Most realistic FSX setup?

[PHedlund 0]

Hello all FSX pilots

 

I would like some help from you guys. I haven't been flying for about 2 years now, but now it's time to line up for takeoff again :-)

 

I want to make my FSX as close to reality as possible, can you help me with that?

 

I need suggestions for the most real addons on the market. Airport scenery, terrain scenery, VATSIM, Fs2crew for example.

 

Simply all of the things I need to make it as real as it can be.

 

Payware or freeware does'nt matter. Suggestions for aircraft addons not needed since the only aircraft I will be operating is the PMDG 747, and the PMDG T7 when it's released.

 

Kind regards

Patrik Hedlund

[PHedlund 0]

No one who can help me?

[ramprat 8]

Hi Patrik,

 

Ok, I will get things started with my opinion. I would suggest the Ultimate Terrain, Flight Envirnment, Ground Environment, and EZDOK camera products from Flight1 http://www.flight1.com/. For weather, Active Sky 2012 available from HiFi Technologies http://www.hifitechi...active-sky-2012. And Contrails Pro really makes the AI contrails look more real. It's available here: http://www.flightsim....com/contrails/. As far as AI traffic goes either Ultimate Traffic 2 available from Flight1 or MyTraffic X Professional 5.4b available here: http://secure.simmar...nal-5.4-b.phtml. That should get the ball rolling. I'm sure there will be other opinions offered as soon as they get back from the holly-daze. You could also consider Real Envirnment Extreme available here: http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/. I have all these products (and a ton more) and I use them all in one form or another. Hope that helps.

[Rations 102]

Welcome to AVSIM!

 

Where will you mostly be flying? If you fly in one specific area (e.g., Europe, Oceania), it makes it easier for us to be specific. If you have budget requirements, please tell us so we can eliminate some of the less-necessary and more-luxurious items. Regardless, here are some general recommendations:

 

Hardware:

• A very powerful computer if you want to be able to run many of the products described below (mine can barely run FSX at 25 frames/s)
  
• Good controllers: For yokes, Saitek is the budget recommendation, and PFC is the desktop recommendation. For joysticks, the Logitech ones are just fine.
  

Airport developers in order of perceived excellence:

• FlyTampa: excellent colors and textures, generous coverage of airport surroundings, and good performance
  
• FTX Orbx: I have no personal experience, but they appear to be excellent from the screen shots and user reviews
  
• FSDT: excellent detail, pretty good performance, but relatively little coverage of airport surroundings
  
• UK2000: good detail, but average coverage of airport surroundings and performance
  
• Aerosoft (in-house titles): similar to UK2000 comments
  

General enhancement/utilities:

• ENB series (freeware) or Mogwaisoft Shade (payware): in-game color (bloom, shadows, etc.) enhancement
  
• EZCA (payware): great camera positioning and camera shake utility
  
• FPS Limiter (freeware): I personally recommend this for improved performance, but some will disagree . . .
  
• FS Recorder (freeware): records flight data for replays and rendering videos
  
• FSUIPC (payware version): many people recommend this utility for its flexibility
  
• Navigraph nDAC (payware): inexpensive chart interface and service—if you really have money, consider Jeppesen services, which are more than 100 times more expensive
  
• Ultimate Traffic (payware): good traffic utility with relatively little performance impact
  

Scenery and weather:

• FTX Orbx: beautiful sceneries and ultra-detailed airports
  
• Ground Environment X /Ultimate Terrain X: good combination that improves the accuracy and quality of scenery in general
  
• OPUS: many people recommend this simple program for weather
  
• Real Environment Xtreme: great cloud, runway, sky, and water textures
  

I hope you find this information helpful and understandable. Look at many screen shots, especially of the airport and scenery products. Have a great new year!

Edited December 31, 2012 by zowen11

[Taipan 30]

Don't try and do everything at once. Many addons have a learning curve involved.

 

I've got my system as real as I need it now but it took a long time to get there. If I rushed it I would have messed it up and got impatient with some of the best addons that take a little more time to configure and customize.

[Kronzky 34]

Also, keep in mind that different people have different definitions of "realistic".

For some, it means everything in FSX has to look as close as possible to the real thing (requiring high-res terrain packages and virtual cockpits), for others the realism priority is more on the functionality (i.e. use of navigation aids, aircraft systems operations, etc.), and they couldn't care less about what the aircraft looks like from the outside, or if the trees are pretty...

 

Trying to achieve "perfect" realism on both fronts will be either impossible, or severly limit your options (as far as usable terrains and aircrafts are concerned).

So I'd suggest to figure out first what realism aspect is more important for you, and then follow Dan's advice, and get one addon at a time (it'll keep the learning curve and the frustrations down).

[Gypsy Pilot 29]

What type of flying do you want to do? Heavy Iron high and fast or props low and slow. Your choice will affect your setup.

Me I fly low and slow so scenery and weather are important to me.

If you want to push around heavy iron at 35,000 ft then the only scenery you will really see are the airports.

If you want to do it all then get the fastest computer you can find and bring money, lots of money.

You will be amazed at how expensive a 30 dollar game can be.

 

~~ Dale ~~

[duckbilled 310]

And the computer you are working with will make a difference in what you should buy. You say you have not flown in a couple years? In 2009, my system was basically the best you could get (within reason). Today, a complex airport in a FTX region with a reasonably complex aircraft, AI traffic and lost of clouds is on the verge of unflyable for me. Still, I manage my expectations and keep my sliders in check, I can make it work.

 

Nonetheless, if you are in to smaller GA aircraft and like to fly in Australia or the Pacific Northwest, a few aircraft, FTX regions and a nice weather program will get you going. If you are in to airliners, skip FTX and look at airliners, weather, AI and airports. You can start out with freeware AI traffic to see how you system hold up under duress. What ever you do, disable the FSX default AI traffic and look at some of the good FSX set up guides. Don't just start cramming things in to FSX or you will likely end up with a mess.

[GSalden 4,657]

Photoscenery icw custom autogen like VFR Germany,France VFR, Swiss Pro , NL2000 and Belgium 2012 have.

[PHedlund 0]

Hey guys

 

Great answers so far.

 

Since I will be flying heavy airliners on long-haul routes then maybe the overall terrain scenery won't mean that much. Suggestions for airport scenery for the major hubs all over the world would be very appriciated.

 

Regarding my computer setup, it should'nt be any problems. Brand new powerful system with all the latest parts and two 24' LED screens.

 

Would also like to hear some opinions on VATSIM. When I read about it, it seems great but some pros and cons from you will be nice.

 

[KingGhidorah 209]

I set up my basic environmental needs several years ago before all this buzz about FTX, so my primary scenery is comprised of Ground Environment X and Ultimate Terrain (UTX) for many areas of the world. I primarily like the fact that the roads from all over the world are placed correctly in areas that I have coverage for, which is most of the northern hemisphere. My mesh is provided by FS Global 2010, my AI by Mytraffic X. Although I don't have very many airport addons, I find this provides a pretty good environment for flying airliner type planes. Weather is Active Sky 2012 on a separate machine, and this drives a special set of Flight Environement X clouds that look excellent even though they are 1024 res--saves a lot of computing resources when flying in the soup with a complex airplane without having to trade off much visually. I have REX too, and use that for a variety of textures here and there.

 

Things like TOPCAT to compute takeoff performance and using real world charts is a big realism enhancer too. A lot of realism can be extracted from the simulation simply by committing yourself to doing things in a realistic way, regardless of your addons. In a very real sense, you get out of it what you put into it.

[GodAtum 69]

Sorry for the silly question but why would you use GEX, UTX and FS Global for scenery and terrain?

[KingGhidorah 209]

Sorry for the silly question but why would you use GEX, UTX and FS Global for scenery and terrain?

 

 

Because FS Global is Terrain Mesh, Ultimate Terrain is Terrain Landclass, and Ground Environment is Textures.

[duckbilled 310]

Cool. Where are you from or where do you want to fly. There are great add on airports all over the world but if they don't work with your typical flight, they are a waste of money. An example:

 

I like to fly from big US hubs to Mexico or the Caribbean so I have bought everything that fits that scenario. Since there is nothing left for me to buy, I have started working on European hubs and European holiday destinations. Right now, I want every HQ Eastern European hub I can find but I wouldn't have touched those airports until I filled up my neck of the woods.

 

How long do you typically expect every flight to be? Do you want to sit in front of the sim for 11 hour long hauls? Are 2-4 hour flights more your style? Do you want to set the AP and walk away or do you want to enjoy every minute in real time?

 

For me, I set the AP and forget until ToD so it doesn't matter but if you want to absorb every minute but can only spare a few hours a week, the NGX may be the best option. Keep in mind, however, the NGX will limit your range a bit so if you want to do trans-Atlantic flight, a better choice may be out there.

[Taipan 30]

On VATSIM it's a must.

 

Sure there are sometimes no controllers, and there are button push options out there like Radar Contact. But the times VATSIM is busy makes up for the rest.

 

No AI ATC can assign you a STAR and approach as you descend like VATSIM, and no AI can switch runways on you at the last minute due to a runway incursion etc. you can't replace a human .

 

You can simulate MAYDAY calls or anything you want within VATSIM, I heard an engine failure MAYDAY just last week, the guy had to be vectored to the nearest airport.