Hello everybody!

 

Perhaps some of you still remember me, I had to take a long (well, way too long ) break from flight simming, but now as university is nearly done, I am trying to get back again, still stuck with FSX-MS, as I don't want to spend money on a new platform and go through the process of migrating my stuff.

 

Did I miss any great things in the last two years or so that I should probably be aware of?

 

Cheers,

Flo

Hi Flo,

 

Good to hear from you.  You were a great moderator.  XP11 is in beta.  P3D is now at V3 and manages VAS a bit better.  Orbx/FTX down has a new download store and, if you own any of those products, the licenses have to be migrated over to the OrbxDirect Store from FSS.  They have a new FTX Central 3 which is a lot more dynamic and you download from the store (for free if you already own the product) or you can still use any backup to install.  I like the new process.  Some, of course, do not.  PMDG may release the new version of the 747 sometime this year.  It is still in beta.   I'm sure others will have comments to pass on.

 

I will move this to the FSX Forum since this is related to that topic.  Hope you are near graduation.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Orbx have dominated the scenery field. Smaller airport addons are finally getting nearly all the airports people have wanted. The biggest popular aircraft are finally simulated or in the works. Last year was great and this year will be too. Plus with hardware finally allowing a decent smooth experience, it is only a step up to DX11/12 and 64bit for perfection so we do not have to always manage VAS.

FSX Steam Edition is more stable than FSX-MS if you want to consider picking it up on sale....

As noted, there are a few more options available beyond staying with using the boxed version of FSX, and one that you probably should consider (since it won't cost much), is picking up the Steam Edition of FSX (aka FSX-SE), which at present costs 19.99 (sterling) but occasionally goes on sale for a bit less than half that (it was 7.99 over Christmas). If you look about, you can find it for less at places such as Amazon (presently 13.48 sterling). So, we're not talking about breaking the bank here.

 

Why should you consider the Steam Edition? Plenty of reasons...

 

The main one is that it runs a lot better than either the boxed or download versions of the original FSX, either with or without Acceleration or the Service Pack patches installed, and so as far as content is concerned, it is effectively a souped up version of the Deluxe Edition of the original FSX with Acceleration too (thus more default aircraft, the fancy Garmin GPS, Tower Control function etc). It was recompiled by the Steam Edition developers (Dovetail Games) to run a lot better, and some other tweaks were added, such as the High Mem fix, increased texture load (up from 1024 to 4096), better compatibility with later windows versions and 64 Bit operating systems, increased buffers, better multiplayer options and connectivity, lots of crash fixes. So beyond simply running better, FSX-SE rarely if ever crashes and is a lot less prone to running out of memory with flashy add-ons such as the PMDG 37NG etc. Theoretically at least, Dovetail have done all the tweaks they are ever going to do to FSX, but they have said that they will do more if it proves necessary, thus with the Steam Edition, you are using a vesion of FS which is still supported, unlike the MS boxed or download versions, which have not been supported for many years.

 

Pretty much every old add-on you have for the boxed version will install and run on the Steam Edition (very occasionally you have to point them to the FSX-SE config file when installing them or setting them up, but that's easy enough).

 

Then you've got Lockheed Martin's Prepar3d (aka P3D). Like the Steam Edition of FSX, P3D has been tweaked up a lot and has new build come out every once in a while. So it runs well too, but not every FSX add-on you have will like running on it (most probably will though, with some tweaking). P3D costs a bit more of course, and theoretically at least you should have a legitimate reason for buying it, since its EULA specifies it's not to be used for mere entertainment, but as an Academic tool, but there are many who are using it and it seems that LM don't bother too much about enforcing that EULA. Unlike FSX-SE however, you should be aware that most developers make stuff these days that is either for FSX/FSX-SE, or for P3D (and charge for each variant), so there's a bit more installation flexibility with FSX/FSX-SE than there is with P3D.

 

Then you've got some other contenders which have more traction these days than you might recall was the case, X-Plane is a lot more popular than it used to be and is starting to get some good commercial add-on aeroplanes now, including DC-3s, CRJs, 727s etc. One which is also potentially shaking things up a bit, is another Steam-based sim: Aerofly FS2. It's more or less akin to what sims such as Fly and Flight Unlimited had in terms of content, but it does look great and will easily hit over 120fps with everything turned up on even fairly modest computers, so it is one to watch, and it's pretty inexpensive to buy, so worth a look.

 

Beyond all those sims, you'll notice that FSL finally managed to get that Airbus A320 completed, so along with the likes of PMDG and A2A, there are some very cool study sim aircraft around for FS these days, although you'll probably notice that stuff like that is nudging the 100 quid price tag (and occasionally higher) these days. Still, you get what you pay for.

 

Anyway, welcome back and good luck with the conclusion of your studies. Here's hoping you get better than a 'Desmond'. :-)

Thank you very much for your input, advice and the warm welcome back! I'll definitely look into some of the advice, but it's probably going to be baby steps right now.

Looking very forward to spending more time on this hobby again!