Personal Comments
This product was personally purchased by me from Simmarket for 16.80 USD.
The Good: It’s the only KPVD on the market as of August 2022. Not too many Rhode Island based airports are commercially made - the only other notable one is Gaya’s KBID Block Island, but a slightly downgraded version is bundled with World Update 10 USA Part 2.
The Bad: The showstopper is the removal of General Aviation Parking spots to the North near the old T.F. Green Terminal. The only Cold & Dark points are commercial jetliner spots connected directly to the new Terminal. The interiors are rough in some spots and incompletely modeled. While the maker touts a customized airport area of over 1,000 acres, it’s a mix of not so impressive handcrafted POIs and photogrammetery of the immediate area around Airport Road, Post Road and I-95 which encompass the airport.
Bottom-line Up Front: If you’re in need of a KPVD, it’s the only choice on the market. But it’s rough in a lot of spots. Restoring the GA parking in the North End/Old Terminal area would go a long way to making this airport more palatable.
Review Details and Screenshots below.
Your only start points for C&D are jetliner spots directly connected to the new terminal:
Oblique elevated view of the main gate hub which extends North and South
Interior of the terminal gate waiting areas - avatars are scattered here and there, none of them are seated - a few are walking.
Front of the Main Terminal - looks passable
View of the connector crossing over Airport Road that links the airport to the parking garages and the train station. This is the Departures Upper Deck. The Departures exterior is also missing signs where you can stop to unload pax based on which airline they’re using.
Parking Lot A (Short Term) Entry and Exit Points are missing Toll / Attendant Booths:
Airport Connector Road - you can see the shadows of what should be the highway signs indicating which lanes lead to the Departure, Arrival and short term parking areas. It’s probably lifted from Photogrammetry.
While the airport itself is mostly handcrafted, the immediate area surrounding is more Photogrammetry - that’s the former Legal Seafoods on the left (with blue tarping) and the barely recognizable Radisson hotel.
The Connector extends for quite a bit aways, but the only part that has people avatars - some animated - is the segment immediately over the Departures Upper Deck road - the rest of it empty.
A mostly accurate view of the Arrivals lobby and the escalators leading to the Departure Area - what’s missing is the luggage carousels the far left and right corners.
Details, details, details - typos on the handcrafted sign
Upon exiting the top of the escalators, turning left or right should lead you to check-in counters for the various airlines based at PVD - all missing.
This barren area is supposed to be the TSA Checkpoint - it should have agents, plexi barriers, X-Ray machines:
This view is accurate - as you descend from Departures deck to Arrival Lobby - the centerpiece is a locally manufactured sailboat with a self-service Information kiosk in front.
These next two shots show a solid wall that should be open - leading from the lobby just past the TSA Checkpoint to the North and South Terminal Gates:
I took a closer look at one of the gate areas - pretty sparse - also those two horizontal lines in the back wall kept blinking:
Fairly correct rendition of the airline craft services area (foreground) and the fuel tank farm in the back, separated by concrete security barriers cutting across the middle.
The FBO area which flanks the old TF Green Terminal - this should be available to the player as Cold & Dark ramp spots appropriate for General Aviation and Charter operations:
Closeup views of the handcrafted old Terminal - fairly accurate, but the authors didn’t complete the security gate fencing:
More examples of how the author reverted to somewhat generic POIs for areas immediately outside/across from the airport - that black topped building in the foreground-right should be an IHOP Restaurant, and the red building is actually a strip mall - the scale is off - it’s not that tall.
Here’s some Photogrammetry - you can barely recognize the KFC across from the IHOP pictured above - this is airport content, the only PG area in Rhode Island is Providence City proper which is at least 10 statute miles away from this location:
Runway 16 end - there should be continuous security fencing in front of that access road:
Horizon Air FBO at the North end:
RI Airport Corporation Fire Department - not sure what to make of this - if you zoom in you can sort of make out the State Crest on the front of the firehouse but it appears to be handcrafted,just not to the degree you would expect from a decalling view:
KPVD Control Tower area to the East, near the intersections of Runways 5 and 34:
Final Comments (subject to change depending upon manufacturer updates):
It’s a tough sell - I bought it because RI is my home base state, and it’s a reasonable external facsimile. Push comes to shove I don’t really care so much about the interior flaws of the Main Terminal, and I have to give the author credit for modeling it fairly closely. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. Restore the GA ramp spots, and I’m more or less satisfied. For the average player who doesn’t feel a personal connection to this airport, I’d say wait to see how the author responds to feedback and provides updates.
