Yup, you guessed it. I'm a new pilot (FSX+Acceleration) and have plenty of questions to bore you to tears. But I won't start with them, since I haven't yet finished the tutorial or the learning center (I desperately need to learn what most organs and meters and levers do).As I'm doing the tutorials and performing some test flights with some easy to handle (and -more importantly- land) aircrafts, I'm also looking for ways to mod the game to my satisfaction. I figured now, before doing any serious flying, would be the perfect time for it. I recently read the topic of another new fellow and there were many great suggestions in it (I will return to them later).First and foremost I'm looking for ways to enhance my experience graphically. So after doing some research I'm considering REX 2.0. I also managed to use a .cfg tweaking tool (which I found in here somewhere) and produced a new .cfg, which in combination to my maxed out settings (not using preview DX10 though since I couldn't make the Vsync work) the game looks more than ok. My frame rate is great and stays good even at busy airports (new PC).For weather I downloaded the freeware FSrealIWX lite and I think I'm using it right (can't say that I understand all the numbers and abbreviations though, that's for later).Now, as a player I love exploring, sightseeing and realism and since this is my first sim since Flight of the Intruder on the Amiga (sigh) I was looking at the Flight1 products.And here come the questions:If I buy Ground Environment X Europe and Ultimate Environment X Europe will I get a close to reality Europe more or less? Will the cities look a bit like their real counterparts for example?Are these compatible with REX 2.0.?Is the weather program I've chosen a good alternative to REX 2.0 (I've read there are problems with the weather engine of the latter)?Is there a version of Active Sky 2012 that doesn't include textures (since I will be using the REX 2.0) or should I go for Active Sky Evolution which only includes a weather engine? Would it be better to buy Active Sky 2012 and use both textures and engine in one package (instead of REX)?If I download add-on scenery from the AVSIM library, will it replace the other texture packs I will buy, like REX 2.0 or AS2012 for example or will they look out of place due to their lower quality?Can you recommend me some sites that I can find high quality scenery (like flight1's) for places like Japan, Egypt, Russia, etc or airports? Are there any freeware that are of high quality?Are there new aircrafts available that are free of charge?I'm really sorry for all these questions but I really want to get the most out of this game. It goes without saying that I have an enormous amount of questions regarding actual flying, tower communication, flightpaths, etc, but, as I said above, I won't post them until I've done all my homework.Thanks for your time and nice to meet you all. :)

Can you recommend me some sites that I can find high quality scenery (like flight1's) for places like Japan, Egypt, Russia, etc or airports? Are there any freeware that are of high quality?

Welcome to Avsim. The best freeware website is located at the following (with many, many links back here to AVSIM) - http://www.freewarescenery.com/fsx.html.

produced a new .cfg, which in combination to my maxed out settings (not using preview DX10 though since I couldn't make the Vsync work) the game looks more than ok.

Truly amazed you have settings maxed out. FSX wasn't made for max settings as some max settings could cause anomalies. For instance mesh resolution will cause terrain to rise and lower depending on the location of the slider. You could have airports sitting on mounds in many locations. I think max settings cause eventual crashes as you're using too many system resources. FSX is an old, old program with an old engine. It still performs well though if you keep your operating system up-to-date and drivers maintained.I would go with AS2012 for a weather engine. I like the concept of the built-in textures as you can install textures based on your flight plan and the weather in the area. REX/FEX does a good job too with cloud textures so it pretty much depends on your financial resources.Again, welcome to AVSIM. Hope you enjoy your membership.Best regards,Jim

Welcome to Avsim. The best freeware website is located at the following (with many, many links back here to AVSIM) - http://www.freewares...ry.com/fsx.html.Truly amazed you have settings maxed out. FSX wasn't made for max settings as some max settings could cause anomalies. For instance mesh resolution will cause terrain to rise and lower depending on the location of the slider. You could have airports sitting on mounds in many locations. I think max settings cause eventual crashes as you're using too many system resources. FSX is an old, old program with an old engine. It still performs well though if you keep your operating system up-to-date and drivers maintained.I would go with AS2012 for a weather engine. I like the concept of the built-in textures as you can install textures based on your flight plan and the weather in the area. REX/FEX does a good job too with cloud textures so it pretty much depends on your financial resources.Again, welcome to AVSIM. Hope you enjoy your membership.Best regards,Jim

Many thanks and well met Jim.To tell you the truth I haven't flown that much as to experience the problems you mention with the maxed out settings. But in my playtime I haven't experienced anything until now. Maybe they will raise their ugly head when play hours starts to pile. My PC is a quad 3.36, 8GB Ram vengeance and ATI 6950 (2GB). I don't deserve any credit though because things started going really great after the .cfg which the tweaking tool produced.As for the AS 2012, does it offer much improvement compared to Evolution? It feels a bit of an overkill to buy the full program and not use it fully.edit: Can the scenery from the link you posted be used with UTX and GEX?

Edited March 6, 201214 yr by Lyvean

As for the AS 2012, does it offer much improvement compared to Evolution? It feels a bit of an overkill to buy the full program and not use it fully.

If you have Rex and ASE I would stay with that. Been running those combos for yrs and see no need of changing to AS2012.

Many thanks and well met Jim.To tell you the truth I haven't flown that much as to experience the problems you mention with the maxed out settings. But in my playtime I haven't experienced anything until now. Maybe they will raise their ugly head when play hours starts to pile. My PC is a quad 3.36, 8GB Ram vengeance and ATI 6950 (2GB). I don't deserve any credit though because things started going really great after the .cfg which the tweaking tool produced.As for the AS 2012, does it offer much improvement compared to Evolution? It feels a bit of an overkill to buy the full program and not use it fully.

AS2012 probably isn't for you. I made the switch from Evolution to 2012 to support Hi-Fi. Otherwise, Evolution was right up my ally. AS2012 has a few weather engine enhancements, but nothing game changing from Evo. The real bread and butter of 2012 is it's texture injection which REX2.0 also does. I would elaborate but I've got some chores to do for now, so I apologize for being somewhat "hazy" on the details.

Edited March 6, 201214 yr by ZachLW

Hello Lyvean and welcome to this crazy hobby.I do recomend REX 2.0. I consider it the best visual upgrade you can get for FSX as it covers Cloud, Water and many atmospheric textures and effects.Cheers

Yup, you guessed it. I'm a new pilot (FSX+Acceleration) and have plenty of questions to bore you to tears. But I won't start with them, since I haven't yet finished the tutorial or the learning center (I desperately need to learn what most organs and meters and levers do).As I'm doing the tutorials and performing some test flights with some easy to handle (and -more importantly- land) aircrafts, I'm also looking for ways to mod the game to my satisfaction. I figured now, before doing any serious flying, would be the perfect time for it. I recently read the topic of another new fellow and there were many great suggestions in it (I will return to them later).First and foremost I'm looking for ways to enhance my experience graphically. So after doing some research I'm considering REX 2.0. I also managed to use a .cfg tweaking tool (which I found in here somewhere) and produced a new .cfg, which in combination to my maxed out settings (not using preview DX10 though since I couldn't make the Vsync work) the game looks more than ok. My frame rate is great and stays good even at busy airports (new PC).Turning down settings like water, visibility, and road traffic from the highest settings will yield you better performance and very little change in visuals. Water at max is buggy and offers little over the next setting, the highest visibility is beyond what is realistic to see, and maximum road traffic is very very denseFor weather I downloaded the freeware FSrealIWX lite and I think I'm using it right (can't say that I understand all the numbers and abbreviations though, that's for later).Now, as a player I love exploring, sightseeing and realism and since this is my first sim since Flight of the Intruder on the Amiga (sigh) I was looking at the Flight1 products.And here come the questions:If I buy Ground Environment X Europe and Ultimate Environment X Europe will I get a close to reality Europe more or less? Will the cities look a bit like their real counterparts for example?I'm assuming you mean Ultimate Terrain X Europe but yes, they will be closer to reality. Ultimate terrain provides enhanced roads, waterways, and some bits of landclass. Ground Environment X provides higher quality terrain texturesAre these compatible with REX 2.0.?Yep! REX 2.0 does not touch ground textures just sky, clouds, and the like.Is the weather program I've chosen a good alternative to REX 2.0 (I've read there are problems with the weather engine of the latter)?IMO it's a very nice weather programIs there a version of Active Sky 2012 that doesn't include textures (since I will be using the REX 2.0) or should I go for Active Sky Evolution which only includes a weather engine? Would it be better to buy Active Sky 2012 and use both textures and engine in one package (instead of REX)?You can use REX 2.0 and Active Sky if you just want to use the Active Sky weather engineIf I download add-on scenery from the AVSIM library, will it replace the other texture packs I will buy, like REX 2.0 or AS2012 for example or will they look out of place due to their lower quality?As long as it's not a texture replacement then it won't affect REX or AS2012. Very few addons interfere with those twoCan you recommend me some sites that I can find high quality scenery (like flight1's) for places like Japan, Egypt, Russia, etc or airports? Are there any freeware that are of high quality?Are there new aircrafts available that are free of charge?Yes there are many great aircraft available for free, for example Tim "Piglet" Conrad makes some excellent aircraft.I'm really sorry for all these questions but I really want to get the most out of this game. It goes without saying that I have an enormous amount of questions regarding actual flying, tower communication, flightpaths, etc, but, as I said above, I won't post them until I've done all my homework.Thanks for your time and nice to meet you all. :)

Just a quick response, I can't find all the recommended scenery and aircraft lists that I used to have...

Can the scenery from the link you posted be used with UTX and GEX?

Yes. UTX just provides a better landclass. Make sure it is located far down in your Scenery Library. I recommend just above Propeller Objects. GEX simply replaces your default textures and makes some improvements to UTX. It also provides performance improvements as the author made the program so that textures would load faster than the default. In FSX, layering of scenery/objects is most important.... I think others have responded adequately to your question about AS2012/ASE. It's a personal preference. Try ASE with GEX and see how it looks. I used ASE with FEX with HD textures (4096) and I thought it was great. I simply upgraded to AS2012 for the updated engine and the textures as I have been as Active Sky fan since it was born.Best regards,Jim

Many thanks for the replies guys, but more questions are coming.I've decided to start with GEX Europe and UTX Europe. Do I need anything special to install them? From what I understand it's better to move UTX above propeler objects and below anything else that's there. Is it a simple as moving one file down the library? Are there are many? Or maybe I should just move the propeler objects up?edit: If I download a scenery from AVSIM, how will interfere with GEX and UT if I have it installed? For example, I have my eye on a photoreal scenery of Attika, Greece. How do I know it's a texture file?Many thanks.

Is it a simple as moving one file down the library? Are there are many? Or maybe I should just move the propeler objects up?

Do not move the propeller objects or any scenery area below Propeller Objects. Do not delete any of them either as they are the default and are needed for other FSX programs. Just install UTX then move the 11 'scenery' areas down (11 for UTX USA - not sure about Europe) to just above Propeller Objects using the program within the FSX Scenery Library. Keep them in order as they were when they were installed. Any scenery installed above UTX will have it's own configuration and UTX will not interfere with it, especially photoscenery. GEX Europe only replaces default textures but any textures added to an addon scenery will be used instead of GEX. If you are familiar with editing files, you can open the 'working' scenery.cfg (located in the Program DataMicrosoftFSX folder) copy all the UTX scenery areas and then paste them just above propeller objects. You will then have to renumber the Areas/Layers so the scenery.cfg remains in numerical sequence, save, and start up FSX. Hope this helps.Best regards,JimEdit: You'll know what UTX areas to move down. They all start with UT.

Hello Lyvean,Welcome to AVSIM and the FSX forum. I hope you have as much fun and enjoyment so many of us have here and in our hobby.Kind regards,

Good info in here I'll be needing to know too.I've been doing tons of reading and research, best advice seems to be (unless you are made of money) is to stick with 1 area to fly in and enhance it.Since I prefer to fly low and slow, my first purchase will be ground textures. 2nd will most likely be mesh but if I go Orbx they supposedly include mesh, which is nice.Edit: I just wanted to add that the suggestion from others to try the demo(Orbx) or quality freeware scenery is a good one.

Would highly suggest going with ORBX. Fantastic scenery. I also use AS2012 and REX. There are lots of great options out there guys that will transform your Flightsim experience. Research, Research and Research. That is my advice. :)

Thank you all for the advice. Today I flew my first jet in the tutorial mission. Nothing exciting for you pros, I know, but it felt really great. The sense of power and speed after having spent 3 days with single engine crafts was amazing. And the landing... I managed to do it at first go but I was really nervous since I was coming in really hot. I managed to stop it just as the runway ended. :) Great stuff.To return to the beautification of the game, Is ORBX different than ultimate terrain or GEX? If I have both do I need to get ORBX as well? And what of FS Genesis? Is it worth it to use is for the whole world?Also, is landclass included in the above packages? Or is it something we have to worry separately?Last but not least, I haven't seen any scenery improvements for Asia... Are there any?edit: Also, As I climbed at 10.000ft I noticed that the scenery got blurrier. Is this the fault of the the FSX engine? Can it be fixed with GEX or UT for example?

Some questions for you good people.I'll be buying GEX 2.0, GEX Europe and UTX Europe. Then I plan to use some freewhare mesh and landclass for terrain. In what order should these be put to the librabry? I did a search and I found some posts but I need some verification here. If I decide to use a second UTX in which order should I put this in the scenery library?Also, how should I generally proceed playing this to learn it better? Should I finish the tutorials and go on with the missions? Should I try to learn one plane well and stick to it? Is the default flight planner any good or should I use a third party one for my free flights? Last but not least, is there a tutorial about tower communication and what everything means?Again, sorry for all these questions and thanks for the help. I know you've probably answered these things many times but I can't find a collective tutorial anywhere and there are many terms to learn. I just want to gather all the available info and then proceed with experimentation while I start doing some more serious flying.Thank you all.