I just checked out Aerosofts new German Regional Airports, looks like 5 are included in the package.  While I don't regularly fly in Germany I was struck by the fact that they are charging $36 US for the suite of airports.  The airport detail seems to be very high, plenty of eye candy, lots of custom objects etc.

 

Recently Orbx has released several smaller local airstrips (in England) using their usual approach and features, also with local custom objects etc.  The price for many of these is about $33 US and the most recent dropped to $24.

 

While I greatly appreciate the work that is required to make these airports, custom objects backgrounds etc, I used to keep up with the entire suite of sceneries from Orbx but I find that the pricing is too high with the Orbx airstrips.

 

If I was into building a German scenery base I would jump at the recent Aerosoft release, real value for $$.  I have not bought any of the last five releases from Orbx because I consider the price too high relative to my money available and the value for those $$.

 

I am sure others have differing views but I just wanted to express that I think relatively speaking that Aerosofts German airport release has really hit the price vs product mark and that Orbx has priced themselves too high for their individual airstrips. 

 

I would buy the Orbx smaller airstrips if they were priced 5 for $36 US like Aerosoft.

 

I'm just saying.

I think many feel the same.  My friend bought an England strip, can´t remember which one, the FPS seemed to take a nose dive, the grass textures and the roughness of the runway were not great, thought his Lancair was going to flip on takeoff, overall, it just didn´t have any feeling to it.  The price seems high so I am not buying any UK strips.  For me, I get far more for my money buying regions, apart from Wales, which if you didn´t want EGFF then it is a lot of cash for a small piece of land.  JV has his arguments about how much time is spend developing it but it´s still expensive for what it is.

 

It has been suggested a few times to Orbx to do packages, I bought all the UK2000 stuff and that is great, Vol 1 with 80 airfields for $43 is good value. Now I know they are not near the quality of Orbx, but sometimes I would rather just have a light version of a feel to give it some character ( and a lower FPS hit).  The screen shots of Orbx fields look great, but flying in, parking and flying out, you see maybe 20% of their work, and I guess many don´t really want to go exploring every nook and cranny of the airfield. 

 

Their Global X looks to be great, and I will fork out the cash for that, but after that and buying Scotland, I can´t see me putting much more cash into Orbx.  If Global is so good, then there is a lot of VFR exploring to do!

While there's certainly nothing wrong with letting a developer know you'd buy more if they priced lower,  I expect that after all this time Orbx has their pricing model pretty well dialed in and maximized.  And there's a downside to putting too much price pressure on.  Orbx' John Venema has already talked about them not doing any more "mini-region" type airports like KJAC and KWYS as he can't charge enough to recoup development costs in a timely fashion - and frankly those are the kinds of efforts I'd like to see them continue.

 

In general, I'd willing to pay more for more complete and extensive fields rather than less for package deals that are also less complete.  But then, I've also never been one of those who has to have the "complete set".  Some of their fields just don't interest me or suit my flying, and price won't change that in either direction.

 

Scott

Just my two (Euro) cents:

 

ORBX prices in Germany compare to Aerosoft Mega Airport prices pretty well. That is to say, that a small FTX airport sells at the same price as, for example EDDF/Frankfurt.

 

EDDF to me seems better value for money, no matter what my kind of flying is.

 

There are, for sure, exceptions to this: An "airport package" by ORBX like 'Milford Sound' certainly offers value for money, too, regarding all the detail in textures and animations over three small airfields located close to each other in the N.Z. Fjords.

 

And there are, for sure, "quality glitches" on the part of Aerosoft for individual airports, which result in less benefit for the money spent.

 

So what could be my bottom line?

 

Rate the offered airports/airfields one by one. Don't rate the publisher, rate the individual development.

 

I might go for NZMF this time, and for EDNY on the next occasion ...

I concur.  While the Orbx regional packs seem pretty good for the money I have stopped purchasing their airports unless it's something I really want.  I understand they have a hand crafted feel to them and are very well done for flying GA aircraft BUT there are many quality vendors developing impressive products too. Pacific Island Sim's Xiamen and Jeju and Fly Tampa's Dubai are a few I have purchased lately that have exceeded my expectations and provided me with what I consider good value for the amount of money I spent on them.

 

I have been spending less on FSX these days and more on XPlane 10 but it'll be a while longer before that platform sunsets FSX for me.

Yes the UK2000 suite seems to me to be an excellent value for $.  I have to admit that I have now become more selective...weighing the pros, cons and not just buying everything out there.

 

I did buy the SAK  Orbx Alaska scenery because it extended all the west coast of NA which I find some of the best FSX scenery out there especially combined with FS Addon.