In the PMDG forum there was this post that got me thinking:

 

The NGX will always be known for years to come - since to me, it changed flight simulation for everyone.

From your personal perspective, which are the products or discoveries that FOR YOU meant a huge change in the way you perceive or use flightsim, a big leap forward? Perhaps brought back the joy into flightsimming again if you were losing interest?

 

For me, as much I love it, the PMDG NGX isn't one of those. It's the best airplane add-on ever released IMO but still it's an incremental improvement over what we had before. Once the T7 is released or perhaps even the FSL A320 we will marvel at those instead - it still doesn't take anything away from super fluf.

 

I actually consider the Dreamfleet 2000 737 more of a defining moment because it really delivered a package I personally never had seen before (I got the PSS 747 later) with the FMC and a more or less believable startup sequence.

 

My other defining moment was back in the early 2000 when I discovered SATCO and then VATSIM. I had gotten quite bored with flying around without a purpose but everthing about VATSIM just blew me away. That you really had to put in an effort in how you were flying and talking because others were watching/listening. That I could at least for a couple of hours dream myself away and get a feeling for what that unfulfilled dream of becoming an airline pilot actually could have felt like.

 

Live and dynamic weather courtesy of Active sky probably also ranks up there although that also have been sort of an evolutionary development.

 

But this is all very personal to me. What are your defining moments in the evolution of flight simming?

These are my personal epiphanies:

 

#1. Self built, high performance PC

 

#2. TrackIR

 

#3. Nick N and Word Not Allowed tweaks

 

#4. Active Sky weather

 

#5. Orbx Scenery

 

#6. Flight1 Cessna Mustang

I think mine has to honestly be FSX itself.

 

Having grown up in the 90's playing Flight Simulator 95 with Concorde and Flight Unlimited 3, discovering FSX and eventually purchasing the beast to run it with has completely changed my flight simming experience. 

1. Proper PC, sure I couldn't enjoy FSX that much with my first computer that had a graphic card with 256MB memory, maybe 2GB of RAM, don't remember the processor. 

 

2. Fspassengers, though later I've switched to Fscaptain. Fspassengers with its flight monitoring system kind of forced me to fly properly and of course encouraged me to do more flights. 

 

3. Probably getting a proper weather program, I think the one I bought first was Active Sky X, later upgraded to Evolution and now using AS 2012. 

 

Can't really think of other single thing that would have really revolutionized my FS experience. 

TrackIR - how could I forget?! Never start you sim without it!

For me it was Wing of Power aka A2A aircraft. I finally saw how good aircraft could look and preform.

 

The iCore Intel processors also made a HUGE difference in FSX.

 

CK

For me, the biggest "shift" began when I introduced hardware into my hobby, not the software add-ons actually.   Adding TrackIR, SSD's, CPU running at 5Ghz., amazing GPU's, my wrap-around 27" displays in Nvidia Surround, the vibrations I get from my Buttkickers, creating an actual simpit with all the hardware that goes with that has taken the word 'immersion' to a whole new level.  

 

And I think the next major leap will be when P3D v2.0 is released this year.

 

It is a great time to be in this hobby!

For me it would have to be the pmdg 747. I had never been exposed to anything of that depth of simulation. That's where I learned about an fms and all the systems of an airplane and how they work.

Having been in this hobby for many years, I Initially got involved with SubLogic. When Microsoft took over it was always a struggle because the hardware was not up to it and the tweaks to make it fly didn't exist.

 

I have several defining moments. Clearly one of them is the hardware to run it on and the second for me was tweaking FSX to make it smooth. Thirdly came the iFly 737 the intro to deeper simulation was an eye opener. Many other people may have had a similar experience with other releases, so the defining moment is deep simulation.

 

Fourthly, came more hardware In the form of Eyefinity surround and my three 21inch monitors followed by yokes and rudders and added panels. Then came the home built sim pit. It looks nothing like a cockpit but it sure aids the immersion.

 

From all this I can deduce that although their have been many improvements in software and hardware together with the diversity available they have all been incremental as has already been stated. So for me, the biggest single most defining moment is progress itself.

1. VC's.

 

2. The addition of textures.

 

So I think FS 5.0 and FS 98 were the most revolutionary versions of FS. ^_^

 

Of course I also love TrackIR and Orbx and PMDG (and a LOT more) but 5.0 and 98 really CHANGED the game for me! THOSE WERE THE DAYS! The rest was only a matter of time, progression and evolution, enhancements of what was created with those old versions.

I think we're about to witness another big evolutionary step in flight simulation with the release of ORBX FTX Global.  From what I've seen so far the textures are fantastic and very realistic.

 

After that, the release of ORBX OpenLC will hopefully give us very accurate and detailed landclass of large areas of the world, along with some custom textures for that area.  The ultimate intent, I believe, is to cover most, if not all, of the world with this.  This is something that I've been hoping for for many years.

 

ORBXs small scenery regions are great, but they cover such a small area that it would be many years before one could enjoy the scenery they provide in most areas of the world.  FTX Global and OpenLC won't be as detailed and accurate, but at least they'll cover most of the world.

 

Adding the PMDG 777 is just icing on the cake.

 

I haven't been this excited since the release of Ground Environment textures and the PMDG 737NGX.  The future is looking good for flight simulation.

 

Dave

 

I haven't been this excited since the release of Ground Environment textures and the PMDG 737NGX. The future is looking good for flight simulation.

 

Dave

And it's pretty fascinating that we feel like this about a piece of software that is almost 7 (fsx) and 10 (fs9) years old. The fact that MS stopped developing the franchise was a blessing in disguise I guess. Now we've had time to settle down and concentrating on what we can do with what we have instead of chasing the new sim version with constant hardware updates! I agree the future is looking good!

I have been flying FS since the early SubLogic days with a monochrome monitor and a keyboard.  For me the paradigm shift came with Air Traffic Control being introduced into the software itself.  This was the real change for me as I still won't fly online.  Radar Contact made better ATC for me.

boringly enough, for me it was first and for most the NGX. But let me put that in context.
Normally the story of the boy who wanted to be an Airline pilot end with the boy overcoming the obsticals and fulfilling his dream. But real life doesn't happen that way :Cry: . That's another story! I first took the controls of a glider when I was 21. Got the solo level of knowledge and skill but never took the flight due to making a mess of my carreer as one does at 21. Always dabbled in MSFX but only in a very shallow way. Managed to get the carreer screw ups all sorted out byu the time i was 40 :LMAO: :LMAO: :LMAO: and had some money to spend and to be honest I bought FSX when it was realesed and soon realized that it was crap and returned to FS9. Strangely enough I couldn't get my fix from FS9 or FSX and returned to flying gliders. Nay now sailplanes. Yea thats me in the corner flying a Jantar. The gliding got me back interested in simming and then as a real World pilot I discovered the NGX and could not believe it.

Now mastering the NGX is almost as important to me as Getting an FAI Gold badge.
Soaring in the summer and NGXing in the winter. I am already mussing a home cockpit. If I live long enough I will stop soaring before I stop NGXing.

My other defining moment was back in the early 2000 when I discovered SATCO and then VATSIM. I had gotten quite bored with flying around without a purpose but everthing about VATSIM just blew me away. That you really had to put in an effort in how you were flying and talking because others were watching/listening. That I could at least for a couple of hours dream myself away and get a feeling for what that unfulfilled dream of becoming an airline pilot actually could have felt like.

I just started on Vatsim for the first time last night and have this exact same feeling right now!