Aircraft used: LVFR 320, PMDG 738
Live weather: on
CYYC was my first FSimStudios airport, having heard a lot about how good a reputation they have.
DETAIL
If I had to describe Calgary with just two words, I’d use ‘moody’ and ‘sterile’. It’s kind of bittersweet. The airport looks great but it does in places feel a little lifeless, particularly landside. The later Winnipeg has a similar feel but to a much lesser degree.
The terminal building is nicely modelled but features a VERY toned down interior (which isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Xbox marketing blurb). The airside areas are very well modelled but despite featuring clutter they somehow feel too bare. Same landside but the feeling of sterility is greater — possibly due to FSS having left far too much default ground texturing in.
On the plus side, every building/structure is nicely textured and this quality is maintained across the entire airfield. We also get a handful of lovely static aircraft, tailored for CYYC, dotted about the place. The marketing mentions a mall and some large stores modelled on approach to one of the runways and, satisfyingly, these details are actually quite a way from the airport. We also get a single building modelled in downtown Calgary but to me it’s not particularly prominent. Still, better to have it than not, and I believe FSS just issued an update that a) includes more of the city, and b) improves performance and stability. At the moment this update is for PC only but I imagine it won’t be long before it’s available to Xbox users.
One thing I will say is that the airside ground textures are excellent — among some of the best I’ve seen in the sim.
PERFORMANCE
The detail is pretty irrelevant when your product is as stable like a two-legged horse and unfortunately that’s what we get with CYYC. Black screens are very common, even when still a mile or so from touchdown, and drone use is typically asking for trouble. To be fair, it will take a fair bit of drone use beyond black screens till it CTDs, and I have had all screens return to normal shortly after departure. But overall, I can’t praise the stability here. Framerate performance, however, is largely fine.
VERDICT
FSimStudios airports aren’t cheap and CYYC represents poor value, given how unstable it is on Xbox. I hope the update is soon made available for console simmers. Furthermore, I really hope it improves stability as claimed. I’m quite confident since Winnipeg performs so brilliantly, so maybe there’s hope yet for CYYC?
If you HAVE to have Calgary in your sim, I guess you could just about justify the cost, if you pick it up with a discount (FSS stuff seems to be discounted pretty frequently). Otherwise, there are plenty of airports of similar size/fidelity which will result in far less frustration. It does run but you really do have to be very careful — if you are going to buy and visit this airport, I recommend staying in the cockpit for the duration of your stay on the ground!
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