Test machine specs: MSI X670E, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX, 48gb RAM
Reviewed for: FS2024
Add-ons: FS Traffic, GSX Pro
DETAIL
I’m currently having a bit of a love/hate relationship with this airport. The modelling is generally very good but the texturing in many places is a little too sterile (something quite apparent from the marketing trailer and screenshots). That said, there are some decent examples of weathering here and there.
The terminal is well done and features a near full interior. The airside portions of this interior are quite generic but the windows that look out across the main apron are small at the real airport, with much of the building looking rather like a giant shed. The landside check-in area is excellent, however — a wise move to apply the bulk of the detail here since the entire public-facing façade is made of glass. There are animated passengers throughout, and SoFly have included some ambient sounds (though it sounds odd hearing a jet taking off when there’s no active traffic on the airfield!). A cool feature, implemented as part of walkaround mode, is the animation of some terminal doors, which are triggered by either the presence of the drone cam or your avatar. The walkaround mode isn’t perfectly implemented (some restricted access where there perhaps shouldn’t be, meaning you can’t realistically walk from your aircraft to the outdoor terminal landside) but it’s good enough.
The airside ground textures are one of this scenery’s strengths, as is the accurately modelled runway slope (EGGD is famous for its uphill runway, if landing or departing from the east). The ground markings look sufficiently weathered. Clutter-wise, there are some excellent custom models on display but I’d like to see a few more, just to fill it out a bit. It’s good to see animated ramp workers — even if they’re only Asobo default assets — but the traffic cones being 6ft tall makes them look more like party hats for elephants!
The terminal landside is a mixed bag but overall feels a bit lifeless, save for a handful of custom assets (road signs, animated passengers, barriers, etc.). Don’t get me wrong, most of what is here is great — there just needs to be more of it. The internal modelling of the new bus station and the modest number of custom cars go some way towards softening the blow but there really is no disguising the sparsity. In real life this area is currently a bit of a building site so maybe SoFly have an excuse, but I think it could have been done better. There are a lot of mismatching areas of ground imagery that just don’t properly fit (not just here but across the airfield’s landside areas) and some of the terraforming is questionable. The Hampton hotel also looks unbelievably toy-like.
Moving to the airport’s south side, this is where things fall apart a little. It’s very haphazard and even the enormous number of custom cars can’t distract from the chaos. This area is much better done in the Pilot Plus version of EGDD. The airport does at least have an all-encompassing perimeter fence but it doesn’t look anywhere near high enough and isn’t topped with razor wire (I doubt this type of fence would in reality be permitted by the UK’s Department for Transport).
Finally, night-lighting, which has impressed me. SoFly really have nailed this. Their custom airfield signs have been done in a manner I’ve not seen before: really convincing, especially how they cast their glow over the surrounding terrain. The scope of illumination (i.e. 180 degrees) is perhaps a little excessive but the effect itself works really well.
PERFORMANCE
Really good for me, and performance generally has been widely reported as being solid. Bristol might not be among the UK’s busiest airports but it has very busy periods during the summer.
VERDICT
Naturally, SoFly’s rendition of EGDD is going to draw comparisons with the much older Pilot Plus version (which works in FS2024 but is no longer supported). Is SoFly’s an upgrade? Ostensibly, yes, but it’s a little more complex than that. It’s unfair to compare a scenery that’s over four years old to a brand new one but there are areas in which Pilot Plus did a better job. Obviously, SoFly’s features the airport in a more up-to-date state, with much having changed at the real place since 2021.
The question is, is it worth nearly £17? That depends. If you have the Pilot Plus version, I’d say no, unless you really must have the airport in its current state (and I really hope SoFly are committed to updating it, since the construction work isn’t finished). If you don’t yet have a Bristol in your sim, this probably just edges Pilot Plus’ — particularly when you consider Pilot Plus’ lack of continuing support — but it definitely isn’t illustrative of four years’ worth of sim advancements (aside from walkaround mode). There are better, more polished 2024-native airports for the same or less money.
I think if SoFly could fix some of the more glaring issues (mainly the overly sterile texturing in places, and the sparse landside with its awkward terraforming), their EGGD would be more competitive. The airport’s south side certainly would benefit from some TLC but this is likely less important, unless you’re a GA flyer. The other issues just require simple cosmetic alterations (e.g. swapping the perimeter fence for a more authentic model and adding a smidge more apron clutter).
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