I've been flying a lot of VFR lately, and I've had a *lot* of fun. Thanks to Megascenery and Georender, scenery looks great. I finally turned up the cloud density as FSE2004 actually made me *want* to see some clouds. Framerate is excellent. I have lots of great addon aircraft. etc. etc. basically the sim has *never* looked this good before.However, lately the flights have been lacking purpose and immersion. Despite the fact that the sim now looks and flies more realistically than ever before I find myself bored halway into the flight even as I pan around and take in a view that might as well have been an actual photograph. I think the #1 thing missing is *imagination*. I'm so busy with real life now that it's hard to relax and actually *pretend* that I'm really there, inside the sim. It's just a bunch of pixels on a screen. Everyone knows that it's not for REAL...I feel like I did when I was 4 and realized santa doesn't really exist :-lolI think that what I'm looking for is a multiplayer AND/OR roleplaying element to add a bit of purpose and immersion to the sim.1. I absolutely LOVED the "adventures" provided with the Flight Unlimited series. Those were NOT just a flightplan and and a description of the flight. They were complete, scripted mini-games with voices, sound effects, animations and more. They involved things like tracking down Bigfoot, flying a frozen human heart to a hospital in the middle of a thunderstorm, hunting a speedboat with the Renegade seaplane, being a pilot for a TV show filming construction work, someone falling off the Space Needle, etc. Is there anything like that for FS at all? Again, complete with voice talents, animations and interactive elements...2. Career mode? A system with virtual "missions" (preferably set in WA) which have me fly to various places and give me rewards for completed missions in the form of (virtual) money or a new airplane :)3. Multiplayer...I'm not at all into flying airliners, IFR etc. I'd be interested in things like doing touch n go's with lots of actual human pilots at some rural little airfield, fly ins (start from various locations, meet up and then fly to some remote/dificult/nice airfield together for a virtual bbq, using text or voice for communication)....stuff like that...it seems the choices are either Vatsim (dead-serious businesslike IFR flying) or the Zone (uncontrolled chaos)...I'm open to suggestions :)

http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/113282.jpgPhoto taken as I prepare to head back to the city after a weekend spent in Skykomish (S88). NO, it's just a computer program! In reality I spent the weekend in a drab dorm room in front of a computer screen :-eek

You should join DC-3 Airways, Jimmi. Not only will you get to fly in multiplayer with the best bunch of blokes on the planet, but you will learn the intimate details of the world's finest aeroplane, rarely fly over 5,000 feet and be happy with 140 knots airspeed!We have several multiplayer sessions weekly. Usual turnout is anything from four or five, to fifteen or sixteen. That's a lot of Dakotas in the pattern for the touch and gos!Come and visit us over at www.dc3airways.comMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP FleetDC-3 Airwayshttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

I just started flying on vatsim last week and spent the evening doing touch and goes at Ottawa International in a Cessna 152. It was interesting listening to a bilingual controller at CYOW talking to me in English and the Air Canada jets in French.Anyways, don't be scared off of Vatsim if you want to do VFR. It seems to be becoming a more popular option.CheersBlairCYOW

our brains get bored of the "same thing" even if it is exciting! I just forked over a lot of cash to build a great computer and I'm loving every minute of it... when I can break away from the endless adding of the AI. What settings do you use in terms of AA, AF, screen res? Your shot looks fantastic. I'm still trying to get rid of the minor blurry lines, especially at distances when airport spotting.

I am curious Jimmy.Why would you not be interested in flying IFR on a bad weather day?I once flew into Aspen Colorado (KASE?) VOR-DME Approach and it was simply freaking awesome.. I was almost sweating (Sweating palm atleast).Now we have Denver Mega City and denver airport. (I only wish "Flight Scenary" had done Aspen). If you can do that and get bored... use the Random failure option and do the same.:)So you liked Flight Unlimited Adventures eh.. Hmm.. I need to check it out then. I never understood what that was.

Well sometimes I do shoot an ILS approach in e.g. an FSD twin (though usually not under IMC) but I want to keep my flights to about an hour or less and stay within a detailed scenery area like Misty Fjords or Megascenery which eliminates anything bigger than e.g. a Navajo. So, it makes more sense to do them VFR especially with all the great scenery around. Basically I fly like I would if I was able to fly for real - short sightseeing trips in a small plane and only when the weather is good. I would need something like a "mission" system to bring myself to take off on a grey and rainy day :)That DC3 VA looks reasonably interesting. Noticed that most routes are less than 200 miles which is good as I get bored after an hour or so no matter if I'm at 2000 feet in a Cub or 40,000 feet in a 767...Alex, I use 1280x1024, 4x AA/8x AF and highest quality mipmaps in the ATI control panel. Pretty much maxed out settings in FS except cloud draw distance at 40 miles, mip-maps at 4.

------------------------------------------------------------------------Career mode? A system with virtual "missions" (preferably set in WA) which have me fly to various places and give me rewards for completed missions------------------------------------------------------------------------Interesting that you mention that because I sorely miss that function in FS9 too!Back in the day SubLogic's ATP simulation had precisely what you mentioned - a career mode. http://www.the-underdogs.org/games/a/atp/atp.jpgIt even had check-rides for the different airliners. Even with those "stick"-graphics it was those functions that added extra dimensions to the sim.I hope Microsoft adds a similar function in FS10. :)

Hi Jimmi,have you tried FS Economy? Their forum is hosted on Avsim and sounds like what you are looking for. You have to fly trips, moving people and cargo, for money. You can own and rent planes, have a look at the forum and web page http://www.fseconomy.com/ for more details.Steve

Ahhhhh, the Flight Unlimited series. If my memory serves me right I had Flight Unlimited, then bought Flight Unlimited II, and the two joined together. And yes, the adventures were nothing short of amazing! Three that really kept me flying were...1. Where you landed in the amphibian just off of Alcatras, and waited there for two escapees to board the airplane. You had to get within a short distance of a pier, and then would hear the sirens wailing announcing a prison breakout, and see the searchlights moving, then hear the prisoners splashing up to the plane, hear the door creaking open and one of the prisoners yelling for you to GO! Then following his instructions to an abandoned airport where he had a buddy waiting to pick him up, only to land and hear police tell you over a loudspeaker to shut down the airplane as you were under arrest!2. Receiving radio instructions just after takeoff informing you to stay below a certain altitude and under a certain speed or the plane would blow to smithereens due to a bomb on board. That was a very hard one to fly, especially in the San Francisco area. (And with the way things are today, probably wouldn't be very acceptable at the present time, and understandably so).3. Flying over a couple of stadiums at just the right altitude to release some turkeys for a thanksgiving promo at a football game, and hearing the turkeys being pushed out and their "gobbles" of surprise, as the crowd below roared in approval!Yes, they were really amazing. FUII also allowed you to make your own adventures. And the rain in that simulator (especially on the windshield) is still unmatched by any simulator I've seen right up to the present date! As well as the night lighting in the cities. I have yet to see anything by Microsoft that matches either the rain or city night light effects; and that was quite some time ago. I miss it, and wish I hadn't sold it. You've brought back some good memories. Thanks!

As Steve mentioned, FSEconomy is a great program to try. Freeware too! The flights are generated by a program, and always end up being interesting! It always seems that the small destination airports always happen to be under marginal VFR conditions. I swear the author does it on purpose :)http://www.fseconomy.com/On top of that, you can add even more excitement by getting a random failure generation program. (the site of the one I use is gone, so I can't link to it). Engine, instrument failures, fuel leaks, etc can make flying so much more realistic. I mean, you really aren't having fun until you have an engine failure in a mountainous area :)

Thanks "flight" That brought back some memories. Those adventures were indeed quite something...

I have to "third" the kudos for FSEconomy. I followed a thread on another forum there last week and joined this past weekend. I did three complete "trips" that included six assignments. Your flights earn you money that you can save up to buy your own plane that others will rent if you want.There's an assignment generator if you don't want to do the research and plan your own flights. You jest tell it what type of plane you want to fly, how much airtime you want and what area of the country you want to fly in.I'm thinking of flying my way across the country by earning money I make while doing assignments.

>3. Multiplayer...I'm not at all into flying airliners, IFR>etc. I'd be interested in things like doing touch n go's with>lots of actual human pilots at some rural little airfieldIt's not rural, but for TGs with lots of GA traffic, try Santa Monica, California (KSMO). On VATSIM it's towered most nights of the week from 16:30-18:30 (local/PST), 00:30-02:30 (zulu/GMT).

I know there was a thread or two just a bit ago about a couple of people doing GA VFR work out of KSMO on Vatsim through SB3.Beautiful pic btwThomas

I do alot of VFR flying around the Misty Fjords area of Alaska, with Real weather or Active Sky. Actually with the new Ultimate Terrain Alaska/Canada scenery you can fly like this for thousands of miles, just exploring. Trust me, you will not get bored, going up a river Canyon with a 5,000 foot mountain on either side of you and no room to turn around if the ceiling starts getting lower, will get your attention. Check out http://www.mistymoorings.com/index.php for more information. Just got a great aircraft for Bush flying today that goes right along with that type of flying. http://windrfters.com/cgoosepage.htm