January 21, 201214 yr Me: Well, I just applied for the Flight beta program. I thought it would be closed, but I was able to complete the entire application process. I have no idea if I'll be chosen or not, but I wanted to at least try so that I can see first-hand what all the hoopla is about. And, hoopla it has been if you have even casually read the threads on this forum.Reader: But, why the change of heart? I thought you weren't going to give Flight a second thought?Me: I didn't give Flight a second thought when I first heard about it and tried to decode the marketing materials that trickled out of Microsoft. However, some of the screenshots looked like what I now see courtesy of REX and FTX, so I stayed interested. In fact, I started reading this forum a few weeks ago to see what I could really learn about Flight (AVSIM's always in the know, right?). Could Flight really be a successor to FSX? Unfortunately, the news didn't seem good after reading about Tom's field trip to Redmond and the experience of a couple of the 3PDs. So, my first impression wasn't good and I expressed my frustration and disappointment. I even tried humor with my satirical "lawsuits" post.Reader: Why not just stick with FSX? Look at all the cool add-ons we have now.Me: I've been reflecting on the time I've spent with FSX over the past couple of years. It may be more perception than truth, but I feel like I spent more hours troubleshooting FSX than actually "flying" it. I mean, I've spent hours and hours of tweaking and upgrading and adding on and troubleshooting and upgrading and tweaking again -- and then virgin reinstalls so that I could apply the tweaks all over again. I found crazy installation guides that were pages long (and required the burning of incense), and miracle tweaks (oh, my aching bufferpools), and freeware video controls (that worked with only one brand of video cards), and websites that would tweak my configuration file for me (dude, where's my config file?). Unfortunately, I still get stutters and blurries and flashing rooftops and fatal errors depending on what choices I make (traffic or not to traffic, that is the question...sorry Shakespeare).In the end, I just can't seem to replicate with FSX what I was lucky enough to be able to see out the plexi in the real thing (and, yes, I know how lucky I am to have been able to do that). Has FSX brought me closer to "as real as it gets"? Yes, but only thanks to our friends Carenado and Orbx and Active Sky and REX and Herr Renk.Reader: Have you tried X-Plane 10?Me: Yes, I tried the demo. And, while I fundamentally agree with Austin Myer's proposition that what flight simulation needs is a "plausible world" built on three-dimensional objects, I was underwhelmed by the demo. I thought the modeling of the KSEA was impressive, but the panel of the default 172 was cartoonish to me and the plane didn't behave like the 172 I have flown. Also, having disappearing highways in the demo didn't help. However, I won't rule it out.Reader: Okay, what about Perpar3d?Me: I just downloaded the demo. I've got some time to spare this weekend to try it. I'm looking forward to it.Reader: Have you seen the Aerofly stuff?Me: Yup. And, I loved the video by Andreas available @ . I have to agree with some that this is what Flight (or any simulator) should look like. I'm just worried that its feature set is too limited right now.Okay, back to Flight. Could it be that Flight will ease our pain (the stutters, the blurries, the CTDs)? And, what about users (both new and old)? If they build it, will they come?Well, I'm not sure, but I hope I get accepted to the beta program so that I can see for myself what Microsoft may (or may not) have up its sleeve for its next flight program offering. I just hope that there's more behind the curtain than Joshua Howard and flying monkeys.Until then (or even if I have to wait for the released version of Flight) I'm going to try to stay out of the hoopla here on the forum. Besides, I'll be busy trying to figure out why all of my airplanes and ground vehicles in FSX bounce when I change view. Oh, so many gray hairs, FSX, so many gray hairs.Apology to Readers: Yes, yes, I know, this has turned into one of those posts that is too long to read. I just hope someone finds something interesting here. If not, it's just words.
January 21, 201214 yr Well done, nice perspective and a positive tone within the din of negative postings based on theory rather than fact this forum is endowed with. It is a wait and see situation, then the dross in the form of posts can be ascertained. I am not a Flight ######, but do like it when the glass is half full verses half empty. Edited January 21, 201214 yr by drumsonly2002
January 21, 201214 yr Lol, interviewing yourself.. nice one.I agree that FSX (Fierce Stutter eXpierience) is the worst in the series.
January 21, 201214 yr Souns familiar. Good post! :) Simmerhead - Making the virtual skies unsafe since 1987!
January 21, 201214 yr Commercial Member About bouncing issue... Try to reduce your mesh complexity, I had same problem and it was pretty much fixed after I reduced it enough.Actually I havent had many CTD´s anymore after uiautomationcore fix and one FSX reinstall, I am completely happy with FSX now. Edited January 21, 201214 yr by pvjinflight
January 21, 201214 yr Author Thanks for the nice feedback, folks. And, thanks for the tip, pvj -- I turned down my mesh settings and the bouncing is gone. I'll look up the uiautomationcore fix (more tweaking...darn you FSX). Okay, happy simming. -- Dana
January 21, 201214 yr If you do get on the beta, I've heard that you can unzip some files in there that aren't zip files.Have a mooch through them and you will discover more of what Flight may have to offer. :( Steve Smith i7-2600K - GTX580 - 8GB ram
January 21, 201214 yr Thanks for the nice feedback, folks. And, thanks for the tip, pvj -- I turned down my mesh settings and the bouncing is gone. I'll look up the uiautomationcore fix (more tweaking...darn you FSX). Okay, happy simming. -- DanaWhat's your new settings? Simmerhead - Making the virtual skies unsafe since 1987!
January 21, 201214 yr Author What's your new settings?I set mesh to 2 meters (instead of 1 meter) and the bounce seems to be gone. I did some more research and the bounce is apparently caused by the mesh setting being too fine for the installed mesh (something about the program trying to redraw the mesh each view change). I'll take more advice on this issue. Thanks.
January 22, 201214 yr About bouncing issue... Try to reduce your mesh complexity, I had same problem and it was pretty much fixed after I reduced it enough.Actually I havent had many CTD´s anymore after uiautomationcore fix and one FSX reinstall, I am completely happy with FSX now.Well thanks for this tip. I was having this same issue everytime I change views.OP: Nice self-interview :( Chris Ferguson PC Specs(Rebuilt 1/11/19): i7-9700K - Non-OC'd, EVGA RTX 2080ti, G.Skillz 16GB Ram 3000mhz, EVGA SuperNOVA 1000w PSU, Cooler Master ML360R, ASRock Phantom Gaming 4 MoBo, 2x 2TB HDD, 1x 1TB Samsung EVO SSD, 1x 220GB WD SSD
January 23, 201214 yr If you do get on the beta, I've heard that you can unzip some files in there that aren't zip files.Have a mooch through them and you will discover more of what Flight may have to offer. :(You mean like there is the possibility that what we were used to in FSX may still be there just in a better way! :( I see nothing I hear nothing. Edited January 23, 201214 yr by Id Rather Be Flying
January 23, 201214 yr Author If you do get on the beta, I've heard that you can unzip some files in there that aren't zip files.Have a mooch through them and you will discover more of what Flight may have to offer. :(Ahem, just like IRBF (see post above), I see nothing and hear nothing! Thanks. : )
