Ko Poda is an island off the west coast of Thailand, about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Ao Nang, in Thailand. It’s a piece of heaven on Earth with its gorgeous landscape, tropical green and blue waters and a lot for us, helicopter pilots, to do.
Stefan Schroen (monoblau on the .org forums) developed yet another great scenery (the first one being Bamboo Island) In this scenery you will find no less than 5 helipads (along with a sealane), each one with its own “theme”.
Lots to do
You’ll find a helicopter flight school (where the folks seem to have heard about HeliSimmer.com or perhaps we got a filial there?), our friend Bel Geode seems to have his own radio station (and private island) with some gorgeous ladies sunbathing, you can also find a scuba diving center along with some other amenities on the region.
That being said, don’t expect this to be a fully realistic rendering of the island. Stefan used it as a base to add a lot of his own imagination on it and make it a fun place for pilots (helicopters in particular).
And he did just that. The island is not only beautiful, but you feel like it’s filled with life (with lots of people around) and quite busy. All the stuff I mentioned above create a small ecosystem in the island that makes it vibrant. The geography is challenging and the group of helipads around the area make it so that you have all sorts of different approaches you can practice.
A bit of history behind the scenery
You’ll have to excuse me, but I feel like I have to tell you this story.
Stefan has begun his adventures as a livery designer and he is known to be a “cookie jar designer” since he always came up with made-up (“what if”) liveries.
Stefan is a huge fan of Thailand. He loves it and has some friends there. When the tsunami hit, he lost quite a few of them and he decided to recreate the place that he loves from his memory. Bamboo and Mosquito islands were his first iteration.
Ko Poda is his second serious attempt. And what an attempt!
Be amazed and save the dude!
Flying around, you’ll find some little gems like some dolphins, but you’ll also find a more upsetting scenery: a poor dude in the water with a shark swimming around!
Framerates
Framerates are always a concern, especially on environments surrounded by water where your computer will need to work harder to render everything. This scenery is particular heavy on the models as there are a lot of details, but I didn’t find any major issues with it and my nVidia GTX1060 handled it nicely at 60+FPS.
Even with VR, I didn’t have any major issues (although the GTX1060 is not exactly the best card for VR). Yes, I did have some pauses but that’s normal on this nVidia model on any scenery that’s slightly more intense.
Conclusion
I have to say that I am not a big fan of fictious scenery. I’m not. But both Bamboo island and Ko Poda are absolutely stunning, and they make me go back for some great flights around these areas.
And the best of all? It will be free. No kidding!
When is it coming out?
Soon. Really soon. It’s really a matter of days, so stay tuned! It's out! Grab it here.
