Tony,

I'm pleased that your were Prepar3D to read my X-Planation  

Not too sure what will happen next year, with people waiting,  patiently,   to see what's going to happen.

There is/has been so much :Talking Ear Off: going on, & just give a shout if you need any    to decide what to go for.

 

Cheers,

Robin

I am a bit amazed by the advice to get FSXSE because, as Robin sort of said, it is just as 'dead' as FSX is now. Not really dead, of course, because new addons for it will be released for quite some time, but it doesn't have a future like P3D or XP has. The sim ITSELF has reached (some sort of) end. P3D is still being worked on although it still has quite a few of old FSX tech in it. And XP seems to be more alive than ever before. FSXSE maybe nice for NOW, specially since you can get it cheap, but t for the long run I would look elsewhere. I have been a fan of P3D for quite a few years but the XP11 beta has taken my full attention right now. There is a lot to like in it.

 

There also is Aerofly 2 but IMHO it's more some kind of flying game (right now). And I am not too excited when it comes to the new sim from Dovetail because in the end it's just a FSXSE v2, as far as I can tell right now.

 

It is quite hard, if not impossible, to give a futureproof advice but right now P3D and specially XP11 are the best options. If I would have to choose NOW I probably would go for XP, although it's nice to have P3D on the side.

I really was not interested in FSX:SE, as I already had FSX (normal). I could see no benefit at all. I eventually got P3Dv1.4, as my i5 4gb ram laptop (about 5 years old) was unable to run any later versions as it only had DX10.

 

So, as I'm not prepar3d to upgrade my laptop, which will cost a small fortune for a new one to run the news sims.

Yes, P3D is probably the way to go, eventually, as it is a very mature sim that has been taken very seriously by industry.

(I've just got a personal thing about being reliant on the way Steam works, as well as getting a sim from a gaming company, just me saying, & NOT opening a debate)

 

Having said all that, I still fly my P3D, but I'm having far mor fun with my 3x versions of FS2004!!

I have a 'normal'version, a 'Golden Wings' version & my favourite is my 'Ford Tri-Motor Project' version, with only scenery from that site, as well as all the textures there. Where else can I have ramps, sloping & circular runways, as well as a ramped runway, floating on top of a blimp. I aslo, as Garry was the custodian of Milton & team's stuff, as well as Mike Stone's planes, have their planes as well. I really support our freeware developers, as they really are the backbone of our hobby, & have not forgotten us FS9'ers.

 

That's just me saying. I've been simming since the good old FS?? days, when the sim came boxed with a coule of floppy disks.

So, I got bored of the usual point to point flying, and, as the late Garry Smith of the Ford Project fame, always said, 'Simming should be a combination of Fact, Fun & Fiction!'  Obviously, I have added stuff like Howard's 'The Natural World'& a couple of other stuff to make things look pretty'er than the defaults. ( I also have boats, trains & cars!)

 

Anyway, I really believe that what I have made from my hobby certainly does not make me a lessor simmer that those with the latest kit & add-ons, who prefer to fly 'by the numbers'!

 

Cheers,

Robin

What's the status of flight simulation software?

FSX-SE is a lightly upgraded version of FSX Acceleration box edition. It's only available on Steam and can be purchased for as little as $5 when it's on sale. (Great value!) Most of your FSX add-ons wil work in Steam edition.

 

P3D is a commercial simulator based on FSX. It's over priced, some add-ons will need to be purchased again, and it's plagued by the 32bit limitation.

 

X-Plane11 Beta is currently available to test and IMHO it's the future of flight simulation. It's a 64bit modern sim with unlimited potential.

 

The rest of the current flight sims are not even worth mentioning.

FSX-SE is a lightly upgraded version of FSX Acceleration box edition. It's only available on Steam and can be purchased for as little as $5 when it's on sale. (Great value!) Most of your FSX add-ons wil work in Steam edition​. Correct, Dovetail has modified it to run on more modern PC's, but still about 10 years old, without major updates..

 

P3D is a commercial simulator based on FSX. Actually based on ESP, Microsoft's commercial & professional sim.   Updated about 10 times, as compared to FSX & it's service packs! Very much upgraded.

 

It's over priced, Not for it's target market, some add-ons will need to be purchased again, Regard it as a separate & commercial sim, and it's plagued by the 32bit limitation. Yet to see a complaint from it's target market, 64bit in the pipeline.

 

X-Plane11 Beta is currently available to test Beta runs for 15 minutes & looks quite good, 2nd updated beta is out.and IMHO it's the future of flight simulation.IMHO debatable!  It's a 64bit modern sim with unlimited potential.​ No-one really knows!

 

The rest of the current flight sims are not even worth mentioning. ??? Aerofly FS2 looks like it could be a winner & a viable proposition!

 

​Flightgear - Freeware & worth a look, especially as they have the most detailed Space Shuttle & also very detailed cloud shadows that is unique to a sim, as well as icing.

So, P3D has been upgraded/updated about 8-9 times, as compared to FSX:SE, which is basically FSX with it's service packs, upgraded to work better on modern PC's.(& will, eventually be released in a 64bit version)

 

You have contradicted yourself here. There will not be a 64bit version of FSX : SE.

 

EDIT: I think you may be referring to a 64bit version of P3D, but you seem to have got your English all mixed up :wink:

Sorry, :wink: finger problems, I DID mean that P3D will eventually be released in a 64bit version!!

 

FSX:SE's development has been frozen!

 

Thanks, Chris. Sometimes I put brackets where they do or do not belong.   

As others have said here, FSX Steam Edition is a nice little bump to the performance you will get compared to the standard version of FSX. A lot of folks have moved over to the P3D system as well. I would encourage you to also give Xplane 10 a shot. I have been on MSFS for over 10 years, but just started messing with plane last year. I believe xplane has a much more realistic feel to it. Something about the graphics makes the scenery feel like it has much more depth to it. The night lighting on plane 10 is absolutely amazing. It does indeed make you feel like you are in the cockpit and the lights are far out on the horizon. 

 

If it has been a few years since you have been in the community, you probably left at a time where x-plane did not have very many options in the forms of add ons whether it be payware planes, scenery, etc. That is definitely not the case anymore. X-plane has exploded in popularity and now there are extremely high level planes being released on that platform on a weekly basis. There is a lot of high quality scenery that is freeware as well. I am not telling you to just swap to X-plane 10 and never look back, but you will definitely be doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least give x-plane 10 a try.

 

Don't let others talk about the performance on XP11 give you a bad taste. Laminar has said themselves that XP11 is HIGHLY unoptimized right now, and when the final version releases the performance will be much, much better. Right now beta performance is bad well, because it is a beta. There are still a lot of performance tweaks to be made.

 

Welcome back to the community!

Robin,

 

Very well put Sir.

 

I was referring to the FSX-SE replacement (whatever they call it) but you explained (NOT XPlaned lol) it all so much better.  I doffs me hat to you.

 

As you say, it may well be a completely new sim and it WILL be 64 bit and it MAY be worth waiting for.  I guess that, that was my main thrust to the OP.

 

Regardless, and again, my main point was the incoming new stuff which is so exciting and is worth waiting for.  

 

Regards to you all

 

Tony

 

I'm just going to wait before making a move to another platform at this point. I was going to make the jump to p3d and I am only buying addons that can be used on both platforms at this point. That being said I may hold off on buying any new planes etc until I make a decision which platform I wish to move to. I've spent a tremendous amount on fsx and wish I could get a refund. All those fancy airports do me no good if I'm going OOM with my higher end jets. 

Friends,

 

I've seen a lot of speculative information, some of it posted as fact, that is completely wrong - at least as far as the Interview I had with Steven of DTG in September during the Flight Sim Web Conference.  Just before that I also interviewed the head of DTG Flight Sim development team, though Steven stepped in for her for the Web Conference. Certainly things can change overnight, but I don't believe this is the case here.

 

If interested, you can watch the Flight Sim Web Conference HERE.

 

My very best wishes to all of you.

FSX-SE is a great upgrade from FSX boxed. Just a few things - it has been recompiled(VS2013), VAS management improved, default cfg values changed to work better with modern hardware, many stability fixes, installer sets affinity mask based on your CPU etc. I've found some other things never mentioned in changelog. Right now, it's my favorite flightsim, and i tried them all

Here is Martin's (DTG) post:

 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/498404-update-from-the-dovetail-games-flight-team/#entry3514054

Hello all,

 

This is getting complicated.

 

Firstly, I would like to emphasize right now that my advice to try FSX-SE was based wholly and solely  on Price (only if on sale and, if the urge to go simming was a desperate one)

 

I do not believe that there are many people who are not aware that FSX and FSX-SE are under NO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.  my reference to 64bit FSX-SE (albeit badly worded) was due to an absence of the final name for the DTG sim - if in fact it arrives eventually.

 

Robin.  I have very firmly made my choice for my next sim .... I have them all except Flight Gear and fully intend to utilize them all when I can get them working. Until I do,  I will fly my FS2004  and thoroughly enjoy it.

 

In the meantime, I should like to restate my advice to the OP that MY recommendation is for FSX-SE (in the interim) and play the waiting game. That is based also on the fact making a positive investment on any other sim could well (financially) commit him to a sim which might well be superceded in six months or less.  Again, I have no idea what his computer specs are nor what his final intentions are so FSX-SE is a tentative recommendation at best. 

 

The OP has a big decision to make, a lot of information in this thread alone and I wish him well

 

Regards to all

 

Tony

Tony, I'm also very much enjoying my FS2004.

I was very impressed with Flight gear. I tried it recently just to look and see what it is all about. I was very surprised with the quality of the planes, as well as the scenery that can be downloaded as grid blocks. For me, it was a worthwhile download to try, as it is totally free.

 

For fun, try it.

 

Even after all these years, I'm still finding interesting stuff for my FS2004.

P3D is a commercial simulator based on FSX. Actually based on ESP, Microsoft's commercial & professional sim.

 

ESP was based on the FSX core technology (and not the otherway around as most people think) - https://www.microsoft.com/Products/Games/FSInsider/developers/Pages/. So, ultimately, P3D is based on FSX (via ESP).

 

I agree that, apart from a few tweaks by DTG, FSX hasn't been updated for many years. However, it's probably still the sim that's most supported by developers.

 

The problem with P3D, as I see it, is that each new full version (ignoring incremental updates) requires you to buy the sim again (and it's not cheap)! Each incremental update seems to bring with it a number of incompatibility issues and many (most?) add-ons and aircraft need to be repurchased specifically for P3D - OK if you're starting out with P3D but not so good if you're moving from FSX.

 

XP11 looks very promising but there are still very few commercial developers supporting it as compared to FSX/P3D. Air Traffic Control in FSX, whilst not great, has always been seen as much better than XP and (according to a presentation by Austin Meyer) there are no immediate plans to improve it.

 

You still get a lot of bang-for-your-buck with FSX and there currently isn't anything available which makes me say "Wow, now's the time to change". It may be old but it still works well (for most people) and looks to be well-supported for the foreseeable future.