April 2009 Unedited Screenshot Contest Winners

Aerosoft’s Mega Airport Frankfurt-Main

Reviewed by Ludo Lambrechts

As flight simmers strive for realism, performance, and eye candy the window for improvement is always a very wide one. Many sceneries are developed, either freeware or payware, however it doesn’t have enough eye candies, bad on frame rates, not realistic, or the ATC is non-existent . . . the list goes on for simmers. We have been fortunate though concerning many add-ons which have been released to us; we’ve seen great add-ons released, but one of the many key components in add-on sceneries has always been missing, and payware developers such as Aerosoft have been striving to fill that “eternal gap.”

Our German counterparts in the flight simulation world have been very lucky in regards to the quantity and quality of add-ons for their beautiful country. Aerosoft has spoiled the German people with striking products such as the German Airports series, the Real Germany VFR sceneries, and the Scenery Germany titles. However there are over 400 airports in Germany and simply put it is not possible to have every airport and airfield covered in a country of this size. Most airports have been covered with good detail by the team from Aerosoft but the busiest airport in all of Germany has yet to be covered – up until now! The German Airports team from Aerosoft has developed and is now selling their latest scenery, Mega Airport Frankfurt-Main [EDDF].

Being the busiest airport in Germany and one of the biggest in the densely populated Europe, this airport was in a dire need to be upgraded from the default scenery. SimFlyers attempted to upgrade this scenery a few years ago, but did not do much justice to the airport. That add-on is very old by today’s standards and none of the new techniques, features, and possibilities where able to be put into that file. There were not enough eye candies, frame rates weren’t good, and the list of complaints for this scenery does not end. Aerosoft’s team has undertaken a project to give this airport the recognition it was worth.

Frankfurt-Main [EDDF] was founded in 1936, but at that time did not compare to the airport as we know it today. The airport itself has withstood the test of time, wars, and adversity and has expanded into Germany’s busiest airport to date. Through frequent construction, and funding from the German government this airport has adapted to today’s standards. All the latest technology is used; it has one of the most complex baggage systems in the world, and runs as efficient as any. It may not be the most spectacular architectural masterpiece, but Frankfurt-Main still has many beautiful buildings which not many would be able to re-create in the Flight Simulator environment. However Aerosoft’s team has done exceptionally well, considering the challenges ahead of them.

The first thing which you’ll notice is the tremendous attention that was applied to this tremendous scenery add-on. Every building, runway, road, taxiway, and many more small features have been included with pin-point accuracy in regards to the positioning of these objects into the simulator. As these physical features are present and placed with a huge amount of realism, the question arises whether or not this realism transpires into the appearance of the objects within the Flight Simulator. As we have seen from these developers from Aerosoft, they take their work seriously, and the appearance of these buildings and the details are absolutely breathtaking.

There has been a great amount of photorealistic texturing involved in this project, much research into the layout of the airport facilities, along with first-hand feedback on the airport from trained professionals. Working together with airport officials as well as Lufthansa pilots Aerosoft has worked teamwork into this project, making it the most realistic presentation of Frankfurt-Main possible in Microsoft Games’ Flight Simulator 2004. The buildings are very accurately modelled, and are dressed in the best textures possible. Such as the Frankfurt-Main sign on the main terminal, this is a clear texture, with no blemishes that I can see. The same detail and blemish-free work is seen throughout the airport. Every simple detail is thought of in this scenery, such as the welcome signs on the jet fuel tanks. The Lufthansa “Technik” hangers which are a marvel to look at, but a nightmare to model has been done with the greatest perfection by the talented guys at Aerosoft.

This add-on doesn’t fall short of impressing in regards to the quality; there are also some upgrades also in the city of Frankfurt which is a great bonus. The focus of this product however is the airport, and this attention proving to have paid off. It is hard to put the quality of this add-on into words, and it’s very hard to bring justice to it with screenshots. If you purchase this product which I recommend based on the looks alone you can spend hours upon hours exploring every single feature, and area recreated in this scenery.

Aside from the looks and the physical features that are involved in a scenery add-on there is a vast range of abstract features that go into an add-on. This includes the performance on your machine. Although performance is fairly good with this add-on the greatest abstract feature included in this add-on is the airport ambience. Using the award-winning VistaMare software Aerosoft brings this airport to life by including ambulances and their sirens blazing, tow tugs driving around the airport, and many sounds which you’ll hear at an airport. The detail on these vehicles is tremendous and all the while friendly on frame rates. As another special feature on these vehicles, functioning turn signals are also included on these models. The sounds you hear, as well as the vehicles that you see driving around contribute heavily to the feeling of realism, and immersion of this product.

A main issue with customers when purchasing any add-on for Microsoft Games’ Flight Simulator 2004 is the frame rate issue. Oftentimes in scenery with great visuals, frame rates take a big hit, and flight simmers have been bitten before by this concern. As we have received a great product with terrific models, textures, and movement. This airport runs just as smoothly as the default EDDF, which doesn’t feature much detail or objects. Aerosoft has included the option of static aircraft. These help fill up the airport, but aren’t of the highest quality. There are many options which let you choose how you want your add-on configured. With a little utility you can experiment with your AI settings to help optimize the performance of this scenery on your system.

Aerosoft Mega airport Frankfurt-Main does a great deal of justice to the airport. The German Airports team from Aerosoft has done a tremendous job on this scenery job, and will be raking in a number of awards from various community sites. These talented developers have successfully combined their previous experience, techniques, and secrets to achieve the final product. I am sure it must have been a long process but there is not one reason why the team can’t feel proud about their perfect work. I award this product a 9.5 out of 10!

Reviewed by Ludo Lambrechts for Aerosoft

A great Review ludo

This is a MUST HAVE addon from Aerosoft as its just stunning !!!!


A n t h o n y

That's an awesome review Ludo! Good work!

Yet another great review Ludo!

Tells of the difficult parts of making such scenery and how well they did it!

I would like to know if this scenery provides an afcad with all three runways of Frankfurt working at the same time. Thank you for your reply.

No it doesn't Botnia, as the two parralel runways in Frankfurt can only operate with a security seperation to prevent wake turbulence. FS2004 just can't handle stuff like that yet. It's still a great add-on nonetheless .

Ludo