Addons for FS 2K

[Guest]

Greetings to all,I'm Ralph B.and I'm a newcomer to FS 2K I usually do my flying and Sim related stuff on the FU3 forum.I have just recently loaded FS 2k and am feeling my way through it.What I need to know at this point is how to add scenery and aircraft to the Sim. I am also interested in flying helicopters.I haven't tried the helo yet as I am still working on the controls of the planes.I don't do jets of any kind yet.I'm interested in single and twin engine aircraft with props.any advice,tips,or help of any kind would be appreciated.What Utilities do I need?Where other than AVSIM do I go for info or downloadable addons? I have been exclusively on AVSIM for some time and have received a great deal of help,advive,and online companionship from the FU3 community.hope to receive the same from this group as well.Thanks in advance for any assistance. :-wave Ralph B.

[LAdamson 240]

My most favorite "payware" addon's ---- Flight1 Cessna 421, Dreamfleet Archer II, & FSD Cheyenne. The 421 & Cheyenne are both beautifully modeled twins with full cabin interiors. These aircraft go far & beyond the defaults in virtual cockpits as well as flight dynamics.As to the default's, a new flight dynamic file for the Cessna 172 from Ron Freimuth can be E-mailed for the asking; & others for the Baron & Caravan from Steve Small (FSD) need to come from the "black market". :) These files help in areas such as more improved "boyancy" as in roll, where the defaults seem a bit to stiff, as well as other improvements.L.Adamson

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Welcome....!Quite a few questions, which is understandable given the transition between sims. I'm a FU2/3 fan myself--and a big fan of photoreal scenery. Fs2002 can support photoreal scenery equal to (perhaps some would say better) than FU3.... The only drawback, is there's not a lot of it yet. The main issue is source material, but slowly it is being released. Expect projects on the scale of FU2/3 within the next year.As far as where to go for aircraft, etc.... Google.com! I find quite a bit by going there, and typing keywords like "Fs2002 Lancair"... There are tens of thousands of freeware aircraft available. Some handle well, and some fly as if held by some unseen hand. With FS2002, I've found I can adjust 99 percent of the flight dynamics to my liking... All of my aircraft are currently freeware.You can reassign the scenery textures (for free) by trying my freeware app, Landclass Assistant (found right here at Avsim) along with MS's FS2000 Terrain SDK. With it you can add a city, remove a city, or turn some forest into a golf course...You can add third-party airport updates at will. As for the method of installation, that depends on each author... Some have you edit scenery.cfg (where the scenery is defined), others have you use the menu option within FS that accomplishes the same thing. Adding aircraft is usually done by unzipping the aircraft's folder into 2k2's aircraft folder, and any included gauges into FS2002's gauge folder.What I recommend you do first, before you get buried in downloads and add-ons, is fly 2k2 "as is" for a week or so. Make sure you feel it's stable on your system, and then add-on as you see fit. Some add-ons can cause issues. A "must-have" I feel is an add-on called FSUIPC. Many programs use this as an interface...and its other benefits are too numerous to mention. Take your time--look at the other replies, and enjoy the sim for what it is. And don't give up FU3.... The more sims we fly, the more our hobby will flourish...-John

[Guest SoarPics]

Welcome aboard, RalphPlenty of folks here to help, but please verify which version of MSFS you are using (your post says FS 2K). Need to make sure whether you have 2K or 2K2. Also please tell us your system specs (this too will help).Regards,

[Guest]

>GreetingsHi, and welcome!>What I need to know at this point is how to add scenery and aircraft to the Sim.To add aircraft, Unzip the download into your ...FS2000/aircraft folder. If there are guages with the aircraft, (they might need to be unzipped as well) they go into the ...FS2000/guages folder. It might help to look at some of the default aircraft folders and see how they are setup so you can make sure they are similar. Make sure you read the the readme w/ the download.>What Utilities do I need?Some things to get you off to a good start:FSMeteo (realtime, realworld weather)FSNav (Great flight planning software)FSUIPC (an add on required by some other programs, gives you greater control and flexibilty.)>Where other than AVSIM do I go for info or downloadable addons?Life exists outside of Avsim? :-hmmm-------------Michael"The one fellow who is really broke in the air is the one who is out of both altitude and airspeed" (Wolfgang Langewieche, Stick and Rudder)

[Guest]

John,Thanks for the quick reply,and for the info you provided.I don't have FS2002 I have FS 2000 at the moment.I'm thinking very seriously about going to FS2002 as there seems to be so much new stuff for it.but I already HAVE 2000 so I thought I'd start there.I'll try your advice tho and thank you very much :-wave Ralph B

[Guest]

Greg, Thanks for your reply. Right now all I have is a Dell Pentium 266 with onboard ati rage pro graphics but only 2 mb I'm working toward an Athlon xp1500 with a voodoo 5 5500 agp card I've got some of it but have been having trouble getting a cpu to work. the last 2 wouldn't work at all so I got a new mobo. a k7sem I hope to have a workable cpu shortly.any comments? Thanks :-wave Ralph B

[Guest]

Michael,Hi Thanks for your reply.I got the same info from John so Thanks to both of you I'll try it and see what happens.I GUESS theres life outside of AVSIM I'll see I guess I'm pretty much into getting all I need from AVSIM. thanks again :-wave Ralph B

[LAdamson 240]

I guess I should read the post more accurately!! :) FS2K..... and I didn't notice.L.Adamson

[Guest SoarPics]

Hi Ralph,I see in your reply to John that you have 2K. While it should work OK on your current Dell, I, and I'm sure others, will strongly recommend that you finish the planned AMD/Voodoo 5500 system. And then get MSFS2K2. It has it's glitches, but it is a far, far better sim than 2K, especially for the GA enthusiast.As far as addons, others in this post have covered the bases very well. I would add one other GA aircraft that is non-commercial ware: Beech Debonair by Geoffrey Applegate and James Eden. It is for 2K2 and simply outstanding. It can be downloaded here at Avsim, along with a patch or two (do a search in the library).With regard to other sites, there are NONE :-lol . Seriously, some of the reputable sites are flightsim.com, fsgateway.com, fsfreeware.com, msfsgateway.com. Others will no doubt have more suggestions. Two to stay away from are FSplanet.com, and airindigo.net. These guys poach their files from sites like Avsim, offer files without the permission of the authors, then charge for the right to download them.L Adamson had some good suggestions concerning GA aircraft for 2K2. Developers like FSD-International, Dreamfleet, and Flight1 have already offered commercial products that are a dream come true for us GA simmers. Aircraft like the Piper Archer II, Super Cub 180 and Cheyenne 400LS, Cessna 421C, and Commander 115 are all 2K2 ready. Prices are around $20.00US, and at that price they're all a steal. The .air files Mr. Adamson mentioned are a matter of contention. I'm not sure about Ron's position on the distribution of his C172 air. file, but Steve Small has asked that his upgrade files not be distributed. On a final note, John made a recommendation I strongly agree with:<"What I recommend you do first, before you get buried in downloads and add-ons, is fly 2k2 "as is" for a week or so. Make sure you feel it's stable on your system, and then add-on as you see fit. Some add-ons can cause issues. A "must-have" I feel is an add-on called FSUIPC. Many programs use this as an interface...and its other benefits are too numerous to mention."> Get the sim up and running stable on your new PC, then start adding all the great stuff available for 2K2.Hope this helps, and keep us posted on the progress of your new box of bits.Regards,

[LAdamson 240]

> I'm >not sure about Ron's position on the distribution of his >C172 air. file, but Steve Small has asked that his upgrade >files not be distributed. >Ron has given permission for E-mailing the C172 file; but no uploading to web sites.L.Adamson

[Guest SoarPics]

Thanks for the clarification,:-beerchug Regards,

[Guest]

Hi, May I have a copy plese? You can mail to:hennie.van.rooyen@honeywell.comThank you so much in advance,Hennie

[Guest]

Hi Ralph,Welcome to the MSFS world! I cannot reccommend FS2K2 enough - it is a MAJOR upgrade from FS2K and you're loosing out big time without it.Plus, when you're ready, you'll find so much excellent new creations for it that it will literally take you months just to check them all out.When you DO purchace FS2K2, send me an email. These folks here helped me to downlolad the very best stuff for it and I surely also have some recommendations by now.Here's some links:http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/http://simufly.com/http://www.flightsimmers.net/airport/connie/http://www.projectfreeware.com/http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/index.php3http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/premaircraft/http://www.avsim.com/alaska/alaska_001.htmhttp://ftp.avsim.com/library/whatsnew.php?ScanMode=1http://windrfters.com/index.htmhttp://home.c2i.net/fokker50/http://avsim.com/alaska/alaska_051.htmhttp://www.fsnordic.net/http://www.precision-simdesigns.com/http://www.simviation.com/menu.htmlhttp://www.tony.smiths.btinternet.co.uk/fsgate1.htmlhttp://www.simplanes.com/fs.htmhttp://www.flightsims.co.uk/links.htmhttp://www.freeflightdesign.com/http://www.daviator.com/http://zone.msn.com/flightsim/http://www.projectahttp://www.reality-xp.com/main.htmlhttp://www.indigocactus.com/Flightsim/AirI...adseaplanes.htmhttp://vatsim.net/http://avsim.com/hjg/main.htmhttp://fsonline.tk/http://www.fsfactory.com/http://www.fsgateway.com/tips.aspi.com/That should keep you occupied for a while.Regards,Hennie

[LAdamson 240]

just sent it.L.Adamson