Time to take FS9 and others off life support

[Guest]

On 13-6-2017 at 10:42 PM, Sirxamoc said:

Me, before my time has come for me to go to the boneyard, I hope to see a flight sim, that I can sit in my lounge chair, push a button a small notebook size console, and find myself immersed and surrounded by a virtual cockpit that is just as real visually as the real thing.

The Oculus Rift can be bought for a short time for 399 dollars (including Touch). Add Aerofly FS 2 and you have what you desire.  No need to wait any longer!

I myself have no problems leaving a sim behind when a better one comes along. I have spend a LOT of money on addons but that never kept me from switching. After ditching FSX for P3D I ditched P3D for XP11 without any problems and even after buying a few addons for XP I had no problems ditching XP only after a few weeks for Aerofly FS 2. Why stay in the past or have a mediocre experience while something better is available? That would be a waste of time for me. 

[vgbaron 3,510]

14 minutes ago, J van E said:

I myself have no problems leaving a sim behind when a better one comes along. I have spend a LOT of money on addons but that never kept me from switching. After ditching FSX for P3D I ditched P3D for XP11 without any problems and even after buying a few addons for XP I had no problems ditching XP only after a few weeks for Aerofly FS 2. Why stay in the past or have a mediocre experience while something better is available? That would be a waste of time for me. 

And therein lies the reason why all these flight sims continue. F or every one of you, Jeroen, there's a counterpart who does it exactly the opposite. It is purely a subjective thing and as long as enough people like <insert sim name here> it will continue to flourish.

Vic

[WingZ 547]

I always had difficulty with the idea of an airline pilot spending weekends doing stunt flying.
It seemed a bit like a gynaecologist watching porn, really.
I will dwell on this thought a little, below.

I have a FS2004 install which can charitably be described as “Mature”.
It took more than ten years to create.
It contains 1,148,702 files occupying (only!) 230 GB of HDD.
The 180 GB “Spare Planes” off-sim hangar has a quarter of a million files.

In there, I can do… Anything. The fact that there is no brand-new sub-version of the 1961 Piper Archer III for it on Sim Market this week is wholly irrelevant: go looking and you will find. The sim has the richest legacy of freeware addons and tweaks in existence. Astonishing payware, too. If I were so inclined, I could work my way through what’s available by the year 2050 at a push.
It is a very serious simulator requiring proper attention to make it work properly.

I can never duplicate it, and I will never throw it away.
It also takes a very long time to start itself and clear its throat for my very serious flying.

Back to the airline captain and the gynaecologist: if I want a quick fly, just for the joy of it, the Grandfather of all sims mentioned above is a little weighty. Enter Aerofly FS2: a brand new from-the- ground-up 64 bit sim that carries no baggage containing the letter “X”, whatsoever. In short, it works, even in these early days of its life.
Strap on a Rift, jump into a Swiss Hornet, and burn up some Cantons at low level for a sim experience like never before. This is what I want from a New Sim, a whole new dimension of immersion, not just a little more of the same-old.

Who says you can’t have yer cake and eat it?       

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Groovy Kincaid,

"several developers have completely dropped further FS9 offerings."

It appears to me that nobody is offering new stuff for FS9. May be I am wrong and if I am, please point me to further offerings.

However, as you say, there is much to be grateful for with this sim and to be frank (or Jim or Betty) 64 bit developments for the new 64 bit sims are the only viable alternatives for ME. As VGBaron said ... it is all subjective. For at least the time being though, I am sticking to FS9 for flying and LOL P3Dv4/Aeroflyfs2 for experimenting to try to achieve acceptable results with my configuration. I am unsuccessful thus far and further, I am not flying at all at the moment due to frequent and oft complained about, power failures which took out not only my PSU but also an SSD, both of which have to be replaced.

Regards to all

Tony

[ubersu 78]

I use FS9 and FSX. I have considerable invested in both sims and have no intention of starting over with another sim. I am 72 years old and thoroughly enjoy what I have and have no plans to spend massive amounts of money on more eye candy for the brief time I have left in this world. Those who want to shift to another sim are welcome to do so with a minimum of proselytizing to the rest of us.

 

DJ

[WingZ 547]

Can't take it with you, DJ.
Time to put the hammer down and get what you can, while  you can :)

[Captain Kevin 586]

39 minutes ago, himmelhorse said:

It appears to me that nobody is offering new stuff for FS9. May be I am wrong and if I am, please point me to further offerings.

Freeware development group TDS has always started off with an FS9 release first, followed by FSX. They are presently working on a Boeing 757 to replace the old Project Opensky 757.

[Wobbie 938]

VERY wrong..

Look at Milton & team's stuff, Shessi's Halifax's, etc.

Remember, add-ons are certainly not an investment. They are just purchases, that have no other intrinsic value, apart from time.

As said before, FS2004 is a mature sim, still with a lot of new add-ons being developed, & a sim that needs very little, if any tweaks. There are so many postings for the 'other' 64bit sims all about what works, what does not, the benefits of raindrops, upgrading hardware, going back to pervious versions, updating drivers, etc, etc.

Us older simmers still have a sim that just works, at reasonable costs, & still fun flying, instead of tweaking.

 

AND, unlike P3D, where I have seen a posting in which it is asked if guys will pay for sloping runways, we have sloping runways, ramps & even banked tracks already, all for free!

 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Hello again Guys

 

Firstly let me apologise. I was sincerely and blissfully ignorant of these works in progress and recently developed.

I guess that I have become somewhat insular with my FS2004 and fly very happily with what I have got.  I do not follow the FS2004 forum except when it appears in the daily columns. Apart from that I fly mainly in OZ and Indonesia and use VOZ1.8 as the only freeware scenery package.  I am not aware of a good/great payware airport in Australia so have been content with that for a while and the same applies to Indonesia ... I use all of Sudi Bodionos' payware airports and no add on scenery.

All my aircraft are now payware too. I gave up on freeware aircraft many years ago and that is probably to my detriment. 

That then, is my reason for my incorrect statement. That plus many whinges about the lack of new scenery/aircraft and utilities for FS9. Strangely enough, I accepted those comments as fact and never followed it up. If anyone knows of relevant airports and or sceneries for my flight paths, please enlighten me.

So apologies again

Regards to all

Tony

 

[WingZ 547]

Well this response properly belongs in the FS2004 forum, but might be of wider interest to anyone in the community who might be interested in the "Best of the Best"

You will need more than one session at this: start with my last entry at #426, a freeware scenery from Greg Putz which is in a class of its own.

[Wobbie 938]

No problem, Tony. There is so much out there. Have a look at http://www.ford-tri-motor.net/  

Some really great stuff there, for free. 

The vast majority stuff I have is freeware. To be honest, I got bored with the usual point-to-point 'tube liner' flying a long time ago, & that site rekindled my simming ( there you will find the afore mentioned ramps etc, & I have a separate install just for that & related planes. Milton's older stuff was there, as was mike Stone's. We have to keep their legacy alive, 'else simming will end up chasing the holy grail, spending plenty money! Fun, facts & fantasy! It is our hobby, & we are not lessor simmers for sticking with what we have.

Regards,

Robin

[ErichB 3,638]

Flightsimming is a very expensive hobby to build from scratch.  If you're living in a place like South Africa where the exchange rate and cost of living are squeezing the life out of everyone, then rebuilding a flightsim platform like P3D V4 is just not a viable economic option at all.     FS9 was/is still a good sim with a shedload of stuff available for it.      The illusion of flight happens in the mind, not on the screen.  It's amazing how the mind can fill in the blanks if it has to.    The problem is, once you step into new, more modern platforms, it's hard to go back.  

[Wobbie 938]

Yup, Rand/$ really sucks. However..

Yes, the mind does fill blanks. I always tell the story of the simulators we have build up at our 'Cape Virtual' clubhouse at Ysterplaat Air Force Base (FAYP), here in Cape Town.

We have a 90% size (to fit on a trailer), replica cockpit of an Avro Shackleton, using original seats, yoke, pedals, throttle quadrant & canopy, as well as a twin seater Impala (MB326) that the South African Air Force used as a trainer, also.using original stick & pedals, built into an actual fuselage.

We went for immersion, as opposed to realism, so the Shack has a large panel inside for instrumentation, & a projector & screen for scenery. The Impala rear seat has a screen for instrumentation, as does the front seat, & another for scenery. We have a 42' screen for the front seater's scenery. We can close the canopy for IRF letdowns.

The Shacks from 35sq flew from the base, so we have a soft spot for her, & we have the last remaining Shack MR3 that we pull out of her hanger & do engine starts at the end of each month. It still has hours in the air frame, but not enough to train new crew, as the existing crew members are slowly time expiring.

We know we hit the immersion spot when we see 'real' pilots literally bump in their seats anticipating touch down.

Here's the thing, we are using FS2004, with freeware local scenery by Aeroworx, on a Celeron 2GB PC with integrated graphics. No lag, nothing! It just works.

We also mentor 60 kids, The Young Falcons, 30 juniors & 30 seniors, every 2nd week, for 2 years. They get lectures, then practicals on donated PC's, of which we have a dying collection of XP's & W7's. Quite a few have achieved their PPL's.

So, back to our beloved hobby.. The big question... immersion vs realism?

 

[ErichB 3,638]

5 hours ago, Wobbie said:

Yes, the mind does fill blanks. I always tell the story of the simulators we have build up at our 'Cape Virtual' clubhouse at Ysterplaat Air Force Base (FAYP), here in Cape Town.

I'm from Cape Town originally so know Ysterplaat very well.  I spent part of my national service there and am quite familiar with 1722 and the SAAF Museum building where you are.   

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by n4gix
removed excessive quote!

[Wobbie 938]

After upteen years, the museum is going through a revamp. We have a new officer in charge, & all should be completed in December.

BTW, we are also restoring a Buccaneer for static display!

But I digress!