Heading over to FSX

[MeneMene 1]

I'm going to try to take the plunge and move from FS9 to FSX. I have a newer rig now and think I should be able to run it. There are some really nice new planes that have or will come out, like the q400 and 777, and I figured it was time to try. The program that routes AI on SID/STARs seems pretty cool as well.

 

1) I have an old copy of FSX from way back, but not the acceleration expansion or gold edition. Do any add-ons require this, or am I ok with just standard FSX + SP2

 

2) Of course, the biggest stumbling blocks are frame rates and performance. I pretty much only fly IFR/airliner stuff and don't really do GA at all, and as such keeping a playable game at very busy airports with a complex add-on is important. The thing I'm most concerned about is AI- I'm kind of an AI junky and have spent quite a bit of time putting together a custom setup of AI with FS9, and my skies are pretty busy. What's the status of the FSX ai scene? I know some groups provide FSX native AI models as well as FS9 ones, but last I checked they were a minority. I'm worried if I just convert all my flighplans and AI textures to FSX format and just copy over them and the aircraft, there will be lots of non-FSX native AI and thus poor performance. I tried Ultimate Traffic last time I switched and was a bit disappointed (only one engine model for some plane types, etc), and paying that much money for just the handful of FSX-native models that I need seems too expensive. What's the best way to keep my FSX skies as rich as I currently have them in fs9?

 

thanks for the help.

[Howellerman 104]

I don't know, man. I am a GA type myself, but remember seeing on this board a thread about "FS9 is still best for big iron", and looking at the shots, it was pretty sweet.

 

Maybe FS9 is indeed best for big iron?  

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Re 1) as best I recall

 

- Install FSX, start up and shut down

 

- Install SP1, start up and shut down

 

- Install SP2, start up and go fly..

Just to add.. even though I am a GA guy, the Q400 is about as good as it gets, and it

delivers good performance to boot..  so that might be the first add-on to get.

 

Also try installing the Orbx PNW free demo to get a feel for what addon scenery

can do to enhance FSX (word of warning.. KSEA performance is terrible, so do not be

surprised if that airport puts your system to a test.. I tend to avoid KSEA for that reason)

[ReneB 3]

Hello,

 

Welcome to FSX!. As for your first question: You're perfectly OK with FSX+SP1 and SP2. The second question requires a more elaborate answer; there will no doubt be lots of advises following mine, but let me kick off. FSX requires some tweaking, whatever the quality of your rig, in order to get a fluidly running sim. Before concerning yourself with AI traffic, I would advise you to do some reading on this forum. A search for 'fsx.cfg' will give you lots info. I was going to give you a link to Word Not Allowed's guide for FSX and Prepar3D, which is the best tweaking guide there is in my opinion, but I wasn't allowed to do so by the admin (don't know why). However searching on 'Word Not Allowed' will work as well. 

Regarding AI: When I made the switch to FSX about a year ago, I transferred my entire 'library' of FS9 AI aircraft (mainly WOAI) over to FSX. No problems whatoever. BUT: keep your traffic level low.

 

Good luck!

René

[1st fltsimguy 466]

Welcome to FSX....I would think about $2000 should cover all the addons needed to bring you up to speed...lol.

 

Take your time don't rush into filling your skies with AI until you see how your performance is going to be.  There are many differing opinions on how to load up  your skies.

 

I personally am using World of AI...and I really don't care if my planes are on real world schedules or not because they change all the time anyway...I just want airline variety and some activity on the busier airports.  Also there is the MAIW group to check out and Orbx has done some great AI packages for their scenery packages for Australia and PNW regions.

Here is the Military AI site:
http://www.militaryaiworks.com/

[MeneMene 1]

Hello,

 

Welcome to FSX!. As for your first question: You're perfectly OK with FSX+SP1 and SP2. The second question requires a more elaborate answer; there will no doubt be lots of advises following mine, but let me kick off. FSX requires some tweaking, whatever the quality of your rig, in order to get a fluidly running sim. Before concerning yourself with AI traffic, I would advise you to do some reading on this forum. A search for 'fsx.cfg' will give you lots info. I was going to give you a link to Word Not Allowed's guide for FSX and Prepar3D, which is the best tweaking guide there is in my opinion, but I wasn't allowed to do so by the admin (don't know why). However searching on 'Word Not Allowed' will work as well. 

Regarding AI: When I made the switch to FSX about a year ago, I transferred my entire 'library' of FS9 AI aircraft (mainly WOAI) over to FSX. No problems whatoever. BUT: keep your traffic level low.

 

Good luck!

René

 

Thanks, I'll look at the guide. I have plenty of FS9 addons which come bundled with their FSX versions, so I shouldn't have a shortage of things to test with, and I'm not planning on buying anything just for FSX until I'm satisfied I can make the switch. The reason I focused on the AI is that when I last tried to switch a year or so ago, that proved to be one of the big stumbling blocks. The bit about keeping my traffic level low is a bit worrying, as the whole "airport environment" is one of the neatest things in FS for me, and my FS9 setup is with pretty much every currently operating airline at 100% traffic. However, like I said, I think the only thing I can really do is try it out and see how it runs. I was mainly wondering if there is anything else I can do besides using FSX-native models and textures where I can to make things run better. So anyways, I plan to install FSX, put in FSDreamteam's JFK or LAX, and then move over all my AI and see how it runs from there.

[1st fltsimguy 466]

You may find this tool to be useful in AI flight plan conversion from FS9 to FSX:

http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AIFP