Test machine specs: MSI X670E, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX, 48gb RAM
MSFS add-ons: FSLTL, GSX Pro, REX AccuSeason (which may misrepresent some colours in certain light conditions)
FS2024 add-ons: none
Again, the motivation for this review is the subject currently being available at a significant discount (on Contrail).
DETAIL
I often try to compare the work of lesser-known devs to that of more familiar ones, and in the case of Beek (as it’s also known — hence the ICAO code), the workmanship reminds me a lot of M’M Simulations. That’s no bad thing, since M’M’s work is decent; but their texturing can sometimes appear sterile and plain — and we see similar (and in some cases, worse) examples of this at EHBK. It’s actually odd because some buildings exhibit convincing weathering, while others are quite featureless (looking a lot like FSX relics). Like M’M, the airport’s roadways are custom-modelled, but there’s much greater use of scenery-wide custom clutter than is typical of an M’M scenery. This contrast is more obvious in the landside areas, most of which are extremely well done here.
The airside areas are excellent, with the aprons featuring weathered ground textures, sharp ground markings and an abundance of static airliners (EHBK has a prominent paintshop and is known for its long-term storage ramps). The ground clutter is all custom and includes a good selection of service vehicles unique to this airport.
The terminal has a partial interior (the landside concourse). The airside portion of the building looks as though it wouldn’t present many opportunities to peer in from the outside, which is probably part of the reason ST chose not to model it.
The terminal’s landside is very well modelled, boasting tons of clutter including bespoke cars, road signs, trees/shrubs, illuminated bollards, light poles, etc. One really nice feature is the huge triangular billboard sign, which at night is probably the first thing that catches your eye. In the more peripheral areas, the vehicle models revert to default Asobo models but this is the norm rather than the exception.
EHBK is the home of EuroControl’s Upper Area Control Centre and ST have modelled the entire facility in pretty high detail. They’ve also modelled the airport’s cargo areas in full, plus a couple of commercial/industrial estates around the perimeter. The cargo areas are especially well crafted (this is a major freight hub, after all), featuring some of the most attractive custom assets not only in this scenery, but in the sim in general. All surrounding roads have received the dev’s full attention, with none left to default satellite imagery. I’m impressed with how many custom street lights have been hand-placed, on the airport and around its perimeter.
Finally, night-lighting. It’s an area of stark contrast: generally, it’s very well done (those hand-placed street lights certainly do their job!) but the one big let-down is some awful window textures that really do look like they belong in a Commodore 64 game. Luckily they’re not all absolutely terrible but I’d much rather ST had made some attempt at parallax window effects. I’ve included a screenshot of the ATC tower below, just to illustrate my point. Unfortunately this isn’t the only prominent building to feature these shoddy window textures. On the plus side, I’ve so far failed to notice any pesky Asobo ‘globes’.
PERFORMANCE
EHBK isn’t a busy airport in reality so FSLTL users aren’t going to see any fps drops. Performance is pretty flawless for me, no doubt helped by the lack of photogrammetry in this area.
VERDICT
EHBK will be a high priority for anyone who loves freight-dogging — and it appears to me that ST are appealing to this category of simmer with their particular attention to the cargo areas — but some of the scenery’s needlessly poor aesthetics are hard to gloss over. There are a number of areas that have that dreaded cartoonish look, not at all helped by the handful of incredibly poor night-time window textures. If you’re intent on never leaving the cockpit — and plan on only flying freight into this airport on a regular basis — I’d say it’s a worthwhile (possibly even essential) buy. But if you’re going to be a more casual visitor, flying pax, it’s perhaps best to evaluate how much you need this airport in your sim. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good little scenery with some fantastic assets — it’s just going to be a bit niche for many, and its flaws might just be the factor that determines whether or not you make the purchase.
In short, this is an airport primarily for freight lovers, for whom it will do the job to a more-than-satisfactory degree.
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