"My copy works fine straight out of the box and presumably as MS intended it to."Boy--there's always a post that I perceive as flamebait, and this is one of 'em.... I think even the most influential simmers here are in agreement that things had to be changed from the original default install to workaround some issues--notably being overcast, autogen, and CTD's caused by seasonal texture issues... Despite these I have had long and productive sessions with MSFS, but I'm not about to bait the forum by suggesting that the issues noted above were intended to be there...

"It works for me so there's nothing wrong with it".The thing with bugs is that they don't affect everyone. If the sim crashed straight to the desktop or ran at 1 FPS one everyone's computers, then that bug would have got caught in the beta testing. It's the bugs that are harder to notice and only happens with certain configuration settings or under certain conditions, like the autogen bug or the CTD bug that get into the final version.Take the CTD bug for example. It only happens at some airports and only during some seasons. You can't expect the beta testers to try every single airport during every single season to search for bugs.It's the same with the autogen bug really. Unless you actually turn around 180 degrees after flying straight forward for ~15-20 miles over urban or rural landclass, with autogen at a high setting, you won't notice it.Should those bugs get fixed in a patch? I mean, there are workarounds for them, and only a small number of people are affected anyway.I think so. For one, it's just not right to let the customers fix errors in the software they bought, and not everyone knows about the workaround posted on the net. Even if only a small number of people are affected by the bugs, it's still an ERROR in THEIR product that WE payed for. What if you happen to like the red barns and get low framerates because of the autogen bug?Some action and RPG games I play have been patched for very minor scripting errors or object placement errors that noone even knew were there until they read about them in the patch readme. It's only fair that we get a patch for FS.

Alright, we've already heard from the "I love it out of the box crowd" in the last huge thread. -If there's a patch, great, big deal. They won't do it right by everbody and we'll all have to patch the patch with our own tweaks cause it's all about personal preference. -I'm glad Chris W. used the quote I was referring to in my previous post. Read it again. That's MS's position plain and simple. This is some kind of hoax, and if I'm wrong I'll buy the original poster a brew to burry the hatchet if I can. Nobody is out to make enemies here.-I just don't want to get my hopes up about a patch and then have it not materialize. Patch projects get canceled all the time. Wouldn't be surprised to see that happen. Should we get a patch, of course, no one would tolerate another program, if it wasn't a game, to operate with frequent CTD's and such even if it was for a small part of the population.And if this in an intentional hoax, shame on you.Maybe if the mysterious MS design gods are watching the forum they should let us know so that we could get excited over this. If not, then I'll choose to believe that this is all a hoax.:-spam1

You cannot shoot down this remark. David is entitled to his opinion, and I happen to agree with him. My version worked fine out of the box to. Like I said though, after personalizing my copy of FS9 with all my addons, I really don't see a need for a patch. Everyones computer is different and is going to play the game differently. I think if most people would upgrade their systems from Win 98, that would solve 75% of your problems right there. When someone has a CTD they immediatlely blame the software. Maybe take a look inside your system and find out what is wrong.

After all the whining we've all done (and its all legit) something would have been out by now if it was ever going to come out.I've just taken it as I'm gonna have to deal with it, and try and make due. One thing I do NOT agree with is having to "purchase" and addon to fix something thats an internal error. Especially when you know a year from now you're just going to be upgrading anyways regardless of what we all say!Chris

:-bang WAHOO, look at me shooting down remarks left and right. I love these forums!Chris makes a great point, but I'll end up buying the patch if it's legit. Why, because I love MSFS and I want it to work as well as it can. Plus, I'VE GOT NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!" ;>

The CTD bug is not system-specific or user error. It can be reproduced on any system, even with an stock FS9 install with no addons. It's caused by some kind of bug in the scenery engine, there's a long thread explaining the cause of the problem. What makes you think everyone is running Win98? Flightsim users tend to be quite computer savvy and I doubt many are running 9x these days. I've been running XP since it came out and had Win2k+Win98 (dualboot) installed before that.

"I think if most people would upgrade their systems from Win 98, that would solve 75% of your problems right there. When someone has a CTD they immediatlely blame the software. Maybe take a look inside your system and find out what is wrong."I think my remark to you is the same as that to David--I didn't say he couldn't have an opinion, just that I thought his post was flamebait--an opinion I AM entitled to. I view your post in the same way.... I feel it's a a serious state of denial if one thinks one can brush off the well documented CTD issue as one to be blamed on someone's system. I view blaming the system as a typical smokescreen, since there are a number of systems out there that are the cause of simmer's issues so it's easy to say that's the cause of all of them. The Autogen issue and seasonal CTD aren't system related, and that has been proven by simmers with all types of systems...BTW, I run Win98, and the ONLY CTD I've ever received was the one caused by the situation posted here recently to show what the seasonal CTD was all about. But as a Sys Admin, I've seen my share of CTD's on all apps run on our mix of XP and 2000 platforms. No system is immune from code issues in software... IOTW, I know what I am talking about. Am I never wrong? No--but I am not wrong about the source of the seasonal CTD's being the code, although I wasn't the one who proved it so...

Shirley doesn't fit a man of your obvious grooming and intellect.:-lol I suggest "Joyce" or "Margaret":-lol :-lol :-jumpy I think Margaret sounds just right...:-lol As to a patch? Yeah, and it will be called FS2k6 or 10 or ...:-hmmm