Flying online

[Sfakman 0]

Last weekend I decided to spend a day flying online. It's been a while and I've had a few unsuccessful attempts in the past so thought I'd give it another stab. But yet again, I found it to be frustrating and in the end, a complete non-event.Is it me or is it a real ball ache do just start up flight sim, find an online session and get in the air within 10 minutes? Firstly, you get the usual Gamespy problems of being kicked because of the numerous connectivity problems, then you have VATSim, as good as it is, it's a little too strict for a free flight. You can't just login and get in the air. I appreciate that's the point of VATSim so perhaps this method isn't ideal for me. Then you have FSHOST. The concept is great and it's fantastic that a single developer has created something that is very good. My only issue is the busy servers are password protected leaving very few busy public servers.Now I'm not having a dig at any of the above options

[PIC007 82]

I am not at liberty to give details at this point, but the company I work for is developing a 'portal' and community for exactly what you are describing. Unfortunatly thats all I can say at this point.However if you need any assistance with the Gamespy issues, just ask, I have been flying MP in Gamespy since day 1.A couple of things that might help you:Don't go to the 'main' lobby, use another of the availalbe lobbies and look for a session that is 'unlocked' and has a low 'ping', all green.Install Teamspeak then try to find a session that uses it for voice comms instead of the built in FSX voice. Using the built in voice options will really kill performance and can lead to disconnects.Instead of joining a session, create one with a description showing exaclty what you are doing and have others join your session, that way you have control.Good luck, FSX MP is a ball and IMHO the single best option Aces Studios ever developed, even with the occasional problem.

[Sfakman 0]

I am not at liberty to give details at this point, but the company I work for is developing a 'portal' and community for exactly what you are describing. Unfortunatly thats all I can say at this point.However if you need any assistance with the Gamespy issues, just ask, I have been flying MP in Gamespy since day 1.A couple of things that might help you:Don't go to the 'main' lobby, use another of the availalbe lobbies and look for a session that is 'unlocked' and has a low 'ping', all green.Install Teamspeak then try to find a session that uses it for voice comms instead of the built in FSX voice. Using the built in voice options will really kill performance and can lead to disconnects.Instead of joining a session, create one with a description showing exaclty what you are doing and have others join your session, that way you have control.Good luck, FSX MP is a ball and IMHO the single best option Aces Studios ever developed, even with the occasional problem.

Thanks for the reply. Well, I'll be your first member on the portal you're developing :)Looking forward to hearing more about it.Will have another stab at Gamespy.Thanks!

[Ramasurinen 0]

Sfakman, I completely agree with your suggestions, such an online world would be fantastic, but after 3 years of flying exclusively in multiplayer I can say with certainty that you can have much of that experience today, if you're willing to roll with the punches. The connection issues with gamespy can be almost entirely mitigated by completely avoiding the "Free Flight" lobby. It's constantly overcrowded and disconnections and lag are common problems there. Using any other lobby as your default will give a much smoother gamespy experience. There are fewer sessions in the other lobbies, but also a lot fewer screaming kids ripping around in F18s hehe.The biggest issue when getting into multiplayer is, as you pointed out, finding a good group of like minded and mature people to fly with. That takes some perseverance, no question, but it's absolutely worth pursuing in my opinion. If you fly online regularly, then within a few weeks or months you start running into people you recognize quite often, and eventually I think you would either find a recurring session (and group of pilots) that you really like, or just end up running your own.To give you a really positive gamespy story (among the never ending complaints haha), I met a guy in Australia while flying on some relatively quiet random session one night, shortly after FSX came out. We got to talking as we cruised along in formation for a couple of hours, and found that we had a lot in common. Three years later we've become the best of friends, chatting almost every day through MSN, and fly together online at least a couple of times a week. He started taking real flying lessons about six months ago and since then I've spent a lot of time tutoring and practicing with him in Shared Cockpit, in between his real life sorties. It's fantastic fun and an amazing training aid. In about 5 months we're planning to meet face to face for the first time, in New Zealand, and tour the country together by car for a couple of weeks.Multiplayer rocks. :)-Mike

[Sfakman 0]

Sfakman, I completely agree with your suggestions, such an online world would be fantastic, but after 3 years of flying exclusively in multiplayer I can say with certainty that you can have much of that experience today, if you're willing to roll with the punches. The connection issues with gamespy can be almost entirely mitigated by completely avoiding the "Free Flight" lobby. It's constantly overcrowded and disconnections and lag are common problems there. Using any other lobby as your default will give a much smoother gamespy experience. There are fewer sessions in the other lobbies, but also a lot fewer screaming kids ripping around in F18s hehe.The biggest issue when getting into multiplayer is, as you pointed out, finding a good group of like minded and mature people to fly with. That takes some perseverance, no question, but it's absolutely worth pursuing in my opinion. If you fly online regularly, then within a few weeks or months you start running into people you recognize quite often, and eventually I think you would either find a recurring session (and group of pilots) that you really like, or just end up running your own.To give you a really positive gamespy story (among the never ending complaints haha), I met a guy in Australia while flying on some relatively quiet random session one night, shortly after FSX came out. We got to talking as we cruised along in formation for a couple of hours, and found that we had a lot in common. Three years later we've become the best of friends, chatting almost every day through MSN, and fly together online at least a couple of times a week. He started taking real flying lessons about six months ago and since then I've spent a lot of time tutoring and practicing with him in Shared Cockpit, in between his real life sorties. It's fantastic fun and an amazing training aid. In about 5 months we're planning to meet face to face for the first time, in New Zealand, and tour the country together by car for a couple of weeks.Multiplayer rocks. :)-Mike

Mike,Thanks for the repsonse -this is all good to know. I'll hopefully have time over the weekend to try again and I'll take your advice and look in the other lobbys.It's nice to hear your story as well :) Enjoy your road trip!