Running FSX on Windows 7, GEX and UTX installed (latest updates), UT2, SP2 over an otherwise vanilla install. CH peddles, stick and yoke after yet again another reinstallation. Also Have FlusiFix 2006 v.5 installed. Made some adjustments to the sim through it.

 

Upon getting everything in order, took my first flight during the day and wow...everything looked and ran beautifully! Finally.

 

Be forewarned - this gets weird!

 

Installed a freeware fix for the ugly ai gas globes in FSX roaming the skies. Came with a.bmp image and changed some configurations within the .cfg file. Okay, no big deal as I had everything backed up "just in case". Started at dusk with the stock C-172 and everything seemed fine until I went outside to view the aircraft and noticed no strobes on even though I had selected them to be on. Also noticed as I panned the camera around the plane horizontally the strobe on the opposite wing would flash, but not the closer one.

 

Disgusted once more, shut everything down and went to bed as I have spent 100's of hours more deleting and reinstalling than I do flying.

 

Today, I decided to go ahead and put the original texture .bmp back in, overwriting the old one (halo.bmp) and reset the .cfg file back to the way it was. This time though, I chose the stock FSX Baron at Friday Harbor once again to see if the strobes and lighting worked on it figuring was this an isolated problem or one that now screwed everything up. Yeah, it screwed everything up.

 

Upon starting up the Baron's engines at dusk, I pressed the strobe button on the yoke. Ahhh...now all the  GEX installed street lights flash in the exact way my plane's strobes should, except the Baron shows no strobes! Oh wait, it gets better! I can turn the street lights on and off over the entire area by switching my landing lights on and off! (Ironically, my landing lights work too in the Baron).

 

I don't understand the correlation between changing out one image .bmp and a few lines of data and how it has managed to infect both my FSX planes AND GEX.

 

Even though I spent countless hours trying to get this sim right, checking and double checking the instructions for installs and reading reviews and spending hundreds on extras, I'm getting at wits end with something that is so extremely touchy and high maintenance.

 

Soooo...now that this "fix" screwed up FSX do I spend another 4 days working on re-installing everything? Because if this is this case everything goes out in the driveway for our yard sale this spring. Seriously. I waste too much time on it only to keep having it turn to doo-doo like this example.

 

Sorry this was long winded. My apologies. Have this posted over at Flight1 forum also.

The street lights going out when you turn off the aircraft lights for some scenery/aircraft is known.  There are some commercial fixes but, for vanilla installs, you'll have to put up with this issue.  I saw where Steve P, the developer for the DX10 Fix, said he found a fix for the problem - http://stevesfsxanalysis.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/dx10-scenery-fixer/.  I also think Ultimate Terrain fix the issue too as well as A2A's 3D Lights Redux program.  ExperienceX Night Lights might fix the issue too.  I run FSX exclusively in DX10 Preview mode with just the DX10 Fixer program installed and I have not seen this problem.  Definitely do not uninstall/reinstall FSX. 

 

Best regards,

Ugh...will look at the link you posted. I'm sorry, don't want to rant (but guess I am) but this sim and this type of stuff is what drives me nuts. Why can't this all be tested before its released? I understand that there are too many variables within each home computer, but if something is a known issue doesn't this mean it's more than one rig sitting at home having the problem? Perhaps come out with a patch?

 

If I had the money, I'd invest and start up a company that would put out a HIGH QUALITY, RELIABLE and STABLE new generation GA/Commercial flight sim to replace FSX in a heartbeat and would incorporate all the cool things add-ons provide already bundled in order to minimize the layering effects that Microsoft is so adept at. 

 

Anybody got spare change lying around?

The following is quoted from the AVSIM Basic FSX/P3D Configuration Guide that should answer your question:

 

"The Microsoft-owned Flight Simulator is possibly the game industry's longest-running continuous franchise. The first Microsoft-branded version was released in 1982 with the most recent version, FSX, released in 2006 and expanded in 2007 with the release of Acceleration/SP2.  FSX is a 32 bit application that can reside in a 64 bit Windows operating environment.  Acceleration and the freeware version SP2 included a preview to DX10 technology as the Microsoft team did not have sufficient time to completely program FSX for DX10.  They had hoped to finalize development in a future update (as well as improve on the FSX engine) but the development team (AKA Aces Studio) was released by Microsoft before those upgrades could be published.  Currently, an add-on developer has fixed many of the issues left behind by FSX.  You can get more information about DX10 in our DX10 Forum."

 

"Lockheed Martin has a license to further develop Microsoft ESP, a visual simulation software development platform derived from FSX. Lockheed Martin’s product is dedicated to flight training at all levels, and they have named their project Prepar3D (P3D), pronounced "prepared."  Reviews of P3D, through version 1.4, can be found on AVSIM by using the Search Articles box and entering ‘Prepar3D”.  This is exciting news for the flightsim community!  A major feature of Version 2.0 will be compatibility with DX11 technology."

 

P3D will be released on Monday. 

 

Best regards,

Ooooo!

 

P3D, huh? Went to the website. So I'm just wondering how much of all these add-ons I bought I will be able to use with P3D?

 

I'll chuck FSX in a minute if it actually is as good as it sound. To be released this Monday you say Jim?

There will be a lot of add-ons that will work immediately (for instance Orbx/FTX stuff) and I'm sure more will be coming in the very near future after release.  We have a forum here dedicated to P3D so you might want to browse around there.

 

Best regards,

Thanks Jim!

 

Interested in the aircraft it contains out of the box and all. Going to check into it further. It's just that FSX is so labor intensive for me I spend more time looking for fixes than flying - literally.

 

Funny, because I have not been on these forums for a long time, FSX as well. Been flying 777 Rise of Flight and every now and then I would see this P3D "thing" mentioned but just figured it was another FSX add on program, never realizing it was an entirely up-to-date sim!

 

Going to look into it more. And my new GeForce 780ti arrives tomorrow. What timing.

Never mind the light issue fix.

 

I just checked out P3D as suggested.

 

Tossing FSX. I'm done with it.

 

Jim, this was all your fault!!!!  : )

Never mind the light issue fix.

 

I just checked out P3D as suggested.

 

Tossing FSX. I'm done with it.

 

Jim, this was all your fault!!!!  : )

 

First:  May I strongly recommend you consider doing a FULL SYSTEM IMAGE BACKUP and do them FREQUENTLY?  By doing so, you are protected from situations much as you find yourself in now.  We've all 'tried something' and then 'tried to go back' (to what we had before).  When we cannot go back, we are rewarded if we have a full system backup, because then we can REVERT our machine to exactly what it was X days ago... be it 1 day, 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months....

 

Acronis.com has a free 30 day trial of True Image Home 2014, which is a great choice for the home user.  License is "per PC", so if you have several machines, you will want to consider the multi-pack (3-users).

 

Given that all computers will fail 'someday'... you don't want to be that guy who has no backup and then blows 100s of hours on reinstalls.

 

Acronis also has a 'try and decide' feature which allows you to go back to what it was before you installed the new bit of software...

 

I suggest you look into it... or not... depending on your patience levels.