I've just released an early access preview video of EGCC. It's not a review, because the product is incomplete. Its aim is more to give people a look around the airport to help them decide whether they want to buy the reduced-price early access version, or wait and see how it progresses. This is the first such video I've done so I'd be interested in your opinions on it.

 

I would buy this regardless as its my home airport so to speak. Would love the city scape to be included too that would be a nice touch. 

Nicely done @mrfilbert

I love the way the airport is progressing. Very nice indeed.

Bought the early access a week ago and was instantly very impressed with it. 

Clearly the Dev has a real passion for this, which I'm sure will result in a top quality final product.

This was a very good preview imo, I particularly liked the extra information you where able to provide, as you've been in conversation with him.

Also purchased the early access last week, One of the best yet IMO.... The standard of detail is fantastic, and really shows what can be done.... Keep in mind this is still work in progress, the guys got a real talent.

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by Car147

1 hour ago, mrfilbert said:

I've just released an early access preview video of EGCC. It's not a review, because the product is incomplete. Its aim is more to give people a look around the airport to help them decide whether they want to buy the reduced-price early access version, or wait and see how it progresses. This is the first such video I've done so I'd be interested in your opinions on it.

 

"This is the first such video I've done so I'd be interested in your opinions on it". Personally I have not noticed developers issuing a yet to be finished commercial add on at a discount (from an already very low final price). On the other hand, many developers seem to launch what are obviously unfinished projects as finished products at prices twice or three times higher. Is that why this is your first "preview" or have I just missed other similar launches (serious question)? I think it is a great idea for a developer to get a new product out there and noticed so your prereview is not only informative to us but also cannot fail to help the developer when the quality of his product is as good as this one is obviously going to be. I have already purchased this and forgotten to fly to it myself so thank you for the reminder.

I bought the early access a couple of days ago, fairly impressed with it as it's still going to get more features added in the future, I'm another one that would love some main POI's in Manchester City Centre.

39 minutes ago, Espana Pete said:

Is that why this is your first "preview" or have I just missed other similar launches (serious question)?

Yes, I just haven't been in a position to make a video about either a product that's in early access, or one that's entirely pre-release before. I'm glad you found it useful and glad I was able to jog your memory about owning it. I know how you feel - I can't remember half the add-ons I've got now! 

27 minutes ago, eaim said:

I bought the early access a couple of days ago, fairly impressed with it as it's still going to get more features added in the future, I'm another one that would love some main POI's in Manchester City Centre.

There's some genuinely fantastic freeware photogrammetry for Manchester city centre available at flightsim.to:

https://flightsim.to/file/2151/manchester-uk-photogrammetry-scenery

and

https://flightsim.to/file/2152/manchester-uk-photogrammetry-scenery-south-p2

cover most of the city. I fly over this scenery in Bimbles around Britain 6 if you want to see it in action: https://youtu.be/fDBX10G1CW0

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by mrfilbert

Probably will buy this, but waiting to see what Asobo come up with for the UK update although I suspect Manchester will not be improved so buying this is pretty much a certainty. Having worked at Manchester on the ramp for over two years for Aviator and Menzies Aviation on pretty much every stand that is there, I am probably more familiar with the airport than most people and what it really looks like; even at this stage this add-on is already a much more accurate representation of the real place than the default airport. This is because whilst the default MSFS airport gets quite a few things right in terms of layout, when you get around to Terminal 3,  it gets wildly inaccurate, especially past Stand 51, which is a bit cack for usage since that's the stand American Airlines use and is the one you taxi past on the way to 23R, so unless you are departing of 23L, you go right past this area when departing from many stands at Manchester.

The Fairey Apron, MT repair place and cargo ops areas need a lot of work to look more like the real thing although it is understandable that someone might not know what these look like as they require additional security access to get to from the ramp. They are incidentally, full of broken trailers, busted cans and such and the road down to the cargo operations areas is frequently covered with bits of squashed fruit which has fallen off cargo pallets.

On the subject of things lying about and rubbish, as with most add-on airports, this add on suffers from the same problem we usually see with such products. First up, it is waaay too clean and tidy: The real ramp is a filthy place, there are jet fuel and de/anti-icing spills all over the place which stain the concrete when they dry up, the ground markings are often nowhere near as clearly visible as they are depicted in the sim, often being barely visible. De-icing and anti-icing ops mean that if the airport remains open in the snow, the ramps are quickly cleared of stuff and then they tend to take on a definite greenish tinge as the gloopy anti-icing fluid drips off the planes, frequently leaving a pattern outline which is shaped like an airliner.

Pools of water and puddles are all over the place. The real ramp areas are quite battered; many of the yellow crash barriers around the support pillars for the piers and jet bridges are dented, bent and scraped from where vehicles have backed into them and there is a surprising amount of discarded stuff in those areas, such as broken chocks, crushed road cones etc. Most of the green FOD bins at the heads of the stand are filled to the point where the lids barely shut and literally every ramp you go on has bits of luggage which has broken off or dropped out of luggage side pockets, so things such as the castors off suitcases, children's dummies, old luggage tags, plastic water bottles and that sort of thing get kicked into those enclosed crash barrier areas and tend to stay there a while until cleaned up. I can guarantee that if you walk up the centreline of a ramp at an airport, you will find a hairpin, it's bizarre, but it's true, they're really common to find when you do a FOD check, as are various nuts bolts and screws, and always busted padlocks which have come off suitcases. some airport vehicles are pristine, but many of them are filthy and lots of them are dented as well.

Since you can't leave GSE in the inter-stand clearways without getting fined by airfield ops, the heads of stand parking areas are always absolutely choc-a-bloc with equipment and this is something a lot of add-on airports get wrong, space for that stuff is really at a premium in reality. If you go along the remote stands at Manchester (i.e. Stand 65 up to 73), that's where the ULD racking is, and that is absolutely jammed full of ULDs to the point that if you go to get rid of some up there, you will have to get 'creative' about where you leave them. Many of the racks are bent from where vehicles have hit them and there are also quite a lot of damaged ULD cans up there on the ground too, some undamaged ones as well since although you are not supposed to put cans on the ground, sometimes you have no choice. Lots of them are up there sitting on LD8 trailers as well since there is no room left on the racks. 

Another thing which is incorrect with many add-on airports including this one (and this is quite understandable since without ramp access, you wouldn't know what it actually looks like for real), is what it actually looks like under the piers. Most of these do not go all the way to the ground but can be either fully or partially driven/walked under, and this is where a lot of equipment is stored as well as being where many of the ramp service company offices are, so you find all kinds of equipment under these areas as well, such as high loaders, EBTs and their charging bays etc.

If the developer wants to get in touch with me, I can tell him where to put all that stuff and which companies park which equipment where (every company has designated areas where they can park stuff). It would make it look a lot more like the real place if he did that.

None of this is intended to be overly-critical of this add-on, it looks pretty good even at this early stage and as I said, I will probably buy it.

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by Chock

I have it, and am encouraged by this developer's efforts.  Bravo!

C

 

PS- Mr. Filbert- please keep on keeping on... no hype, no fluff and actually accurate commentary- a refreshing change in the toilet bowl YT sometimes becomes.

1 hour ago, Chock said:

Probably will buy this, but waiting to see

You should join the discord, with the knowledge you have it will enhance it. Max the developer is very responsive to feedback, definitely feels like a labour of love for him and I think we will see the best EGCC ever in a sim.

Great another airport, now a plane which with we can land and takeoff please!

3 hours ago, cavaricooper said:

PS- Mr. Filbert- please keep on keeping on... no hype, no fluff and actually accurate commentary- a refreshing change in the toilet bowl YT sometimes becomes.

Thank you, that's very nice to hear. I'll keep plodding along. 🙂 

Mrfilbert --- I watched your Bimbles video over Manchester and I wondered how you got it so smooth whereas I get a lot of stutters, pauses etc. 

I am running an i7-9700KF, RTX3070 8GB, 32Gb Ram machine.  My settings within MSFS are High-End and I have FPS locked at 36 - I have a 144GHz GSync monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.  I'm using practically all my VRam and 28-29Gb of Ram.   And yet it stutters along.

Any comment as to what you have your settings at would be appreciated

Thanks