Hello.

 

I'm new to FSX (but not new to flight sims in general) and I've recently picked up FSX Gold. I wanted to pick up some expansions and was hoping some of you folks could get me pointed in the right direction. What are some of the most commonly used expansions/scenery/addons that you feel alot of folks might consider almost a "Must have" for FSX?

 

Scenery-wise, my "home base" area that I like to fly is the far west suburbs of Chicago, IL. Usually KARR or KDPA.

 

With regards to aircraft, my interests are pretty simple and not very exotic or interesting. I was hoping for some recommendations on some quality products. I'm just looking for a good FSX Cessna 172 Skyhawk. In addition, maybe a nice Mooney, a Beech Baron 58. Maybe a Beech Bonanza.

 

I was wondering if there were some good sites or references you guys use and trust with regards to reviews and articles on different add-on aircraft and expansions? (aside from just this one of course). How do you guys know which ones are really great and realistic, and which ones aren't so good?

 

Thanks!

Mutley's Hangar has very good reviews.

 

There are very few very good addons, and a whole lot of mediocre ones. What you'll like is very much up to you and what you want do do in FSX. Are you a gamer just looking for some fun, a 1%'er interested in simulating flying as real as possible, or something in between?

Hi and welcome,

 

Carenado and RealAir have some high quality GA aircraft. If you are into flying heavies, you might want to start at something like the QualityWings 757 and work your way up to complex addons like PMDG. Also, JustFlight has an excellent range of 'Medium' complexity aircraft in their F-Lite series which are good looking, but enable the user to 'jump in and fly' rather than read 100+ pages of manuals.

 

EDIT:

Mutley's Hangar has very good reviews.

Yes definitely check the reviews before buying!

 

Sim-outhouse forum is great place if you are interested in vintage and also modern military aviation for FSX. Flightsim.com is one good site and has really good file library for freeware gems.

 

Must have addons list is too big to mention in one post. For continental US good scenery start package would be Ground Environment X and Utlimate Terrain X. For sceneries in general, pretty much everything from ORBX is high quality stuff, same is with Pacific Island Simulations. Many if not most of the Aerosoft stuff is of high quality and MegasceneryX has some nice photoscenery. Aerosoft, FlyTampa and FSDT have some terrific single airports all around the world.

 

For aircraft some "trusted" publishers are A2A, Classics-Hangar, Warbirdsim, Flight Replicas, Lionheart, PMDG and Milviz just to mention few. Also many Aerosoft, Iris and Razbam planes are good ones.

"must have" is very subjective depending on the user. Remember, the more you add to the sim, the more it impacts performance and the more likelyhood of problems occurring.

 

Since you mention the Chigaco area, this product looks like a good representation

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd480!40,6294015200,D11183

I'm just looking for a good FSX Cessna 172 Skyhawk. In addition, maybe a nice Mooney, a Beech Baron 58. Maybe a Beech Bonanza.

Regarding the Skyhawk: Both RealAir and A2A are working on one, I don't know when they're to be released, but those two will probably be among the best GA planes for FSX ever. There's also a 172 by Carenado, which looks good, but I think I'll wait for whichever of the above mentioned is released first. Regarding the other three aircraft, Carenado did all of them, but after flying an A2A or RealAir plane, they seem to lack a bit, though.

If you are flying in the Chicago area, I highly recommend FlyTampa's KMDW scenery.

Since you mention the Chigaco area, this product looks like a good representation

http://www.aerosoft....94015200,D11183

I don't have the US City Chicago, but judging from the other US Cities I've bought (and comparing it to other, at least equivalent releases lately), they aren't really worth that money IMHO, since they usually don't perform all that well, and they lack night lighting.

One last thing, if I may recommend something else you didn't mention in your OP: The RealAir Legacy is one of the finest GA planes yet for FSX, and it's my favorite plane at the moment. (And, no, I'm not in any way connected with RealAir or A2A, it's just that those two are the best in terms of GA planes.)

 

Regards,

Flo

Sim-outhouse forum is great place if you are interested in vintage and also modern military aviation for FSX. Flightsim.com is one good site and has really good file library for freeware gems.

 

Must have addons list is too big to mention in one post. For continental US good scenery start package would be Ground Environment X and Utlimate Terrain X. For sceneries in general, pretty much everything from ORBX is high quality stuff, same is with Pacific Island Simulations. Many if not most of the Aerosoft stuff is of high quality and MegasceneryX has some nice photoscenery. Aerosoft, FlyTampa and FSDT have some terrific single airports all around the world.

 

For aircraft some "trusted" publishers are A2A, Classics-Hangar, Warbirdsim, Flight Replicas, Lionheart, PMDG and Milviz just to mention few. Also many Aerosoft, Iris and Razbam planes are good ones.

 

I'll put my two cents worth in here. I have never really liked Ground Environment X or Ultimate Terrain X, or the FS2004 versions. I have never used them either. Maybe it is because I haven't been sold on them or I just don't want them.

 

I got FTX (OrbX) and I must say I am impressed. I don't know how that compares to the two I am talking about above. I only got the Australian versions for all Australia.

 

For everything else (such as France) I use photoreal scenery.

 

I am quite happy with the selection of FSX Acceleration aircraft. I am not sure about the singles, I never really bought any. Even though I did real world flying. I found the FS stuff was sufficient, even for instrument practice.

 

If I was you and have a budget, just download some freeware aircraft and get a feel for what you are really looking for. Or if you want to, dive in to something, as long as you read some good reviews and get some good intel from here about the product.

 

For example, there was Meljet and the other groups like IFDG and Project Freeware among others which put a lot of effort into building freeware stuff. There is even a freeware 747-400 which is about 100MB download. That is an Ifly and worth it if you want to fly like the real thing.

I had similar questions when new. See link.

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/364639-best-mods-that-greatly-enhance-the-game/

I have never really liked Ground Environment X or Ultimate Terrain X, or the FS2004 versions. I have never used them either. Maybe it is because I haven't been sold on them or I just don't want them.

 

That certainly is a strange statement to me - not liking something you have never tried. GEX replaces the default textures and they are more optimized for FSX performance wise. UTX had its days and still does in many simmers minds. I think FTX/Orbx got you all spoiled like me. I still enjoy MegaScenery SoCal and Las Vegas too, both photoreal sceneries. I rarely fly over the default textures (GEX) but I think they are definitely better than the default.

 

Best regards,

Jim

The add on that enhanced my game the most was TrackIR5. If I were starting over now, that's the first thing I would get. The ability to look around the virtual cockpit naturally is a tremendous advantage.

 

If you want real world weather, you have a few options. The three biggest ones at the moment are REX, Active Sky (AS2012 SP2 beta) and OpusFSX. The first two have been around a while and both have new versions just released. Opus is new, still in development, includes camera motion (other people use EZDok or AccuFeel for this), but no textures, which the other two do have. There is a freeware HDE texture package that many people like.

 

The default Cessna 172 is actually very good, and worth using until the A2A version is released.

 

Hook

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the help. The opinions and info you shared is truly very helpful when you're new! The amount of "stuff" out there for this is absolutely staggering and overwhelming. I certainly agree that what one person thinks is a "Must have" may very likely be a "No thankyou, I'll pass" for someone else. However, when I am recommended certain products by several people and read of lots of people that have and enjoy that product...its a worthwhile bet that it might be good for me too. It helps alot to see the consensus and see what people who have been using this a while recommend. If I just bought a bunch of stuff that "sounded good" but I didn't ask folks about...I'd probably just gum up my system with alot of junk.

 

As silly as it sounds, I'm taking notes and putting together a little shoppin' list.

 

Scenery-wise. There are just way too many things that end in "X"...lol. I see GEX mentioned to me, and on various forums ALOT so I think that definitely gets added to the list. Same thing with Ultimate Terrain. I understand what the Ultimate Terrain does (at least I think I do), but the GEX is a bit confusing to me.

 

How about REX? I see alot of folks saying thats good and I'm not even quite sure what it does. And egads....is there a REX2 as well? I guess maybe REX2 is the newest one and better than REX1?

 

Are you a gamer just looking for some fun, a 1%'er interested in simulating flying as real as possible, or something in between?

 

I'm not sure what a 1%'er is but I prefer it to be as real as possible. I guess maybe I'm a flight nerd? I actually enjoy reading the large manuals, going through the checklists. I prefer to start with the aircraft cold & dark and run through everything. Back in FS9 I'd actually use an aftermarket camera package that let me simulate my preflight 'walk around' of the aircraft. If the cowling and doors open...that much the better.

 

I'm one of those folks that has a few hundred hours in various small aircraft...but between money, job, and time constraints never finished my private. So I surely enjoy being able to do some of the things I was never able to do from the comfort of my office

 

So I guess you might say I want my simulator to simulate

 

I've got the DCS series that I enjoy as well and am looking forward to the upcoming CombatPilot series using FSX.

 

With regards to aircraft...

 

I certainly appreciate all the recommendations. I mentioned the Cessna 172 and the Baron because I am familiar with them and have always enjoyed them. I really like Mooney's and Bonanza's as well.

 

I'm open to anything thats good though so if you have recommendations of very well done aircraft that you love, I'd certainly love to hear them. I've never flown any sort of private jets or heavies in a simulator though, so I'm afraid I don't know much about them.

 

I also really enjoy military aircraft...both old and new.

 

The add on that enhanced my game the most was TrackIR5. If I were starting over now, that's the first thing I would get. The ability to look around the virtual cockpit naturally is a tremendous advantage.

 

I couldn't agree more. I've got TrackIR4 that I picked up for combat sims years ago. I couldn't live without it.

 

If you want real world weather, you have a few options. The three biggest ones at the moment are REX, Active Sky (AS2012 SP2 beta) and OpusFSX. The first two have been around a while and both have new versions just released. Opus is new, still in development, includes camera motion (other people use EZDok or AccuFeel for this), but no textures, which the other two do have. There is a freeware HDE texture package that many people like.

 

Oh that sounds fabulous. Is it alot better than the default "downloaded" weather in FSX? I never mess much with weather themes or user defined weather. I enjoy most being able to have it download the conditions as they truly are, plan using those, and fly in those. I actually get a huge kick out of whenever the in-game conditions near my home are identical to what I see out my office window. If the ActiveSky will do that better without bringing my system to a hideous crawl...that might have to go on the ole shopping list too.

 

The REX I mentioned above...and it seems that alot of people have that. That might need to go on the shopping list too.

 

I don't know much about camera motion so I couldn't comment on that.

Edit....

 

I had similar questions when new. See link.

http://forum.avsim.n...hance-the-game/

 

Thanks VeryBumpy. That thread helps out a alot! Good stuff in there.

Is it alot better than the default "downloaded" weather in FSX?

 

Active Sky is incredibly better. It provides weather maps which include upper level winds for flight planning, wind/temp/baro smoothing that works well, has some great textures, several weather depiction modes to suit your tastes and style of flying. Since AS2012 SP2 beta is so new, and there's also a new version of REX, people are still trying to decide which is better. Opus has a lot of followers, but it doesn't provide a weather map.

 

If the ActiveSky will do that better without bringing my system to a hideous crawl...that might have to go on the ole shopping list too.

 

The only thing that slows my system down with Active Sky, which will happen with all weather programs, is when it tries to depict too many clouds. There are settings to alleviate this.

 

If you get Active Sky, I suggest turning off thermal and ridge lift generation, as they've been known on some systems to reduce frame rates during generation. Only performance problem I know of.

 

Hook

You mentioned a Bonanza - the plane I have the most hours in in FSX is Carenado's F33A Bonanza, with the upgraded FDE by Bernt Stolle & upgraded payware gauges from RealityXP. Easy to handle, comfortable to fly, pretty much my favorite plane. It might not be quite as pretty as some of the latest releases out there (like the RealAir Lancair Legacy which I also own & fly quite a lot), but it still stands up very well and is easy on the frames as well. I've been waffling back and forth on upgrading to the RXP 430, just for this plane...

 

Some of Carenado's other older offerings are pretty good too & fun to fly. I've lately been having a lot of fun taking the C185 into various little strips in UTX Alaska.

Thanks for the info!

 

Wow...so much to learn. Its actually quite amazing.

 

Perhaps you guys can help me get my mind around a few things. I'm narrowing down my shopping list here and I'm just trying to get straight what some of these things "do" so that I don't accidentally overlap with 2 products that do the same thing.

 

Please bear in mind that I'm not lazy, I read the descriptions of these products but I'm still picking up alot of the lingo. The way these things are 'layered' on top of each other is a bit confusing how one thing works with another.

 

I'd appreciate it much if you guys could just check me here and see if I'm on the right path:

 

GEX & UTX. My understanding is that GEX is pretty much for all that space on the ground between detailed areas. It improves the autogen ground stuff. Trees, roads, etc. etc. UTX works "with" this. I'm not exactly sure on the specifics of what each of these does but the screenshots I've looked at usually say "GEX with UTX" or what not.

 

REX. REX is like "GEX" but for the sky. Weather. Clouds. Etc. If you download read-world weather and setup a flight plan...it cooks up these nice sky, cloud, and weather graphics for your flight and loads it all in.

 

Landclass & Mesh. I've seen this mentioned a few times with names like FSGenesis or SceneryTech. I'm not sure if this does the same thing as one of the products I mentioned above or this does something completely different. Will I need something like this? Or does the default FSX stuff work good?

 

ActiveSky. This was mentioned in this thread and I'm just wondering if this would be used "in addition to" REX and complement it. Or...if this would be used "Instead of" REX and its an either/or proposition. My understanding is that ActiveSky is a much more realistic real-world weather system than what is built into FSX.

 

ORBX. This is scenery. Does this work "with" GEX, UTX, & REX....or....does this work "instead of" GEX, UTX, & REX? My understanding is that this is some of the best stuff, but unfortunately it isn't currently offered for the area I'll be flying in. It might be fun to pick some up for another area though....I'm just not sure if this is an either/or proposition with GEX, UTX, & REX or if this is "instead of" GEX, UTX, & REX.

 

MegasceneryX & Aerosoft Is similar to the ORBX but competing vendors?

 

FlyTampa, FSDT, Aerosoft Detailed individual airports?

 

The aircraft I'm hoping will be fairly straight forward. Its just all this scenery/graphics/layering/landclass/cloud/weather stuff that is a bit confusing.

 

At this point though, I don't know anything about RealityXP payware gauges and such. Thats still a bit over my head. I'll tackle learning that stuff after I get this graphic stuff figured out, purchased, and setup.

 

Just as a note to the above. My flight plans are all mostly "low and slow" GA aircraft. Sometimes VFR and sometimes IFR depending on the virtual "trip" that I'm planning, distance, weather, etc.