This whole FS hobby has really now got me to reconsider software/hardware

[Guest Shalomar]

I enjoy multiplayer in FSX much better than FS9- gamespy and all. Sharing cockpits is SO cool. MS does a much better job than FSNet for FS9- it is very smooth synchronisation. The flight dynamics are improved and I can whittle away hours. That being said, I still enjoy FS9 and have bought more addons for it than I did before I got FSX. Like Ladamson, I have done no surgery. My performance in FS9 was nothing to write home about before I went to a 256 graphics card and another gig of RAM (1.5 total). What I did for FS9, works for FSX.I have the February DirectX 9c and the February ATI Catalyst drivers. It helps.I can disable shaders if I want some headroom to fly complex aircraft. I am looking forward to flying the ATR-72 and Aeroworx B200 while sharing a cockpit. Even at JFK with shaders in default aircraft I have very playable frame rates; I am happy with FSX. I had some trouble with a non boot situation and elected to start from scratch with a formatted Hard Drive. After I loaded Windows I downloaded Windows updates, Avast Antivirus, Net 3.0 framework, Catalyst for my Radeon vid card and I was done. Half an hour later later FSX had me flying with custom control settings and the display how I like it locked at and getting 30 FPS. I have yet to load FS9- all the work of installing Ultimate Terrain, Genesis mesh, Ground Environment Pro, Active Sky- I'll get around to it.Best Regards, Donny :-waveFLYing? It's cool. Trillions of birds and insects can't be wrong.

[RobdeVries 28]

>I can't understand why people get so worked up over a $40>game that is purely designed to be entertaining and a little>diversion from everyday life. If you're dropping bazillions of>cash on new hardware every other month just to play this game,>you need to seriously reexamine your priorities. >>ricardo:-violinSays the man who whines with every post and shows off his 'rig' as a signature LOL :-xxrotflmaoRob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://fool.exler.ru/sm/fly2.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"

[betelgeuse 41]

>FS9 may well end up being one of those games, which refuses>to die.>I agree absolutely. I have enough in FS9 to satisfy all my flight simulation requirements for the rest of my days! I can fly anywhere in the world using real world charts and find that FS9 is extraordinarily accurate. Eye candy is there in abundance already. If I want I can add any number of excellent freeware and payware addons, I can design scenery, paint aircraft, tweak AI FDEs, write AI flightplans. I can fly for a VA or even set up a VA, I can fly on-line, I can make films of my flights in .wmv format. The possibilities are endless. The cost-benefit to me of an upgrade to FSX is just not there, given that I would have to seriously upgrade my hardware, and junk a lot of FS9 stuff I really enjoy. And even then, FSX is designed for Vista and I would have to buy that, and wait for DirectX 10.If FSX had sorted out ATC and provided the AI engine with a few neurones, I might be tempted. It hasn't, so I'm not!Betel

[boshar 6]

Wow, I read it all!Agree with you on this. Software made for future hardware should be sold when the future hardware is available.We don't buy DVD HD or Blue Ray disks to put into our normal DVD players. The hardware and software have to belong together.Also the current minimum hardware specs on the box are downright criminal.But off course we will have the usual yes FS-X! sayers posting their great experience with the product... :-rollLook at their hardware specs if they list them. They mostly use serious hardware and make large compromises to make it run...

[Guest LeeWang]

"""I can't understand why people get so worked up over a $40 game that is purely designed to be entertaining and a little diversion from everyday life."""A $40 game design to entertain, has turned into complete frustratiation for many. Mike Stone sums it up very well. http://www.pmstone.com/Announcement.htm""" If you're dropping bazillions of cash on new hardware every other month just to play this game, you need to seriously reexamine your priorities."""Very well put.. I think the vast majority have seriously re-examined their priorities and have refused to upgrade to FSX because no hardware today can fix poorly coded software. FSX should never been released in its state. Like any poorly written software program, if a company writing it sees that it is full of bugs, they will "try" to fix it with a patch. Is a patch being made for FSX? Yeap, only months after release! http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/default.aspxWill it fix all the bugs? NoPeople that have been simming for years (myself) and have bought and flew every version do no see it as a game. Some do. Everyone uses Flight Simulator in a different fashion which is ok. Thank you microsoft for FS9. FSX has been a very big dissappointment for me. Maybe people that use it as a game in the fields with autogen off feel different..Lee

[LAdamson 240]

>But off course we will have the usual yes FS-X! sayers posting>their great experience with the product... :-roll>>Look at their hardware specs if they list them. They mostly>use serious hardware and make large compromises to make it>run...So what; I ran FS9 for years, with less than a top of the line CPU and an adjustment of sliders.MY FSX hardware is certainly less than serious, and yet my compromised sliders can sometimes produce a better picture of the ground below, than FS9 can at full sliders to the right. As a general rule, when away from add on scenery, FSX rules with it's high resolution ground textures.Please keep in mind, that I run FS9 right along with FSX, to get the best of both sims. And for anyone interested, no, I do not fly simulations for hours each day.Athlon 64 3800+/2Gig/Geforce 7600GS 256MB/ 1600*1200*32 21" monitorNo tweaks either, except FSGenesisL.Adamson -- FSX sayer, FSX a really excited user, whatever....FSX default:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167371.jpg

[Guest allcott]

The longevity of FS9 will, IMHO, be decided outside of anything MS can or can't do with FSX. It will be decided by how important the fact that, for the first time, we simmers DON'T have a previous-generation product completely overtaken by the next and how much that encourages the aftermarket to continue to develop for the older sim. So far, there seems to be a split between developers who have jumped into FSX feet-first and immersed themselves in the possbilities and those who have taken a more cautious approach and have offered continued commitment to FS9. Frankly, FS9 has now reached such a state of development that a `tricked-out` FS9 sim easily matches or exceeds a basic FSX. And that is before you even start thinking about frame rates. So you have the visual beauty AND the frame rates. And no deserts in the autumn in Europe or rocky rivers.The problem is that FSX has no apparent future if the marketplace won't support it, can't make use of it and the FSX development team wont get their collective heads out of the cumulative rectums and realise that FSX is fundamentally flawed, corrupted by their Masters demands it be developed for Vista, and released for XP. It's not ACES fault, they need to stand their ground with their own Lords and Masters and start telling THEM like it is. FSX is so badly flawed I don't think it can be fixed as long as the mindset is "patch what can be fixed, ignore everything else". It won't work if it don't work.Meanwhile FS9 continues to offer a fully-rounded simming experience. And with todays hardware able to really show FS9 is the best light, it could be the clue that MS needs to abandon FSX and start work on FS11 as the next true version of the sim, from a completely clean slate. There is EASILY another two years of life in FS9 with the comprehensive aftermarket product range available today. I personally firmly believe that rather than patch FSX, ACES should have carried as many of the FSX featuires as possible to FS9 in a Service Pack that could have kept even the most cynical simmer happy for another two years or so. And killed the FSX project in favour of an early start on FS11.Sometimes the best thnig you can do for a sick animal is put it out of its misery.Allcott

[Guest LeeWang]

Excellent post Allcott. Many developers will decide the fate of FSX. http://www.calclassic.com/"""FSX Information: FSX (FS10) has been released. I bought it, I've installed it. I have decided that currently: 1) It forces my AI propliners to push back, 2) My sceneries and panels are not compatible, and 3) I do not have a computer that can run it at my KLAX with full AI turned on (less than 10 fps). Therefore, I have decided not to pursue creating addons for FSX at this time. We will still be creating for FS2004. However, see below for compatibility information."""Very sad to see LVL-D 757 only for FSX. It will not be bought if only for FSX. Lee

[LAdamson 240]

>>Thank you microsoft for FS9. FSX has been a very big>dissappointment for me. Maybe people that use it as a game in>the fields with autogen off feel different..>I could cease to reply here, if mis-information wasn't so plentiful. What's this "game --- in fields--- with autogen off stuff. Kind of like FSX is just for "bush flying".One of my favorite (and often posted) FSX pics, with MegaScenery Hawaii. Looks rediculous with auto-gen on, since it takes away from the photographic qualities. Remember, MegaScenery has 16 times the resolution & crispness of FS9. And a shot below, where FSX is un-cluttered by cartoon auto-gen subdivisions. L.Adamson FSX sayer, a really excited user, and again-- whateverhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167372.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167373.jpg

[Guest LeeWang]

L.Adamson those are nice "still" shots. I use Flight simulator for a different purpose, IFR training/practice. Maybe one day I'll like to watch elephants running around on my simulator. For a VFR flyer at 10,000ft FSX is beautiful. Lee

[Guest crotiusf16]

Ricardo it seems that money isn't an issue to you. Look at the rest of the peoples specs on their machines. It is mediocre to what you have. You are probably in the 10% of people that can afford to upgrade their hardware every month. MS hasn't thought about the rest of the 90% that doesn't have the funds to do this. FS9 RULES, YES DROOLING FOR THE FS10, BUT IT WON'T HAPPEN SOON FOR MANY OF US.

[boshar 6]

I have a deja vu :( This picture is getting a bit old. You have great hardware, an add-on that covers the tiny island of Hawai, no autogen (because performance would go down the drain but flying over the tiny photoreal Mega Scenery covers that one up nicely) and a beast of a machine to run it on.Oh I forgot the default textures without autgen also look great because of the higer res...It may be great for you to fly this way but try it on the lower spec machines we use (so turn of even more candy and still experience lower fps then you have now).Some points:- Most people don't have the hardware you have now- There are people that don't want to give up autogen- There are people that want 100 % AI traffic- FS-X has a serious performance problem and due to Intel and AMD going toward a multi core solution the current FS-X game engine is ill equipt to gain from future processor hardware.Most of the people here wanted FS-X to be the next great flightsim. I know I wanted it to be great. I was dissapointed with what I got I tried all the tips but in the end I gave up and returned the game to the shop. Kind of like the whole CFS3 experience. Dissapointment and a sad feeling that it could/should have been beter.

[LAdamson 240]

>L.Adamson those are nice "still" shots. I use Flight>simulator for a different purpose, IFR training/practice. >Maybe one day I'll like to watch elephants running around on>my simulator. For a VFR flyer at 10,000ft FSX is beautiful. >Did the IFR thing 13 years ago. Am into real life "scenery" these days! L.Adamson

[LAdamson 240]

>Kind of like the whole CFS3>experience. Dissapointment and a sad feeling that it>could/should have been beter.I agree on CFS3; couldn't stand the thing. Used it about a week, and then discarded it. FSX has been a far more pleasant experience.L.Adamson

[Dillon 2,197]

"Sometimes the best thnig you can do for a sick animal is put it out of its misery."Great post Allcott... :-beerchug