MegaScenery USA 2004 Volume 2: New York
MiGMan’s Combat Diary | 2003
MegaScenery 02 USA 2004 Volume 2: New York is a VFR pilot's dream. The clarity of the scenery adds subtle depth to the flight. As well as the urban terrain there is enough surrounding countryside to keep you entertained. The documentation alone makes this product an exception to current publishing practice.
Every aid necessary, in terms of maps, Approach Plates and Airport Diagrams, is given to encourage you to explore this product the way it is meant to be used.
A prop aircraft with good visibility is the way to sight see. Approaching Manhatten from the East shows the expanse of the skyscraper zone and contrasts nicely with the low-rise in the foreground.
Distinctive features as this stadium and the surrounding water, the river bend and the clover leaf intersections making it impossible to get lost.
As well as the urban terrain there is enough surrounding countryside to keep you entertained.
Although, as I found, scooting along at 500 knots in a B-2 causes the hard drive to work overtime loading textures.
There was no stuttering, but the terrain became blurry at times. To be fair, the documentation with the full version states that the best speed for sightseeing is under 250 knots.
Notice about 1/2 way up this screenshot the transition between the old and new river. It has to be said that, given the scope of the sim and the relatively small install, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 does a smashing job.
At high speeds you will also reach the edge of the enhanced scenery in fairly short order.
This does give an opportunity to compare Microsoft's default Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 scenery with this product's photo-realistic enhancements.
With the magic of flight-sims I transitioned mid-air back to the T-28 Trojan, it's bubble canopy and steady handling making it a great sight seeing platform. Spotting a Cessna I tried some formation flying.
This is harder than it looks!
I used the radio to ask directions to the nearest airport and on approach was reminded again of how useful this amount of scenery detail is for visual flying.
I finally did manage a perfect formation with that Cessna !
These screenshots were created with an ATI Radeon 9600 XTgraphics card.