Hey gang, i'm new to this forum but have been an avid MS Flight Sim junky since 2000. Anyway, I haven't touched my FS9 in over 2 years due to work and kids and now I have the chance to get back into the saddle of FS9. I will be doing a complete erase and re-install of FS9 to get rid of old saved files and add ons I haven't touched forever and I want to get your opinions on what programs I would want to download for scenery,textures,mesh,AI,airport scenery, etc. I have been doing a ton of research but I would rather get the advice of you all. Doesn't matter if its payware or freeware, all your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Hey gang, i'm new to this forum but have been an avid MS Flight Sim junky since 2000. Anyway, I haven't touched my FS9 in over 2 years due to work and kids and now I have the chance to get back into the saddle of FS9. I will be doing a complete erase and re-install of FS9 to get rid of old saved files and add ons I haven't touched forever and I want to get your opinions on what programs I would want to download for scenery,textures,mesh,AI,airport scenery, etc. I have been doing a ton of research but I would rather get the advice of you all. Doesn't matter if its payware or freeware, all your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

There is toooooo much to even start mentioning, payware and freeware. Since Microsoft is not making any more Flight sims at this time some people have switched to FSX and those who have stayed with FS9 are still buying products that are still being made. We need to know your set-up to guide you to the right add-ons. Please give processor, RAM, hardrive storage, speed and one of the most important, video card specs. Then we can guide you to the right add-ons.Carl Perry

Hey doughboy. I am just getting back into it myself, kids are giving me more free time these days.Here is a nice program for visual upgrade, and it's freeReal Environment ProI use Traffic2005 from Just Flight for my AI, but you can go freeware by using eitherProject AIWorld of AIAs for scenery, I would search the Avsim database for airports or whatever, see what is for free. I have been downloading a ton of airports recently, a lot of good ones here. The only airport scenery I have purchased was KMCO Orlando from Blueprint. Its better than the default, and $15. Most of theirs seem to be $15-$20. Also FlyTampa

For weather we still offer Active Sky v6.5 and now Active Sky Advanced.

Here's a good place to start for scenery files.http://walhalla.mine.nu/fs2004.phpJim D.

There is toooooo much to even start mentioning, payware and freeware. Since Microsoft is not making any more Flight sims at this time some people have switched to FSX and those who have stayed with FS9 are still buying products that are still being made. We need to know your set-up to guide you to the right add-ons. Please give processor, RAM, hardrive storage, speed and one of the most important, video card specs. Then we can guide you to the right add-ons

I will get the specs tomorrow and post them. Computer has been down for about 6 months and frankly I forgot what I have on there.So what about FS Global 2008, Ground Environment Pro, Real Environment Pro, or even Flight Environment. Or shoud I wait for the REX for FS9 coming out sometime in the next few months. I don't what all does and what they mean.

To my knowledge FS Global is 76m terrain SRTM mesh. I'm sure it's an excellent product but FSGenesis will sell you a full compliment of mesh with resolutions as high as 9.6m for certain areas of topographic interest such as Hawaii, Yosemite, the Tetons, etc. Other areas are rendered at 38m and lesser resolution "buffer meshes" are provided that improve the way the mesh looks off in the distance. For $30 USD FSGenesis will snail mail you their "North America 2 DVD set" which also includes their "US National Landclass Project" which is a significant improvement over the default landclass. Additionally you also get a free world buffer mesh DVD, for a total of over 12.5 GB of data on 3 DVDs shipped postpaid. A "must have" in my opinion.Ground Environment Pro, another "must have", is firstly a complete set of enhanced ground and sky textures but the program also has the ability of generating sets of color shifted textures intended for use in varying weather conditions. In overcast conditions for example darker, less saturated ground textures look more realistic where brighter, more saturated textures look better when flying in sunny weather. The program also lets you create your own custom sky and ground textures where you can experiment with hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, etc to suit your own preferances. Any texture set can be previewed and installed in a matter of seconds with the click of a button. GEPro also interfaces with ActiveSky 6.5 or ASA to automatically choose and install an appropriate texture set for the weather you're about to load into the sim.Gotta go to bed, get somebody to tell you about Ultimate Terrain too.Jim