Aircraft used: LVFR A320, PMDG B738
Live weather: on
DETAIL
Typical of the last couple of Ini airports; i.e. brilliant. They’ve really captured the essence of a desert airport here, particularly with the abundance of custom vegetation. Granted, the PG in the area greatly helps boost immersion but, make no mistake, this is a lovely looking scenery.
The terminal area has been recreated fabulously and, unlike EGHI, is populated inside and out with static passengers. The kerbside part of the terminal features a parallax interior rather than a modelled one but this is a relatively boring part of the facility compared to the beautifully ornate courtyard/walkways and circular concourse (which are fully modelled in superb detail). The landside detail is fantastic and extends quite a way back from the terminal (we even get some custom roadsigns around the perimeter).
Airside is what you’d expect: excellent ground textures and just the right amount of custom clutter. The airbridges work well, snugly fitting both the 737 and 320 (although the staff steps do dip into the ground quite significantly with the 737).
The east side of the airfield looks slightly less detailed but that’s not to say it’s poor — we get an aviation museum (with static exhibits) and various FBOs, all featuring parked aircraft. Oh, and more custom vegetation! I get the feeling that this area is probably less interesting in reality so I’ll give Ini the benefit of the doubt here…
Finally, the wind farms on the approach to the 13 runways have been modelled and they look great. I’d not visited KPSP prior to installing the Ini product but believe the wind farm is included with the default scenery — however the turbines are allegedly generic and way too close together. I can certainly see a difference between the custom turbines here and the default.
If I were forced to make a complaint, it would be that none of the flags dotted around the airport are animated. Hardly worth mentioning and the only reason I have is for completeness.
PERFORMANCE
I was neither confident nor dismayed by the 1.52gb download size, which is perhaps a touch above average for an airport of this size. My first arrival was conducted entirely in exterior view, as was the taxi to stand. All good but, not wanting to push my luck, I limited my drone use to just a couple of minutes. All still good in the cockpit, so I departed again and flew a number of touch ‘n’ goes, before returning to stand and again taking a (more thorough) tour with the drone. To my surprise, even after half-an-hour’s whizzing around (collecting images for this review), my screens were still active. I’ve done several further flights and it’s been absolutely fine. I wouldn’t say I’ve tried my absolute best to trigger black-screens but I can assert that, for regular simming, it’s certainly solid.
General performance is excellent, too — no stuttering whatsoever thus far. A first (minor) complaint is some of the LOD draw distance which, like their EGSS, is quite poor (e.g. the tower remains a featureless polygon till you get quite close). It’s very easy to overlook this, though, because I’m aware that it’s likely this optimisation that’s allowing KPSP to run so well on Xbox. Secondly, some of the custom ground texture tiles don’t match Asobo’s in colour, but it’s only noticeable periodically and doesn’t detract from the overall experience (worth noting that this COULD be an Asobo issue, rather than an Ini one).
VERDICT
In summary, IniBuilds have done it again. It’s little wonder that they’re retaining their place in my current top three devs list. Arguably helped by the quality of Asobo’s PG around Palm Springs, and the inclusion of the surrounding wind farms, any little anomalies can be satisfyingly overlooked in view of how well this scenery runs post-SU14. An additional bonus is that LVFR’s statics pack covers this airport. Highly recommended, even if you’ve no real desire to fly in this part of the world.
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