I think I've got my priorities sorted now. After buying lots of scenery, lots of aircraft and trying to max out everything I learned quickly that I had to make choices to get FSX to run smoothly.

 

I realise though, that everyone's priorities are different. What are yours? I'm taking it as read that everyone wants

decent aircraft that fly like their supposed to, as well as scenery that is fairly accurate.

 

Other than that, my priorities are:

 

1 - IMMERSIVE PLANE

It has to look right, feel right and sound right. I'm not bothered about fantastic internal/external graphics since I use a cockpit build and rarely look at the plane from the outside.

 

2 - WEATHER

With ASN I have realistic weather and with clouds at 2048 the skyscape is detailed, vibrant and ever changing. Without changing weather which looks stunning, repeating flights from A to B are boring and samey to me. Traffic (see next) also helps.

 

3 - TRAFFIC

I understand traffic is a framerate hit, but for me it is worth it. As with weather I cannot see the point in flying the same routes without some variable thrown in and for me good looking and tricky weather as well as other aircraft on taxiways, finals and in the pattern make the difference between flying in a dead environment and a living, breathing world, with all the complicated variables a pilot must deal with. I'm a bush pilot at heart so my focus is on GA type traffic, with airliners dialled right down.

 

4 - ACCURATE FLIGHT CHARACTERISTICS

This is fourth on my list, and involves planes like A2A, RealAir and PMDG. I have a couple of A2A planes and enjoy the feel of flying a realistic simulation, but I'm slightly more interested in recreating flying procedures. With the emphasis on 'flying' I'm not really a fan of preflight checks, I want to spend my evenings in the air!

 

5 - SCENERY

Not near the top of my list at all. With FTX Global, I'm basically happy with my scenery. UTX Europe and USA gives me some navigational accuracy. Of course I have a few detailed regions I fly in routinely, like Orbx United Kingdom and PNW, Aerosoft's African Adventures and a freeware compilation of the Eastern Caribbean, but I don't go chasing scenery. If I start flying around a certain location (currently Cessna Caravans and C-130s in Sierra Leone) then I'll download a few freeware airports for that region.

 

6 - DETAILED RENDERING OF PLANE

Not bothered by this really, I don't use VCs much or see the plane exterior much, and I rarely play around with interior views or animations. I fly a few of the default planes because of this.

 

7 - CONNECTIVITY

I'm not a member of VATSIM, I'd rather make all my mistakes in private!!

 

I wonder if I've forgotten anything?

Hmm, some sort of crew simulation (MCE, FS2Crew), or a checklist utility maybe?

I'd also add ATC to that list, offline or online.

 

I'd probably assign a higher priority to those items than to AI traffic, but to each their own, I guess.

Hah, true...

 

8 - ATC AND FLIGHT CREW UTILITIES

Since I don't fly airliners I'm happy enough with the basic ATC at the moment...

1- Sim------------P3D

 

2- Interface-----Modules/yoke/rudder/etc

 

3- Plane----------A2A

 

4- Scenery------Orbx

 

5- Weather------ASN

 

6- ATC/Traffic--Still working on this one

 

7- Replenish bank account for Addons

The number 1 priority is a smooth running sim.

Which I have. FSX. Displays maxed.

I am happy with simple and complex aircraft. Depends on the situation. I like A2A's aircraft greatly. But can be happy with a default as needed.

Default scenery is pretty good in FSX, with a few addons.

Default weather is ok. Real weather is hit and miss.

AI I usually keep off unless flying GA aircraft. Default AI is fair, same with the ATC. I also make my own AI plans for an area that I will be flying in.

Soon will be building a new computer. Hoping to have Orbx scenery running well.  

Priority 1: Dedicated simming/gaming computer.  Right now I use my work computer and though it's more than adequate for work it is a sub-par simming/gaming platform.  Barring any family emergencies or vehicle/major appliance failures, I should be able to make that happen next year.

 

Priority 2: Go P3D.  I originally planned on doing this once I got the new machine, but with today's announcement I might hold off until 64-bit P3D is available.  I've been tempted to try it on the machine I have, but I'm pretty sure my graphics card would be a big bottleneck.

 

In the interim, I've squeezed all the performance out of FSX that I'm going to get given my hardware, so I leave it alone and enjoy flying what and where I can. 

1. Smoothness & Fluidity (regardless of what, or where, I'm flying)
2. TrackIR (no trackIR, no simming for me).
2. Immersive aircraft, with that magical (A2A, RealAir, PMDG, Majestic) quality
3. Wide area texture improvement (eg. FTX Global + Vector)
4. Good performing, frame rate friendly, high quality Airports & Airfields.
5. Weather (Opus for me)
6. AI.

that's all folks!

Landing and walking away.

New Yoke and Universal TQ

 

Edit: I have performance Licked

100% avionics accuracy for the aircraft I fly in real life (SR22/G1000) hence the only simulation I have been recently using is Garmin's G1000 PC trainer for Cirrus.

There are somethings being mentioned I totally forgot. Of course, a working and trouble free sim is at the top of my list. Thanks for the reminder! With a decent fps you can forget about and a level of add ons that rarely if ever produce an OOM. That's got to be top of everyone's list, surely?

 

I'm very lucky in that I have a spare room devoted to my sim and a dedicated PC bought for FSX. No one touches that PC! The only software I've installed not sim related is Google Chrome.

1. Scenery. My main interest is virtual travel and discovering the magnificent geography of the earth. While I love aircraft, I'm more of an aviation history buff. Flying is best in real life.

 

2. Saitek Cockpit. Any use of the mouse kills immersion and realism for me.

 

3. Track IR. As longs as I can't find space for three 40" TVs, I can't live without TrackIR.

 

4. AI. Cars, ship and aircraft makes it all the more fun and real. Adds to my need for realistic scenery.

 

5. Weather. The challenge lies in the weather, although FSX/P3D lacks realism in extreme weather. Too hard to land a Boeing in a storm

 

6. High fidelity aircraft addon (last, because I'd do fine with the default aircraft in P3D and FSX).

A. Time alone uninterrupted by work or family, cell phone off, window blinds drawn, email set to auto-respond. Peace, quiet, and several tons of imaginary Jet-A.

 

B. Perspective. My rig ain't the fastest on the block, but it gets things done. It looks downright amazing compared to the core 2 duo I first tried to run FSX on back in '06. Keeping this perspective helps me avoid the urge to upgrade to the newest hardware for a few extra fps.

 

C. An appreciation for the vast beauty of the world and all it's people. I like to read up on the places I visit in the sim. Sure it's not the same as being there but it's all part of the dream and helps me expand my horizons ever so slightly.

 

D. Respect for pilots and really everyone involved in rw aviation. It's a tough job.

I'm putting my money into my real flying first.

 

With what I have now my focus is to get better with understanding accents on VATSIM in Europe.

 

Eventually I want a faster machine, and a throttle quadrant.  Then I'll assess what's next from there.