I'm not sure that you are correct anymore regarding FSCaptain. Dutch does periodically check in. Travis hasn't been on since March. No news regarding the next update. I could very well be wrong but i'm getting the FSPassenger vibe from the FSCaptain forum.

 

Well it got an update last December, Fspassengers has been dead for years. Also I saw a reply from Dutch about Majestic Dash 8, if I remember right he said that they plan to make Fscaptain compatible with it at some point, so to me it doesn't look like development would have been stopped completely.

 

Anyway, in general what I've found to be the cons with Fspassengers:

 

- Not compatible with PMDG stuff unless you disable FSpax loading fuel / pax completely, I believe FScaptain can at least load some payload to PMDG 737NGX and others.

 

- Lacks all the many customization features that FSCaptain has, you can't create a schedule and so on.

 

- You have to access most FSpax menu's through top bar which can be annoying, with Fscaptain everything can be easily accessed through FCOM gauge.

 

- No variety in passenger numbers, your reputation and ticket prices are the only two things that determine how many passengers you get with any payload model, thus with the same payload model, reputation and ticket price you will always get same amount of passengers to board from any airport. In FScaptain there's variety with pax numbers.

 

- No things like position reports, telling cabin crew to prepare for landing / takeoff (other than by ending the music)...

 

- Also the economic system is quite basic and outdated. In real life you could buy used 747-400 for like 50 million dollars or so, in FSpax you have to pay unrealistic price like + 150 000 for any used aircraft in decent condition. Same goes with all other aircraft, their used prices are way too high (unless you buy old ruin that keeps having failures every second flight or so). Other than ticket prices, service quality and such there's nothing else to adjust.

 

These are the reasons why I prefer Fscaptain nowadays.

 

 

These are the reasons why I prefer Fscaptain nowadays

 

I agree with everything written, just nervous about the current state of FSCaptain, Dutch was ill for a period and then we hear next to nothing about an update and Travis appears to have vanished.

Try FSCapatain.  I really enjoy it.  It adds a purpose to my flights and keeps me on a time schedule.  It's also actively developed.  I highly recommend it.

 

Yeah but see abovem Witan just said the site is not being updated since March.

 

 

Yeah but see abovem Witan just said the site is not being updated since March.

 

No, i said that Travis hadn't logged in since March.  Travis was / is a moderator.  Dutch (developer) logged in two days ago.

 

My concern is that Dutch isn't really engaging on the forums any more, there has been no information regarding an update...however he was ill.  Time will tell.

I bought FSPassengersX a while ago enjoy it still, though not all the time.  I followed the career, working my way up from the default Mooney Bravo through to dual props, turboprops, small jets, regionals, etc. up to no size limit.   I liked the challenge of gaining hours and points (and being penalized for bad flights) and being rewarded by being able to fly larger planes.  Also liked the boarding, crew announcements, gasps during turbulence, then the flight report at the end.  Once you get used to it, it is hard not to fly with it as you start to get lonely.  

 

I admit I don't use it all the time now...it has gotten a bit old, but I have between 300 and 350 hours logged on it, and those are only the flights that went well that I recorded, hah!   I think it is buggier with the newest planes (e.g., on the NGX, I get penalized for not having strobes on no matter what).  I haven't tried it with the Q400.

 

I will point out that it works OK with the NGX, you just have to load the fuel through the FMS first, then start the flight in FSPasX and specify the cargo and passengers, and don't change the fuel from within FSPasX.

 

I can't compare to other programs that are similar, though.

 

-Don

You might want to wait for SimAir.

 

http://www.simairexperience.com

 

I would never advice someone to get FSPassengers. I own it but haven't used it for a few years already... It's old, buggy, not supported... waste of money imho. 

 

About FS2Crew: one of the best addons I've bought. Before getting it I kind of liked the 737NGX but since installing FS2Crew I've only been flying the 737NGX. It makes everything so much more real and immersive (the opposite of what I expected, really...). I use the button version. It indeed took some getting used to it but it's worth it and in the end, when you know how it works, it's VERY easy to use. (But that goes for a lot of things, haha!) I've made some sort of checklist that shows everything you have to do with the PMDG737 and FS2Crew in chronological order so if you ever buy it and get confused, I could mail you that list. 

You have to do everything in a specific order indeed but that's how it goes in real life so I see no problem there. You can also indeed skip steps if you want to.

fs2crew = 5 star product/6 star support

 

fspassengers is expensive,old/ outdated and even the Dev wants nothing to do with it

Has to be FS2Crew for me, yes the learning curve is steep but it's rewarding to use and assists in managing the aircraft properly

 

All the economic models with FS Pax, FS Captain etc seem superfluous to me; I'm a pilot in a Flight Simulator, not a manager in Airline Management Sim. I have no interest in what music is played nor when dinner is served to the self loading freight behind me (When FS Pax came out I said it should of been called Cabin Crew Simulator)! And if I was interested in such things I'd be using dedicated management sims like Airline Empires or Airline Simulator 6.1.

 

In addition to this, in some way or other they don't play properly with advanced addon aircraft, especially in respect to failures. The flight scoring systems seem somewhat arbitrary too and have little foundation in reality (e.g. in heavy cloud I may have to turn the strobes off to stop myself getting dazzled, or the landing lights might be located on the gear struts so I would turn them off straight after takeoff - both things could get you penalised unjustly. You could land a little heavy but have done very well considering the prevailing weather etc)

 

I'd rather spend the money on another aircraft, weather engine, mesh, landclass, textures, scenery before products like FS Pax/FS Captain, they don't seem to represent value for money based on what they bring to the simulation. Just my thoughts of course, I know many people dearly love such products but I personally I cannot fathom why; different strokes for different folks I guess.

I enjoy FS Passengers, especially the finance side of it and a bit of atmosphere with the cabin announcements, getting penalised for not asking for clearance over 250knts  makes you think more about flying propertly.

 However  last week I got Air Hauler for my birthday  and am finding this very immersive, especailly as you can save mid flight and pick up again later. The finance side and running  the company so much more detailed.  If you can I would have both,  but if I was limited to one purchase i would go for Air Hauler.

 

Regards

 

 

All the economic models with FS Pax, FS Captain etc seem superfluous to me; I'm a pilot in a Flight Simulator, not a manager in Airline Management Sim.

 

...and that's exactly the premise of FSCaptain. You have nothing to do with running an airline and there's no economic management. You enter your starting location and the aircraft type you're qualified for and you are allocated a route and judged on your performance. You can limit your ability to fly types within an airline by mandating check rides. I simply don't fly without it. For me it is the best tool for providing a context for my simulated flying. I've even parked the Majestic Q400 until it's FSC-compatible.

 

FSP and FSCaptain are very different animals and shouldn't be compared directly.

 

Andy

 

fspassengers is expensive,old/ outdated and even the Dev wants nothing to do with it

 

....but as he still actively sells it, he's happy to take the $$ from it!

 

I bought FSPassengersX in 2007 and even back then found it clunky, unituitive, odd and buggy.   

 

There is no beating FS2Crew (especially the Voice Control verison for the NGX which is mega!).

FSP and FSCaptain are very different animals and shouldn't be compared directly.

Fair point, I shouldn't have really lumped them together in that particular paragraph, although I stand by my opinion that both FSPax and FSCaptain's scoring is somewhat arbitrary and not grounded in reality.

I don't like FSPassengers or any other similar addon because they add stress to the game. I play this game to relax and not to get punished by a virtual moron who thinks I didn't land too well. Or whatever. A moron I paid for too. I own FSPax and also Latitude but they all get on my nerve and that's the opposite of what I am trying to do when I start up FSX...! ^_^

 

But that's my very personal opinion, of course. B)

 

 

I stand by my opinion that both FSPax and FSCaptain's scoring is somewhat arbitrary and not grounded in reality.

 

How would one standardise scoring for landing a fictional aircraft in a fictional environment?

 

It can only score based on items that the sim is able to quantify and how virtual passengers may react to them.  The whole sim is arbitrary in that it doesn't really follow it's own made up rules.

Own FSP and agree:  its outdated, dead and supoprt skletchy.  FS Captain much better IMHO (from what I have seen).