PSS A320 or the new Wilco A320 PIC?

[Guest ba747heavy]

Plenty of information, use the forum search function. :)

[Guest SIX]

Well guys, In general, I got the "need to proceed" out of reading this thread. So I purchased the Wilco A320 PIC today. What a package. I must say the United 320 aircraft physical model is more appealing than my United PSS 320. Quite to the contrair of what one guy said in here about PSS being very apt to push a product out the door quickly and the evidence residing in the visual quality, I find that totally nuts. I have everything they have made except the Vulcan and the physical models always seem blah to me (IMHO). So, the Wilco model is darn "pretty", to use a girly term :). I must say that if I hadn't spent the past four days in the PSS Airbus, I would have been one lost arse of a human being in that Wilco cockpit. WOW, what a dang information overload. The biggest problem is you have to redo your joystick and throttle assignments and you have to go into the key assignments and change a few things or at least get familiar with some differences(PIC has a special key assignment utility seperate from the FS utility). Some examples of keys being very different from any other aircraft are: barometer setting, gear, brakes, flaps and 100 others !LOL! It should also be brought up that this bird has no 2d panel whatsoever. This may be a good thing....in 1 month of just flying Wilco alone and nothing else after you are entirely used to it. It is awkward, but I honestly think it will be something anybody could get used to and probably, finally, one day, learn to love :). I only took off from KORD headed for KATL in the Wilco, that was all I had time for. I got within 45nm of Nashville on the RMG2 arrival and I had to go away for a little while so I just shut everything down. I CAN"T imagine landing this bird in the V.C! As much as you have to work, especially when A.T.C (VATSIM or AI), I think the APPR and Landing will be very intersting...to say the least. Having two monitors is a HUGE advantage with the Wilco bird over anything I have ever seen. It gives the ability to click on a gauge and the gauge will pop out and you can move it to the other monitor(s) and resize as you wish. This is nice when your having to look into one area of the panel and keep an eye on something else. However, this is a disadvantage with the FMC. I don't like how you have to interact with the FMC, basically like the other gauges. You click on the screen and it pops up. You then have to hit your "+" and focus your POV (point of view) off of your stick until you can see the line selectors and key pad on the FMC while still being able to view the actual screen. It can get frustrating to the least, but I will give them credit on a novel idea here. :)I have the following machine:Athlon XP 2600+ Gigibyte Triton KT400 333FSB512 DDR 400MHz RAMWestern Digital 120 GB 8MB buffer HDSPlantronics Headset/sound19" NEC Flat and 17" Compaq monitorsI must say that with this machine I found the performance just as acceptible as the PSS, with keeping in mind we are talking about the V.C. Viewing in TWR and Spot Plane modes was just as good as the other.As far as systems being reproduced. I found both of them almost identical in reproduction of the systems. I basically learned the Airbus systems in the PSS and when I got in the flight deck of the Wilco I just started turning switches and everything worked fine and dandy. I have some screenshots and will share them once I a finally do a complete flight. By that time, we can probably take the comments in this thread and make a real nice dang review to be posted on somebodies site out there :) Maybe even http://heavylhc.com :)-----------Wilson HinesChief CaptainBush Logistics Corp.http://heavylhc.comAOL IM: dal276wh

[Guest ba747heavy]

Wilson,Interestin mini review. I would go out and get Wilcos A320, but I am not sure that my XP 1700 would take it. :)I think your right, the VC concept is a hard one for many(including myself) to swallow.

[Dillon 2,197]

Well to each his own Wilson... I don't know if you work for Wilco or your just a very satisfied customer but PSS wins hands down for me. Glad to hear your injoying the bird. I for one feel the visual model is much better on the PSS side of the tracks. I can't comment on flight model performance, but I'd love to see how this addon will standup after FS2004 is released....

[Guest mikealpha]

Wilson,some things I don't really understand :>> Some examples of keys being very different from any other aircraft are: barometer setting, gear, brakes, flaps My key assigment in 320 PIC is e.g. G for gear, B for brakes, F6/F7 for Flaps up/down. Why do you say very different since it's all configurable anyway ?>> you have to interact with the FMC, basically like the other gauges. You click on the screen and it pops up. You then have to hit your "+" and focus your POV (point of view) off of your stick The way you have to operate in real life is to look to the right and down to your FMC and turn your head away from front view, it's exactly like that in 320PIC. Program your complete FMC view to a button, hit the "+" and hit your button for your self definable front view, and you are back very fast. You can store your own views and program them to buttons. I have six views and can switch them just like in a 2D panel, just e.g. the FMC is in it's real environment and not somewhere on top of the 2D front panel and half in the scenery window. Additionally the view scrolls, and if you imagine a turning head with this, it's very immersive.You can even make a landing view to your liking.The only challenge to operate things fast is to memorize the different clickspots. I bet I am faster than anyone with a 2D panel to click a switch on the overhead panel and be back to normal view. You don't have to close subpanels in 320PICMichael

[Guest SIX]

>I don't know if you work for WilcoNope I don't work for them at all. I am just glad to be here like anybody else, however I do reviews for SimFlight, but that is totally unassociated with this.>I for one feel the visual model is much better on the PSS sideof the tracks. Well, IMHO that is a matter of "O" :) Everybody has likes and dislikes when it comes to visual models. I must clarify this, I am still a PSS fan on the A320s for one reason, I can get in the cockpit and get going in a matter of minutes. I spent three hours on the ground at KORD just clicking around and getting used to the way things are and scanning the forums trying to figure some road blocks out (like you have to do with any good payware for the first few days). Like I said in the post, the time spent in the PSS bird prevented that 3 hours from being 3 days. The systems were basically the same . But, to sum this all up, I would still rather fly the PSS :)>but I'd love to see how this addon will standup after FS2004>is released....That, my friend, will be interesting to see. However 2k4 is suppposed to add more function to the V.C so it may thrive.-----------Wilson HinesChief CaptainBush Logistics Corp.http://heavylhc.comAOL IM: dal276wh

[Guest SIX]

>>> Some examples of keys being very different from any other>aircraft are: barometer setting, gear, brakes, flaps >>My key assigment in 320 PIC is e.g. G for gear, B for brakes,>F6/F7 for Flaps up/down. Why do you say very different since>it's all configurable anyway ?I understand it is "configurable" however I was just simply saying that it was "more different" right out of the box than any other aircraft I had previously used. With every other add-on, F6-F7 is flaps, B is Barometer and several other examples. It was different, that is all :)>>> you have to interact with the FMC, basically like the other>gauges. You click on the screen and it pops up. You then have>to hit your "+" and focus your POV (point of view) off of your>stick >>The way you have to operate in real life is to look to the>right and down to your FMC and turn your head away from front>view, it's exactly like that in 320PIC. Program your complete>FMC view to a button, hit the "+" and hit your button for your>self definable front view, and you are back very fast. No doubt about the realism here with the FMC and having to look away. Again, I am just saying that I am used to the FMC being like the 767 PIC or PSS products as a seperate gauge. It is different, but it is workable and I will probably learn to like it.>>You can store your own views and program them to buttons. I>have six views and can switch them just like in a 2D panel,>just e.g. the FMC is in it's real environment and not>somewhere on top of the 2D front panel and half in the scenery>window. Additionally the view scrolls, and if you imagine a>turning head with this, it's very immersive.>You can even make a landing view to your liking.I didn't know that, thanks for the tip. I will look into that ASAP :)>>The only challenge to operate things fast is to memorize the>different clickspots. I bet I am faster than anyone with a 2D>panel to click a switch on the overhead panel and be back to>normal view. You don't have to close subpanels in 320PIC>Some of the click spots are down right freaking impossible :( But, again, I will eventually get used to it. Every bird, payware or freeware, has it's problems and "attitude" with certian aspects.-----------Wilson HinesChief CaptainBush Logistics Corp.http://heavylhc.comAOL IM: dal276wh

[MartijnPleines 0]

Having a mouse with a scroll wheel to zoom in/out is very helpful in the 320 PIC VC. You can conveniently 'slew' yourself inside the cockpit to look at things at a better angle using the numberpad. I use the default assignments throughout and they're perfect, for me anyway.If you're annoyed that you find yourself switching your right hand (assuming you're not a leftie) from joystick to keyboard to mouse all the time, remember one thing: in the real 'bus, the PF has the sidestick on the left!If the FS aCoF VCs have been implemented in a similar fashion to this one, I'd be very happy indeed!

[Hakkie 0]

As many have stated both PSS and PIC have their strong and weak points. I have used the PSS bus since it was released. I like the panel a lot. But I'm not sure about the flightmodel. I have no real world/real simulator experience. But I have to agree with many others: it's most likely that the PSS climb- and bankrates are not releastic. Aspecially right after takeoff it's almost like flying a military jet. Besides this it's a real good package.I recently bought the A320 PIC and am very impressed so far. Sure it takes time to get used to the VC-only way of flying. But...once you do get used to it, the experience of being there is great! The flight dynamics of the PIC seem more realistic (passenger friendly ;-) ) to me. At least I do not get the 'jet experience' here. I'm still learning the PIC. Strange, as one would expect both versions would be operated equaly. There are however some minor yet important differences in the way things are done. And the FPS: yes, the PIC needs a powerfull PC. I'm running an AMD 2600+/333, 512MB, Asus A7N8X Deluxe, ATI 9500 Pro 128MB. My FPS is absolutely acceptable (in VC average 20-25FPS, FPS locked at 25) with all sliders maxed except for the PIC specific ones.One more point to take into consideration is future development. PSS has stated in public they will not make any update/patch for the Airbus package. PIC, however, is focusing on their bus a lot. They already came a long way. Let's hope they (Wilco and Anticyclone) actualy get where they want to be: builders of the most advanced and real as it gets Airbus for FS...

[Guest Petervan]

Wilson,This is a fair mini review IMO."As far as systems being reproduced. I found both of them almost identical in reproduction of the systems"i'd like to add that PIC systems are "failable" and more complex than PSS (200+ systems elements can be failed separately, i.e. engines fires, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, IRS, Pitots etc.).Not to tlk about the perfect autoland even with XWind, realistic flight by wire, realtime IRS alignment and drifting, Offset feature in the FMGS, CO RTE, SEC FPLN.Anyway PSS is a good introduction to the Bus systems (FMGS programming, autopilot) and more fps friendly (not amazed, the PSS VC is a collection of bitmaps with a few 3d objects and buttons). Its also cheap (less than $20 for d/l version) and manuals are excellent.Peter

[Guest SIX]

>> PSS has stated in public they will not make any update/patch for the Airbus packageWow, this is weird in my opinion that PSS would say something like this. It would seem that the A320 is their current money maker. Yes, the 744 and 772 had their spotlight time with PSS as far as money goes and I imagine they still make a good spiff off of the wide body boeings. They have released gauge updates to both the 744 and 772 and FDE updates. But they aren't going to further their support of the A320 with updates? I am a big PSS fan, but that is about as cocky as Microsoft saying that FS2k2 needed no patches - what a farse!-----------Wilson HinesChief CaptainBush Logistics Corp.http://heavylhc.comAOL IM: dal276wh

[Hakkie 0]

See 2nd post, reply of Phoenix_7 in below thread. This is not the only occasion where this statement was done by PSS. They have mentioned this in several threads. Yes, PSS says "At this time" which does not indicate 'never'. However, this has been said many many times so my feeling is they stopped development of the Airbus package. There have been several user requests for enhancements. They constantly reply saying 'currently no update planned'. But when was the latest update? Mid 2002 I believe...??? :-( Please note I realy like PSS products. Good stuff, good support. The Airbus is great but could be even better if they implement several suggested improvements and features... http://forums.avsim.com/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchAlso look at post 7 by Phoenix in same thread

[Johan_Dees 84]

>>>> PSS has stated in public they will not make any>update/patch for the Airbus package>>Wow, this is weird in my opinion that PSS would say something>like this. It would seem that the A320 is their current money>maker. Yes, the 744 and 772 had their spotlight time with PSS>as far as money goes and I imagine they still make a good>spiff off of the wide body boeings. They have released gauge>updates to both the 744 and 772 and FDE updates. But they>aren't going to further their support of the A320 with>updates? I am a big PSS fan, but that is about as cocky as>Microsoft saying that FS2k2 needed no patches - what a farse!>>----------->Wilson Hines>Chief Captain>Bush Logistics Corp.>http://heavylhc.com>AOL IM: dal276wh>When we say that it means for the time being, meaning not in the short future (months).However, we are working on another Airbus add on, and the new additions of that are of course candidate for an update on the A32xserie.Stay tuned!Johan[A HREF=http://www.phoenix-simulation.co.uk]Phoenix Simulation Software[/A]-----http://www.people.zeelandnet.nl/johdUnofficial PSS Website

[LOT737 6]

Maybe A320PIC is more realistic, but.... How realistic is it when you fly with few fps? Get PSSJacek

[Guest ba747heavy]

Maybe A320PIC is more realistic, but.... How realistic is it when you fly with few fps? Get PSSGreat way to put it.