First off, hi everyone.I've had FSX for some time now and recently started discovering things to make it better and add more depth.I have FSPassengersX, REX2 and Air Hauler. I'm now on the look out for other things that people think add depth or simply (but especially) graphical enhancements.I'm particularly interested in increased air activity and graphical enhancements. I'm not really interested in aircraft packages at the moment. There are plenty of aircraft in FSX for me to use and get used to at present.I've heard of TrafficX (are there others that add AI traffic?) and a program which enhances the lighting used (but I can't remember the name of that one).So - any tips on what enhanced FSX for yourselves?Thanks for any feedback.Billy

Hello and welcomeIf you use the search function on this site, entering keywords such as 'recommended traffic' and 'recommended payware' you will find lots of threads discussing this very thing. It won't take long to get a feel for what to look out for.To give you a start - Ultimate Traffic 2, Flight Environment and Active Sky are among my current essentials. Good luck!Ian

Fair point. Thank you Ian.I had heard of Active Sky but decided to go with REX2...though I hear you can run both (AS for the weather and REX for the environment)

Billy, if your after a huge boost of immersion, you need to get Aerosoft's AES. Information available here and good video showing what its all about

.The program is free, but you have to buy credits in order to activate AES at add-on airports. Regards

Samwise - thanks. That does look good. However, I'm confused with your first link. It links me to a page that sells AES for €14.95. I don't mind paying that at all if it enhances the FSX airports as is...does it? Is each purchase of €14.95 a credit? If so, that's extremely expensive.Also, what do you mean "The program is free, but you have to buy credits in order to activate AES at add-on airports"? Do you mean addon airports I buy, like in addons?Essentially I'm asking - if I bought this product for €14.95, would it enhance the airports that come with FSX? And would I have to buy additional credits (how much is "a credit"?) if I bought an addon airport (I have no addon airports in FSX and no real desire to buy any at the moment).Thanks for the links. I'll read up on it some more, but I'd appreciate your apparent first hand knowledge of this package to answer my questions.Thanks again.

Billy, if your after a huge boost of immersion, you need to get Aerosoft's AES. Information available here and good video showing what its all about

.The program is free, but you have to buy credits in order to activate AES at add-on airports. Regards

Or wait for FSDreamteam's GSX which is very similar to AES and works at ALL airports (default or addon) and has much better animations than AES, and doesn't require purchasing credits to work. Check the link below and watch the sample video of the work in progress.http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=4137.0

Hi Samwise. Thanks for the links. I'e looked more into it and it seems it's not for me - at least not quite yet. pretty much all the free airports are not airports I visit "in my career" in Air Hauler. I'm pretty much stuck at present to the UK and a Cessna. Also, it looks to cost quite a few credits (just looking at the list for the UK and Ireland it would be over 20 credits) - and as far as I gather the €14.95 is for 10 credits. so that's €30 for UK airports - most of which I won't be visiting - certainly not just now anyway.I was more really after AI aircraft - that is products that make the airport busy - I understand AES does that - but it does it in considerably more detail (and for considerably more cost) than I had hoped.I'll keep it in mind for the future. Thanks again.

Or wait for FSDreamteam's GSX which is very similar to AES and works at ALL airports (default or addon) and has much better animations than AES, and doesn't require purchasing credits to work. Check the link below and watch the sample video of the work in progress.http://www.fsdreamte...hp?topic=4137.0

That certainly sounds more "encompassing" and affordable. Thank you.

That certainly sounds more "encompassing" and affordable. Thank you.

No problem. Personally, I have never even used AES just because I wasn't to keen on buying credits and if I had to buy credits for all the airports I own it would probably cost me a few hundred bucks. I think GSX will be a great product since you pay once and can use it anywhere. My guess it will probably only be around $30 or so.For AI you may want to check out Ultimate Traffic 2.Also of interested if you dont already own it is GEX North America or Europe for ground texture replacement and Ultimate Terrain X USA or Europe for better roads, coastlines, landclass, bridges, water bodies, etc.

Or wait for FSDreamteam's GSX which is very similar to AES and works at ALL airports (default or addon) and has much better animations than AES, and doesn't require purchasing credits to work. Check the link below and watch the sample video of the work in progress.http://www.fsdreamte...hp?topic=4137.0

Thanks for the heads up. Looks really great!

JudgeDredd, Hope you are well on your way to finding what makes this hobby lift off the ground for you...! I will put in my two cents...! Scenery= Anything from FTX & ORBX a must have...! Airports= Fsdreamteam, Fly Tampa and a new play Flightbeam Studios Aircraft= PMDG, RealAir, Aerosoft, Quality wings, VRS F-18 and last but not least CarenadoBest of luck...! ASE and REX are great together...!

Samwise - thanks. That does look good. However, I'm confused with your first link. It links me to a page that sells AES for €14.95. I don't mind paying that at all if it enhances the FSX airports as is...does it? Is each purchase of €14.95 a credit? If so, that's extremely expensive.Also, what do you mean "The program is free, but you have to buy credits in order to activate AES at add-on airports"? Do you mean addon airports I buy, like in addons?Essentially I'm asking - if I bought this product for €14.95, would it enhance the airports that come with FSX? And would I have to buy additional credits (how much is "a credit"?) if I bought an addon airport (I have no addon airports in FSX and no real desire to buy any at the moment).Thanks for the links. I'll read up on it some more, but I'd appreciate your apparent first hand knowledge of this package to answer my questions.Thanks again.

Hi Judge Dredd,Not sure if you have gotten you question answered yet, but I'll give it a go. :(

It links me to a page that sells AES for €14.95. I don't mind paying that at all if it enhances the FSX airports as is...does it?...would it enhance the airports that come with FSX?

No, AES doesn't enhance the default airports in FSX. It only enhances the airports on the list of supported add-on airports on the products homepage.

Is each purchase of €14.95 a credit?

No, the $14.99 gets you a pack of 10 creditsYou confusion about AES being free and buying credits was also confusing for me. How is works is close to what you thought. You download and install AES, it's free. Next you buy credit packs that let you activated supported add-on airports. (Hint: There is a check box on the airport list that filters out all the airports that are not installed on your computer.) You are given a code that you input into the AES application and it will give you the purchased credits. The more credits you buy will give you free bonus credits. B) When you have your credits select the airport and click activate! (Hint: You can reset your activated airports if you have to reinstall FSX. You're credits are not locked to the airport forever. B) )

I am the law!

:( :(

Thanks very much everyone. Great feedback for me.I think I'm going to wait on FSDreamTeams GSX for airport enhancement. I'm going to actively look into GEX Europe and Ultimate Terrain Europe for textures and I had seen and read into Ultimate Traffic 2 last night and think I'll probably pick this up to "busy up" the airports.As I said, I have REX2 - so I'm unlikely (at least for now) to buy ASE - though I have heard great things about it, REX2 does weather and enhances what I had (stock weather) in FSX...so I'll save money by not "doubling up" on a purchase on weather effects - though I have heard not only ASE is better at weather than REX2, but also alot of people run both in conjunction.Thanks again. Lots of packages to look into. I know you've all been there when I say I wanted real people feedback on the addons, because there are so many, I don't want to waste money on "part" add ons - when there are other complete ones out there.

Just a quick one...whilst looking about, I saw people mention AI Flight Planner and World of AI which are free....anyone have any working knowledge of these?I'll download World of AI and see if it fits the bill anyway - just wondered if anyone here uses them.