Losing faith

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

3 hours ago, J van E said:

Anyone else recognizes this?

You must have missed my "Tower of Babel" prediction.

[Anxu00 176]

3 hours ago, J van E said:

I notice I am flying less often and if I do fly I often quit the sim before I have landed because I get bored. The last few months I have been flying Aerofly FS 2, mainly in VR, and I was thinking about installing either P3D or XP to get some fixes for things I am missing in Aerofly but the idea of having to go through all that again (all those seperate addons, all those updates) makes me sick already. Everything has become so complicated and everything is taking too long. I am losing hope.

You are not alone.  The prospect of reinstalling everything for P3Dv4 kept me away from that sim for now, that and the extra cash for buying upgrade.  There are simply too much to do to bring back the sim.  I have very little time, so the frustration is multiplied.  My saving grace these days is XP11 and Ortho4XP, where what I see below my wings is as real as it gets.  For me at least, my interest in flight sim is to fly the plane and enjoy the scenery, so that combo fits the bill.  I did try my hand at PMDG birds, bought training videos etc., but somehow never got in to them.  I guess I know for sure now that would not enjoy a career as airliner pilot.  If a hobby becomes a chore, then it's time to change hobby.  One other part that I don't like is the PC HW arm race.  I have now upgraded my PC three times, bought three different graphic cards, yet despite high FPS, the micro stutters in the ESP sim just completely turned me off, so I quit the arm race close to 3 years ago.  I have not touched any sims until XP11 recently.  This hobby for me is a love hate relationship, you keep telling yourself may be, just may be one more change and that will be it.

[dal330200 216]

I'm pretty much done as well.  Too much time playing around trying to get things to work right made the whole thing more trouble than it was worth.  There's always something from interrupted downloads to compatibility issues, tweaking, random crashes and dozens of other little glitches have left me enjoying watching YouTube cockpit videos instead of simming.  I've been simming since fs2 and here we are, at the cusp of a new paradigm in flight simming, and yet we're still dealing with problems.  I'm just bored with the whole thing, and yes, none of these programs equates to a "complete"sim. 

[johncott 177]

From 2001 until mid 2015 I flew about 320 hours on 2000, 2002, 2004 and the FSX various versions.  I was always tweaking and trying things and trying to make each flight simulator the best it could be and was never happy. Spend more time tweaking than flying.  Finally decided on FSX:SE after it was out about a year and never looked back.  Since late 2015 I have flown around 490 hours.  I keep my FSX install very basic.  the only Scenery add-ons I have are the latest Scenery Solutions Ultimate Terrain series of add-on for North America, Europe and the Caribbean. For the rest of the world I used Cloud 9 Xclass landclass.. I also use FreeMeshX mesh for some parts of the world.  The only other add-on scenery are some of my small creations and one freeware add-on airport to fix one messy default airport that I fly into on a regular basis. Besides the default aircraft I have a couple of freeware planes.  I also have a real weather application. That's it. In  the pass I have tried various add-ons, some purchased and some freeware. Got tired on installing an add-on and then my sim would start working slower or lock up.

My point, I got tired of the tweaking and never flying and would quit for months at a time or as the title of this topic says, I was "losing faith." Once I simplified my FSX install, I just focused on the flying.  May not be for everyone, but this worked for me.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I just watched a 45 minute video on FSW on youtube, and I wasn't that impressed.  It did not look much beyond FSX to me, it looked still in it's infancy.  When I get a new system I will probably migrate to XP-11.  The visuals have become much better and richer over the years.  FSX is still my primary sim but I don't fly it very often now that youtube covers many flights with many different types of aircraft.  Maybe I've just become accustomed to the way things look from "up there".

 

John

[HiFlyer 9,358]

1 hour ago, johncott said:

My point, I got tired of the tweaking and never flying and would quit for months at a time or as the title of this topic says, I was "losing faith." Once I simplified my FSX install, I just focused on the flying.  May not be for everyone, but this worked for me.

HD's are cheap so I pretty much keep every sim out there on my machine, ready to run. However, over the years, the chasing after the pot at the end of the ESP rainbow has also gotten old, so my sims are accordingly light now. All Orbx stuff and a very tiny bit of warily installed FSDT, and that's it.

No weird conflicts, CTD's, OOM's etc; just plain old flying when I'm in the mood and can stomach that ancient landclass.

I have a lot of hope for Aerofly, but no problem at all messing with FSX/P3D and Flyinside and even X-plane with flyinside.

And when that gets boring, I won't turn up my nose at War Thunder, or DCS or Elite Dangerous or whatever. Anything to keep the variety and interest up, while I wait for Aerofly to move forward, and frown pensively at FSW.

The secret is not to get caught in a rut. Of any sort.

[edpatino 1,964]

Choose two of the existing sims of your liking, anyone of those will not completely satisfy you, but choose two that are well apart from each other, and enjoy both!. I'm with P3Dv3.4 (still waiting for a new video card to do the move to P3Dv4) and Aerofly FS 2. Also, take a break from time to time, and you'll be fresh for the next "season".

My 2 cents...

Cheers, Ed

[WingZ 547]

4 hours ago, SpiritFlyer said:

Yes sir, a reoccurring theme that strikes me to the floor every so often.

...where...

4 hours ago, DaveCT2003 said:

I've felt myself becoming a little board

Always fun, browsing Hangar Chat :)

[zmak 331]

This is a good time for those bored to take a break especially if migrating to a sim on training wheels including v4 and come back when there are less compatibility issues = less stress

[Jethro 65]

+1 Jeroen

I feel the same as many of the commenters, although I have chosen to stick with my trusty "FSX-A" and addons I simply have not had time to fully enjoy, (I am not bored at all). My sim is configured to the point where little if any glitches or incompatibility's occur, except for the occasional OOM, but I can live with that. It is running smooth with FPS & graphics quality that are believable to my poor old eyes, and my current hardware.

Whenever I read a forum topic about "new this or new that" or the glitch factor of deciding new is better and therefore it should be everything the other sim or version was and better, without considering the overall effect.

So many changes over the past five or so years, the new sim's new players  &  new ever more expensive hardware chasing the dragon (sim features and suitable hardware to achieve acceptable performance to complete the overall illusion of virtual flying) to finally defeat/subdue the dragon to the point where he complies to our every requirement. (Not possible)

I like to remind myself in the form of analogy, the feeling I had as a young man when I learned to drive and bought my first car, it wasn't much ( 20 years older than the current model of the era) but it was all mine, driving was a fresh and new experience filled with all conceivable possibilities for fun and adventure. The car was stock standard basic features mechanically sound, tidy car but with great potential for modifications which were affordable and pleasing to my personal dreams and aspirations. It was my freedom machine, not overly impressive to look at, nor did it perform like a modern vehicle, (but that would change gradually as my tweaking and tinkering adding and shaping to an image I had in my mind of what its final looks and performance could be).
It was modified over time as I found the available parts according to my meagre income as I trained for my job, and kept a little aside for a social life and other expenses. With that in mind I set out to find the best most affordable parts within my budget. I found a guy who was into modifying old vehicles into show car hotrods / street rods, reshaping, painting, chroming, dropping suspension mods fancy engines and drive trains, kitting out with leather, and luxury. While that is not the look I was going for I learned a lot through this guy, he even offered me some of the swapped out parts from previous builds at reasonable cost. One of the most impressive parts he sold me (for a young fella with wonder and excitement still intact) was a "Holley 350 Carburettor" it was chromed and polished to a mirror shine very impressive when flipping the hood for my friends to see, it also came with all the needed engine parts to convert my current engine performance from ordinary to extra-ordinary.
As time went by the car began to take shape ( the image was reflecting my hopes and dreams), it was also my daily drive so I had become accustomed to all its little quirks and idiosyncrasies. Only halfway through the build and enjoying my Car and the freedom it offered to a young fella, building process and features incorporated, could it be more perfect.
Well yes! if only I had more money & time, (no matter what features I built onto the car it would forever remain old (classic), with occasional reliability issues at the worst possible time). My friends were spending more time socialising and because of their jobs would often receive a modern reliable company car as their daily drive. I began to see the disparity and with the shiny glow of boyhood motoring-wonder wearing thin, somewhere along the line finishing the dream build was lost, ( sometimes by the side of the road - hood up radiator cap belching steam or some other unfortunate mechanical failure, my friends wishing me well as they bailed for social gatherings which I had hoped to also attend) the realisation that every day traffic jams were becoming more congested and I had no aircon to cool my frustration. And later on (aided by a miserable sod who decided that my car and hard work, financial input would be better off as his, and so it was stolen never to be recovered probably stripped and dumped. (Insured @ market value for the original vehicle without mods). (The jokes on whoever has my Holley Carb, it was a custom original, I would recognise it immediately, while it worked for me I hope it gave the thief nothing but trouble). But life moves on, I haven't thought about that car for many years. 

I guess what I'm trying to say in a round about fashion. IS:  Enjoy what you have, while you have it, appreciate it for what it is, and dream of what it might one day become, live with its quirks and inconsistencies for now (you will learn to manage/accept them), decide what level ticks most of the boxes or has capacity for growth, be inspired by the experts / Devs - they will reward your commitment to a shared dream, spend as much time away from the sim on life's other wonders as you should for balance, don't miss out on that company car and other opportunities, close the hood for a while it may still be there when you return (only different), life's too short, jump into another car, keep moving forward, join your friends (they are thoughtless in the best possible sense) but atleast they aren't stuck by the side of the road nursing a dream which is maturing slowly or unconventionally toward the future.

That is why I have chosen to stick with FSX-A until it nolonger produces the excitement it did when first released. It still retains all this for me without the grief associated, I can keep and use my addons as well as stuff I have downloaded yet to install, without following into the new unknown territory. I will leave this to others who have the desire to see what FS will become. A niche Pie cut too thinly into ever smaller pieces, is certainly not a recipe that will please all, catering to all tastes and apetites.

[YukonPete 586]

What a bunch of cry babies

There has never been such a great choice on offer and it's only getting better. P3Dv4 doesn't require all the tweaks FSX and previous P3D's required.  If you are so unhappy write a simulator program! Obviously then you will get exactly what you want right?

[zmak 331]

1 minute ago, YukonPete said:

What a bunch of cry babies

There has never been such a great choice on offer and it's only getting better. P3Dv4 doesn't require all the tweaks FSX and previous P3D's required.  If you are so unhappy write a simulator program! Obviously then you will get exactly what you want right?

Your kidding right? Fsx was a one tweek and forget P3D all versions has been a freaking nightmare! 

[YukonPete 586]

20 minutes ago, zmak said:

Your kidding right? Fsx was a one tweek and forget P3D all versions has been a freaking nightmare! 

FSX was at least 5 or 6 tweaks and then a bunch of settings in NV Inspector. P3Dv4 requires none!

[mabe54 17]

We had it so good until 2009 and we didn't know it. Now are just dreams of once again.

Cheers,

 

[SpiritFlyer 987]

Best it has ever been, and insofar as P3Dv4 is concerned it is miles ahead and gaining grown constantly. Best times so far is right now!