Test machine specs: MSI X670E, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX, 48gb RAM
Add-ons: FSLTL, GSX Pro, REX AccuSeason (which may misrepresent some colours in certain light conditions)
Dfflyer’s Detroit City pack was released shortly after Orbx’s, but at a much better price, so I chose the former. While Dfflyer’s buildings aren’t as detailed as Orbx’s when viewed up close, they look every bit as good from the air, and Dfflyer’s night effects are certainly superior.
This new Pittsburgh pack is fully compatible with both MSFS and FS2024, but my review relates exclusively to the MSFS version. It’s currently available from the dev’s own store, Simmarket and Flightsim.to, with Contrail and Aerosoft to follow in due course. Those who’ve been following the dev on Discord can get a good discount at Dfflyer Direct, if purchased in the next few days.
DETAIL
I think Pittsburgh steps up the game when compared to Detroit. Many of the buildings are done in higher resolution (although others remain lower-res) and every bridge within the city limits has been custom-modelled. There is still a VERY SLIGHT cartoonish feel to the buildings and, in particular, the bridges, but this seems par for the course with city scenery (the most highly-regarded city developers, such as Orbx, Impulse and Samscene, don’t offer true photoreal texturing).
The buildings sit very well within the area’s PG but some of the bridges are a slightly awkward fit (again, though, even the very best don’t tend to get this spot on, such is the contrast between satellite imagery and custom modelling).
As with Detroit, the real strength of this package is its night-lighting, which I find to be less garish and more natural-looking than its forerunner. It really is quite stunning.
There are a few little Easter eggs to find (animations, fine details, etc.) throughout the scenery. The only real issue I noticed is some buildings aren’t rooted to the ground convincingly but Pittsburgh city centre isn’t built on flat land (not in the sim, at least) so that’s likely more of a sim limitation than anything Dfflyer has done wrong.
PERFORMANCE
Despite sitting in a PG area, performance for me is excellent, even at maximum TLOD (at which there are just one or two very slight stutters every now and again).
VERDICT
Pittsburgh is another solid city project from Dfflyer, who seems to be getting better with each release. The quality here matches Samscene — a veteran in MSFS city design — but does fall a bit short of what Orbx are capable of at their best. Night-lighting, however, is this developer’s greatest strength and his cities really do take some beating when viewed in the dark. When conducting regular flight ops, you’re not realistically going to notice the difference between Dfflyer and Orbx cities, unless you start doing aerial acrobatics in downtown streets!
Also, the pricing has to be borne in mind: Orbx cities are often double the price… but not anywhere close to being double the quality. Pittsburgh comes in at just US$9.99 (less if you use the Discord code — which honestly makes it an absolute no-brainer).
With a new, quality city developer on the scene, I expect we’ll soon be seeing more of America’s great cities come to life in the sim.
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