X-Plane 11 - Add-on: Aerosoft - Svalbard XP DLC

Definitely recommended, scenery very well done.

Highly recommended. Actually everything by the Maps2XPlane team is highly recommended! I am biased because I mainly fly helos now and the level of detail in their products is outstanding and always have been. I have all of their products now. @realpapazulu ... thanks for the tip about using in XP12. It works great. To get the map data you need to copy 6 directories from your xplane 11 map data water directory FROM \SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\X-Plane 11\Resources\map data\water TO \SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\X-Plane 12\Resources\map data\water The directories to copy from XP11 to XP12 are: +70+010 +70+020 +70+030 +80+010 +80+020 +80+030 Remember to take a backup of the XP12 directories first (in the case of problems) then merge the contents. Happy arctic flying:)

Really nice addon. Landscape and Ortho are fantastic, Longyearbyen airport is excellent and very detailed. As others described, buildings in Longyearbyen city (and probably the other settlements as well) are a little sparse and outdated, but that is definitely no showstopper for me. I am especially happy with the winter textures - this lets me fly Svalbard all year round in a convincing environment. I am using Svalbard4XPlane in XPlane 12. I do have a problem with the Laminar G1000 in the Quest Kodiak: it does not show any topo or terrain data in PFD and MFD. There are hints somewhere, that the G1000 might not be working correctly above 70° latitude. Can anyone share experiences regarding the G1000 in Spitsbergen?

I know the real Svalbard well; I used to live in Longyearbyen. So, I was quite keen to get this DLC, even though it is a bit expensive. The landscape of the archipelago has been done well, and the DLC interfaces with the TerraMaxx scenery, including the season textures: summer/winter/deep-winter (note: the TerraMaxx software is sold separately, and not via Steam, either). There are a small number of airstrips and helipads about the area. Ny Ålesund is modelled, with the NMA VLBI radio dish and rugged landing strip. There are also others: Pyramiden, Barrentsberg, etc. (atlhough I don't have real-life experience with those to comment). However, the main interaction point for Svalbard is Longyearbyen. The airport is good. The layout is fine and the terminal is well modelled. The little details are there too, including the [i]"Gjelder Hele Svalbard"[/i] sign outside the terminal with directions/distances to various places. That sort of detail is cool, and not obvious... you'd need to know to go look for it. What is [i]not[/i] good is Longyearbyen itself. This is the settlement near the main airport (ENSB, the only commercial airport in the region). There are a few buildings modelled in the DLC. But there are very few buildings in Longyearbyen in real life, so not modelling them, and relying on the ground texture is simply not good enough... especially given the settlement is very close to the airport. The uncorrected ground shadows also look wrong; especially given the low sun elevation at those latitudes. The DLC has the UNIS building, but much of the rest of the area is missing. For example, the historic Taubanesentralen (which is very prominent and sits on the edge of the nearby mountain). The senteret is very poor. Further afield, some of the surrounding buildings are included (e.g. the SvalSat ground tracking station), but many are missing (such as the mines or the road up Adventdalen). The DLC costs quite a lot for this limited level of detail, even if it was on sale. It sort of feels unfinished (but if it ever gets patched up, I'll re-consider this review). [b][u]Summary[/u][/b] If you're a "sandbag pilot" (takes off, sits on autopilot, lands, repeats) who is just collecting world locations, you're not going to get much out of this expensive DLC. If you know Svalbard, and want to fly Longyearbyen, Ny Ålesund, Pyramiden, etc., for the sights you know, you'll probably find it disappointing.