Hi everyone,

I've ever wondered why scenery devs model pizza boxes, malls, bedrooms, etc. within the airport facilities... that is things that a pilot cannot see from the perspective of the cockpit.

I can understand that people might want to walk in the passengers cabin, or around the aircraft to simulate a pre-flight inspection. But shopping at the duty free within the terminal...? Maybe you do it once by curiosity and never come back? All those things end up in more development time and then have an impact on the price of an addon. And divert the focus of the dev from more important things.

Is it a demand from the customers or is it a demonstration of "strenght" by the devs?

As time passes, the simulation extends far beyond the cockpit...

I guess some people get off on those types of thing. Never really saw the point myself either.

This may sound strange to some people, but even knowing that there is a modelled terminal interior increases my immersion in a flight simulator, even if I cannot directly see a lot of it from the apron. I may get to see a different bit if I park at a different gate the next time that I visit the airport, or I may decide to wander around exploring if I get bored of the flying now and again However, it is that knowing that it is there that somehow makes the place more exciting to visit. An attention to detail that just makes the entire airport experience more believable.

You have no idea how much more of a thrill I get rolling up to my parking spot at (for example) Pyreegue EGNX East Midlands, and getting a glimpse of the interior detail, with one or two animated passengers wandering around. It is probably impossible to explain that feeling to someone who does not care about such things, but it is literally the difference between night and day to me. The immersion that I feel at some of the payware airports that I have installed is breathtaking at times.

Edited June 1Jun 1 by Christopher Low

@Christopher Low ahhh thank you Christopher for your testimonial! I just wanted to try to understand the opposite point of view / feeling / psychology. Please note that modeling passengers at the gate through the glass windows is OK since you see them when you park.

I guess your perspective is that of a flight simmer, but for scenery developers their perspective is of making an airport... they're concern isn't necessarily you being in the cockpit but to make an airport in their perspective that they're proud of with an incredible level of detail. The same way aircraft developers are.

15 minutes ago, Lucky38i said:

I guess your perspective is that of a flight simmer

I am a flightsimmer indeed 😃 Aren't the devs do sceneries for flightsimmers? 😉

I would ask for a button where that all can be turned off. My immersion comes from the Apron and not from inside the terminals and certainly not from hotel bedrooms. The performance gains turning all the extraneous stuff off would be lovely.

For me, aprons, clutter, taxiways, elevation and runways and navigation correctly placed are far more important.

Horses for courses… I suppose.

C

@cavaricooper Yes absolutely and also the possibility to opt-out of these things when we purchase.

It all adds vertices, which, when piled together, of course ultimately affects FPS...

26 minutes ago, Simicro said:

I am a flightsimmer indeed 😃 Aren't the devs do sceneries for flightsimmers? 😉

And yet... So is Christopher. And so am I - another simmer who also kinda likes some interiors, or at worst isn't bothered by them in the least.

So, yeah...

Scott

@tttocs You like the IDEA of interiors (like Christopher) or do you visit EFFECTIVELY the malls, bedrooms, etc.?

46 minutes ago, cavaricooper said:

I would ask for a button where that all can be turned off. My immersion comes from the Apron and not from inside the terminals and certainly not from hotel bedrooms. The performance gains turning all the extraneous stuff off would be lovely.

For me, aprons, clutter, taxiways, elevation and runways and navigation correctly placed are far more important.

Horses for courses… I suppose.

C

Seconded. I would love to turn off all the interior stuff I never use and probably won't ever see. I also only care about accuracy on the airside of the airport. I don't really care if every parking space and tree in the terminal periphery is correct, as long as it's close enough as the plane flies by, I'll never notice more than that.

1 hour ago, Simicro said:

I am a flightsimmer indeed 😃 Aren't the devs do sceneries for flightsimmers? 😉

Sure they might be but doesn't really negate my point. If you're a passionate scenery developers who prides in their work, I really doubt you'd be concerned about what can be seen from the cockpit?

1 hour ago, Simicro said:

I am a flightsimmer indeed 😃 Aren't the devs do sceneries for flightsimmers? 😉

Not at all, MSFS has been branded as a "digital twin" for good reason, it's not all about the perspective of flight. Hence we can walk around in 2024, there's more options for other types of vehicles, the options to do much more than just fly about are there to be utilised.

To justify the price....