FSX-MS Investment in FSX. Really?

[spilok 1,133]

Primarily Ernie.....because it IS a discussion about FSX.  It is hopefully, a little enlightenment regarding my humble opinion, and the opinion of others.  Please don't feel I'm abandoning FSX; I simply have decided to trade the "old car" in, and get a "new car".   This car has all the new, optional equipment that my old car didn't have.  I can see all the way down the road CLEARLY.  There are no shimmering, fuzzy, pieces of scenery.  When driving, it's imperative to see clearly, isn't it?

And...my new car has all the new safety equipment on it that prevents a "crash".  I've crashed my old car so much that all the fixing (tweaking), and visiting new mechanics (like Nvidia Inspector) couldn't keep it together any more.  The new car technology prevents crashing, for the most part.

Oh, I have a computer that is fully capable of having 3 sims or more on it (Jetline Systems), but if I don't feel like driving my old car anymore, then it's time to say "good-bye" and trade her in.

See, Ernie....it IS a discussion about my old car being replaced by a new one.  We've all done that before, haven't we?

Stan

[Dazkent 113]

Still plenty of life left in FSX, it has done amazingly well for a product that was launched over a decade ago and even when i fly it today it amazes me what awesome products we have from the likes of ORBX and A2A. I showed a friend the steam edition just running ORBX global on my non sim pc and he has decided to join the hobby :)

I have dabbled with P3D in the past but until it runs as smooth as FSX on a single monitor at 1920x1080 locked at 30FPS (don't have a 30Hz monitor) with no stutter and the AA is as good without having to use nvidia inspector to eliminate shimmering I am going to continue to purchase products for the old sim

 

 

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I have been a loyal FSX fan for many years, and still love to fly my F33 Bonanza with RXP FLT/FLN gauges in the cockpit.

But, and this is a biggie.. Now that I have P3DV4 running nicely and smoothly, yes, as smoothly and pretty as FSX, without Nvidia Inspector, on a 1920X1080 monitor (but with fps set to unlimited, because P3D likes that better..)

Now that I have all that, I cannot live with the "popping up" of autogen buildings and trees in FSX anymore..

It just destroys the sense of "being there"..  It was always a pet peeve of mine, but now I have an alternative 

[pracines 823]

I totally agree with the OP. I personally meant what I said to myself and here, I will never go back to 32 bit flight simming.

I just completed a flight in P3D 4.1 from LSZH to YMML (17 hours) using the PMDG 777LR, and many popular add-ons Hi Fi, Orbx Global, RC4.3, with very high settings and not one problem.....never going back because 32-bit would never allow this.   

 

[Patco Lch 1,465]

I can't imagine simming with out my PMDG airliners and I am not going to spend the $500 it would cost to replace them in P3D. That in addition to the $$200 for a sim license I have doubts about the legality of my using it for my intended purpose.

I bought most of my add-ons before I retired. Now with all the time I have to sim it is my primary joy. Not to mention signing into AVSIM several times a day. For that reason I do consider the money I spent over the years a good investment . Bought a new rig last month and FSX Steam runs and looks great. I know what my rig can handle and have my settings accordingly. So yes, I consider the money I put in FSX a good investment for my old age.

[JYW 2,978]

I don't think I'll ever 'get' the desire to commit to and use a single sim.  Even if you choose to only buy addons for one platform going forward (I totally get that), I can't see the logic in deleting software that has all that investment in it, and that can still provide much enjoyment.   I'm a P3Dv4.1 user too - love it - but I'd never 'delete' FSX.   What's to gain in that? (except disk space).

I bought the NGX for P3Dv4.1 but as much as I love the NGX, soon regretted all that money spent on a product that for me, is indistinguishable from it's counterpart in FSX.    Thus, when I fly the PMDG T7 and 747 QOTS II, it's in FSX.  

The bonus is that, unlike with a "P3Dv4 only" philosophy, I also get to fly the J41 and MD-11 !!

Not to mention that I'm still enjoying the MJC Q400, where P3D only users have been pining for it (and the same with the FSL A320, although as of this week, I have that in P3Dv4.1 too).  Most of my flying is in P3Dv4 and XP11 but I still love FSX and there are experiences and products I get to enjoy in FSX that P3D and XP11 can't provide.

Relationships with sim platforms do not need to be monogamous! 

[Kevin_28 164]

While I do have and use p3d v4.x as my main sim, I also use FSX from time to time. I have no problems using both. Those that stick with FSX have their reasons, and it is not my place, nor do I have any inclination, to criticize it. I also assume that most people who visit AVSIM on a somewhat consistent basis are at least aware of the other options that out there and the benefits they provide. If not, inevitably they will come across these things because it seems to show up in so many different threads in which alternate platforms are even brought up. Use what you want to use and enjoy!

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Hello all again,

Lots of great points being made here and largely they are ALL relevant.

I look at Flight sim and each platform differently, as, I would guess most of us do. I believe that they should be treated like personal relationships.  The time to get out of them is when there is no contribution, enjoyment or growth. FSX FSX-SE and FS2004 are certainly getting to that stage but are not there yet and for a lot of individual preference reasons.

Someone here said, and I paraphrase, that with todays storage costs there is no need to get rid of anything. I believe that he has hit the nail on the head.

As with long-term and indeed all, relationships, there are always good memories involved. Old sim platforms could probably be looked at in the same way as photos and it is always good to revisit. 

I understand anyone wanting to make a fresh start regardless of the costs involved, but deleting forever, a flightsim is like throwing away photos, particularly when the cost of keeping them is so small.  

We are all thinking individually and this is well reflected in the opinions of this post.  The really great thing about it is that it is being discussed very well and certainly not heatedly.

Well done all

Regards

Tony

[spilok 1,133]

I agree with Tony.  However, FS9 is still viable for simmers.  It has way fewer OOM's than FSX.  We could go back even further.   Bill Gates once said, "If it ain't broke.......BREAK it!"   What he meant by that was that if you keep what's not broken, no progress occurs.  If we lived by the "If it ain't broke, I'll keep using it", then we can go back to the horse and buggy as well.

Just trying to get a good discussion going here.

 

Stan

[Chock 17,769]

31 minutes ago, spilok said:

I agree with Tony.  However, FS9 is still viable for simmers.  It has way fewer OOM's than FSX.  We could go back even further.   Bill Gates once said, "If it ain't broke.......BREAK it!"   What he meant by that was that if you keep what's not broken, no progress occurs.  If we lived by the "If it ain't broke, I'll keep using it", then we can go back to the horse and buggy as well.

Just trying to get a good discussion going here.

 

Stan

When someone has spent a lot of money on stuff for one sim, it's a big and unpalatable cost to be buying it for another one. That's why I'm a fan of companies which will discount purchases for users making that switch to another sim version of a product, or even make a dual installer, or offer some other concession.

I don't expect developers to work for nothing and neither should anyone else, but I do think some of them shoot themselves up the tailpipe by not offering any discount to such users, since let's say half the income of a full-price sale of a P3D version in your bank account from people who've put you where you are in buying your FSX version at full price, is far better than no money from them at all because they resent paying the same price again when a good percentage of what they are buying is not any different from something they've already paid for. In many cases with FS add-ons, the 3D models and textures may well be identical, much of the flight modeling is identical, the manual is pretty much identical, all of the research necessary to produce the thing originally has already been done, and so on. Yes the gauges might have to change depending on how they were made originally in order to function in a 64 bit sim and licensing often means there is some additional cost too, and you have to beta test a new sim version too (unless you are Carenado lol), so I certainly don't think anyone should feel they are owed everything for nothing, but a lot of the development cost has already been offset in sales of a product which contained a lot of the work already done, and to me it is just plain wrong to be pretending that isn't the case.

Not to mention this kind of thing carries a not inconsiderable goodwill aspect with it when it rewards product loyalty, which means the buyer is with you for anything you might subsequently develop because of their favourable impression of your company. So I don't blame some people for staying with FSX, or even FS2004 when that is not the case with some developers who offer no such concession, and most of you will know exactly which developers I'm talking about here, because there are some well known examples of some who don't do that at all, and I think they are being very shortsighted with regard to revenue and goodwill.

[AOB 78]

I am not deleting my FSX. I have spent thousands on it over the years too but if you divide years into cost it really does not add up to much for the amount of entertainment it gave and still gives me. I do have two of the latest, FSW and Aerofly FS2 both bought through Steam. I will buy the DLC's for them and watch them develop but I have found that if the internet goes down and you cannot get onto Steam then I cannot play them. One more reason to hang onto good old FSX. Still a very good sim imho.

[Patco Lch 1,465]

For those who are playing the death derge for FSX go to the new addition page on PC Aviator,Sim Maket,FS Pilot Shop or any sim store and see the new products for FSX every month. Or see the daily gifts of freeware by some great people who share their creations with us. I know a couple of scenery dev have abandoned FSX but most have not and for some time to come there will be a large market of purchasers for FSX. I bet even the ones that say they will no longer support FSX will market their new releases saying FSX compatible. King Money always has the last word.

[MadDog 353]

I own all the others: P3Dv4, X-plane 11, FSW.  FSX will continue to be my primary sim until somebody gives me a real good reason to switch.  Not worrying about OOMs in P3Dv4 is nice; but I've found that complex scenery, weather, and heavy AI traffic create a bigger performance hit in Prepar3D than in FSX (although one wouldn't know it from just looking at the frame counter).  I still have to back off on the sliders in those situations... just for a different reason.  I'm intrigued by FSW; but it's still a work in progress and I'm curious what will happen to performance when we start piling a bunch of add-ons in with those fancy new clouds.  I'm glad folks are happy with their new sims; but I agree that this seems like the wrong place to voice it.

Incidentally, PMDG, A2A, etc. will never get a dime from me for an undiscounted port.

[scianoir 610]

I mainly use FSX but continue to run FS9 which I still use from time to time for  it's stability particularly during longer IFR flights. Like many who have posted here I have invested many thousands over the years in FSX, although for the sake of my sanity I have never actually calculated how much! I continue to be very happy with it as it runs very smoothly for me and by being careful with VAS usage I can generally avoid OOMs.

With an eye to the future however I now tend to buy addons where the cost includes both FSX and P3Dv4 versions or where the developer gives a reasonable discount for existing owners to add a P3Dv4 version. For this reason I have not purchased the PMDG 737 for FSX but instead use the excellent iFly version which offers a discounted upgrade. For the same reason I have not upgraded my PMDG 747 to the latest version but will have a choice of PMDG or iFly versions if/when I move to P3D.

Like some others here I too am retired so I have to be a little more circumspect  about spending. Although my original plan was to wait until my present computer packed in before upgrading to P3D, I am considering adding P3Dv4 to my current computer for mainly for my high demand Orbx areas which happily would not have to be repurchased. However to set up P3D with  anything like the level of addons I currently have in FSX would involve very significant additional expense. Indeed just replacing my existing PMDG and A2A products alone would cost over $400 and $300 respectively! That fact together with the non-availability of P3D addon scenery as yet for the airports I mostly tend to fly from makes a complete switch to P3D much less attractive to me at this point in time.

Bill

[Bjoern 1,155]

I don't quite understand the point of this thread.

 

As long as an add-on doesn't pull any dirty tricks like checking .dll files for FSX' presence at runtime or using non-FSX native models or doesn't rely on .dll gauges or modules that can only be updated by the developer, any FSX add-on can be used in P3Dv4 as well - if you copy it over manually.

Granted, you'll only know this after purchasing it, but it principally leaves you with the possibility of investing into FSX without preventing an add-ons use in P3Dv4.