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About This File
Welcome to Providencía (SKPV) by agrisson & Skylark2992 (March 2024)
Introduction
Welcome to El Embrujo airport (SKPV), serving Providencía Island of Colombia. This scenery is an upgrade from the original X-Plane 10 and 11 scenery (available here: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/42955-skpv/) for Providencía (SKPV) created by @agrisson and @Skylark2992. This version only works with X-Plane 12.
This updated version (11/03/24) now has the airport unflattened - thank you @WalSch for suggesting this quick, easy fix to restore the local terrain whilst still enjoying the ortho4XP mesh. Also thanks to @WalSch for highlighting that when unflattened, there is a slight camber at the threshold of runway 35 (which is not a significant issue as the rest of the runway is unaffected), and that the apron is slightly uneven (so I have moved the GA starting ramp to avoid imbalance/tailstrikes). I have updated the enclosed and online screenshots to show these changes.
This upgrded scenery features upgraded runway, taxiway, and apron textures that are compatible with X-Plane 12's new weather effects, and 3D vegetation - I have hand-placed a lot of 3D vegetation, much of it realigned to better match the new/updated OSM data via Ortho4XP.
This scenery also features additional objects at the airport and around the island, and enhanced ZL18 orthos photos, which were the highest quality available at the time when I created this scenery in May 2023 - my custom orthos feature beautiful, massive water masks which I have corrected by hand (custom orthos are available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18-KZ1BJwo9oqouvgFqFKwKMhLA2LRPT6/view?usp=sharing).
I have also added an ATIS at 128.50 so island-hoppers can check ahead. The runway is approx. 4200ft short with displaced thresholds - my best advice is, don't bring anything bigger or heavier than a small business jet (e.g., the default Cirrus SF50, or a Cessna Citation Mustang 510 in a pinch).
I have taken some artistic license and embellished Providencía in my own way (look out for people practicing Yoga and some rather unfortunate air balloon enthusiasts!), whilst trying to strike the best possible balance between a scenery rich in objects and consistent, >50fps performance with medium to high X-Plane graphics settings.
This scenery was created using WED, ApplyDecals, and Ortho4XP, excellent tools without which X-Plane would not be the same. I have tested this scenery using X-Plane 12 (v12.0.8r3). At the airport and on short final, I achieve about 60-70fps with 25sm visibility and scattered clouds, tested on a 64-bit system with a 4.4GHz (not overclocked) Intel i7-4790K, 32GB RAM and 8GB VRAM (AMD 6600XT). I developed this scenery with WED v2.5.2r1 (latest stable version at the time of release, 30/12/23).
Background
Providencía's airport is called 'El Embrujo', which is Spanish for, 'The Spell'. I think that this beautiful island (and its islet of Santa Catalina to the north) will indeed cast a visual spell on you; this airport is a beautiful gem tucked away in the south-western corner of the Caribbean Sea. The old adage says that "a picture speaks a thousand words", so I shall let you discover the scenery at your own leisure! You can find multiple screenshots in the upload and in the folder called 'Screenshots'. More airport information plus navaid details are available here:
https://aertecsolutions.com/en/2023/09/03/an-infinite-challenge-el-embrujo-airport-providencia-island/
(The terminal is currently undergoing redevelopment in the real world, particularly because of the damage created by Hurricane Iota in November 2020. My version is a fictional version based on the former, smaller terminal.)
https://skyvector.com/airport/SKPV/Providencia-Airport
(Providencía is strictly a day-time only, VFR only airport. Skyvector will help you to find an alternate, such as Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport (SKSP), approximately 51nm south-east of Providencia.)
Airport / VFR charts for Providencía are publicly and freely available here (latest publication 29/12/22):
https://www.aerocivil.gov.co/servicios-a-la-navegacion/servicio-de-informacion-aeronautica-ais/Documents/AIP%20AMDT%2065_23/AD/AD%202%20SKPV%20-%20PROVIDENCIA%20-%20EL%20EMBRUJO.pdf
Installation
1) First, download and install the following libraries, which are also listed in the Master Library list here: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/90776-master-list-of-libraries/
- 3D people library (courtesy of the late dkm, whose work has greatly enhanced countless sceneries)
- BS2001 library
- CDB library
- Cemetery library
- FAIB aircraft library
- FF Extended LOD library
- Flags of the World library
- FJS library
- GT (Ground Textures) library
- Handy objects library
- JB library (you'll need all 3x types: hangars; houses; and objects)
- Madagascar library (download 'Madagascar Bush Airfields 1.1.0 (28.1 MB)'; you can remove the airfields)
- MisterX library
- OpenSceneryX (download Mac, Linux or Windows according to your system)
- People library
- PM library
- Ru scenery library (click the link where it says '2.1.6. RuScenery.zip (253 MB).')
- RD library (click the text saying 'DOWNLOAD')
- Sea Life library
- XAirportScenery library
2) Download this scenery, then simply extract it to your X-Plane\Custom scenery folder.
If you want orthos (highly recommended), then download this file (https://drive.google.com/file/d/18-KZ1BJwo9oqouvgFqFKwKMhLA2LRPT6/view?usp=sharing), then simply extract it to your X-Plane\Custom scenery folder. Custom overlays from Ortho4XP are not required, as all vegetation, buildings, and objects in my scenery are hand-placed by me; however, custom overlays (available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dr-5bXgJKFHgyzLpVrnpitHvPr7eRhE0/view?usp=sharing) can be downloaded and placed into your custom scenery folder to add roads.
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/442579-understanding-scenery-order/
https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/78822-cool-scenery-and-plugins-and-how-to-keep-your-custom_sceneryini-in-order/
Limitations
This scenery is somewhat fictional (e.g., placement of some vegetation, objects, and local air balloons).
The terrain mesh behind (e.g., west of) the airport is incorrect; due to issues with the mesh (and any other settings that I used or patches that I tried to apply in Ortho4XP), the terrain's gradient suddenly decreases rather than featuring a gentle downhill slope. I do not know how to correct this, but if anyone can guide me or can correct it, then please let me know - I will gladly incorporate any corrections and credit whoever is smart enough to implement them.
When viewed from a low angle (e.g., on the ground at sea level), water does not blend well / look correct or realistic when it meets the land - this is a known limitation of Ortho4XP's interaction with X-Plane 12 due to bathymetry data required in future versions of Ortho4XP.
In future, I intend to upgrade the terminal to reflect its more modern (and later planned) real-world version. I also intend to add other minor details (e.g., 3D boats with landable helipads, and a helipad for eVTOLS and VTOLs), and to make other minor corrections (e.g., to add missing buildings in the surrounding areas).
Credits
This scenery is a joint effort between myself, Skylark2992, and @agrisson, whose original work inspired me to enhance it. This scenery features more eye-candy (e.g., tree lines, ramp details, grasses, people and the like) and was reworked to fit higher-resolution orthos with clouds manually removed. There are now also some helipads scattered across the island. I am hugely grateful for agrisson's kind permission to allow me to expand on his original and wonderful design; he has created a work of art in my opinion, on whose foundations I have built this newer scenery.
I have also used grasses adapted from @chris k / ISDG group with his kind permission.
I have also made use of @andyw248's excellent weathered shoulders (freely available here and for scenery designers to include in their sceneries).
Thank you @WalSch for your advice above re: how to restore the island's terrain/mesh, and to work around some associated problems.
I thank @Oscar Pilote for his fantastic, freeware, and I think 'game-changing' Ortho4XP tool, @Daikan for posting many useful replies about Ortho4XP (even though I have rarely contacted you directly), @triplemon for your very informative posts about how to use WED, and @Steve.Wilson for forum-relevant guidance. I also thank the X-Plane community for its support and good times over the past 11 years, and for the kind and helpful feedback that I have received creating other sceneries.
Feedback, comments or questions?
Please do let me know via the forum whether I can improve anything, fix any bugs, or if you have any questions. You can reach me via PM or in the comments section of this scenery on the forum. I'm always open to suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms.
Good journey! / ¡Buen vuelo!
Edited by Skylark2992
11/03/24: Scenery updated to v1.1 to unflatten airport terrain.
What's New in Version 1.1 See changelog
Released
This updated version (11/03/24) now has the airport unflattened - thank you @WalSch for suggesting this quick, easy fix to restore the local terrain whilst still enjoying the ortho4XP mesh. Also thanks to @WalSch for highlighting that when unflattened, there is a slight camber at the threshold of runway 35 (which is not a significant issue as the rest of the runway is unaffected), and that the apron is slightly uneven (so I have moved the GA starting ramp to avoid imbalance/tailstrikes). I have updated the enclosed and online screenshots to show these changes.
