Sim720 airports and SoCal

[tttocs 301]

Can anyone comment on how well Sim720's Santa Barbara and McClellan airports work with Orbx SoCal?  I know that Orbx had announced KSBA, but for now it seems to be a dead project.  It would be nice to have a GA reliever airport in the San Diego area as well.  With Sim720's Christmas sale these two together would be 25% off.

They advertise compatibility with MSE and Orbx Global, but not the full-fat SoCal region.  Orbx' compatibility forum references a patch for McClellan, but the link to it is dead.

Any thoughts much appreciated,

Scott

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Scott,

I have Palomar but when researching prior to purchase - I remember extremely critical posts about their Santa Barbara product...

I haven't tried Palomar in v4 and I don't have SOCAL - that said - it was OK in v3 with Global - nothing really to write home about - after a cursory look and a few times around the pattern - I don't think I ever went back...

LOL - I thought I recalled posts about ORBX Santa Barbara - then nothing...

Regards,
Scott

[pmb 5,137]

I own Sim720 Santa Barbara. It looks fine and does integrate well into SCA (color etc.), however, it was only marinally usable until Prepar3d3. While performance got a certain boost with Prepar3d4 (as did all sceneries), it's still at the lower end, even more considering the airport is not in the EGLL class.

I don't think the ORBX version is dead. It has been a project of Misha Cajic

https://fselite.net/originals/developer-month/developer-month-orbx-developer-misha-cajic/

That's from spring. From memory I recall he needed some time for school later, then he completed Dubrovnik and KSBA schould be his current project.

Personally, I would wait for the ORBX version at that point. Or you may ask at their forum with a 5% chance to get an answer.

Kind regards, Michael

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Scott,

One follow up - if you don't have Turbulent Designs "Big Bear" or 29Palms "Twentynine Palms" - they are both top shelf and a must buy for anyone interested in SOCAL flying... Both are incredible...

Regards,
Scott

[tttocs 301]

Thanks to both of you for the comments.  Yeah, I recall people weren't hugely complimentary about SBA.  The problem is, it fills a nice hole in that part of CA.  Back when I used Blue Sky photoscenery, I had a fairly nice freeware version designed to work with that photoscenery but I don't want to go that route anymore.  Michael, I strongly agree that I'd rather wait for Orbx - it's just that it has been so long...

Scott - yes I do have both Big Bear and Twentynine Palms and I completely agree.  They're both absolutely top tier sceneries.  I wish the 29Palms guys would do more US airports, and Turbulent have shot to the top of the pile in terms of developers who's work is almost an automatic buy for me.  I've also been enjoying KIDA from them as well as 2O3.  I don't have KMBS as that's simply not a part of the country I fly in.

Scott

[ComSimPilot 623]

Hi Scott,

I just bought McClellan Palomar from Sim720 today and it works perfectly with ORBX SoCal. : ) 
The control panel of the airport has a SoCal compatibility bullet option. 

[tttocs 301]

1 hour ago, Daedalus said:

I just bought McClellan Palomar from Sim720 today and it works perfectly with ORBX SoCal. : ) 
The control panel of the airport has a SoCal compatibility bullet option. 

Excellent.  Glad to hear they've added direct support, but a bit surprised it isn't mentioned on their web pages.

Thanks for letting me know!

Scott

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

41 minutes ago, tttocs said:

Excellent.  Glad to hear they've added direct support, but a bit surprised it isn't mentioned on their web pages.

Thanks for letting me know!

Scott

I was never impressed with the Sim720 photos of their own KSBA.  On the other hand, there's a pretty good freeware version I used a while back.  Pretty nice.  There was a rumour Orbx was going to make a version a while back.

[tttocs 301]

33 minutes ago, Gregg_Seipp said:

I was never impressed with the Sim720 photos of their own KSBA.  On the other hand, there's a pretty good freeware version I used a while back.  Pretty nice.  There was a rumour Orbx was going to make a version a while back.

I used that freeware version a while back as well (in fact, I think you're the one who put me on to it) - but it's really matched to photoscenery and would likely look pretty rough with SoCal.  As Michael notes above, there's still hope for an Orbx release, so I think I'll forget about the Sim720 version for now.  Still on the fence about McClellan, but at least I now know it's SoCal compatible.

Scott