We’ve all been able to enjoy World Update XVIII: Germany, Switzerland and Austria for just over a week now. It brings plenty of new places to explore, with its updated aerial photography, elevation data and the TIN cities. It also contains several new hand-crafted airports: Munich Airport (EDDM) in Germany, Salzburg Airport (LOWS) in Austria and Bern Airport (LSZB) in Switzerland.
These three airports just so happen to have one (or several) payware renditions, and I noticed a lot of people got curious after the release of World Update 18: which one is actually better? We’ve seen an increase in the quality of the hand-crafted airport in the last few World Updates, and it’s a trend that has continued in this latest release. Munich, Salzburg and Bern Airport might just be some of the most detailed hand-crafted airports out there. So I decided to put them to the test, and put them head to head with some of the payware alternatives.
Munich Airport
Starting with Munich Airport, we’re comparing Sim-wings Munich V2 and the latest World Update. At first glance, the differences appear relatively small. We do see differences in the texture work, and there are some differences in the modelling, but these are mostly subtle. One glaring difference however, is the new terminal extension. While the World Update version contains a fenced-off area where this extension is being built, the terminal itself is completely absent. This is different in the Sim-wings version, who has modelled the new terminal in an under-construction state.
The main terminal entrance also appears somewhat different. While the modelling is generally the same, Sim-wings has more transparent rooftop textures that allow you to look into the hall and see the iconic red-and-white zigzag texture. While this texture is also present in the World Update version, the glass is far less transparent and doesn’t allow you to look inside.
On the terminal buildings, the differences are quite subtle. I can’t say either version has a lot more detail or is better modelled than the other. The terminal buildings appear very similar, and the main difference here comes from the textures: these appear far lighter in colour on Sim-wings version than on the WU version. Looking at reference pictures online, I’d say that Sim-wings colours look a little bit more accurate, but this will mostly come down to personal preferences. At the gate, there are subtle differences in the ground markings, and the WU version contains security cameras and poles.
As soon as we go outside of the terminal, the differences become a bit more clear. There are simply more details to be discerned in the WU version. The flags, parking places and road markings, bollards or gates with payment systems all appear much more detailed than the Sim-wings version, if the latter even includes these at all. This also goes for the area of the airport where cargo and maintenance are housed: these appear far more detailed in the WU version, with more custom modelled buildings.
It’s hard for me to call a clear winner here. There are clear differences, with the WU version having more detail in some places. But the Sim-wings version has a serious leg up with the inclusion of the new terminal under construction, as well as the seemingly more accurate colours of the terminal.
Salzburg Airport
The second airport we’re putting to the test is Salzburg. Specifically, RDPresets‘ rendition. I’m fully aware that Digital Designs also has a rendition out for Salzburg, but RDPresets is newer and the one that I own personally.
Looking at the first previews, the differences here are less subtle. Salzburg (WU) is still very nicely crafted, but it seems to lack some of the details that are present in the RDPresets version. The terminal interior is less clear, it’s missing the red letters, there are more vehicles on the apron, etc. The textures on the WU version appear a little bit more weathered whereas RDPresets’ textures appear more ‘pristine’. If we continue to look around we can see that the car dealership is a little more detailed, featuring an interior in the RDPresets version. The road in front also has accurate road markings, which are lacking from the WU version.
The terminal entrance and car park appear very similar, with only small differences between the two. If we pan around to the buildings on the side of the airport, we can see that these have both been accurately and similarly modelled, including details such as the car park, signage and gates. The gas station next to the airport also has been recreated for both airports in a similar fashion. The ATC tower also appears very similar, although the colours of the exterior are slightly different.
If we move across the airfield to Hangar 7 and 8, famous for the “Flying Bulls” fleet, we can see some bigger differences. Where RDPresets has included an interior for both hangars, including static aircraft and racecars, none of this is present in the WU version. That might have been fine by itself, if not for the fact that there is a massive elevation issue going on inside Hangar 7 in the WU version, that you can see through the exterior windows. It makes the whole thing a bit ugly and off-putting. Outside of the airport, RDPresets’ version has a few more static buildings where the WU version relies on photogrammetry. Unfortunately, the RDPresets version currently flattens some of this photogrammetry just north-east of the airport.
Again, it’s hard to point out a real winner here. Personally, I feel like the RDPresets version has a slight edge because it has just a little bit more detail than the World Update version. The apron looks a bit more alive and immersive, the terminal itself has a little bit more detail here and there, and the issue with Hangar 7 in the WU version all contribute to that. Having that said, the WU version is a very close second.
Bern Airport
Last but not least, World Update Bern next to Orbx‘s rendition. Again, at first glance, the two airports seem very similar. The ATC towers appear quite similar, and so do the red hangar and the terminal building. There are small differences in the ground vehicles, but at first sight, that appears to be all.
However, as we start to look around more, the differences become more obvious. The red hangar appears more weathered in the WU version. Next to the terminal building is a hotel, which has been modelled far more accurately in the WU version. The apron itself also appears to have weathered textures with cracks, and signage around it, all of which is absent in the Orbx version. As we pan around to the other side of the terminal building, we continue with the weathered looking textures vs. Orbx’s more pristine ones. Just in front of the main terminal building there is a lot more detail to be discerned in the WU version, including road markings and signage, walkways and bollards. Orbx has dressed up the entrance itself nicely with some plants though. But where the World Update holds the real edge is the terminal interior: it’s simply absent from Orbx’s version.
The Lions Air hangar has differences in textures, but the GA center building off to the side appears more detailed in the WU version. As we move on, we see the gas station more accurately depicted in the WU version, but Orbx has a nicer modelled helicopter hangar, including some static models. As we move to the end of the airport, to the Rega base (Swiss air rescue), we see that this building has far more complexity and detail in the World Update version, both in terms of modelling and textures. The swimming pool and sports facilities just east of the airport have also been depicted with more detail in this version.
Bern Airport is the one scenery of the three where the winner seems quite clear, in my opinion, with the World Update version having a pretty solid edge over Orbx. It simply has a lot more details going on in a lot of areas of the airport. Orbx does have the static helicopter models, and though they don’t save the day in my book, if you really want to feel immersed when doing helicopter ops in this area, that might win you over.
Conclusion
I’ve already told you which airports I think are better, or what the differences are if the winner isn’t so clear. The main take-away from this article is then not so much which airport is better, but how far along we’ve come in the complexity of these hand-crafted airports. If you own one or more of the payware airports already, you are probably quite happy to continue using them. But if you did not own one or more yet, then the World Update airports might just be good enough. And I don’t mean that in: “they’re alright for a lack of anything better”, but I mean that in the sense that these hand-crafted airports are serious competition for their payware counterparts. And that is the crux of it: Microsoft’s hand-crafted airports have stepped their game up, and developers need to follow suit if they want to convince customers to spend their money on their custom airports.
