If you don’t know already, Orbx is throwing a massive sale. Products that were released before July 1st 2017 are getting a huge 48% off of the usual price until August 22nd AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time). The question is: what product do you buy? With the huge catalogue of products on offer, we figured this would be a great opportunity to look back on some of our past reviews, as well as recommend the must-haves to really boost your flight sim experience.
FTX Global
Without a doubt, this is the first purchase you should make if you don’t own it already. FTX Global is a world-wide texture replacement tool that generates beautiful looking replacement textures for the entire globe. It may be the most expensive item on the list, but when you consider it’s the base package for the majority of FTX airports, it really is a must. Even if you don’t buy any of the airports on offer, FTX Global breathes a new lease of life into the sim. Furthermore, you get a bunch of freeware airports included to make the product even more appealing.
FTX OpenLC (Europe or North America).
Whilst FTX OpenLC South America has just come out, for me either Europe or the North America packages are your best value for money – mostly due to the number of airports in these regions that are available. OpenLC SA is a great product, but either of these two will add plenty of new land class data to make your flying more realistic. Similar to the FTX Global package, it is a great package to buy to cover a large number of area amongst the regions.
To be honest, you can replace “England” with any of the regions covered by the FTX product as they’re all full of detail. For me, England provides you with one of the largest amount of coverage and there’s an update coming soon for it adding even more POIs for you to find and explore.
If you own England already, why not look at FTX North Germany – it’s pretty darn good!
Quite simply, this ingenious package replaces all the default trees within the sim with these high quality looking trees. From numerous tests and experiments, the new trees in this package actually improve on VAS and frame rates. It’s a great product that changes how your entire sim looks.
Innsbruck (Requires either FTX Global OR FTX Global openLC Europe)
Innsbruck was released earlier this year and is regarded as one of Orbx’s finest airports thanks to the detail, the challenge of the approach, and the great performance. We reviewed it a few months back and absolutely loved it. Now it’s on offer, we love it even more!
It’s also available for Aerofly FS2.
San Diego International Airport (Requires either Southern California, FTX Global OR FTX Global openLC North America)
From a relatively new Orbx developer came San Diego. The airport is extremely popular on the West Coast of the United States and offers a pretty interesting approach and challenging take off. Whilst it may not be the best of Orbx, it’s certainly an airport to consider.
This general aviation airport is located on an entire island which is fully modelled by Ken from the Orbx team. At full price it’s a little on the pricey side for me, but with 48% off, there’s no reason not to explore this off-coast island. It’s perfect for those who want to get value for money for more than just an airport. Read our review here.
Narvik Airport (Requires FTX EU Norway)
Located in Norway, this challenging airport also hosts one of the most beautiful approaches over the small little town. If you own FTX Norway, this is a great add-on. You can read our review here.
Pago Pago International Airport (Requires FTX Global)
Something a bit different this time from developers Tim Harris and Ken Hall – the Samoan Experience. With multiple islands fully modelled, this product truly offers great value for money.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport (Requires FTX Global)
One of the largest airports in Sweden was given the Orbx treatment and it is incredible. There’s a few gripes (I’m looking at you, static jetways) but overall the scenery is worthy of your money. Especially as there’s a brand new service pack coming soon to improve the quality further (jetways coming soon, also!).
Cairns Airport (Requires AU Australia)
This is a personal favourite from the Australian airport range. Sure, it may not be the newest from the catalogue, but it looks stunning, has plenty of flying connections and it’s really good on the performance. It also does an exceptional job merging with AU Australia.
Sumburgh Airport (Requires FTX Scotland)
When the weather takes a turn for the worse, fire up the Dash-8 and head up to Sumburgh. It’s a challenging airport that requires real skill. It’s fun, it’s dangerous, it’s also cheap. Get stuck in and prove yourself to be a very competent captain.
Merrill C. Meigs Field (Requires FTX Global)
Take a trip down nostalgia alley with Meigs Field. The original starting airport for so many flight simulators has been reimagined for a modern sim. Furthermore, the airport can be enjoyed in stunning VR at 100+ FPS if you buy the Aerofly FS2 version (which is also on sale).
Friday Harbor Airport (Requires Pacific Northwest)
Our final airport (from the many available on sale) is the original starting airport for FSX. Friday Harbor Airport has been designed to take advantage of the latest technology and makes the default-default airport look really impressive and makes it worth your while not changing which airport to start from.
Of course, there are loads of great Orbx products from a variety of developers. Some of those developers we were very lucky to sit down with and chat to. You can read interviews from Bilbao developer Marcus Nyberg, Catalina Island developer Ken Hall, Meigs Field developer Alex Goff and Pula airport developer Misha Cajic.
Let us know what you purchase during the sale in the comments below!
