Dubrovnik Airport, the gateway to the Mediterranean for Croatia, is a hub for tourist traffic from across Europe, with dozens of narrowbody flights arriving daily. The airport features a scenic approach over the ocean and a brand spanking new passenger terminal. iniBuilds has brought their own detailed rendition of this airport to Microsoft Flight Simulator. Let’s find out if it’s worth picking up.
Terminal Building
Let’s dive in by talking about the terminal building, the crown jewel of this airport. The first thing that stands out is its modern design. The exterior is simply stunning. The detailed 3D modeling is complemented by excellent texturing, capturing the complex architecture without resorting to shortcuts like simpler polygons. The metal facade looks impressive up close, with realistic reflections adding to its authenticity.
The windows feature a green tint, allowing users to see clearly inside the building.. I personally would argue that it’s almost too clear seeing into the building relative to real life, but it’s nicely done for what the developer is shooting for.
Just outside the terminal, there’s a building housing the Visual Docking Guiding System, with a pastel yellow exterior that boasts a realistic paint texture. The custom-modeled, fully functional jetways are another highlight.
Inside the terminal, the attention to detail continues. The 3D modeling is particularly impressive, showing off the complex curves of the building masterfully recreated. The texture work seems like it was a fun challenge, especially with the varied flooring styles.
However, not everything is perfect. Some of the stores inside the terminal don’t quite fit in—their coloration appears rather dark, not matching the surrounding lighting. These dark spots are noticeable even from the exterior, though they’re not overly distracting.
The terminal is populated with numerous people models, and while they mostly look great, a few of them appear to float, and probably need to go see a doctor.
The interior detailing extends even to the landside areas. iniBuilds has ambitiously modeled the entire interior of the airport, a significant undertaking for an international airport, but it’s much appreciated. Now, for my favorite detail—where the developer went above and beyond – there’s a departure board in the entryway, and every airline, flight number, and destination is accurate. iniBuilds dev, I see and applaud your commitment to realism.
Stepping outside to the landside, the exterior is just as well-crafted, extending seamlessly into the car park just outside the airport perimeter.
Other Buildings
This airport also includes several buildings scattered around the field.
On the west side of the terminal, there’s a bunker-like storage facility. The storage-facing side looks great, but the rear is less impressive—the earthy texture doesn’t blend well with the surrounding ground textures.
On the east side, you’ll find some beautifully modeled buildings, likely part of the airport’s 2017 modernization. These structures are particularly well-done, showcasing the developer’s attention to detail. Great job to the devs on this one!
Ground Textures
The ground textures here are solid, with impressive accuracy and attention to detail. Everything appears true to life, capturing the variations in pavement textures as I could verify by comparing Google Maps and Navigraph charts.
Starting with the runway, the textures and coloration are spot-on, including the realistic wear marks. I want to give extra credit for how they’ve captured the repaving over old runway markings—it’s an excellent match to the real-world counterpart.
This level of accuracy extends to the taxiways and apron, with individual parking spots showing subtle wear details that add to the realism.
The groundside areas are even more impressive. I think they’ve created the most detailed groundside textures I’ve ever seen in a flight sim—fantastic work. That said, there’s one segment where things might get a bit hairy without 4 wheel drive.
My biggest critique of the ground textures would be the area around the end of runway 11. The texture of the man-made wall doesn’t blend well with the surrounding ground textures in the flight sim. This probably won’t be really noticed, as you really only see it on approach, and it’s not glaring – but it certainly doesn’t look great.
Night Lighting
The entire airport looks fantastic at night. The lighting throughout the field is impressive, from the approach lights to the terminals. The apron area stands out with its bright, volumetric lighting, creating a realistic and immersive atmosphere.
The terminal truly shines after dark, thanks to the well-executed interior lighting that strikes a perfect balance—bright but not overpowering.
I also want to give credit for the taxiway signs. They’re well-lit and highly legible, without any issues of excessive glow, maintaining clarity and realism.
Flight Experience
One of the key aspects I look for in scenery at a smaller airport is how immersive the flight experience feels. In this regard, INI absolutely nailed it.
Starting with the approach, the LOD profile for the terminal is spot-on. The terminal doesn’t suddenly pop into view as you get closer; it’s visible from a distance as you turn onto final and just stays consistent, which prevents immersion breaking.
As I arrived at the gate, I noticed a significant amount of ground clutter scattered around the airport, which is a detail I really appreciate.
Additionally, the airport comes with a GSX profile that integrates seamlessly with the scenery. iniBuilds has created a profile that brings the terminal to life during boarding and deboarding, with plenty of people activity. The walking animations on the jetways are also well-executed, with no issues of floating or clipping.
From a performance perspective, it performs about the same as my other iniBuilds sceneries for smaller airports, so you can make a judgement call based on your past experience.
