This game thrives on its visuals. Its beautiful, atmospheric, and its cool how on a few flights I’ve had over the past few weeks what I’m discovering, my biggest surprise being an automotive testing facility in east central Ohio.
All that atmosphere and immersion goes away though when I land at my destination airport of choice to find nothing but flat land, zero buildings or structures, hangers, service vehicles, nothing. Now for grass and private strips I can kinda understand that for the most part, but for some airports its a bit of a let down.
Take for example Blue Ridge airport in Martinsville VA (KMTV). Its a wonderfully staffed small airport, good FBO services and offices, hanger space, and some light service infrastructure. In game however? Its barren. You can see the buildings on the ground textures but there are no physical buildings what so ever. And the lack of any vehicle traffic, even static traffic, just makes the place feel…empty.
Another example; Johnston Regional in Smithfield NC (KJNX). Again, well staffed and well equiped FBO, light aircraft services, hangers for storage IRL, yet nothing in the game. Just flat taxi ways and the runway with no infrastructure or vehicles on the ground to add to the atmosphere.
Now yes, this is a flight sim and most of our time should be spent in the air but at these smaller airports it does aid in the atmosphere and immersion to have SOME form of infrastructure at these airports. Personally I’d be okay with just static vehicles and some form of autogen buildings. And, I hate to point this out, but X-plane’s autogen small fields feel more lively than this.
This could be just a minor gripe, but with a game as graphically advanced as this, as immersive as it CAN be, as a GA pilot I’d like to have SOME life at the smaller airports I go to. Not all of us want the hustle and density of the major airports.