To buy or not to buy?

[Guest shelley1995]

I know this is touchy subject. I have been in flight simulator hobby for a little over a year now. I have seen lot of "excellent" freeware scenery done by good creators. I have also seen some "bad payware" released. It is very dissapointing to purchase an item and only to find out that it is not worth the $$ spent. Why do people create trash and then release it for sale? I very seldom purchase scenery for flight sim. but I saw a airport in the UK2000 series and it seemed like good work. WRONG. Work is lousy and not worth the $$$$$ spent.I not being cruel or anything but I have seen other posts about simmers supporting those that create things for flight simulator. I just feel that some should be a little more thoughtful when they decide to sell their product. People like Bill Melichar who has done a fabulous job with his work and he has'nt charged a dime. Stefan Rauch who did the austrian airports series, his is payware. His work is great. I don't mean to cause trouble but I just felt that I had to vent a little after arriving at that airport and I'm not to thrilled about being there. Thank you, S.

[Guest]

"Different strokes for different folks" ;-)http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/edenw/FS_..._banner_je2.jpg Long Live General Aviation!

[Guest]

Gary Summons happens to do excellent work.Although I do have to admit that Gatwick could use a texture update only because it was made at the begining of FS2000.That was sometime ago.EGCC is proboly one of the better single payware addons i have ever seen and london airports is one excellent package and very frame rate friendly.One thing I have always respected about Gary's scenery is that you can "try before you buy" Richard Dillon KPDKSr First Officer www.jetstarairlines.com"Bill Grabowski's"ERJ-145 panel Beta TeamMD-11 panel Beta Team____________________________"Lets Roll" 9/11 Specs AMD 1600 XP MSI KT 266t pro2 512MB DDR 2100GF3 ti 200 64MB SBliveCh Products Yoke and Pedals(usb)Windows 2000 Serivce Pack 3

[Guest]

I'm surprised ? Which airport was it you saw ? Are you a UK flyer ? This I ask only to get my head round if you would know the airport in question.Gary Summons has been probably the best designer of UK scenery over the last 2 years +, this of course, is just my opinion. He has in the past allowed try before you buy scenery. Be thankful you didnt buy some of the other UK collections if your not happy with Gary's, again my opinion.Have you looked at the support pages for updates at all ? Have you even bothered to write to UK2000 ? If not, why not and dont you think your being over reactive by posting "it's crap" without even asking first ?For the Gatwick guys there are some new 32 bit textures available.RegardsGeorge

[Guest JonP01]

I have to agree to some extent. Not specifically about the add-on in question (because I don't have it), but that there is payware out there that is not worth any monetary outlay. I have bought two or three add-ons that really were not even as good as mediocre freeware. On the other hand there are of course payware and freeware products that truly excel in quality but for which no demonstrations are available.I really wish more developers would attempt to create demonstration versions of their products. Several aircraft developers have successfully done this before. I realise it is difficult from a technical perspective to create demonstration software, but without it purchasing software becomes nothing more than a gamble.Screenshots are one thing. But they don't properly convey the look and feel of an add-on when you actually start to utilise it and fly around in it. And screenshots don't say anything about how that add-on is going perform frame rate wise on your system. People can say "I get good frame rates" but this is a subjective thing. You really need to try it in your system with your settings before you can make a valid judgement call regarding this aspect.

[Guest emergency_pants]

Yep... there's lots of crap out there, but then there are also lots of product reviews and people who own the products that you can ask. Really, if you buy a rubbish product the only person to blame is yourself. Don't blame the publisher. After all, it's your choice, not theirs. I don't feel that the example you give is a good one. Some of Gary Summons's work is shareware, so you should have been able to sample some of his work before you parted cash. Although, I must admit, I think it's very overpriced. Some of the older scenery products need to be reduced in price to reflect it's age. It is a little old now and it shows somewhat. His new scenery shots prove that point. I recently bought parts 1-4 of his scenery (in bits, rather than as a package because I didn't have the money to outlay in one hit) and it cost me alot of money. But having said that and parted with the money, I don't feel in any position (and do not feel in any way inclined) to say that it's rubbish.I do agree with you, however, that some Flight Sim products may have misleading screenshots and exaggerated descriptions. Hey, that's marketing and you need to be a bit more shrewd.I've yet to buy crap. I look, listen and ask first.Simon.

[Guest]

I tend to agree - I would normally seek some form of recommendation or try and find a review before buying. That said I do not tend to buy "airports", but rather mesh sceneries - demo versions do tend to be available for them, certainly from the likes of Lago.Screenshots by the author(s) unfortunately are ALWAYS going to show their products in the best light so you have to be wary of them, they also give you no indication of what sort of frame rate you can expect....

[Guest]

I agree with you Jon. There have been many add on / expansions that have not been worth having or worth the money. I made a statement a couple of weeks ago arguing the contempt that some commercial outfits have for the buying public. I still stand by this, I'm not offering names because that would be a tad silly on my part as it is just my opinion. Of course this was attacked by one in particular. It didnt stop me buying his other stuff though.If there is one thing that riles me, it's the false claims made as to machine specs, some are wild in claims made. The second is misleading advertising,screenshots, false claims (again) and some downright lies, (as some are about to find out in the next few days.)If you work it out, to have the "good" stuff makes this not a cheap hobby. For some, add ons aside, it's meant new machines and other hardware just to make the initial program run. There are some rich kids out there but for some one add on purchased is the result of many months of saving, these are the chaps I feel sorry for. I'm getting into a rant..sorry, I'd better close ! But before I go (and still he harps on) Look at this pic. I'm going to claim it's brand new, new technique out of this world, a must have aircraft for you library, it's

[Guest]

Hi all.I can say that 1stly there are some updated 32bit textures which I made for Gary's EGKK (Gatwick) which are available from his site.I've asked him whether he will be updating Gatwick and the answer was yes, as soon as he gets some spare time. The textures for Gatwick DO look abit old and the same with his previous work, all because they were originally built for FS2000.I'd like to see his old work of South East England updated, this will happen in due course. If you look at his NEW upcoming work, on his NEWS pg. then you can see the quailty of his improved work, maybe it was me who encouraged him to use 32bit textures ?? lol.In short,, just hold on abit longer, then you can expect something worth while.Gary's site: http://www.uk2000scenery.bizland.com/puplicRegardsWill

[Guest]

bump

[01pewterz28 117]

Also to add that SimFlyers sceneries also offer a demo version "Try before you buy" :)John