After many years away from FS9 I'm getting back into it and having fun. Besides a few Carenado planes bought over the Holidays, it's still a stock install on Win 7. Runs almost too smoothly as I float around and over the runways before flare. Seems like the flight model may be more accurate but a bit too lofty? Anyway, a different topic.

 

I have many, many old Megascenery CDs in the box with maps. What is the general opinion on these? Not a fan of photo scenery now, but might be better than stock ...and I already own them. Maybe 10+ years old?

 

Also have LevelD 767 and a few others. Bought Dreamfleet, but not sure they're even activating them anymore?

 

Looking for any "essentials" or maybe freeware/payware I should check out.

 

Thanks!

I use a few of the MegaScenery "MegaCity" offerings (Atlanta / Dallas / Phoenix / San Francisco).  I have used all of the MegaScenery regional sceneries in the past.  I liked their night presentation, but they were just too low-resolution and taxing on my system (frequent blurries until I refreshed) to keep.  Found BirdsEyeView and now GEPro with autogen to be more pleasing in the long run.

Hope this helps.

For general scenery take a look at FSGlobal Mesh and Ground EnvironmentPro/Ultimate Terrain, all payware.

 

Weather and renditions I use Active Sky Evolution and Flight Environment for textures.

 

Level-D is a great a/c. Do you mean the Dreamfleet 727 ? If so then you can still activate it by a fresh download from Flight1.

 

Payware a/c recommendations:

PMDG  MD-11 but you will have to hunt out a CD version as you can no longer by from PMDG direct.

ifly 737 and 747

SSTSIM Concorde

Airsimmer A320, although this does have its quirks and can be unreliable.

 

Freeware absolute gems:

RFP 747-200  see the avsim dedicated forum. Probably the best hand flying a/c ever made for FS9

TinMouse 737-200  see avsim forum

VC-10 David Maltby original updated by Vololiberista. Do a search of the library here for this one.

 

ps make sure you update FS9 to 9.1 with a patch still available from microsoft.

Level-D is a great a/c. Do you mean the Dreamfleet 727 ? If so then you can still activate it by a fresh download from Flight1.

 

Remember having lots of fun with LevelD 767 ...still have that nice manual/binder. I had several GA aircraft from DF. Think the Dakota, Archer and the 177 Cardinal. Probably ok on aircraft, but need to get a few airports and look at an unopened GEX CD.

 

Yep, patched to 9.1. Forgot how much fun it was!

 

Thanks.

As with all visual aspects of FS, it's a matter of personal taste. But I use all of the available  Megascenery offerings in FS9 as I appreciate the combination of realism and good performance. But I also love the results of other enhancements such as EVO, GE Pro, UT etc. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to your question - it's what feels best to you... Enjoy your reunion with FS9! I'm an enthusiastic FSX-SE AND FS9 user - love them both

Cheers

Ian