Aircraft used: default 32N, LVFR 320, PMDG 738
Live weather: on
DETAIL
Upon initial release the detail was pretty incredible — we had a full terminal interior plus an animated MAGLEV train that transfers passengers between the main airside concourse and the remote piers. The train even had a complete interior! However stability was always an issue and therefore Ini issued a patch that, while improving performance, removed all the fine detail — including some from the landside part of the terminal. What us console simmers were left with was basically an empty shell, although the piers still have some degree of internal detail. Stansted in real life is, in my opinion, a very generic, sterile airport but following the update the place feels doubly lifeless. Luckily the texturing is universally very good and, since that performance-addressing update, they’ve actually re-added the static aircraft northside and at the Ryanair hangar (although they don’t look as nice as those modelled by other devs).
PERFORMANCE
So here it is… the sticking point! The airport runs okay but stability is still a huge issue. It’s without doubt Ini’s worst airport (in fact, the only one of theirs I’d describe as bad) but, being honest, I have come across worse. You can at least take off and land here successfully, as long as you don’t overuse the drone or exterior views. Remain in the cockpit and it’s actually quite good — all my black screens and CTDs have occurred when viewing the aircraft externally, while taxiing in the vicinity of the terminal — so as soon as you get close, that’s your cue to hop back inside your plane!
VREDICT
Had Ini managed to address the stability issues without removing so much detail, I’d be more willing to say good things about this airport. But the update didn’t solve the problems — in fact, it only marginally improved things, while stripping console users of everything that made this airport a unique Ini offering. I purchased it full price, at £9.99, and the only remotely positive thing I can say is that it’s just above my threshold for demanding a refund. I don’t know what it goes for these days at full whack but if it’s any more than a tenner, I’d avoid it, unless you REALLY need EGSS in your sim.
It is usable, but with some pretty strict caveats that no simmer should really have to acknowledge. With the PMDG 738 it’s a bit of a nightmare as you’re always treading on eggshells; however things are a bit better with the default and LVFR 320s and I’ve actually managed some rather enjoyable flights. No consolation for those looking to do Ryanair ops, though!
It’s better than it was but I feel IniBuilds need to do more to make this a decent product. I can understand the complexity of their KJFK adversely affecting performance but they’ve created plenty of stable airports that are much larger and/or richer in detail than EGSS.
For this review I’ll refrain from adding images as there doesn’t seem much point. The place looks decent enough but no amount of screenshots can highlight the issues outlined above.