Pyreegue Dev Co., a developer group for X-Plane sceneries, has released the next version of its Airport Layout Enhancement Solution or ALES, for X-Plane.
ALES replaces the default airport textures with high-quality PBR-capable textures, which simply means the textures reflect their real-world properties and how ‘shiny’ runways, taxiways, aprons, and buildings appear in X-Plane.
Version 2 is a complete overhaul of the textures from the previous version, with some additions including a custom installer as well as being Vulkan/OpenGL compatible. The 12 asphalt and concrete surfaces have been replaced and supplemented with 8 more to improve the rain effect. All surfaces are laser scanned to heavily improve the level of detail. You can choose from American, European and Canadian runways and helipads and every texture is based on real-world images of runways, aprons, taxi lines and helipads. For more details, the complete feature list is included in this article.
ALES v1-users can obtain the new version for just $5, which is the price difference between both versions. Keep in mind the discount can only be granted when you buy the upgrade from the same store as the previous version, and no refunds will be given. New users can purchase ALES v2 for $20,95 from the X-Plane store.
Feature List
- Custom installer for easy operation (Win10 x64 Only/Manual installation for macOS and Linux)
- 2K/4K resolution options
- Laser scanned surfaces for incredible detail
- Every ground polygon in X-Plane is replaced with a HQ one
- Multiple runway textures for various regions (by choice) and runway age (10 in total)
- Multiple tire skid textures (4 in total)
- USA Runways: New/Old
- Euro Runways: New/Old (Including UK markings)
- Canadian Runways: Standard
- Taxi lines: New/Old
- Custom helipads for every region of choice: Canada, USA, Europe
- All draped signs replaced
- Rain effects for every polygon surface (.pol) (Default runways do not support this feature)
- All textures have been made based on real-world images of runways, aprons, taxi lines and helipads to ensure ultimate replicas.
- High-resolution decals for stunning details up close
- 12 asphalt surfaces replaced and 8 more added for rain effects
- 12 concrete surfaces replaced and 8 more added for rain effects
- Multi-platform support – Win/macOS/Linux
- Vulkan/OpenGL compatible
- DDS image format for optimized rendering and better performance