Poor guy (OP) he has no idea how confusing this all can get but is getting a crash course now! LOL!

This is a great topic - thanks to the OP for posting it, and thanks especially to all of you who have taken time to post your thoughts!

 

I also have been away from FSX for years. I flirted briefly with Flight, but my heart wasn't in it anymore after MS pulled the plug. I've been of the mindset that FSX would never compare with Flight's flight engine and scenery (at least as represented in Hawaii). Perhaps I've been wrong!

 

I am considering reinstalling FSX. I have GEX and REX, but I bought them at least 5 or 6 years ago. Are they still usable? I imagine they have been upgraded significantly since my original purchase. Would I be better off starting over with new addons, or will the ones I have update to the latest and greatest?

 

Would I be correct in guessing that FSX still does not make use of multiple cores or SLI?

 

Thanks again!

Also important, optimize FSX. Start with this tool: http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html

 

 

No. I have used Win 7 64 bit for years and never once needed that file.

 

I have the "menu" crash problem, and according to my research the DLL should address it, right?

Poor guy (OP) he has no idea how confusing this all can get but is getting a crash course now! LOL!

 

LMFAO! I was just thinking that, like what the hell did I get myself into?!? I should've stuck with golf!

I have the "menu" crash problem, and according to my research the DLL should address it, right?

 

LMFAO! I was just thinking that, like what the hell did I get myself into?!? I should've stuck with golf!

 

You asked a very fair question, but sometimes peoples bias comes into play and now you have a very confusing array of options.

 

I have a computer system similar to yours.

 

I have not bought Orbx Global nor Vector.  You do not necessarily need them.  What you might thing about is what type of flyer are you wanting to be, ie heavy's, cross continent or say GA more local low and slow.

 

I fall into the last category.  If so, then buy Orbx regions, forget Global and Vector.  I have GEX and UTX for those moments when I go beyond the Orbx regions.  And I beef up my GEX with other local sceneries and I have a generally great flying experience.  Global and Vector are not the end all of base scenery options.

 

Here is what I have.

- all Orbx Regions, AU, NA, EU, NZ

- many 75% of their addon airports.

- GEX

- UTX

- REX Essential OD

 

It works well together and my flying experience is great.

 

cheers

Bryan

Also tweak your fsx.cfg via http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html to get more out of your FSX. 

 

I tried that; why does it recommend DX9? I'm on DX 11.

Unless you're dead set on using a camera utility like Ezdok or the cameras in Opus, consider getting TrackIR.  This is more important if you're flying low and slow than if you're going to be flying tubeliners all the time.

 

https://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

 

Hook

 

OMG! This is getting better by the minute (and very expensive)

 

So it tracks head movement and changes view point in the cockpit? so cool

Again it depends upon your need for immersion.  Perhaps you do not have to jump into this with both feet at once.

 

If I was to recommend anything, it would be to start with some base scenery addons as we have been mentioning, default FSX sucks badly and improved scenery makes a big difference, personally I would get some Orbx regions.

Then look at some (a couple) of good commercial planes like those from Carenado or RealAir.  It make all the difference in the world.  Your system will not be able to handle the high end PMDG and other high end heavies.

Then look at weather/textures addon like REX or Opus (clouds and weather are huge for improved immersion).

Then look at hardware, ie TrackIR (I don't have it but always wondered about getting it, not sure if you need a more high powered computer).  I have Saitek - yoke, throttles, pro pedals, trim wheel, multi switch panel (and even these are not cheap), and say two monitors.  Heck just start with a yoke and joystick.

 

All this is not cheap, I have a $2,000-$3,000 (perhaps even more I just don't want to add it up) invested but I did so over four years.

 

Keep in mind that you might/will move to another simulator in near future, like P3D or Xplane 10+ as they grow, so you want your "stuff" invested now to work with those.

 

cheers

Bryan

The cams - Ezdok, and Opus, will NOT detect head movements without TRACKIR (https://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir). I know what your thinking... before the night is over, you people will have me spending my savings! Well... WE HAVE! LOL!

 

 

It is a little strange at first, but believe me... TrackIR is an absolute MUST HAVE. If you have limited bucks per month you can spend... get this purchase out of the way now. All the pretty stuff will still be there when your coffers are full again.

 

Now... when you are ready to join the Elite Simmers, read the DX10 section of the forum.

Embrace FSX DX10 ASAP.

 

 

I am considering reinstalling FSX. I have GEX and REX, but I bought them at least 5 or 6 years ago. Are they still usable?

Yes they are still usable.  FSX has not changed in 5-6 years!  You may want to go back to your vendors to get the latest updates though.  Flight 1 for GEX is very good in this, and if you already register with REX, getting updates is super easy too.

 

To the OP, if FSX and its derivative: P3Dv2 is your thing, you will need to think where you will be two years down the road.  Not all add-ons for FSX will work with P3Dv2.  I am saying a couple of years because unless FSX continue to work with future OS evolution, you will be stuck with Win7 for a long time, until MS no longer supports it.  Welcome back to 'Heaven when it all works' or 'Tweak Hell when you ask yourself what's the @!' and don't say that we did not warn you!

Hi, not sure if anyone said this (I might have missed it reading through) but the latest version of active sky (ASN) does not come with textures so you will need to get improved textures elsewhere (Rex texture direct 4 seems to be the current big thing). As for the uiautomationcore thing, I (and many others by the look of things) had a problem where to many menu clicks in flight caused fsx to crash. This file has in some cases been known to fix the issue, which is an extremely irritating one! I'm no expert but this is information I've picked up following forums and youtubers over the last year or so

raffi:  GEX and UTX are not waste.  To have a preference for one product over another is fine but to say those two products are a waste is not a fair statement and certainly not an accurate one, be careful when someone tells you that.  I use both the Flight1 (GEX/UTX) products and ORBX products and each work well and are good products.  If you want to run the ORBX scenery with all the settings turned up then you will probably need something more than a 920 and a 5800.  And with ORBX you may be more at risk for OOM errors.

To be clear on the weather engine, OpusFSX comes WITH a camera system which you will need to fly in the virtual cockpits than have taken over during the 5 years you've been away.

 

I don't know anything about EzDok, I've never used it but people seem to like it.  I have used ActiveSky products in the past but prefer Opus although I have never used the latest version of Activesky.  If you buy ActiveSky, you'll probably need to buy EzDok too.

 

On the other hand, be aware that if you buy Activesky, it comes with replacement textures so maybe you don't need Rex - although many swear by Rex!

 

These overlaps make life a bit complicated.  You've said you aren't interested in aircraft at present but you should look at what's on offer from the likes of PMDG, Majestic Software and RealAir to name but 3.  Save some of your budget for aircraft and go for the least cost options on the rest - they're all good.  

 

There's a hot debate in these forums about the relative merits of FTX and UTX/GEX which you can look at yourself.  Be careful what you read - as in the 2 posts above, not all the comparisons offered up are fair ones.  Again you need to look at what you are getting for your money in terms of geographic coverage and whether you are getting textures AND the landclass you need to get the best effect.   Personally, I use GEX & UTX and have no intention of changing.  I suspect how far you can move the sliders (particularly the autogen) to the right is as significant as which software you use.  That's a function of hardware but I don't propose to advise you on that!

 

This is a great topic - thanks to the OP for posting it, and thanks especially to all of you who have taken time to post your thoughts!

 

I also have been away from FSX for years. I flirted briefly with Flight, but my heart wasn't in it anymore after MS pulled the plug. I've been of the mindset that FSX would never compare with Flight's flight engine and scenery (at least as represented in Hawaii). Perhaps I've been wrong!

 

I am considering reinstalling FSX. I have GEX and REX, but I bought them at least 5 or 6 years ago. Are they still usable? I imagine they have been upgraded significantly since my original purchase. Would I be better off starting over with new addons, or will the ones I have update to the latest and greatest?

 

Would I be correct in guessing that FSX still does not make use of multiple cores or SLI?

 

Thanks again!

 

To the best of my knowledge, after SP2 or Acceleration Pack, FSX uses multicore for terrain/texture processing, but the main sim always uses a single core.

Ignore GEX, get Orbx Global instead (simply a must-have!) and any of the Orbx FTX regions (also a must-have, with Pacific North-West, Southern-Alaska and Northern California being the best). You can also consider Orbx Global Vector  (roads, coast lines, more road traffic, improved textures in some areas, etc)  and the soon to be released Orbx Global LC (landclass). Orbx Global Vector and Orbx Global LC are not needed when you only buy FTX regions.

 

Ignore REX Essential + Overdrive, the newer REX 4 Texture Direct has better textures (more realistic, the ones in the previous version were sometimes a tad over done), much better water and installs textures a lot faster. It lacks the weather engine of the previous REX, but it was poor anyway. Instead pick FS Global Real Weather or Opus FX or consider to wait for the soon to be released separate REX Weather Direct or REX Weather Architect (if they're good). FS Global Real Weathere is the best, based on comparing weather from web cams with the weather in FSX.

 

Get EZDok, you can't live without it if you use the virtual cockpit! You get head movements, excellent cameras and you even gains a few FPS, because it turns off the cursor automatically when it's not used (FSX has an issue with frame rates when the cursor is visible). I even used it in combination with voice control. Without EZDok it feels like flying on rails.

 

Also get a file called "UIAutomationCore.dll"  (make sure you get version 6.0.5840.16386) when you use Windows 7/8 and place it in your main FSX folder. It's needed to get rid of certain crashes.

 

Also important, optimize FSX. Start with this tool: http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html

 

 

 

I have the best experience with the original game with SP1 and SP2. It's rock solid stable for me and I never suffered a single OOM crash (Out Of Memory) in FSX, that seems to be a common problem on long flights for a lot of other people.

 

 

things i'd suggest to consider:

 

1. weather engine - i prefer active sky next, but i also hear favorable things about opus and fs global real weather. i think asn and opus have demo versions?

2. ezdok or opus - a lot of planes are going to virtual cockpit only, having a camera manager makes using the VC much easier to navigate, i already have ezdok so haven't tried opus to compare

3. scenery - depending where you prefer to fly, have a look at the orbx regions, the ones for the west usa are pretty amazing.

 

i think gex/utx is fine... ftx global as suggested above is another option.. ftx global vector has the advantage of global coverage but i don't know how it compares to utx in terms of detail, haven't really seen a direct comparison yet, if you plan to fly mainly the usa or if you fly a lot of other places too may influence that decision..

 

cheers

-andy crosby

 

 

 

 

To be clear on the weather engine, OpusFSX comes WITH a camera system which you will need to fly in the virtual cockpits than have taken over during the 5 years you've been away.

 

I don't know anything about EzDok, I've never used it but people seem to like it.  I have used ActiveSky products in the past but prefer Opus although I have never used the latest version of Activesky.  If you buy ActiveSky, you'll probably need to buy EzDok too.

 

On the other hand, be aware that if you buy Activesky, it comes with replacement textures so maybe you don't need Rex - although many swear by Rex!

 

These overlaps make life a bit complicated.  You've said you aren't interested in aircraft at present but you should look at what's on offer from the likes of PMDG, Majestic Software and RealAir to name but 3.  Save some of your budget for aircraft and go for the least cost options on the rest - they're all good.  

 

There's a hot debate in these forums about the relative merits of FTX and UTX/GEX which you can look at yourself.  Be careful what you read - as in the 2 posts above, not all the comparisons offered up are fair ones.  Again you need to look at what you are getting for your money in terms of geographic coverage and whether you are getting textures AND the landclass you need to get the best effect.   Personally, I use GEX & UTX and have no intention of changing.  I suspect how far you can move the sliders (particularly the autogen) to the right is as significant as which software you use.  That's a function of hardware but I don't propose to advise you on that!

 

 

 

Poor guy (OP) he has no idea how confusing this all can get but is getting a crash course now! LOL!

 

 

 

Thanks, but giving up; after 1 week of pure hell trying to figure out textures, aircraft, REX, GEX, Chex Mix, Orbx (I think I'm in orbit), tweaks, bleeps, and creeps, I'm done.

 

Kilo60 was right, I had no idea what I was getting into!

 

See ya'll in 5 years!

Like a good marriage, using FSX requires lots of tender loving care and attention.

 

I hope you weren't just wasting everyone's time on purpose with your original enthusiasm. 

 

If you thought that there was going to be a one stop shop for all, then that unfortunately was not the case.

 

If you really are interested in "any" flight simulation program, all of them require the user to be patient, learn, and work toward building a simulator that works for you.  All flight simulators require addons to the base package.  In your opening remarks you mention that there weren't very many addons, well there are now 1000s and folks here provided you with some clear direction with which to explore the hobby.

 

See you again in 5 years perhaps.

I hope you weren't just wasting everyone's time on purpose with your original enthusiasm. 

 

 

Not at all, I was being completely sincere

 

And I agree, flight sims do require patience, but the myriad of choices combined with the constraints of FSX and a 3 year old desktop was a bit overwhelming; it's not just about patience, I'd be looking at some serious $$$ too; wasn't expecting that!

 

I certainly learned a lot in the past week, so thank you for that.

I'll probably tinker here and there and drop by with some questions.