New to Sims - Have I missed the Boat with FSX?

[avgaskoolaid 292]

 

Some traffic add on, like Just Flight Traffic 360 (for when I start flying airliners)

 

Don't waste your money on Traffic 360. I bought it when it was heavily discounted at $8USD and I uninstalled it after a day. The aircraft models are horribly unrealistic, there are a lot of fictional flightplans, and in general it doesnt give you the 'feel' of having real-world traffic flying around. Ideally, you can use World of AI. They have almost every airline's flightplans availiable from tiny outfits in Africa to the likes of British Airways and United, the aircraft models look very good and have very little impact on performance, and the best part is is that it is all 100% free. The only downside is that you need to install each package individually, but that is a simple matter of running it though their installer tool. On the other hand, the good side of this is that you don't have to waste space on your Hard Drive with airlines you don't care to see. If you really want to go the payware route, go with Ultimate Traffic 2.

[Mithras 87]

As a complete beginner I won't add much at all to begin with and if I choose to go with FSX will very happily follow the flight instruction part of it. I don't want to add too much though. I want to fly not send alot of time tweaking. Never heard of MegaEarth scenery ... there's alot of choice!! 

 

I would love to fly old piston engined cargo planes into remote airfields somewhere. Can you do that I wonder????

 

Thanks for the Traffic advice, I did see World of AI and it looked amazing but a chore, but the way you describe it, it sounds worth the effort. 

[Aamir 2,913]

Without delving into the hated EULA debate, Mithras, you can buy P3DV2.

Personally, if I was in your footsteps, I'd do this:
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Buy P3DV2

> Buy FTX Global
> Buy A2A's Cessna C172 Trainer (Or, whatever Carenado Prop you so desire.)

> Buy Aerosoft's Airbus Extended X
-------------------------------------------------------------

All the above should very soon be natively P3DV2 compatible.

You seem like you want to do a little bit of everything, so that's exactly what I've given you, a short haul tube liner, a prop for going to see the world VFR style and incredible scenery that covers the globe.

All that's left for you to do is buy airport specific sceneries from wherever you wish to fly from/to. For the UK, I highly suggest UK2000 for larger airports, and ORBX for smaller ones.

If you want to navigate using landmarks, etc, in the UK, I'd also look into buying the UK specific ORBX region, which is more in detail than Global. Don't worry, the two can be used simultaneously. 

Also, eventually, I'd pick up Active Sky Next, which is supposed to be the next big thing in weather engines.
(Read about it here: http://www.hifitechinc.com/products/activeskynext)

 

From there on, I think you should be good to go.

[FloG 148]

FTX Global

What the others said - a no-brainer

 

 

Real Environment Extreme (REX)

Same

 

 

Some traffic add on

I'd suggest to try the freeware World of AI first, it might be more work to get all the packages you're interested in installed, but it is free and the options of spending money on FSX are endless - save your money for later would be my advice.

 

In general, I would recommend to take it slow for the moment, particularly with payware, also with respect to the imminent release of P3D v2 - just in case you consider a switch to that platform, it might be helpful not to have invested too much money on FSX (and not have too much installed, as the uninstallation can be a painful process, too), but make the switch from a rather "vanilla" FSX, and then see which addons seem to work well, and which might cause some issues.

 

As for the cargo prop: I really love the Carenado C208 and the freeware Baseler and DC-3 by Manfred Jahn, all three are really cool cargo planes, and for small airfields ORBX (mainly payware) and OZx (excellent freeware) offer some fantastic remote airstrips. Taking the above planes there is great fun, and often quite a challenge.

 

EDIT: Obviously I wasn't the first one with the above ideas, I need to type faster in the future  

Edited November 19, 2013 by FloG

[Mithras 87]

Prepar3 v2 was not on my radar till yesterday. This is why I came to AVSIM! A new guy, I could join FSX at its maturity (?!) or Prepar3D at its beginning. Its a big difference. The latter is very expensive, but it looks like you could keep the add-ons to a minimum (from the website: http://www.prepar3d.com/product-overview/) If anyone has any useful/insightful links to the game, I'd be more than grateful. The chance of backwards compatibility (I've only seen a brief mention of that) would increase PrepareD's value immeasurably. 

[DeskPilot518 15]

Given all the things you want to do, I hope you have a good system, or plan to purchase one.

You have not mentioned your current systems specs.   But your current computer could be a limiting factor.

 

For example I had to purchase a new computer because my 2.3 ghz labtop can not handle all the things I want to do

with it and FSX.   Forget scenery add ons.  But I can run REX, and the Q400 at fps with decent native settings.

 

B.

[Mithras 87]

I'm awaiting a custom made overclocked, Intel Quad Core i7 4770K at 4.2 MHz, with a 2 MB GTX 760 Invidia card and a 1 TB hard drive. I aim not to be disappointed after dismal sim failures many years ago! 

 

Its really the thrill of flying 'real' flights I'm after. VFR in England is a must now that I know it exists, but I'm more than happy to scale back the sliders on other places and flights. You must remember, I'm jumping from Infinite Flight for the iPad, which is absolutely amazing for the price of a beer and on such a small package. But flying 737s from Tijuana to LAX, or overnight Royal Mail flights via a DHL 757 from East Midlands to South-hampton just hints at what a big brother sim like FSX or X-PLane can do. The lack of 3D terrain, even airport buildings is a continual gripe on IFs facebook page, but you have to accept what it is. So my expectatations are actually very very modest! Buildings will be awesome! 3D virtual Britain would be a mind-blower...

[avgaskoolaid 292]

 

Thanks for the Traffic advice, I did see World of AI and it looked amazing but a chore, but the way you describe it, it sounds worth the effort. 

It is absolutely worth it. I just set aside a day for downloading/installing all the packages, so it's really not all that bad, especially when you are saving a fair amount of money by doing it.  The really great part about using freeware AI is when you start to figure out how to install packages yourself, switch out certain AI models for different ones, replace repaints, etc. It sounds like you have enough on your plate already so you probably don't want to deal with all of that right now, but when the time comes just let me know and I would be glad to help you out.

[DeskPilot518 15]

I'm awaiting a custom made overclocked, Intel Quad Core i7 4770K at 4.2 MHz, with a 2 MB GTX 760 Invidia card and a 1 TB hard drive. I aim not to be disappointed after dismal sim failures many years ago! 

 

Its really the thrill of flying 'real' flights I'm after. VFR in England is a must now that I know it exists, but I'm more than happy to scale back the sliders on other places and flights. You must remember, I'm jumping from Infinite Flight for the iPad, which is absolutely amazing for the price of a beer and on such a small package. But flying 737s from Tijuana to LAX, or overnight Royal Mail flights via a DHL 757 from East Midlands to South-hampton just hints at what a big brother sim like FSX or X-PLane can do. The lack of 3D terrain, even airport buildings is a continual gripe on IFs facebook page, but you have to accept what it is. So my expectatations are actually very very modest! Buildings will be awesome! 3D virtual Britain would be a mind-blower...

 

 

Ok, Great!  Just was afraid you might not be prepared.  Sounds similiar to the sytem I have coming except with a GTX 760 vs 780..  

Not to mention, you can get into flying online (i.e. Vatsim), and or for a virtual airline.  There are just so many things you can do!

Check out A2A C172 Vatsim videos (over UK) by Mantok on Youtube.  You might like them! 

 

B.

[Mithras 87]

I've not heard about VATSIM or Virtual Airlines, B. is the latter anything like a real job with ... commitment! :0

I'm making choices at every post, this thread is incredibly useful and I thank everyone posting for their advice. You are saving an avid aviation fan lots of wasted money and many wasted hours. 

 

My two main 'dream' goals are to: 

 

1) Replicate a flight I took with my wife's uncle, from a local airfield out to Flamborough Head on the coast (where I live), and then return. I took the controls for most of this, so its quite an experience. I need really good VFR for that. 

2) Fly a short haul BA Airbus A320 flight from Heathrow to Gibraltar. Never been there, but I stayed at the Isle of Wight and saw the Gibraltar planes flying over endlessly. (And the place appeals to me). I've flown out of Heathrow several times. 

 

To be honest, 3, 4, 5 etc are all flights I've taken to fantastic airports around the world. I'd love to replicate them,. Dubai, Athens, Fiumicino, Brisbane, Brunei, Singapore ... 

(EDIT: Sorry, flights I've taken in Real Life)

[DAL1850 51]

Participating in a VA can be fun. Some VA's are more casual than others. Some give very regimented schedules selecting both time, place, and aircraft - whereas others let you choose freely where and when you fly (I've flown for both). The moral of the story: shop around. There's a forum here for virtual airlines where you can stir up leads. I would probably recommend you get your feet wet first with flying in an online ATC environment first as a private VFR pilot...get your flight sim environment setup and settled before jumping into the VA universe.

[z06z33 781]

Hi,

 

I’m new to Flight Simming, but I’ve wanted to get involved since about 1990. Finally, after several flying lessons, I’ve decided to go for it. I have a high-spec computer arriving soon, and both X-Plane 10 and FSX Gold on order too.

 

Question is, is FSX worth getting into for someone in my position? I’m no tech head, I’m not cracking that computer open ever, and I’m unfamilar with command prompts et al. For a newbie like me, would X-Plane give me the experience of FSX with the add ons? I don’t mind laying out some money, I want to avoid software clashes, bugs, errors and programming!!!

 

I have definate ideas about what I want to do with my sim. 

If you ever need help with PC upgrades/ Problem solving PM me I've built 6 systems and have trouble shot many more. I enjoy helping people with PC's and showing them that taking the side of the computer off for upgrades makes a world off differnce.

[Hirdy2013 104]

I've not heard about VATSIM or Virtual Airlines, B. is the latter anything like a real job with ... commitment! :0

I'm making choices at every post, this thread is incredibly useful and I thank everyone posting for their advice. You are saving an avid aviation fan lots of wasted money and many wasted hours. 

 

My two main 'dream' goals are to: 

 

1) Replicate a flight I took with my wife's uncle, from a local airfield out to Flamborough Head on the coast (where I live), and then return. I took the controls for most of this, so its quite an experience. I need really good VFR for that. 

2) Fly a short haul BA Airbus A320 flight from Heathrow to Gibraltar. Never been there, but I stayed at the Isle of Wight and saw the Gibraltar planes flying over endlessly. (And the place appeals to me). I've flown out of Heathrow several times. 

 

To be honest, 3, 4, 5 etc are all flights I've taken to fantastic airports around the world. I'd love to replicate them,. Dubai, Athens, Fiumicino, Brisbane, Brunei, Singapore ... 

(EDIT: Sorry, flights I've taken in Real Life)

When you get FSX and load her up with all the goodies go get Gibraltar X from Aerosoft.  Amazing scenery even to the point of simulating the opening and closing of the road running across the runway.  Very very good quality scenery.  I highly recommend it, FTX Global, Ultimate Traffic 2 oh boy the list goes on.

 

Enjoy.

[Kaboki 441]

At this moment for a complete newbie I would rather advice sticking to FSX. Easier to find knowledge and tutorials, built in flying lessons, easier to install addons that don't require manual tinkering to install.

 

Why, getting into FSX will eventually have him thinkering, tweaking, swearing, come here and ask for help anyway so he might aswell start thinkering with something that looks a lot better and made with latest tech  . Im sure this forum will help him with Prepar3dv2 too If he needs help. And some addons will be just as easy to install into P3Dv2 as FSX, e.g Orbx stuff when the installers are ready in a few months.

 

 

PMDG for instance still support only FSX, so, FSX is the best choice so far

 

So when choosing sims, the choice fall entirely on what direction PMDG takes? c'mon, they are not the only fish in the lake....

[some1 65]

I wrote: "at this moment". You wrote:

 

And some addons will be just as easy to install into P3Dv2 as FSX, e.g Orbx stuff when the installers are ready in a few months

Have you noticed the difference?