I would never learn the basics of ATC if I stuck with MS or other "button based" ATC. That's why I'm aiming for Vatsim.

 

VoxATC would be a good way to practice before going online.

 

Also Vatsim isn't just talking. It's an ENTIRE network of other pilots. You will never get the experience with AI, just like any other online game.

The sad part is, most people I know do think it's sad, and don't understand what the fun is in pretending to talk to an air traffic controller. These are the same people who will talk for hours over Skype with people they don't know to in games such as World of Tanks, etc.. (Something I also don't understand the mass appeal of)

 

Eh.

 

My only problem with it is that for me, it seems kind of... rigid. Sometimes you like structure..... and sometimes ya' don't. I think there are many ways to approach this hobby.

 

That out of the way, I never even knew of Vatsim etc for X-plane......

That out of the way, I never even knew of Vatsim etc for X-plane......

 

Yeah ... many people don't know much about XP ... :rolleyes:.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this discussion.  Haven't posted until now, but read, with interest, most all the posts.  I was MSFS for years and finally buried FSX earlier this year.  For me the only "perfect" flying experience is the real one, but for now I'm practicing with X-Plane version 10.25.  There are features I miss with FSX and particularly some of the payware (Orbx, for example), but overall, I've thoroughly enjoyed X-P for it's smooth ride and absence of CTDs and OOMs.  Toyed with the idea of sinking some cash into Prepar3D, but then began reading some forums and see the issues encountered that sound much like those experienced with FSX.  Anyway...we seem to each have our opinions and favorites, and although none seem to totally fulfill our desire for "simulated flight reality", we give it our best with what the developers offer. [hey...sure beats those little stick planes with 3 archaic instruments and the flat green terrain of yester-year :smile:]

My only problem with it is that for me, it seems kind of... rigid. Sometimes you like structure..... and sometimes ya' don't. I think there are many ways to approach this hobby.

 

I guess that's it though. Some people take the hobby a bit more seriously than others and like Tony mentioned before some people use it as a training tool. I personally like to try and simulate IFR flights as realistically as possible as this is something I would like to pursue in RW as well. I have heard that some controllers on VATSIM can be even more rigid than the ones in RW airspace.

 

 

 

I was MSFS for years and finally buried FSX earlier this year.

 

I'm still not able to do this myself....PMDG keep pulling me back!

 

Prior to their release of the 777 SP1 I spend several months solely on X-Plane and thought 'this is it, 10.30 is excellent and now I have everything I want right here, no need to use FSX anymore'. They're really the only reason I still use FSX.

My computer has issues running FSX, and at the moment I can't afford to significantly upgrade. I've been running FS9 with GEPro, AS6, WOAI traffic and RC4 for a long time and realise that this is starting to look a bit old, great as it is.

 

My girlfriend bought me a session on http://ringwayflightsim.co.uk/ for Xmas and I was really surprised to find out that their sim is based on XPX, it looked amazing.

 

I tried the XPX demo and my PC still had some issued but XP9 works like a dream, it runs fine on high settings and looks far far better than FS9 ever did, even out of the box compared to FS(+all my add ons. The flight modelling is so responsive to the environment compared o FS9, I find it hard to go back as feels so "on rails" compared to XP9.

 

The only downside from an immersive POV is traffic and ATC, the flight modelling is beautiful but you're all alone (the AI and ATC are too poor to use).

 

So I took the plunge and joined IVAO (but with text, not voice, I'm not a loony) and I honestly think my simming experience, from how the plane looks, to how the flight modelling behaves, to how other planes and ATC behave is the most complete that I've had to date, and the best that it could be on the hardware that I have.

 

The UI is actually an upside to me, it allows all sorts of minute tweaking of all sorts of things, far better failure modelling and control of visual rendering than MSFS. Maybe it takes a little getting used to, but to me it's like the difference between Wordpress and Drupal, a steeper learning curve but a more powerful product.

This sort of thing doesn't do X plane any favours and one wonders why it was ever released!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AubKzvGI2g

This sort of thing doesn't do X plane any favours and one wonders why it was ever released!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AubKzvGI2g

 

That's brilliant! I've never seen that before and I've had XP since v7. Would be cool to see in sim though.

Funny...Still, one can see the possibilities with X-Plane and it's many features, i.e., plane maker plus the dozens of other 3rd party tools available at x-plane.org and other places.

I actually like the flying model and it does run much better on my beefy pc but there so much work to be done on X-plane 10 to make it a competitive product.

 

I have the feeling that people tend to forget how much work was required to get FSX to the standard it now has, including having to install lots of addons. FSX out of the box is dismal compared to what we have running today.

 

I agree about the UI though, it is really terrible!

 

But you need far fewer addons to get a decent X-Plane than for FSX.

This sort of thing doesn't do X plane any favours and one wonders why it was ever released!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AubKzvGI2g

 

Seeing it in this extent, I'm almost sure it isn't a bug, but a feature ... ahem ... an easter egg, like this one.

Seeing it in this extent, I'm almost sure it isn't a bug, but a feature ... ahem ... an easter egg, like this one.

 

FSX sucks! It doesn't have that feature! I want!

 

 

I have the feeling that people tend to forget how much work was required to get FSX to the standard it now has, including having to install lots of addons. FSX out of the box is dismal compared to what we have running today.

 

Key point, 100% correct.  Look at my payware add-ons, and I have more than listed.

Vatsim is fine for people who don't mind speaking to people they don't know through the Internet. A lot of people don't feel comfortable (maybe I'm a bit old or something (I'm 35)) and find the whole vatsim thing a bit 'sad'. I wish there was an ATC app up to the quality of a pmdg plane or active sky or something. A rock solid, faithful, gold standard sort of a thing. And one you didn't have to actually talk to in any way at all

That's the reason why i ALWAYS use the text-function of VATSIM.

Vatsim is fine for people who don't mind speaking to people they don't know through the Internet. A lot of people don't feel comfortable (maybe I'm a bit old or something (I'm 35)) and find the whole vatsim thing a bit 'sad'. I wish there was an ATC app up to the quality of a pmdg plane or active sky or something. A rock solid, faithful, gold standard sort of a thing. And one you didn't have to actually talk to in any way at all

Its only sad if you think that making your private gaming into a social thing involving human interactions is sad. I mean you're no this message board. You're talking to us, is this sad? For some arbitrary reason no.

 

I used to think civilian flight sim enthusiasts were sad. Who would want to fly around in a commercial airliner? At least combat flight sims you get to do cool stuff. Then I took the plunge and realized how stupid I was.

 

You're being stupid, and you're too young to be stuck in your ways.

 

PS. Vatsim fully support text based controlling for those who don't want to use a microphone. Basically vatsim will give you instructions like FSX ATC but make them make sense.