Okay, so… I have played this once I finished my work today and it is lucky for me as there is only 1 new level at LHR and I unlocked SYD effortlessly with some A124 contracts I have at LHR.
In general, I appreciate devs for bringing this to us (in a rather surprised way, I didn’t expect it to come before the calendar moving to August!)
Here are my thoughts after a quick play:
Good things
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Modeling of SYD looks so nice, even details like Qantas & Virgin AU signs are carefully replicated. Just have one more detailed look shall we?
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I don’t see any obvious bugs and glitches in the game, which is a great leap forward compared to LHR last Xmas. Hats off to devs and test players, I know they underwent a busy testing!
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Multiple great camera options available as per mentioned earlier in this post.
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The landing gear function is impressive but some posts above have discussed some issues and that could be fixed soon.
Some potential improvements
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Runway operation. I expected the 16L runway to be used both landing and take off and that is same as rush hour operation. Unfortunately I found only runway 16R is used for landing, i didn’t quite understand why devs made decision like this and I am thinking if there will be a very heavy bottleneck in late game as all international and cargo terminal flights will use this runway to take off. I am guessing if it is about taxing time if planes land on 16L and taxi all the way to domestic terminal, but my idea is that I have less concerns on that. Or if I move on to international stage later, should I cancel all domestic flights? That will make another runway looks pretty silly for sure. Wish devs could consider to change that in later version (to something very similar to LEJ)
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As per the post mentioned in the post, I also wonder if it is possible to add the old B738 livery of Qantas, it looks like it does not require any complicated work. I also would like to mention Qantas also operated B463 and since B463 is also considered a heritage aircraft (like B744) I hope most historical customers (including QF) will be available for us.
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I am not familiar with the operation of SYD. But I do see some inaccuracy in tarmac layout. Some people mentioned L gates missing in Domestic Terminal and there are even double jetbridges. I also noticed stands on the east 16R, north of 25, north of the Shep’s Mound, and south of 07 seems to be unavailable. I am not sure if they are meant to be stands for storage, though.
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I don’t quite get the reason but the 3D landscape looks weird for me. I think there might be some extra work to be done in the future since SYD is in urban landscape unlike many airports.
Still, this is a really impressive update and I am truly excited since it is a surprise for us (and I mined for a while at LHR as I was unprepared!)