A_A or WFSS' Beijing ZBAA?

[Benjamin J 751]

Hey all, easy question: I currently have WFSS' ZBAA, but see that A_A's is currently on sale. I don't like WFSS' very much, but I got it because it was the only one in town at the time. Would you say A_A' ZBAA is so much better that it warrants its purchase despite having the one by WFSS already?

[Bigt 192]

Glad you proposed this question as I noticed it was on sale as well. Interested to hear what people think.

[ninerwhiskey9W 19]

12 hours ago, Benjamin J said:

Hey all, easy question: I currently have WFSS' ZBAA, but see that A_A's is currently on sale. I don't like WFSS' very much, but I got it because it was the only one in town at the time. Would you say A_A' ZBAA is so much better that it warrants its purchase despite having the one by WFSS already?

I'm surprised to hear that. I was under the impression that the WFSS one was made using the v4 SDK and came with all the bells and whistles such as PBR and Dynamic Lights, whereas the A_A scenery was made as a common package for FSX & P3D. I was about to pick a couple of WFSS Scenery up, but I look forward to what people have to say about the A_A scenery.

[AnkH 2,266]

The last time I was flying in and out of WSSS by WF Scenery, the night lighting was just plain terrible and I never got an useful reply on my support request and I am also not aware of any update since then. Not the scenery I recommend, for day-time operations however it is perfectly fine.

[Benjamin J 751]

3 hours ago, ninerwhiskey9W said:

I'm surprised to hear that. I was under the impression that the WFSS one was made using the v4 SDK and came with all the bells and whistles such as PBR and Dynamic Lights, whereas the A_A scenery was made as a common package for FSX & P3D. I was about to pick a couple of WFSS Scenery up, but I look forward to what people have to say about the A_A scenery.

It definitely does not have all the bells and whistles. As a matter of fact, it probably got released a little while before PBR became available. A-A's is actually newer than WFSS's ZBAA. I did buy several other WFSS sceneries, and in my mind they all feel a little sterile, lacking personality. This mostly comes down to the texturing, which is not bad or unrealistic - it's just a little 'samey'. I also own A_A's Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok and quite like those, hence I wonder whether I should pick up A_A's ZBAA despite having WFSS's.

 

3 hours ago, AnkH said:

The last time I was flying in and out of WSSS by WF Scenery, the night lighting was just plain terrible and I never got an useful reply on my support request and I am also not aware of any update since then. Not the scenery I recommend, for day-time operations however it is perfectly fine.

Thanks for the insight. I agree that WFSS is generally fine - hence I'd like to know if A_A's much improves over it. I do think that A_A is more up to par with current standard, with better lighting as well. But hence my question 😉

[ARCO 245]

Benjamin, I cannot speak about the "improvements" of A-A vs WF because I never bought a WF product, but only to give my opinion on A-A ZBAA I can recommend it. there are still couple of bugs related essentially to the car traffic under bridges used by the planes, but if you can temporarily forget about this until it gets fixed, then I found this scenery generally well done and refined in its details. Not FT or FB yet but honestly an excellent product with very good performance on my system. At this price anyway, you can hardly go wrong!

[Benjamin J 751]

1 hour ago, Jean-Claude said:

Benjamin, I cannot speak about the "improvements" of A-A vs WF because I never bought a WF product, but only to give my opinion on A-A ZBAA I can recommend it. there are still couple of bugs related essentially to the car traffic under bridges used by the planes, but if you can temporarily forget about this until it gets fixed, then I found this scenery generally well done and refined in its details. Not FT or FB yet but honestly an excellent product with very good performance on my system. At this price anyway, you can hardly go wrong!

Thanks Jean-Claude, that's a useful perspective. I had heard that its performance is very good, and I think its in part due to lower res tenures. What is your impression of the texture quality?

[ARCO 245]

I like the textures personally, they look a lot better than the WF judging from the screenshots available on Simmarket, they are spot-on to me, note that I have been a frequent flyer to and from ZBAA, hence my judgement is based from the real world impressions!...

Edited November 27, 2019 by Jean-Claude

[Evros 310]

I own WFSS version and a buddy of mine owns AA one. This could be a matter of taste, but we both prefer WFSS. Texturing seems to look nicer and more crisp.

[vadriver 248]

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/zbaa-beijing-international-airport-for-fsx.430996/ is worth the read on A_A's development of ZBAA.

& the low vis daytime lighting is one of best (yet not often mentioned in a features list)

[A340Bangla 40]

I own A_A's ZBAA and quite like it (as I do like his other sceneries like VTBS and WMKK).

I cannot speak for the WFSS one.

[Benjamin J 751]

Thanks for the insights! Decided to get it and I’ll see for myself.

[ray hughes 165]

Missed this forum discussion - but my 2 cents..

I have WF ZBAA - if you have Orbx landclass there is a file you need to delete for taxiways and runways to appear correctly.. Also the AFCAD is generic. apart from that - it is OKAY.

However I would seriously consider Daxian Beijing new airport by Bridge.. i have their Chengdu airport and it is fabulous!!

Edited November 29, 2019 by ray hughes

[ninerwhiskey9W 19]

@ray hughes What files are you supposed to delete for WFSS ZBAA ?

[Evros 310]

7 hours ago, ninerwhiskey9W said:

@ray hughes What files are you supposed to delete for WFSS ZBAA ?

Why would one need to delete anything? I installed it via add-on.xml and everything works as it should.