Hey guys and a big hello from Vienna, Austria.

I'm currently on vacation, enjoying some time off from work and probably eating a bit too much. I'm also away from my flight sim rig, but that doesn't mean I'm not shopping for add ons, or thinking of future blog posts once I get home.

When it comes to add ons, Vienna has surprised me. At home in the UK just buying a PC game from any high street shop is difficult. Finding an fsx add on in said shops is almost impossible and finding an x plane add on is the stuff of myth and legend. Here on the continent, things are much different. Shops like Saturn and Mediamarkt are everywhere and their PC games sections are huge. It's also very clear that sims are huge here, with boxed versions of flight sims, bus sims, train sims and more taking up more than a bit of space on the shelf. There's no shortage of boxed XPX add ons either. Almost all of Aerosoft's XPX boxed titles are available somewhere in the city. For XPX its great news and I'm giving serious consideration to moving here because of the great number of options for sims in general. Lol

Moving away from XPX boxes, I'm also thinking of a few new posts for this blog. The first of which is a look at XPX's rendering options, their impact on fps and finding a balance for smooth flight. So expect a post some time in August that looks at tweaking the sim, since even though XPX involves less tweaking than brand 'X', simmers are natural potchers (A Welsh term for a person who tinkers).

Next up would be online flying. Now I thought I'd look at this in two parts. First, Vatsim and IVAO. I've not tried flying online with XPX yet and I'm curious how well it all works, so it seems like a good idea to take a look.

Then I thought I'd look at the wonderful world of multiplayer. I fly with several friends regularly in fsx and I'd wager that most XPX pilots were unaware that x plane even has a multiplayer option. So at some point I'll be hosting a session and asking for people to connect to try out XPX's multiplayer system, as well as connecting to a session hosted elsewhere. If your interested in joining me online for this test, drop me a line here at avsim.

So that's all planned for when I get home. I'm off out for a bite to eat and a bit of shopping. Catch you guys again.

Best wishes,

Jess B