This aircraft does all of the important things right. Imho, a few small graphical upgrades would elevate it from “cult classic” status to one of the best add-ons:
Smoother prop spinners
Better resolution for the window/door screws and door window frame textures around the cockpit
Higher resolution details on engine cowlings, particularly cowling latches
I’d go as far as to say I personally would pay extra for the graphical improvements mentioned above. Other than that, the plane is already awesome in every way.
As they say „perfect is the enemy of good“. The Islander might get the „important things“ right and be good overall. But let’s wait and see the Twin Otter for comparison. We already know that this one will offer much greater model variety for the same price. The Islander might be considered a cult classic now but might just as well be completely forgotten tomorrow. We don’t know yet and simply have to wait if the „ important things“ will be enough to keep her flying in the ever growing collection of peoples addons.
Personal preference, I guess. This was the only aircraft I actually really wanted to become available in MSFS, and now that the sounds are great as well I couldn’t be happier. Apart from when I want to fly a jet, the Islander is pretty much the only plane I use - not even the JF Arrow is getting much of a workout nowadays. One big consideration is the FPS-friendliness of the Islander. And now that we have the PMS GTN 750 with a popout/toolbar version (mostly for the “clean flight plan” feature), I don’t even mind the GNS 530 being in the dash.
I think it is safe to say it will be a classic because it has already been a classic in so many people’s hearts even before it was released by BlackBox. Same goes for airplanes such as TwinOtter, Beaver, PC-6, etc… as long as they are not released by shady developers (we all know who they are at this point), we will love them even if they are not totally perfect.
I agree, we can argue price a little, but Blackbox obviously put care into getting a lot of things right that matter and gave us a good representation of the aircraft within what we can expect for this price range. I anticipate the twin otter to cost a bit more by comparison.
One thing I also forgot to mention. The ADF and DME don’t appear to be working on Xbox. I mostly bush fly with the 530 guiding me so I don’t notice it much but would be good to get those up and running.
Hmmmm. Interesting statement to suggest the Islander will be forgotten if something better comes out. Guess Asobo better get their finger out then and not be complacent in making the base product what they promised. If someone else betters them, will it mean Msfs will be reduced to an “also ran” cult status?
It will yes. Just as happened with FSX or P3D. Development of addons shifted to MSFS and there is no reason why it shouldn’t happen to MSFS. It’s just not likely as there is little interest in developing big civilian sims like this. And MSFS is technologically quite advanced in many aspects.
It won’t. The head dev already confirmed 30€. And I think Asobo themselves demonstrated what can be done in even less of a price range. That an addon needs to be expensive to be good is not true. And the Islander is not PMDG level of complexity either.
I‘m not saying the Islander is bad. I’m saying it’s in a rather unattractive area of the value for money scale. In a world of many addons it suffers shortcomings not shown by similarly priced products or it’s not priced competitively in the light of what it offers.
Just like Carenado where I can look past things on a 15€ C170B that I’m not willing to accept in a twice as expensive C182. It’s not an absolute question but - in any product that is - always related to price. You always judge for yourself if a certain proposition is attractive for you or if it isn’t. For me the Islander isn’t. And that’s unfortunate because it easily could be.
That all doesn’t matter at all if you need/want that special plane model in you sim. If you have no choice and „need“ a specific model you will buy anything.
Greatest of respect to all customers here BUT The BN2 Islander is known as the “LAND ROVER” Of the sky … Would you really expect a deep Laquered mirrorflake paintjob and top Austrian leather interior ?<<
Lets hope that it’s more reliable the the Land Rover.
Love the plane bought it happily and enjoying it thanks for the great work but I think it would be good to know if any of this is on a dev roadmap or not? Or what are your plans if any to further develop the plane? Many thanks, keep up the good work!
Smoother prop spinners
Better resolution for the window/door screws and door window frame textures around the cockpit
Higher resolution details on engine cowlings, particularly cowling latches
Had the Islander for a while and slightly disappointed by the look of it. Spinners that wobble like jelly on a plate and the whole aircraft, inside and out has very average looking textures. In 2021 I expect the models to look slightly more realistic.
I think the spinners on some of the planes are actually static and don’t rotate. This is why they don’t wobble. Look at the default caravan for example.