Patrick Scharnowski Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I don't know if this contest is still on because there is no other entry yet and the sticky was gone since the 24 hour closedown, but anyway, here's my review: I think it's no exaggeration that OrbX fundamentally changed the world of Flight Simulator X (FSX) when they stepped onto the playing field of payware scenery design. Already very experienced with the creation of the outstanding VOZ freeware for Flight Simulator 2004 this newly formed company brought the realism of auto generated scenery to a new level when they developed the four Full Terrain Experience (FTX) region packs that cover the whole continent of Australia. Never before did landclass based scenery look so natural and real. But OrbX did not just stop there. They also set out to create some of the best airport representations that FSX has seen so far. Fantastic products like their Aeropelican (YPEC) and Warnervale (YWVA) airports, among many others, are testament to that. With Cessnock Airport (YCNK), one of their latest releases, OrbX upped the ante once more and introduced some new features that make the FTX environment even more immersive than it already was. Cessnock Airport is located in New South Wales roughly 75 miles North of Sydney in the picturesque Hunter Valley not far from the eastern coast of Australia. YCNK is a fairly busy regional airport with training and joy flight opportunities, including helicopters, balloons and even an actual L-39 Albatros jet. So if you are one of the happy owners of the Lotus Simulatons L-39 this definitely is the airport for you. Despite officially being a full blown airport Cessnock has a particularly charming feel to it, very much like a small airfield. I think “cozy†is the right word to describe the atmosphere that one can find here. Partially responsible for that may be the small vineyard that is lining the runway. You simply feel at home at once. Cessnock comes with a few new features that separate it from OrbX' former releases. It includes a little texture tool called Aero that provides optional enhancements for the ground detail bump map, runway textures and taxiway markings. Especially the detail bump map makes the airport apron look more real than ever by adding more depth to it. The bump map can be chosen from four different flavors (coarse, fine, soft and cracked) that all give a different feel to the ground textures. This feature does not only enhance Cessnock but the ground details all over the simulated world. A great bonus, to say the least. Another new addition are the Airport Audio Enhancements that increase the immersion by adding ambient sound effects like chirping birds, starting engines and talking people to the airport environment depending on where you are located. It is amazing how much this rather simple element adds to the feeling of “being thereâ€. Last but no least Cessnock provides a control panel that allows to enable or disable certain features like static vehicles or airport clutter to save performance. It also allows to switch off the individual audio hot spots. Each item includes an approximation of the frame rate gain that one can expect from disabling it. A neat thing to have, especially for mid and low range systems. The airport itself is a thing of absolute beauty and astounding attention to detail. Every texture on the airport is made of photographic imagery of the real thing. There are tire marks and cracks visible on the apron, accompanied by little pebbles and details created by the Aero feature, as well as oil stains. The taxiway and runway lights are not simply floating sprites, as we are used from standard FSX airports, but actual 3D objects. This, as well as marker cones and blades of grass that stand out from the ground, are responsible for making the experience almost tangible. Of course this attention to detail does not stop at the apron. Similar care has been taken of the structures that can be found at Cessnock. Hangars, office buildings, garages and even the Café in front of the airport are beautifully recreated by photo textures and careful modeling. Little details like air conditions and fire hose cases are not just flat textures but actual 3D objects. Another thing that brings a lifelike quality to the airport are small details that are scattered around the scenery. There are barrels, trash containers, benches, movable stairs, lamp posts, hot air balloons floating over the area, barb wire and crooked wooden fences, dividers and even an old dismantled Piper Cub that add character to the airfield. On top of that there are also high resolution signs all over the place and you will probably know all the important safety reminders and phone numbers by heart when you are done exploring. If you should stray behind the hangars of Vintage Aviation you can even read signs saying that the hangars have video surveillance and back to base alarms, a detail that you will never see during normal aircraft operation while using this scenery but which is there nonetheless. This is another proof for how far its creators are willing to go to provide the best possible experience. Last but not least Cessnock airport includes customized high quality AI traffic that not only follows flight plans to other airports but that also flies circuits and does Touch and Gos, making it a busy place. So watch out and listen to the radio during your next approach or you might be cut off by some flight student learning the ropes. OrbX would not be OrbX if they would settle for a fantastic airport and be done with it. That is why Cessnock, as any other of their payware airports, comes with a big chunk of its surroundings (over 100 square kilometers of Hunter Valley in this case) in a similar breathtaking and photoreal quality, complete with hand placed buildings and trees. Right next to the airport is the Crowne Plaza Hotel including an 18 hole golf course. There are beautiful wineries all around, residential areas, parks, small companies, a racetrack, a fair ground and many things more, lots of them with individually designed buildings. The township of Cessnock itself is a very well done mix of aerial imagery of the actual town and well placed FTX autogen tiles combined with hand placed roads. If you look closely this leads to some roads going nowhere or crossing through buildings in an odd manner but looks great and believable otherwise. Describing all the things that can be discovered in the Cessnock area would blow this review out of proportion so I leave it to you to find out for yourself. Suffice it to say that one can go exploring literally for hours and still find new cool stuff. Conclusion: OrbX' Cessnock (YCNK) raises the bar once again. It's fantastic to see how the developers learn new tricks and how to create new cool features from release to release. The addition of Aero and the Audio Enhancements push the envelope even further and the attention to detail is amazing. Every season is covered with fitting textures and the night lighting is out of this world. The photoreal Hunter Valley blends perfectly with the surrounding FTX AU Gold area. It's really hard to make out where the Cessnock scenery ends and the Gold scenery begins. If you should be wondering if all that eye candy is hard on your system, don't worry. Cessnock is a rather small town about 30 miles from the coast surrounded by lots of vineyards. This means that there is very little water and a moderate number of buildings and trees which makes YCNK one of (if not the) least demanding product of OrbX's airport line. I can recommend Cessnock without hesitation. You will spend hours and hours of flying in this beautiful area. One last thing: in my opinion owning at least the AU Gold region package is an absolute must before you get this airport, because otherwise there might be unforeseen consequences like missing building and trees, not to the mention that the default scenery is no worthy environment for this product. Happy flying! (P.S.) 9/10 (to leave room for future releases ) Screenshots: EDIT: fixed screenshots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 LOL! I forgot all about this contest, and being the only entry, you win!! ;D Now, what was the prize again? I've have to dig out the original post. Nicely written review as well, and clearly you're enjoying Cessnock. You know I had no idea they flew an L-39 out of there; only now I saw the image on that sign near the entrance. Amazing how even I missed that bit of information, hehe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 OK found the original post, where I said: The winner will get a AU$150.00 voucher from the Flightsimstore and your review will be published on the front page of the FTX website! So please send a PM to "FSS-Adrian" on these forums and link to this post, and he'll arrange for your voucher ok? Congrats! I will prep and post the review on the FTX website later this week; still working out butts off to get YSTW finished Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Johnston Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Great review mate Good to see people notice the very small details around the place. Will have to try and better that 9/10 now P.S A nice reward as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Harris Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Gratz mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scharnowski Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 LOL! I forgot all about this contest, and being the only entry, you win!! ;D Seriously? Woohoo!! You know I had no idea they flew an L-39 out of there; only now I saw the image on that sign near the entrance. Amazing how even I missed that bit of information, hehe! Hehe, well now you know. So please send a PM to "FSS-Adrian" on these forums and link to this post, and he'll arrange for your voucher ok? Congrats! Will do! Thanks! I will prep and post the review on the FTX website later this week; Cool! And please feel free to iron out any mistakes or awkward expressions. After all, English isn't my native language. Oh, and it seems I have to reupload the pictures. I noticed that I cropped them the wrong way when trying to get rid of the slew info bar. A big part of the right side of the pictures is missing. EDIT: fixed the screenshots in the original post. still working out butts off to get YSTW finished There is a possible 10/10 coming right there. Great review mate Good to see people notice the very small details around the place. Will have to try and better that 9/10 now Thanks! You will succeed, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clmisiu Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Crap, I wrote a review but got the dates wrong, it ended on 30th, not today (as I thought) ;] Congratulations to the winner! I will read your work today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Like the review very well done and congratulations on winning the prize matey. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Very nice review Jigsaw, reads easy and gives lots of info and Congratulations with the prize as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyxx Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Congratulations on winning, Good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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