuff.Cheers.

Hello h.o.p.,Very nice recommendation. Thank You! :D Check out the screenies now. ;)Cheers,Jim

Jim,How do you get that type of color for the textures? That looks much more true to life than what I see here - I've got the FSG mesh and LC as well...Ryan

Hi Ryan,Those are payware textures. And fairly expensive ones at that. They are FScene Textures - Ruud Faber - www.fscene.comI would say he is quite an artist at making these textures. You have to buy them according to what Season you want them for. You do get a discount if you buy all 4 Seasons for USA and Canada, which is what I did. It came to 60 EUR! :-eek I think there's a similar discount for the Europe set. Whether you consider them to be worth the price is of course up to you!Cheers,Jim

Jim,Thank you (for the nice screens again).... This LC is much more reprsentative of the metro I think. It has the appropriate "sprawl" with the right mix of vegetation sprinkled in all the right areas (generally speaking). Cheers.

Jim,Thought you were gonna say that actually... ;) I'll probably pick those up here as soon then, they look great - the color of the desert is much better than the default.