My first experience with FSX

[kerosene31 348]

I got a new PC a few weeks back so I figured I'd give FSX a try (thanks to all those who helped me in making that decision). I must say, I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I'm picky when it comes to FPS and FSX runs fairly well with reasonable settings. I didn't crank all the sliders up, but I am at a level which looks significantly better than FS2004. I did turn off most air traffic however and may stick with that. I'm pretty much only flying GA planes anymore. I hadn't touched the heavies in FS2004 for awhile. I can see why someone who wants to fly a 747 into JFK with full AI traffic would need a monster rig, but for my GA flying it is quite nice. I sat at GA parking for a bit and noticed my 172 was rocking a bit in the stiff winds! Very nice. I already had Active Sky Advanced with FS9 so I am now using this for FSX. I kept reading how FSX feels smoother than FS9 at similar FPS numbers, and I see that as well. I am locked at 30fps and am holding that very well. I've not noticed any major stuttering. Things are smooth overall. I could never get rid of the "micro stutters" in FS9 completely (although I have not tried it on this new rig to be fair). The road and other dynamic traffic is quite nice. Seeing cars moving on roads is a really nice thing. I'm trying to not go crazy with add-ons. I already had ASA as I mentioned. I picked up FSUIPC (a must) along with the RealAir Duke (like it a lot). I installed the Flight1 172 which I already owned as well. I probably will be picking up UTX (at least USA and maybe Canada) soon. I see maybe the Carenado Arrow or Seneca in my future as well. I haven't spent any time tweaking other than adjusting in-game settings. I might check for any obvious tweaks, but mostly I've been flying and enjoying FSX (although I spent far too much time fighting Vista). I'll be doing some searching tonight, but are there any must-have freeware utilities out there?

[1mikel151 71]

Nice to hear about your positive experience. I have been with FSX only since day one, but it's like a whole new experience since getting my new rig a couple of weeks ago.

[Guest JamesWoods]

Shall i draw you that graph the shows FPS droping as you pile on the addons, or can you picture the downward curve on that graph in your mind already.Sometimes i just think the happiest simmers are those that stick to the defualt fsx stuff, cause addons just leave me making 2 flights and then another fsx reinistall that takes days.Tkae it easy with the addons and you can keep your fps. Fps is the greatest addon for fsx..........................................

[yellowjack 28]

I got a new PC a few weeks back so I figured I'd give FSX a try (thanks to all those who helped me in making that decision). I must say, I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I'm picky when it comes to FPS and FSX runs fairly well with reasonable settings. I didn't crank all the sliders up, but I am at a level which looks significantly better than FS2004. I did turn off most air traffic however and may stick with that. I'm pretty much only flying GA planes anymore. I hadn't touched the heavies in FS2004 for awhile. I can see why someone who wants to fly a 747 into JFK with full AI traffic would need a monster rig, but for my GA flying it is quite nice. I sat at GA parking for a bit and noticed my 172 was rocking a bit in the stiff winds! Very nice. I already had Active Sky Advanced with FS9 so I am now using this for FSX. I kept reading how FSX feels smoother than FS9 at similar FPS numbers, and I see that as well. I am locked at 30fps and am holding that very well. I've not noticed any major stuttering. Things are smooth overall. I could never get rid of the "micro stutters" in FS9 completely (although I have not tried it on this new rig to be fair). The road and other dynamic traffic is quite nice. Seeing cars moving on roads is a really nice thing. I'm trying to not go crazy with add-ons. I already had ASA as I mentioned. I picked up FSUIPC (a must) along with the RealAir Duke (like it a lot). I installed the Flight1 172 which I already owned as well. I probably will be picking up UTX (at least USA and maybe Canada) soon. I see maybe the Carenado Arrow or Seneca in my future as well. I haven't spent any time tweaking other than adjusting in-game settings. I might check for any obvious tweaks, but mostly I've been flying and enjoying FSX (although I spent far too much time fighting Vista). I'll be doing some searching tonight, but are there any must-have freeware utilities out there?

If you want to tweak go here first, you can trust Nick Needham:http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

[1mikel151 71]

Shall i draw you that graph the shows FPS droping as you pile on the addons, or can you picture the downward curve on that graph in your mind already.Sometimes i just think the happiest simmers are those that stick to the defualt fsx stuff, cause addons just leave me making 2 flights and then another fsx reinistall that takes days.Tkae it easy with the addons and you can keep your fps. Fps is the greatest addon for fsx..........................................

That should be common sense, the more that the sim has to process, the more resources it takes. I wonder how many are out there blissfully unaware of this online community and addons and are enjoying FSX in it's purest form? I wonder if we didn't have highly detailed airports, HD cloud packages with extreme weather conditions, addon aircraft that go beyond sane poly limits to show every detail possible or AI packages that congest airports how many here would even have FPS issues?Don't get me wrong, I am just as guilty as the next, but I have learned from my experiences with this in the past and my design work enough to make more informed purchases and so far, it's all good (knock on wood, LOL)

[kerosene31 348]

I'm certainly not going for a vanilla sim, but I want to try to be more selective. I'm not bothering with any texture addons, as I don't even max out the texture size now (and things still look way better than FS9).Add-on aircraft are my weakness, but the GA planes I fly tend to not be too hard on FPS. I may have to grab UTX though, hopefully that doesn't impact too much. We'll see if I can avoid the bigger airport add-ons. I did install St Maarten from FlyTampa as I already had it for FS9 and just needed the FSX installer. That didn't seem to hurt FPS at all without AI traffic.

[Guest Mesa]

If you get nothing else I would implore you to get GEX. It turns FSX into FSXII and has no performance impact at all. http://gex.flight1.net/Gallery.htmAlso do a search for Anthony Vos at the Flightsim library and download the two Enhanced Autogen packages - both free!

[rightseater 0]

If you get nothing else I would implore you to get GEX. It turns FSX into FSXII and has no performance impact at all. http://gex.flight1.net/Gallery.htmAlso do a search for Anthony Vos at the Flightsim library and download the two Enhanced Autogen packages - both free!

I've got to agree with this. GEX has done wonders for my virtual world. For GA aircraft I've grown particularly fond of the Carenado Seneca and most recently the 182RGII, neither of which have given me any framerate problems.

[kerosene31 348]

Is GEX still worth it if I'm not maxing out my texture slider? I think I'm running it at 1m right now (which looks good still).I think I am going to start with UTX Usa and Canada (this $40 game gets expensive after awhile) :)

[Guest Zevious Zoquis]

I'm just curious - you mention that you haven't installed FS9 on yr new rig. On your previous system, were you able to run FS9 maxed out? If not, you might want to go ahead and re-install it on the new rig. Theres a distinct pleasure in being able to run FS9 with all its great add-ons at ridiculous settings and still get good performance. Sort of a "ah HA FS9! Take THAT!" deal... :( As far as FSX goes, I haven't taken the plunge yet. I likely will at some point but right now I just don't have the drive to start the whole process all over again...

[jwenham 1]

Is GEX still worth it if I'm not maxing out my texture slider? I think I'm running it at 1m right now (which looks good still).I think I am going to start with UTX Usa and Canada (this $40 game gets expensive after awhile) :)

Yes as that is the texture res for GEX. I wouldnt go any lower though. I run with 1m as well and am very happy with it. Setting it higher will only make the roads and bridges and objects like that look better but not a huge difference.Another one to consider getting is FEX (Flight Environment X) http://www.flightenvironment.com/ Get rid of those default clouds and water forever. IMO I would get GEX or FEX before UTX.

[Guest Mesa]

I agree - and I agree - GEX first.(Well, thinking about it and if I knew then what I know now, I would actually get the L-39 first, especially if you are picky about FPS, but ...........) UTX second.

[kerosene31 348]

I'm just curious - you mention that you haven't installed FS9 on yr new rig. On your previous system, were you able to run FS9 maxed out? If not, you might want to go ahead and re-install it on the new rig. Theres a distinct pleasure in being able to run FS9 with all its great add-ons at ridiculous settings and still get good performance. Sort of a "ah HA FS9! Take THAT!" deal... :( As far as FSX goes, I haven't taken the plunge yet. I likely will at some point but right now I just don't have the drive to start the whole process all over again...

I was able to run FS9 mostly maxed out on my old PC, just not 100% AI traffic. I also had to set cloud draw distance to 60 miles, but other than that, visually it was at max (with tons of addons). I could fly anywhere except for large commercial airports without much of an FPS hit. Even in the most extreme sceneries I could manage FPS in the high teens. I don't want to reinstall FS9 now, because in a few months I am going to be formatting my PC for Win 7. Reinstalling it all now just to wipe it out in a few months isn't really worth it. Although I might just install a few things to test it out. The time needed to just reinstall the mesh, textures, etc is too much for a short time. I'm going to give FSX a try until Win7 is out. Then I'll decide if I run both, or just one. As for starting the process over, it isn't so bad except for one thing... cost. Most of these add-ons run $35-45. I could easily drop a few hundred dollars in a few minutes. Some addons have dual installers, so at least a few I can keep without additional cost. I don't mind supporting the developers, but when you lump a bunch of addons together at once the sticker shock is big. Overall though, FSX out of the box looks better than my FS9 with a ton of add-ons.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I'm going to give FSX a try until Win7 is out. Then I'll decide if I run both, or just one. Overall though, FSX out of the box looks better than my FS9 with a ton of add-ons.

I've still got FS9 installed. If you still have your old system, just copy the whole thing over viaa network cable..It is kind of nice to go back once in a while and fly the Dreamfleet planes, just for the funof it.. The frame rates are spectacular and the old 2d cockpits are very good in some cases. Mind you, FSX is just so much more pleasing to the eye, that my FS9 visits are rarely verylong..

[CFIJose 5,485]

I don't think that I would be using FSX if it wasn't for:UTX (A MUST)GEX (A MUST HAVE)REX (A SUPER MUST HAVE)You're performance can vary. As long as you keep the sliders where they are supposed to be, you'll be OK.I want to add that nhancer 8sAA is the setting that brings out all the beauty in the add ons.