| Just Flight's Warrior // OSS' Shoreham |
| Friday, 21 April 2006 | |
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If you are unsure as to whether you would like the aircraft or not, JustFlight offer you a 30-day free trial period for the Warrior, Tomahawk and C-152, which I think is a nice touch. Rather than writing about the whole package, I am going to review just the PA28-161 Warrior and the Shoreham Scenery to give you an idea of what you can expect. Shoreham Airport
Shoreham airport is the oldest established airport in the UK. The first flights took off from here in 1910, but the airport was properly founded in 1930. On June 13th, 1936, the unique and exquisite art deco terminal building was opened by the Mayors of Brighton, Hove and Worthing. The airport was used in WW2 as a base and is still in use today as an active airport. In 2002 there were 72,336 aircraft movements recorded (just 679 commercial). The terminal building itself remains virtually untouched and has Grade 2 listed status. The Shoreham 2005 scenery by OSS consists of detailed, true to life buildings and objects, lovingly textured as well as good frame rates. On my mid-range system I had the display settings maxed out, although with no AI, and still achieved respectable FPS around the 20 mark. After installation there is an option to change what you see at the airport to help your frame rates, a great addition for those with lower end machines. You have the option of turning on or off daytime and night time roads, moving trains, other vehicles and the residential houses outside the airport. You can also make the scenery compatible with VFR photo-scenery and terrain mesh and adjust the level of the static aircraft.
As you take a wander around the airport, the attention to detail by OSS is obvious. Little things like signs on the fences, road speed signs (20mph around the airport if you're interested!), postboxes and picnic tables all add to the feel of this great package. There is even a moving train that passes every few minutes and a static RAF Tornado and Police Helicopter and the memorial to those who lost their lives in WWI and WWII is there aswell.
There are lots of static cars parked around the airport in the various car parks, sitting behind the fences and turning up the AI makes for some fun watching the other aircraft go about their business. It doesn't matter where you are on the airfield, whether it is coming under the bridge with the train thundering overhead, approaching the front of the terminal building or exploring the church up on the hill, the attention to detail and quality of the scenery is breathtaking.
The buildings don't just stop at the terminal. There are dozens of other buildings around the airfield. Hangars, maintenance buildings and fuel pumps are all there, nothing has been missed out. Don't believe me? Check out airliners.net, this scenery is a masterpiece.
As you move away from the airfield the scenery keeps on going. The roads and houses around the area have been added too to make it even more realistic, and a church is there too. You can spend hours just exploring the scenery at ground level without ever taking-off!
To sum it up, the OSS' Shoreham 2005, for the price you pay, is superb. I had never even considered flying out of Shoreham before this was released, and now it is my home base for my fleet of general aircraft. If you want a bustling little airport to fly around whilst you have a spare hour to kill, this is the one for you. Check out the airport's website at www.shorehamairport.co.uk and the OSS' website at www.onlinesimulationsolutions.com. The OSS' Shoreham 2005 scenery is available for $24.95. Please advance to the next page now... |
