Once more a busy week in X-Plane;

After a quite lackluster news week last time, I’m happy to say that this week has been busy in terms of development previews and releases.

Monday brought the first news of Ultra Weather XP v2.5, which is set to bring more new sky and sun textures. V2.5 will also include automated systems for horizon shaders, haze, mist and sun control.

Just a day later we saw the first previews of another weather solution: FSEnhancer 0.6! Building on the success of 0.5 released back in June, v0.6 brings new photoreal cloud textures captured by plugin author Enrico del Bono. The update will also bring new sun and water textures.
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Next up, exciting news from Aeroplane Heaven who have this week announced their first X-Plane project, the Globe Swift. This release will likely be a testing of the waters for the first-time XP dev. Though new to XP, the Aeroplane Heaven’s Globe Swift will not be short of features as it appears FMOD sounds are already on the table.

Capping off the working week nicely, Nimbus released their new rendition of KORD Chicago O’Hare. The scenery has been totally upgraded, with a new “dynamic world” implemented at the airport. You can see more about the “dynamic world” at O’Hare here.

Starting the weekend strongly, Nhadrian, developer of the freeware package “Nhadrian’s mod” for the Carenado C152 has previewed new engine textures due for version 4.2. The modelling on the engine itself is astounding and well worth a look.

UK2000 make an appearance in X-Plane news this week with the release of Liverpool EGGP. Less than two weeks after their last release, EGFF Cardiff comes Liverpool John Lennon Airport for XP. The scenery features PBR, custom night lighting and custom ground routes for AI traffic.

Another UK developer, PilotPlus have shown off new renders of their upcoming scenery, London City. PilotPlus promise that LCY will bring “unrivalled immersion”, some of which is reflected in the modelling revealed earlier today. The renders show Tate and Lyle factory close by to the centre city airfield. See all of the renders here.

The News

Aerosoft Geneva XP (the forgotten article)

This one has a bit of a story behind it! Originally, this was written as a standalone article set to go out on Thursday, however due to another news story going out at the same time, we decided to leave it to the Sunday Review.. So enjoy a full length article on Aerosoft’s brand new Geneva XP.

Omar Masroor, author of sceneries such as KDFW Dallas Fort-Worth and KRSW Southwest Florida is now once again collaborating with Aerosoft on the brand-new Geneva XP.

This announcement breaks Aerosoft's streak of P3D-XP conversions and is the first X-Plane-only scenery from the German sim company since EDDF Frankfurt last year. Though a Prepar3D version has been announced, both sceneries will likely be developed independently of each other.

Earlier this week, Aerosoft's Jan Depenbusch published some new previews of the high-res custom mesh due to ship with the scenery, as well as an assortment of custom autogates also due to make the final package.

"We are currently working on Geneva Airport as an all new development for X-Plane 11. Since the scenery is made from scratch, it will take advantage of advanced X-Plane 11 features. The X-Plane 11 Version is done by Omar Masroor; There will also be a version for P3Dv4."

"The X-Plane 11 version of the scenery features a custom terrain mesh that has been developed from an actual digital elevation model. It has a planar resolution of 5 metres and an altimetric resolution of 5 centimetres. In comparison, X-Plane 11's default terrain mesh has a planar resolution of 90 metres and an altimetric resolution of 1 metre. The mesh has been developed using a custom solution—these results are not possible with tools such as MeshRemexe."

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Depenbusch also released a feature list for the upcoming scenery:

• 0.30 m resolution orthoimagery

• Custom terrain mesh with 5.00 m planar & 0.05 m altimetric resolution

• AutoGate passenger boarding bridges, Safedock A-VDGSs and marshallers

• Complete taxiway route network for use by ATC and AI aircraft

• Native X-Plane 11 ground service vehicles with ground route network

• Static aircraft toggled on/off by the 'Draw Parked Aircraft' checkbox

• Glass and pavement reflections

• Volumetric grass

• Road network with animated cars

• World Traffic v3 and X-Life v4 compatibility

You can see the full thread of Aerosoft's Geneva XP on their forum.

Alabeo release C177 Cardinal II

Alabeo’s latest release includes two models of the C177: the C177B fixed-gear and C177RG retractable gear. The Cardinal II features FMOD sounds, PBR throughout and compatibility with the RealityXP GTN750 series. You can purchase the Alabeo C177 for $29.95USD from their website.

Here is the full feature list:

• Full X-Plane 11 compatible
• 2 Cardinal II models: C177B (fixed gear) and C177RG (retractable gear)
• Custom sounds (FMOD)
• RealityXP GTN750 compatible.
• GoodWay Compatible
• Superb material shines and reflections (full PBR).
• High quality 3D model and textures.
• Blank texture for creating your own designs
• Accurately reproduced flight characteristics
• 64-bit
• End-user configurability (via Manifest.json file)
• FPS-optimized model
  

Canada2XPlane release CYYC Calgary

Canada2XPlane have released Calgary CYYC, another stunning freeware airport from the scenery developer. The package has already garnered 2,600 downloads in less than 24 hours and is set for much more. Check out the Canada2XP promo video below for more, or see the link to download.‍

More previews of FelisPlanes 747-200

Since the announcement back in May, Andrey Felis of FelisPlanes has been hard at work on the 747-200. Progress seems to be coming along nicely, as told by the numerous previews Felis has been releasing on the X-Plane.org forums. A couple of which are attached below:

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