Firstly, can I request that the mods don’t move this to the main EETN thread? It will likely get buried there and I feel this post may benefit those looking to potentially buy this scenery.
With nothing new in the MP today to take my fancy I plumped for Drzewiecki’s EETN, which I’ve had my eye on ever since the promo video was released a couple of months back.
As I usually do, I checked out the new scenery but flying in there from elsewhere — Helsinki on this occasion, just a 20 minute flight away in the ATR-72.
The approach to runway 08 has plenty of detail, including a huge DIY store , with the city in very close proximity on the port side and a picturesque lake and forest on the starboard. Runway is full of bumps, so presumably accurately modelled. The small terminal is at the western extremity of the airfield, and even in the ATR it feels like a bit of a trek taxiing to stand! Luckily there’s tons of eye candy the full length of the parallel taxiway. I parked stand M12 which has an airbridge but, being in the ATR, it wasn’t available to me. I’m not sure if they function like they do in the dev’s own Krakow scenery (the shutters go up when you trigger it and a guy can be seen at the controls, trundling it towards your L1 door). The runway 26 approach isn’t quite as impressive but that’s down to the nature of the real-world airport. You do get to see some neat smoking chimney stacks, though, plus the harbour (off in the distance) and an enormous warehouse as you fly over the perimeter fence.
As I wound down the systems, I took to the drone for a tour of the terminal. What a treat! This is the most stunningly detailed interior I’ve ever seen! Absolutely everything is modelled, and it’s the only interior I know of that you can take a FULL, uninterrupted tour through without hitting any empty spaces! There’s also some background noise, which sounds great. There are tons of other airport buildings too, with two hangar interiors fully modelled (one with ambient sound).
Next, it was off to the city centre, the boundaries of which begin virtually at the perimeter fence. There are a couple of huge malls, warehouses, office blocks… all custom modelled. Oh, and don’t forget the beautifully animated city tram that runs between the centre and the airport! The custom downtown is great, comprising the new and old towns — with all buildings exhibiting nice, crisp textures. There’s some terrain modelling, too.
All good so far… so what are the flaws? Well, the animated pax in the terminal aren’t featured in the Xbox release. In fact, there aren’t even any static ones like there are in other Drzewiecki sceneries. I can live with this, though — the sheer scale of the terminal detail more than makes up for it. I can also live without the static aircraft at the terminal (although there are some at other areas of the airfield, including inside hangars). However the lack of parked cars in the terminal’s car-parks does quash the immersion more significantly, leaving large chunks of the landside area looking bare and lifeless.
Performance-wise it’s very good, considering the complexity. One CTD in about 3hrs, and that was using the drone camera at maximum speed, returning from the city to the terminal interior very quickly.
I have contacted the dev to ask about the possibility of including pax/cars/aircraft if the airport proves to be consistent on Xbox. But these are really only minor gripes, with the astonishingly impressive detail at this airport making it far easier to forgive these (presumed) optimisation omissions. Don’t let the flaws put you off — this is every bit as awe-inducing as Pyreegue’s UK airports, and certainly a must if you’re looking to fly around the Baltics. Sure, it’s not cheap but, as with the majority of Drzewiecki’s airports, you’re getting a lot of quality city thrown in as well. Rarely has a MSFS airport exceeded my expectations but even with the omissions, this one has.
Hope this helps someone with their purchasing conundrum…