For those of you with Windows PCs, here’s my first video overview of Alaska, where towards the end you can also see how TrackIR works within the sim. It’s all filmed live, with me talking on the ‘fly’ - no pun intended – so please forgive the unscripted nature of the flight! I gotta work out how to get my voice recorded by Fraps without it playing back in my headset. It’s rather strange talking & hearing your own voice, it might explain the long pronounciations sometimes. I am not drunk. Or so he says..
A number of you have already pointed out some flaws in the Alaska scenery, like the too-smooth terrain and no further ‘deluxe’ planes with cockpits. I can confirm that in-sim, the simplified terrain is really not that obvious, and up close with all the trees, hardly noticeable. I too am frustrated at the lack of aircraft with cockpits, however something in me says that they will release more very soon, with the very capable Carbon Cub surely to receive a payware upgrade. Yowsers, that Cub can certainly climb fast!
Although I really love this pack (plus the price, $15!), I’ve also noticed more shortfalls that I’m sure they’ll work on in the near future. As usual, I find the roads empty and lifeless, the odd moving car or person would really add to the immersion. Same with birds or other animals. Such a gobsmackingly gorgeous area, it should be full of life. FPS should not be an issue. Even since I mentioned some problems I had early on in the video, today I’ve found the fps to be stellar, well over 30 in even the most built up areas, with close to max settings (actually, max for everything other than scenery detail, second-highest). So there is room to move. Ha, and that’s before I double my GPU performance with a GTX670 at the end of this year maybe.
SEASONS
Maybe it’s the more varied climate of Alaska, but the major feature I’ve noticed upon this release is the advantage of having very discrete seasonal textures. Below are some comparison pictures I took to attempt the comparison of the different ‘looks’ used in the seasons. I can see three distinct, quite different looks for the seasons. Winter and Summer obviously (has there ever been such a stark difference in any sim?!), however autumn/Fall I find absolutely gorgeous, with the varied colouring of the trees and darker saturation of the terrain. Great stuff.
Some other pics with explanations are further down as well, I got carried away per usual with my screenshots!
Guess which season this is? You can see the smooth terrain in the background, but the foreground dominates when flying:
Summer:
Spring:
Summer:
Spring:
Just a pic I liked. Every tree has a shadow
Ah finally, a nice Fall shot:
Yes, Xplane’s night scenery and lighting is much better. This is ok, needs to be darker I feel. Then again, it was a full moon:
Does it cover the whole of Alaska or just part of it?
Oh God, I can’t be sure. I think it’s the lot, it is truly massive. So big that the map does not cope with the scale so well.
From this video I can see why you’ve been in Flight. Swaying firs? I’m in, especially when the price of admission to fly in that Alaska scenery is only $15. Can you suggest a good GA aircraft with a cockpit?
Sorry for the late reply, damn timezones..The Maule is probably the best overall plane with cargo capacity and navaids. Not sure if it’s available separately or if it’s still a part of the Hawaii pack.
Great job on the video. I enjoyed watching and love the blog. Although I hevent been bitten by the Flight Bug yet, I can see why some may enjoy it. If MS released a Good bush plane with Cockpit, Id give it a shot.
Yes, I don’t know why that cub has no 3d pit. I feel it in my bones that it should come out soon. If they did, they’ll snag more of the market. And a big twin? They’d kill the market! Seriously. For the sake of third party devs, I hope they ARENT in it for the long haul
Nice review. I like that 2nd last screenshot of the town. If only XP could draw terrain and towns that nice. I can see why people like it.
Hi Greg, and I wish they had jets like yours in it! Feel like contacting them?! It wouldn’t need all the systems…
Yes, the Fall season might be my favourite season, next to winter.
Simon
If you tick the Record External Input box on fraps and set it to mic it should record the Mic as well. You need Record Window 7 sound as well. You may need to convert the video for WMP, but VLC can handle the extra channel. I always seem to end up here with the MS flight stories.
hey thanks Andrew, I’ll try that. It’s quite strange hearing your own voice in your head as you speak!