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2WA1 Diamond Point Airport
For FSX Published by Orbx
Reviewed by Rob Scott
November 2011

Over the last few years we have all grown to know that when it comes to VFR scenery add-ons Orbx are one of the very, if not THE, best add-on developers out there. Since I used their FTX AU package for a review a couple of years ago I have fallen in love with everything that they produce. Each time a new package is developed you know, even before buying it, that Orbx will have raised the bar once again.

Diamond Point (2WA1) is one of the latest small airports to roll off the Orbx production line and is best used with their FTX NA Blue PNW region add-on. Diamond Point is the fourth airport for the PNW and has been created by the same people who brought us Hervey Bay airport in 2009, Darrington Muni, Concrete Muni and Orcas Island. All these airports are fantastic, so the benchmark is already very high.

Diamond Point Airport is a private community airport located on the north-west corner of the Miller Peninsula in Clallam County, Washington. The airport is jam packed with extras that will keep you busy when you are not flying, let's take a look at some of them:

Included In The Addon
The package is available as a download from the FlightSim Store website for approximately £20. The download is quite large at just over 1gb, so a speedy and reliable internet connection is a must. Installation is easy; follow the on screen instructions and you cannot go wrong.

Not only do you get a fantastic airport at Diamond Point, you are also buying Olympic Field (WA45) which is around 5 minutes flying time away. Olympic Field is has a grass runway and a float pond which is a custom water runway, ideal for people who like some float plane flying. Also included are two further photo-real scenery areas Protection Island and the Dungeness Spit.

    *    Ground imagery at 30cm/pixel
    *    Fully custom modelled airport and houses
    *    FSX gmax poly runway, aprons and lights
    *    PeopleFlow animated characters
    *    Atmospheric night lighting at the airport and village
    *    TextureFlow optimised and excellent FPS
    *    Custom GA AI Traffic
    *    Fantastic Audio

One of the parts that sets this add-on apart from the competition is the brilliant audio track that comes with it. At various points around Diamond Point and Olympic Field you will be able to hear ATC chatter, telephones ringing, cars, conversations, workshop sounds, lapping water, birds and dogs. The realism really has been stepped up to another level here. Just sitting in the aircraft listening to the background noises before and after my flights was very enjoyable, it feels as though you are there in person.


Aerial shot

Aerial shot #2

Aerial shot #3

Approach to Olympic Field
The Manual
The included manual is 22 pages long as is more than enough for what you need to get the most from this add-on. The manual walks you through each airfield, has a sectional chart for the area and a section devoted to setting up FSX correctly to get the most from the package. As a test I started with the minimum recommended settings and the performance was unreal. Even with 100% AI (bear in mind that this is only a small airport) I was achieving very high frame rates. Further alterations to the settings didn't seem to have a massive impact on frame rates, other than when I increased the autogen density (hint: if FPS are an issue move this slider back first before changing anything else). There is a section towards the end of the manual giving advice on what autogen density to use depending on your processor.

Exploring The Airports
The most obvious thing to do is take off in your favourite GA aircraft or taxi out to the runway to admire what you have bought. Doing this will give you a general indication of how good the add-on is, but you will only be scratching the surface. Diamond Point also includes the village with lots of buildings, cars and roads to follow. I would advise you to download 'BOB' form the Orbx website and walk around the airport so that you can really appreciate just how detailed it is.

All the roads lead somewhere whether it is to another clump of houses or down towards the water's edge, take some time to explore the whole package rather than just your trip to the runway. I spent more time on the ground than in the air during the first few days after I installed the add-on. You'll never be too far from the runway so it's easy to get back if you become lost amongst the maze of roads and buildings.

Runway textures

Easy to pick uot Olympic Field

Fantastic signage

How good do those buildings look?

The houses, bill boards, vehicles and ground textures are pin sharp and ultra realistic, much better than anything I have seen before. Combine the airports with the PNW package and the detail seems to go on forever.

Olympic Field can be a little tricky to pick out at first. The easiest way to get there is to take off from runway 11 at Diamond Point (or perform a 180 degree turn after taking off from runway 29) and follow the coastline around to the right. After about 5 minutes Olympic Field will pop into view nestled in the trees. If you cannot find it use the GPS.

Diamond Point is also a great starting point for short VFR flights around the area as there as so many small airstrips to fly into. I've opened an Air Hauler base there and am having a lot of fun flying into some of the tough airstrips that are within 30-45 minutes flying time.

Performance
With all the ultra sharp detail, eye candy and autogen around the airport I was expecting my system to struggle a little when running Diamond Point at a high detail level, but it didn't. This will be partly down to the system, but mainly down to the fact that I followed the instructions in the manual and adjusted my settings accordingly. I suggest you do the same and use those as a base setting before making any changes. Taking a little more time to set your system up correctly will pay off massively when it comes to flying around Diamond Point.

Looks like a nice day for flying

Lots of people around

Make your way around the airport and hangars 

Nothing much happening, I'll just listen to the birds

Conclusion
Diamond Point 2WA1 is a fantastic add-on for anyone's hangar, even if you have a modest system you will still be able to get a lot of enjoyment from it. The level of detail is fantastic and didn't have a massive impact on my system. If your preference is for flying complex commercial airliners this add-on may not be for you as it would be impossible to land anything other than a small GA aircraft at either airport. However, if you are even remotely interested in the package go and buy it. It's a welcome change from busy international airports.


Over the village at 2WA1

Road down to the water

You wont see this sign at Heathrow

 Wonder where I'll end up today?



Verdict


I think that the price of £20 is just about right. Diamond Point is the main focus of the scenery, but you also get a 2nd airfield with Olympic Field and 2 photo-real areas in Protection Island and the Dungeness Spit. Once again Orbx have shown that it is possible to create ultra detailed scenery for FSX without bringing a PC to it's knees.

I'm pleased to award Diamond Point 2WA1 a Mutley's Hangar score of 9.5/10



Rob Scott
Review machine Spec:
Intel i7 2600k @3.40GHz | 8GB DDR3 RAM 1600MHz |NVidia GTX570 1280MB GFX Card |Windows 7 64bit Home Premium


        
       System Requirements
  • Flight Simulator X (Acceleration or FSX SP2 required)
  • Windows XP / Vista / Windows7 with the latest Service Packs
  • Quad Core Intel or equivalent advised
  • 2 Gb RAM
  • 512Mb graphic card
  • 1.01Gb Download size
  • 1.01Gb Mb hard drive space


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