Classic British Flight Sim

Good morning gentlemen,

does anyone know a decent freeware FS9-scenery for Malta Luqa Airport?
I don't care for an extreme level of detail but it should be frame rate friendly!
Any inputs are highly appreciated!

Many thanks in advance & best wishes,

Nick

Hi Nick

Decent.. a word open to misuse! There are a couple of Luqa sceneries out there I've tried and both have good and bad points. Garish green ground tiles visible from space are one of the bad points.. the good points being they're not too bad on frames. The best version by a long way is the payware Malta V2 which gives a lot of detail for the islands as a whole but is a pig on FR's. I've tried taking the payware airport.bgl's out and leaving the terrain mesh/landclass in tact then putting the freeware airports on top but the end result was ground texture tearing I didn't care for and the obvious mismatch in terrain levels. Look on Flightsim.com for either Luqa or Malta and see what you think. They're free and much better than the default. Usable more than decent is how I'd define them. Sri, no filenames available as I'm on the wrong pc at the mo.

ATB

DaveB

Hi Dave,

thanks very much for this overview. I think I don't dare to puzzle around elements of various files - to be honest, I'm not fit enough on FS backgrounds to do so. I think I'd need a complete package that sort of installs and runs automatically. Moreover I think I'm happy if I manage to replace the airport scenery, not the island itself...

However I checked the files you mentioned and finally landed here:
http://www.maltascenery.net/files/

Scrolling down will take you to a freeware FS9 airport scenery. Doesn't look too bad on the pics -
Is that one of those you mentioned?

Thank you anyhow & cheers from VIE,

Nick

Hi Nick..

I'm not sure if that particular version of Malta v.1 is the one I have tried. I have the v1 of the payware version they advertise but couldn't find an upgrade path to v2 Just to confuse things.. v1 of the payware version LOOKS like what you see in v2 and NOT like the freeware version

Seeing they now have their own landclass and terrain mess as freeware too, I might give that little tinker a try Can't remember what I have installed on this pc now so I'll have a look before I fiddle

EDIT..
Just checked and don't have the payware version installed on this pc so I'm going to try the freeware FS9 v1 now. Unfortunately, having read the passage again.. I see the terrain is for FSX only
ATB

DaveB

Hi Dave,

such a small island - so much confusion!

I think I'll try the airport only in its freeware fs9 version.
Thanx for jumping in - let's stick to it and see what works best!

,

Nick

Hi Nick..

Right.. this IS one of the versions I've tried. I recognised it as soon as I saw it in the sim. It's not bad to be honest and much better than the original. Like for like.. I see about a 40-50fps drop around the main terminal building when pitted against the default but don't let this put you off as I see in excess of 130fps in default at the same point
The ground texture at the main terminal is odd in that it only becomes visible as you run onto it.. likewise the turnoff signs. The area behind the main terminal is a car park which is equally odd in that it sits in a whole and one not successfully flattened. Try landing in the car park in a helicopter and you will go straight through.. the ground being some way below. A minor point and one that would not stop me using it.
Buildings to the west of the main terminal and to the south of the main runway (RAF Luqa) are sparse but adequate.
I think this is the pick of the freeware bunch mate and while the island itself remains typically uninteresting.. it is head and shoulders better than the default.
Oh.. I also installed the v1 fix which is a blastfence.bgl supposed to fix the sinking building problem. I installed it immediately so can't say how effective it is but other than the odd car park.. all seems ok

ATB

DaveB

Hi Nick,

I just installed that Version 1 Freeware and had a quick look around. I liked it a lot. I see it uses Gerrish Grey's trees and they look pretty nice. They are probably what causes Dave's frame rate drop

While I'm on that subject...Check that you only have ONE copy of "Trees_0.bgl" in your system and that should be here:-

X:\................................\Flight Simulator 9\Scenery\BASE\Scenery

Many, many thanks to you both for jumping on that train so quickly!
Or is it that you also like to fly around Malta? I've been there many times accompanying my father when he was doing flt training there.
So still today it has proved to bee good as my virtual training base...

I actually had a look on your posts yesterday evening but didn't find any time to try installing the files - I think I'll have to wait for the weekend again! From what I read it seems like this is what I was looking for. I just want a better atmosphere around the airport and I wouldn't try landing in the car park anyway...

Many thanks again & best wishes from Vienna,

Nick

I like flying around Malta, too. I spent quite a bit of time there when I was working in Libya.
The LMML scenery I have used for a couple of years is by Daniel Chircop (Website: www.maltascenery.net) - is that the one you are talking about? You need Version 2, though. I had version 1 and wondered why my planes were crashing when taxiing on the apron. Turns out, there is an invisible building.

I also had a scenery for the islands which I can't seem to lay my hands on at the moment, must be on my home computer as I think it was a bit too much for this feeble laptop I have right now

Don't forget for flying around............. BEA-The Malta Airline

Garry