ORBX

EU Ireland for FSX and P3D

By Thomas Jones - In Partnership with Flightsimglobal.com

i7-2600K turboboost to 4.6ghz | Nvidia ASUS GTX580 1.5gb | 16gb 1600mhz RAM | 2x 1TB HDD | Windows 7 64 bit

Intro: Ireland is the third largest island in all of Europe and the twentieth largest on Earth. Ireland is divided up into two main regions, Northern Ireland (available as a separate package from ORBX) and (southern) Ireland, which is much larger in comparison. Ireland has many low level mountain ranges and is covered with farmland and fields.

ORBX has chosen to model over 70,000 square kilometers of Ireland and has updated over thirty of the default airports scattered around the island. The package works in both FSX and Lockheed Martin's Prepar3d and Prepar3d V2. Other updates included with this package are as follows on the product page: Hand-placed landclass covers every square kilometer.

Numerous polygon landclass areas.

Accurate roads, railways, rivers, lakes.

Brand new ground textures.

Custom autogen textures and objects.

Installation: The package is a hassle-free installation as with all of ORBX's other products. After purchase on www.flightsimstore.com (for $36.56 USD, 26,72 Euro, 22.33 GBP) the 1.9GB file downloads right away. If you have a slower internet connection, you can purchase a DVD-ROM version for $7.10 USD more. Once the package is downloaded, extract the files into a new location and run the installer. You will be prompted to hit “Next” on a few screens and will need to enter your Flightsimstore order number, order date, and registration key. When the installer is finished, FTX Central will automatically open and you will need to select Europe along with the options you want activated. After that, you are ready to open FSX and check it out!

Documentation: The Ireland package comes with an excellent twenty-four page PDF manual/user guide. It covers everything from installation, compatibility with other addons, how to use FTX Central and its various features, information on the KMZ file (more on that later), descriptions of the technologies ORBX has used in their scenery (such as custom landclass), as well as recommended settings for the detail levels in FSX/Prepar3d to ensure that you get the most out of the package. Information for the FTX Lights system and where to get support is also included. Very detailed manual, which is fitting for a very detailed product. A special KMZ file is available for download from the product's page on www.fullterrain.com. This is a special file for use with Google Earth. It includes a list of all of the airports, navigation aids, points of interest, the area included in the package and more. Very handy for finding interesting little details.

In FSX: After I booted up FSX, I saw the scenery being loaded and it was over quickly. I chose to start a flight at Dublin and work my way North before turning West to avoid going into the Northern Ireland area. As soon as I was loaded up at the airport, I noticed an immediate change. The airport was at a much higher quality than its default version and gave the airport a much more realistic feel. It is important to keep in mind that the airport upgrades for the region are not as detailed as ORBX individual airport packages.

After I left the ground, the Ireland scenery really started to show off. In the main city of Dublin I could see windmills spinning, and industrial chimneys in what appears to be a very accurate representation of Ireland from pictures I have seen. Once over farmland, the amazing level of detail becomes even more evident as rows of trees and bushes appear along with farm houses, creeks, power lines, and tiny lakes. During the summer, the scenery is a very lush green as all the crops are planted and the trees are full of leaves. When I switched to autumn, the change of season was quite obvious! All of the trees were various shades of orange, red, and brown looking like a true autumn. The farm fields even had a more brown and gray tint to them representing the thinning crops in the colder weather. When switching the season to winter, everything becomes even more gray and makes me cold just looking at it! The trees have no leaves on them and the land looks barren. Finally, when switching the season to spring life starts to appear again. Things are not as lush as they are in summer, but it is obvious that life is returning to the plants as the green starts to reappear.

When flying over the low-level mountains, they appear to have no trees on them which is accurate with a quick look at Google Earth. Flying in the mountain areas also offers its surprises when I found a small town built next to one on the mouth of a river.

There are different point's of interest scattered about the region (as is with all of ORBX's other regions). There are some castles and schools along with a large variety of lighthouses dotting the coast line, each with their own modeling and custom set of textures. I have also found a few wind farms with tall windmills scattered about the region on coast lines and mountains. All of these point's of interest can be found in the KMZ file mentioned earlier. Very nice to see such a tremendous level of work being put into this product.

When flying down low in general aviation the textures of the ground stay nice and crisp. The building textures and the trees were both also crisp when flying nearby.

Performance: With the level of detail I have been describing, one would think that there would be a performance hit on a system. Nope! My experience with ORBX's Ireland has been a very smooth one. I noticed no major drop in my frame rate performance and the image was always silky smooth. The night time lighting also had little impact on my system. Just how does ORBX get that detail to run so smoothly every time? Overall: In the end, this is one product that you are sure not to miss. It is perfect for anyone who just wants to do some leisurely flying around a

mostly flat terrain. Glider pilots would be a good candidate for this package as well as powered general aviation pilots. There is a bounty of points of interest to find and they will always keep you busy. If you are more of an airliner person, I would still recommend this scenery. Cork and Dublin are two major airports in Ireland and offer spectacular views on approach. The region is done to ORBX's usual high standard of detail and is a joy to fly in. Great job everyone involved!

Two of the many POI's in the two shots above.

Updated airport buildings and scenery