I'm afraid I am officially addicted to FSX aircraft addons.  I simply can't pass up on them.  The more I try to resist a new addon (ie B1900D, L1011) and watch youtube videos and read feedback I try to convince myself that I don't need another addon but to no avail.  I now understand how some women have so many shoes.

 

Sometimes i buy a new plane, fly it a few times then only fly it maybe once a month.  I spend so much time in the "select aircraft" section because I simply can't decide on which aircraft to fly.  

 

Should I get the CS L-1011?  No.  I don't need it but I know it'll end up in my hangar...hopefully not collecting too much dust.

Should I get the CS L-1011?  No.  I don't need it but I know it'll end up in my hangar...hopefully not collecting too much dust.

 

LOL I used to have this affliction..but now its in remission. Now I am being far more critical of addons and being selective and being vocal about issues. I have enough.  :lol:

Time for an Intervention  :lol:

I find myself being very very picky with addons.

 

For aircraft, I go through a selection process similar to:

1. Is it PMDG? If yes: Buy, If no, go to step 2.
2. Does the aircraft have a full simulation of all avionics? Is there any hint of the word "Simplified" or "when version 2 comes out"? Don't buy, otherwise go to step 2
3. Are there youtube videos of it? Is it from one of a handful of reviewers that I find trustworthy? does the workflow of the avionics look realistic?
4. Is there anything new and innotative about the addon? multicrew? FDE?
5. Does the aircraft type fly real life in areas that I like to fly in?
6. Does the aircraft fill a gap that I find myself missing, such as "Flying for x favourite airline" or "Flying to x airport from nearby" or "Flying in the x area that Vatsim events often take place in"
7. Do I like the aircraft type, and does this simulation do it justice?
8. Did someone tell me I should buy it (and is that person a n00b or not).

This has kept my fleet rejects to a minimum, although I do admit to a few hangar queens. My favourite aircraft in my fleet are:

• PMDG 737NGX
• Majestic Software DH8D Q400
• PMDG 777
• PMDG MD11
• PMDG JS4100
• Realair BE60 Duke (RealityXP GNS530 is what really 'makes it' for me, without GNS530 it would be a hangar queen).
• Realair Lancair Legacy LEG2, Again without the RealityXP GNS530 it would be a hangar queen, but with the RXP, it's out and about often enough.

There are some aircraft I always talk about loving, but tend to hang around in the hangar rather than online flying.

• Leonardo MadDog MD80 (Love the plane, just don't fly it much - graphics may have something to do with it, as well as dwindling real world numbers)
• A2A C172. I love the aircraft, but I just don't get around to flying at 110kts that much. slow. real real slow. Not enough Vatsim ATC coverage time of small airports to make it all that worthwhile. No addon scenery of Orbx quality at YSBK where I learned to fly real ones.

There are some aircraft I would love to like, and their real-life counterparts are some of my favourite aircraft, but the Simulated versions just don't live up to the hype. These stay in the hangar begrudgingly, and any time I consider taking them out of the hangar, I usually end up regretting it due to a limitation of the simulation.

• My Favourite Airliner has for a while been the Airbus A330 (the B787 or A350 are possibly to supersede this at some point). I like it's little brother the A320. I do not like the Aerosoft A320 Xtended, besides what it's fans say, the thing is a dunce. Yes it has an MCDU and FCU. No they don't work exactly like the real thing. If you are lazy and just glance over the top of "Getting there" without worrying about actual procedure, you might be ok. But half of the systems act and feel like a façade. I sometimes forget how annoying it's shortcomings are, and after letting it out for a run, I always put it back in the hangar with a frown.
• Britten-Norman Islander. Fun aircraft, used in the Torres Strait, North of Australia alot in real life. Would be a great addition to the fleet to explore the very detailed an interesting OZx Torres Strait area. The KLN90 GPS it ships with is buggy as hell (sometimes buggy enough to crash FSX) and will ALWAYS stop working/responding when doing all but the simplest from/to flight. What's worse, the RealityXP GNS430/530 cannot be installed properly.
• LDS767 - It was my first 'serious' addon for FS2002 way back in 2003. By 2013 it hadn't changed a bit... but I had. A Virtual cockpit which is flat, no interactivity with the FMC without a 2d popup, this one has had it's day. I have retired it now, although according to my VATSIM statistics, it remains the 4th most flown aircraft in my fleet, It hasn't seen a day out of the hangar since early 2012.
• Carenado Beechcraft King Air BE90. It fits an Royal Flying Doctor Service hole in my fleet. It should be flying around remote Australia, visiting OZx fields, dirt strips, and amazing rugged scenery. It's just badly simulated, and it's older, smaller cousin is just nicer to fly. BE90 stays in the hangar, and the BE60 goes to the Vatsim flyins in remote areas of Australia.
• Wilco/Feelthere Embraiers. The ERJ135/145 rarely sees the outside. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but it just 'feels' off sometimes.
• It's brother, the Feelthere E170/E190 is permanently banished and is no longer installed.
• Razbam Swearingen Metro Merlin 3. Too jumpy, Turboprop engines don't have a true Garret start sequence requirement, the GPS is buggy (for me it doesn't turn on at all, may be patched soon), and it will sometimes randomly decide that your throttles are stuck at idle, although they will come out of idle if you hold down F4, but immediatley return to idle when F4 is released. It needs to let me put the RXP GNS430 in, I did pay $50 for the GNS430, and I'd like to use it... especially if the only other option is a buggy GPS that won't work.

Project Tupolev Tu154B2 for FSX gets a free pass. It's free. Unfortunatley it's FS2004 brother "Tu154 for FS9" is lots better, but not available for FSX.

 

If I own any other aircraft, they have been banished to the "Must not discuss" area, which must mean they have committed the cardinal sin of being "Dull". Not good, not awful, not remembered.

 

For Scenery, I think it just needs to:

• Cover an area or airport I intend to film for a Youtube Video
• Cover an area or airport I intend to fly over/to for a large Vatsim Flyin promising full ATC coverage gate to gate.
• Be in a location I can reasonably expect to get ATC coverage on Vatsim for on a regular basis
• Be in a location I like to go to

If this is not possible, then

• Cover a large area I might consider flying to lots, with good IFR routes
• Look really detailed and pretty

Mostly however, I choose scenery because it is a place I want to go to, and looks as good or better than NL2000, the freeware scenery. For the most part this rules out some companies entirely, and even some of my favourite companies like Orbx, won't find me purchasing scenery I would never use on Vatsim, for instance some tiny airstrip with a single runway surrounded by grass and frequented by Cessna C150's up in Northwest America. I just don't see myself going there, filming there, or getting to interact with lots of Vatsim ATC there.

 

I also tend to steer away from old obsolete aircraft like the L1011, B707, Concorde, SR71 and Space Shuttle.  :lol:

I used to be this way, too, especially back in the FS2002 and FS2004 days.  On average, the price of a good add-on is double (and frequently more than double) what it was back then.  That's dampened the compulsiveness somewhat, but mostly I'm more selective about what I buy.

 

That being said, even adjusting for inflation I'm sure I spent more on add-on products last year than I have in a long time. There were just too many top-notch releases to pass up in 2013.

I'm with you man. I own 8 planes from Aerosoft, 12 from A2A (with accusims), all 9 Alabeos, 23 from Carenado, the Flight Replicas SuperCubs (complete pack and Ultra), 6 from FSD, 7 from MilViz, and 2 from Sibwings. Don't even get me started on my addiction to Orbx scenery. Then of course, I have some big global addons - REX, EZDOK, Steve's DX10 Fixer, FTX Global and Vector, Accufeel, MyTraffic, etc etc etc.

 

Rerely do I use freeware, unless it is spectacular.

 

TONS of cash spent on this stuff, and not a single regret.

 

 

For aircraft, I go through a selection process similar to:

 

Awesome run-down of your through process when debating a purchase!

 

I'm sure we all have a version of that, tempered or bolstered by how much 'spending cash' we happen to have on hand.  Now myself, I have the issue that I'm interested in so many different eras and types of aviation...

 

My process tends to be a bit like this:

 

1. Give a certain number of positive points for how much I like the type.
2. Start taking away or adding points for each of the following:

• How realistic is the flight model? Sometimes this is going to be a guess prior to buying, based on knowledge of the developer, other times this might be from reading other opinions.
• How complete or realistic are the systems? Not looking for circuit breaker level systems, but I want to be able to do a decent portion of a checklist start-up and shutdown.
• How are the VC visuals?  I don't care as much about the exterior visuals, since I spend 99% of my time inside the aircraft, only switching to an external view after shutdown.
• How demanding is it of system resources?
• Are there paints available for the airline / operator / region I'd like to fly?
• How much does it cost?
• What's my opinion of the developer? Others opinions?

This is a pretty formal outline of an actually very dynamic and constantly changing thought process - I rarely actually do the math, but this is what it boils down to.  If I like the type enough, it might outweigh all the other negative things I can thick up.  Which is why I have a ton of visually outdated military jets with little to no systems in my hangar. ^_^ On the other hand, I've bought into planes where I'm not all that excited by the type, but the dev is reputable, the plane reviews well, the price is right, and the type is flown by an operator that I want to 'be', in an area I want to fly.

 

For scenery, this list is a lot shorter; it basically boils down to performance and price, along with needing to be somewhere I'll fly!

For scenery, this list is a lot shorter; it basically boils down to performance and price, along with needing to be somewhere I'll fly!

 

Totally agree with that last point. There's plenty of really really good addon scenery out there that I don't have, simply because I have never been there before, and don't expect to be along anytime soon. For me it's based on Vatsim. Is there any reasonable expectation that I can expect to find an event with ATC and traffic at that location? If not, then you could have the most amazing product ever, and I'm not likely to purchase it.

 

Of course if it gets really popular, Vatsim may one day see more people visiting the area, in which case I might just buy, albeit months/years later.

The kicker having to buy every addon is that you get behind and it's really hard to catch up!

The kicker having to buy every addon is that you get behind and it's really hard to catch up!

 

In addition you never fully appreciate them either. I am extremely picky now about what I choose after spending lots over the years from FS2004 to date on many aircraft and scenery addons that I don't or haven't even used.

Buy one in each category but only the best of the best

 

eg a2a 172  single

 

Duke V2 twin

 

Pmdg JS41 T/prop

 

Pmdg 737 for domestic

 

Pmdg 777 for Int.

 

 

Just those should keep you busy for a few ages learning systems inside and out. You could also add bush planes to to list

 

Having 25 planes and not knowing the systems isnt rewarding for me.

Make sure you leave yourself open to try new things.   There are so many types of planes, so many ways to fly them, weither it is a 777, Waco, Glider, F/A-18E...etc.  Try it all.

 

Fun is the bottom line, it has to be fun.  If I take a break from FS, then come back to it...the first planes I go for are the warbirds.  Screaming along the coast at 100' with a big V-12 up front playing it's Merlin or Allison music is just fun...no particular place to go, just fly the thing and have fun.   I really enjoy the GAs and Tubes too, but for the outright fun/thrill factor, put me in a Spitfire, P-51, P-40, Focke Wulf...etc.

 

Lol you could make the case that all FS planes are ultimately GA planes, since there is no virtual FAA/CAA, no regulations, no training requirements, no operating costs.  You won't get fined or loose your license if you break noise abatments or use a B-52 as your GA transport   A 777 and F-14 are ultimately just as much a GA plane as a 172 in FSX.  Whatever works for you and makes you want to turn on FSX again. :lol:

 

Cheers

TJ 

I'm happy to be out of that loop. Luckily it was the payware developers themselves that made me quit buying their stuff. All the annoying DRM, activation limits, passwords, online activation etc. pushed me over the edge. No more payware! Instead I enjoy the amazing number of great freeware, and try to spend two three weeks flying just one aircraft. Right now I'm enjoying Manfred Jahn & Co's amazing C-47 and Tim "Piglet" Conrad's Pilatus Porter!

All the annoying DRM, activation limits, passwords, online activation etc. pushed me over the edge. No more payware!

 

Each to their own, and indeed there are some excellent freeware developers out there, but not all payware is as draconian as you might suggest.  The latest payware item that I've spent a great deal of time in had no DRM, passwords, or activation of any type.  Simply install and go.

 

It's true that some developers take it a bit far, but unfortunately refusing to buy any payware at all only serves to punish the developers.  Most developers that I've come across have been more than happy to either help if one is having issues due to activation concerns, or to reset activation limits if asked.  And of course, by your philosophy, developers that don't include any DRM at all could possibly be rewarded with a purchase for their trust and efforts.

 

[edit]

Also, I note by your signature that you're running P3D, which of course besides being payware, also has an activation routine.

 

I should point out that I'm not trying to be criticizing in any way here, I just would like to offer the alternative viewpoint that not all developers really want to make life difficult for their customers; sadly it becomes a necessity.

 

And of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. ^_^

I find myself being very very picky with addons.

 

For aircraft, I go through a selection process similar to:

1. Is it PMDG? If yes: Buy, If no, go to step 2.
2. Does the aircraft have a full simulation of all avionics? Is there any hint of the word "Simplified" or "when version 2 comes out"? Don't buy, otherwise go to step 2
3. Are there youtube videos of it? Is it from one of a handful of reviewers that I find trustworthy? does the workflow of the avionics look realistic?

So you go to step two twice? :blink: