LatinVFR KBWI – KRSW Review

LATINVFR KBWI BALTIMORE WASHINGTON

LATINVFR KRSWFORT MYERS
Reviewed by: Marlon Carter
Platform: FSX/P3D

LatinVFR has once again developed a series of amazing new airports that cater both to those who are still using FSX and for those who have moved on to P3Dv4/v5. In this review, we will take a closer look at their KBWI and KRSW airport scenery products to see whether they match and surpass the standards we all expect today. We will examine not only how nicely these airport have been designed, but also how they work with other popular products such as SODE and GSX. Let’s get started with a closer look at KBWI.

KBWI – Baltimore Washington International
 

KBWI FEATURES

• Highly detailed terminal, modeling and texture resolution, internal modeling on terminals and FBO

• Built on a 3D customized made mesh (P3dv4 only)

• Seasonal textures and features managed by a configuration tool.

• Highly detailed animated SODE jetways

• Highly detailed ground polygons, with different shaders and effects (p3dv4 only).

• Excellent night effects and customized runway lighting.

• Dynamic lights (p3dv4)

• Downtown buildings

• Highly detailed 5 meters Mesh.

• 15 square miles of photo scenery with thousands of hand placed autogen.

• Optimized for great performance

• And much more.

   

  The Baltimore Washington airport started operations back in the 1950s and over the years, it has seen many upgrades to meet the growing demands of air travel. As we look at the design of the airport, we can see that there is both a touch of the old and the new as far as the terminal buildings are concerned and the developer did an outstanding job in capturing the look and layout of this airport. As we look at some of the finer details, we can see that the ramp area, ground markings and ground equipment are all shown and highly detailed. Another interesting aspect of the terminal buildings is that the interiors have also been modeled with a balanced level of accurate detail. While some may argue that modeling the interior of an airport is unnecessary, P3D users who are fond of creating screenshot and video content will find these feature very useful. Personally, I think that it is a wonderful touch to this airport that sets it apart from numerous other scenery products that focus mainly on the exterior buildings while adding static photos to show the interior.

   

  

   

  Taking a closer look at the textures, we can see that quite a bit of effort went into cover every inch of this airport with textures that accurately depict the various surfaces of this airport. From concrete to glass, all of the textures seen are high quality and nicely balanced. While admiring the textures, you will also be happy to see that the surrounding areas of the airport have also been upgraded with photo scenery which blends nicely with default or 3^rd party ground texture products. In addition to the photo scenery, there are also a number of hand placed autogen buildings that further enhances the realism of flying in the Baltimore area.

  At night, P3D users will be quite pleased to know that dynamic lighting and a few other P3D exclusive effects are available to further create an immersive experience. Here are a few screenshots which nicely showcase the textures and night time experience at this airport.

   

  

   

  When it comes to the integration of scenery products and 3^rd party products such as SODE and GSX Level 2, this airport allows users to utilize these products to the full. For all of my flights in and out of KBWI, I was quite pleased with the overall integration with GSX which required little to no tweaking for each gate position. On the topic of performance, I can hardly imagine that anyone will have an issue. While using a variety of add-ons such as GSX, PMDG747, Captain Sim 767 and more, the performance was smooth and consistent throughout takeoff and landing at KBWI. However, if performance is a major concern, the configuration tool that comes with this product allows you to adjust the level of detail by adding or removing City and surrounding scenery, apron animations, static aircraft and more. Ultimately, if you want to have the best experience possible while flying to KBWI, this product is certainly a must have item.

  

   

   

   

  KRSW - Southwest Florida International

   

  
  
  KRSW FEATURES

• Texturing in HD mapping for all buildings, shading and occlusion (texture baking) effects on all buildings.

• Custom reflection maps and customized global environment map (FSX)

• Surroundings extremely detailed. 

• 300 square miles of photo scenery with thousands of hand placed autogen, extending from 12 miles west from the airport with Estero Island and Fort Myers beach.  

• Custom animated (CTRL+J) jetway and static.

• High resolution ground textures / Custom runway textures.

• Custom vehicle animations.

• Terminal interiors down to the exact realistic representation.

• Static GA aircraft.

• Fully AI traffic compatible.

• Optimized for excellent performance.

• Excellent night effects.

• Inclusion of manual in PDF format. 

• FSX, Prepar3Dv2 support.

• Much more!

   

  With the Southwest Florida International Airport being the 2^nd busiest single runway airport in North America, it was only fitting that a detailed version be made available for FSX/P3D users. As we look at the general layout of this airport, we can see that the developer did an outstanding job in recreating the layout this airport. In addition to modelling the airport itself, there is also a detailed recreation of the surrounding area of the airport which enhances the experience of using this airport.

  Looking at the terminal buildings, we can see that they have all been recreated to a high degree of accuracy. This also includes the GA hangars and other areas of the airport that may often be overlooked by some scenery developers. As with KBWI, a balanced level of detail has also been added to the interior of the airport which is personally the preferred option to simply having a static glass image of what the interior may look like. Having such a detailed and accurate feature such as this, must have taken quite a bit of time and the results are surely worth it.

  

  Looking further at the optional detail elements of this airport, you can also see that 3D grass, static aircraft, ground rain effects, photo scenery and land class have also been included. While these are all features that may have an impact on the overall performance of your simulator, the configuration tool provides some guidance in this regard to determine the level of impact it may have. Personally, with all options enabled, I thought that the performance on my very average PC was very pleasing and the visuals looked very realistic while blending quite nicely with my Orbx Global scenery textures.

  

  On the topic of textures, the high resolution ground and runway textures (along with accurate ground markings) sets this scenery product apart from many others that often do not take the time to provide this level of detail and overall immersion. What was even more impressive, is that while some scenery products do not always have the best night time visuals, KRSW offers just the right level of lighting and other visual enhancements to deliver a reasonably realistic night time environment. This level of realism isn’t only seen at the airport, but it is also quite evident with the 300 square miles of photo scenery that has been included. While I can continue to describe and commend the efforts made by LatinVFR, perhaps these screenshots will speak for themselves.

   

  

   

  As a final note on the KRSW scenery, while KBWI offers the option of having SODE jetways, KRSW does not have this feature. This means that users who rely heavily on products such as GSX will not be able to fully utilize all of its features when boarded passengers via the jetway. On the other hand, you will be pleased to know that all other features of GSX work quite well at this airport and the developer is planning to address this in a possible future update.Ultimately, this is a very nice scenery product worth adding to your simulator.

   

  CONCLUSION
  
  In conclusion, I think that these two airports are by far the best options for anyone who wishes to upgrade their default KBWI and KRSW scenery. These airports were developed to a high degree of accuracy with numerous features that we have all come to expect. The high quality textures, custom vehicles, seasonal textures and detailed surrounds (to name just a few) are all features that assist in creating an immersive experience to users who fly in and out of these airports. Given the price and the overall features of these airports, I think that everyone will enjoy using these products for a long time to come. Whether you fly airliners or GA aircraft, both airports nicely accommodate these aircraft with accurately designed terminal buildings and ramp areas. LatinVFR has steadily improved the quality of their products over the years and these new airports are a lovely indicator that this developer is here to stay and is here to cater to the high expectations of the flightsim community.  

   

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Ricardo from LatinVFR   and Simeon Richardson for their assistance with some of the screenshots in this review.

  OTHER PRODUCTS SEEN IN THIS REVIEW

  CAPTAIN SIM 767 II
  FSLABS A321
  A2A SPITFIRE
  ORBX GLOBAL

• LatinVFR Homepage