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
Slowly but surely, Saudi Arabia is becoming more accessible in the sim, thanks to the efforts of Tuwaiq, Azrsim and Vertex. Since all are fledgling developers, creating in a poorly represented region, it’s perhaps important not to apply the same level of expectation we would for veteran devs such as MK or Drzewiecki.
My first landing went well, with all navaids seemingly well integrated. Ground textures are high-res but quite generic — very average (or perhaps just below) in 2026. The one thing that immediately struck me is a total lack of taxiway signage — okay, you can use one of the many airport maps available to us simmers (including from the EFB, where available) but it’s a tiny omission that has disproportionately negative consequences.
Arriving on stand, the airbridge attached well (although on a later arrival, a different airbridge cut well into the aircraft skin), and I couldn’t help but notice its intricate detail. The terminal, too, which has been beautifully and meticulously crafted to reflect its real-world counterpart. Some of the textures could be slightly higher-res in places, and better weathered (the whole scenery does suffer from the dreaded ‘sterility’ syndrome), but it looks impressive, and features a near-full interior. Sadly, it feels a little deserted inside, with only a handful of static passenger models, but we do get fully modelled shops, cafes, etc. The interiors of the piers exhibit some decent detail but it is undoubtedly a touch repetitive; but as far as viewing it all from the flightdeck goes, it’s more than adequate. It’s worth mentioning that there’s some strange LOD issue, that only seems to manifest when you view the terminal in its entirety from the north. It’s quite distracting and needs to be fixed.
Landside, there’s been some very selective development, confined almost entirely to the stretch of road running past the terminal’s main entrances/exits. This area looks very nice, with a selection of vehicles (all with Saudi genuine registration plates) and signage but, again, very few signs of human life. And you don’t have to move far before you encounter very bare areas that contribute to the overall feeling of lifelessness. No perimeter fences at all, even in the terminal’s vicinity — if there were passengers wandering around here, they’d be entirely free to just waltz onto the ramp! There is one saving grace, and that’s full development of the road network around the terminal.
The real weak point of the scenery becomes apparent as you explore the airport’s peripheries: buildings simply left to default satellite imagery, including (shockingly!) the ATC tower. The old and cargo terminals have been modelled (the former rather simply) but the surrounding airside buildings are just flat photo scenery. It is obvious that all the focus has been on the terminal but I’d rather see less of that building’s interior if it meant more modelling elsewhere on the airfield.
The next issue is that of AI traffic, an example of which I saw arrive on RWY36 but immediately vansh before vacating. There were a number of aircraft present at gates when I arrived but a couple of the larger ones were parked with their nosewheels well forward of the applicable ground markings, resulting in jetways cutting through their wings.
Night-lighting is good but I’ve yet to see terrible night-lighting in FS2024. There are a few Asobo ‘globes’ floating around but, luckily, nowhere they’re particularly noticeable.
On a final note, the airport has an elevation profile, which surprises me, given the lack of detail elsewhere.
PERFORMANCE
With the fine detail being limited to just a couple of areas of the airport, performance is excellent.
VERDICT
I say this often but this is a story of what could have been. What’s here is great — and I have no objection to peripheral airport areas being more simplified — but there really is a need for further development in this scenery. The terminal is excellent (save for the overly clean textures); its landside is good but there’s room for improvement (more people, perimeter fences). No ATC tower really is a major oversight — in fact, I know of no other airport scenery in which such an important structure has been omitted. Maintenance areas are simply non-existent and of the many buildings that clearly occupy the edges of the old terminal/cargo apron, only one has been done. The really strange thing is that Tuwaiq chose to model what looks like a very large train station, located a couple of miles from the airport (obviously a very prominent landmark on finals for RWY36). Despite my love for local landmarks. I’d rather this creative energy had been put into what’s inside the airfield boundary, not what’s miles out on an approach.
Don’t get me wrong, this is NOT a bad scenery. It’s an unfinished scenery; that if fully developed to the standard of the terminal and its immediate landside, would likely be the best Saudi airport for the sim (that accolade currently goes to Vertex, whose Dammam is still top of the heap for me).
Improving what’s already here shouldn’t be anywhere near an insurmountable task for the dev — it’s whether he chooses to acknowledge and act on constructive criticism. He certainly shows promise with some of the modelling and custom assets so hopefully his airport projects will keep improving with each release. The standard price for this scenery is perhaps a little too much but the dev holds frequent sales, with prices that are far more appropriate for the work done. At the current sale price, this scenery is great value, as long as you realise the shortcomings (which may or may not get fixed). All it’s going to really take for this to be an absolute steal is a more even spread of airfield detail (i.e. at least the introduction of a tower!) and the fixing of both the terminal LOD and AI traffic paths/radii. The rest I can live with, given the price and location. It could of course be the case that Tuwaiq is happy to offer ‘lite’ airports and doesn’t intend for them to be highly-detailed replicas — but this would be obvious talent wasted, if you ask me.
Tuwaiq’s Medina fits perfectly into the ever-expanding catalogue of Saudi scenery, which also includes Riyadh, Dammam and (soon) Jeddah. That gives us the four international airports in the country, plus regional examples such as Red Sea Int’l and Abha. There are some good route choices out of OEMA, that can pair the scenery with the likes of MXI (or SceneryTR) LTFJ, IniBuilds’ Gulf airports or Homa’s Iranian collection.
Incidentally, I just bought Abha but haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. If it suffers the same inadequacies as Medina, it’s no great problem, based on the sort of money the dev is asking. I like to support people creating scenery in more obscure places… and who knows? This guy could soon be the next Pyreegue…
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