FSX is awesome

[Guest]

Just wanted to say how much fun I have with FS X (and not to forget the Track IR 4 Pro). I just did a short flight in Switserland from some place I forgot the name off, to Geneve. Spring, a few scattered clouds, and man, it's beautiful. Flew at about 3000 to 4000 feet and the scenery looks awesome. Autogen at Very dense and man, what a lot is there to be seen! Okay, I don't know how it ought to look over there, but in 'my world' it's beautiful! Looking around with the Track IR 4 Pro is of course freakin' awesome too. It makes FS X come too life!After flying around for quit some time lately I really have to say FS X is a major major major step forward from FS 9... What you get out of the box is incredible (specially when you compare the price of FS X to ANY addon!). Recently I'm only flying the good old default Cessna 172: the VC is very pretty for a default plane! And the scenery: I wonder why people still want to buy addon textures... it looks good to me! Maybe if you know how it SHOULD look like I'd complain, but it's fine with me. This also goes for addon clouds and stuff like that. Okay, if you COMPARE screenshots you can see a difference... but I can't always say it looks BETTER. Different isn't always better. I bought a texture addon once for FS9 (Birds Eye View) and even though it looked cool and better than the FS9 default textures, I didn't really notice it because I could not compare it real time... If you know what I mean. I found it a waste of money. Unlike buying the Track IR 4 Pro. ;) Entering the circuit right downwind and turning on to base and final has never been so EASY and REALISTIC! Just now I turned the plane in one smooth turn unto Geneve's tarmac. Awesome! Really awesome! I really have the feeling I've REALLY been there. ;) And all that with out-of-the-box FSX. And TIR of course, which I have to give a lot of the credit. ;) (And er... yes, TIR wasn't that cheap...)Yes, I'm having big fun with FS X. And this is even pre-SP1! ;) Wow, things will only get BETTER!!!

[Guest jshyluk]

Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy in the real world are breathtakingly beautiful. The people who live there are blessed with a richness of wonderful scenery. FSX captures really only a fraction of that visual splendour, but it's one of my more favourite places to visit in the sim. A glider run out of Lugano is my idea of FSX heaven!Jeff ShylukAvsim Product Reviewer

[Guest CocoLoco]

I have to confess that Track IR 4 has totally converted me to using FSX and the VC. I've now become a lot more demanding in what I want from an aircraft model (which I sometimes feel guilty about given all the hard work people put in to creating great external models). Flying the Extra 300, the default glider, Aerosoft's Beaver X or a Shockwave Spitfire in VC mode is great. Originally I thought that I would also be happy enough with the default FSX textures but having tried MegaSceneryX Hawaii for only

[Geofa 108]

If you haven't already-download the free photo Aosta scenery available here at avsim. I think it even looks better than Oahu-and Oahu is incredible-one of my favorites also!http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

[McCrash 3]

>Southern Switzerland and Northern Italy in the real world are>breathtakingly beautiful. The people who live there are>blessed with a richness of wonderful scenery. FSX captures>really only a fraction of that visual splendour, but it's one>of my more favourite places to visit in the sim. A glider run>out of Lugano is my idea of FSX heaven!>>Jeff Shyluk>Avsim Product ReviewerWOW!I have FSGenesis mesh which I think is 76m in that area. Some parts of the ALPS are 19m, but I don't know exactly where that area is.I thought I would try that area and flew from Lugano LSZA to Zurick LSZH in my FSD Saratoga STD. It was a lot of fun getting over the mountains and then landing at LSZH where you can't get to low over the river because there is a small mountain (huge hill) before the runway.I suggest others to fly this area because it's beautiful.Try airports starting with 'LS'.It will be even more enjoyable when the ACES team releases the patch/update.

[McCrash 3]

>>I have to confess that Track IR 4 has totally converted me to>using FSX and the VC. I've now become a lot more demanding in>what I want from an aircraft model (which I sometimes feel>guilty about given all the hard work people put in to creating>great external models). Flying the Extra 300, the default>glider, Aerosoft's Beaver X or a Shockwave Spitfire in VC mode>is great. >>Originally I thought that I would also be happy enough with>the default FSX textures but having tried MegaSceneryX Hawaii>for only

[MatthewS 761]

Agree fully. FSX and TrackIR4 are great and really looking forward to SP1.Currently I don't run any autogen but still the high re ground textures make up for it. Still looks great.FSX is incredible, SP1 and DX10 patch will make it even better.And now the FSX engine is being used for upcoming MS Train Sim, and don't forget the Adrenaline expansion pack. Plus MS Aces are actively involved in the community like never before.Things have never been better in the FS world! :-jumpy

[Geofa 108]

It is extremely easy to set up (I would recommend the tracker clip that clips to a headset). No stiff neck-you don't move your head that far. You can sit anywhere.Only thing is if in a bright sunlit room you may have to make some adjustments-or close the shades a little.http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

[Guest jshyluk]

As to TrackIR and the TrackClip PRO, you would do me great honour by reading my review here:http://www.avsim.com/pages/0207/TrackClip/TrackClip.htmAVSIM has given the TrackClip PRO a Gold Star Award, which it richly deserves. In short, my eyesight requires some interesting glasses as well, and I have never had any problem with the TrackIR system. The TrackClip PRO will allow you to sim both in brighter rooms and in darker rooms than the TrackIR4. Otherwise, you just sit and sim as you normally would. If your neck is getting sore, you are using the TrackIR wrong, basically. Sometimes, the sensation of motion can be intense, as it is very realistic, but the ability to look around the cockpit at will is supremely powerful. I think in my review, I state that a TrackIR is as important a peripheral device to a flight simmer as a joystick or a monitor. I stand by that statement 110%. If you end up hating your TrackIR, you have 30 days from purchase to return it with no hassle or penalty. If you visit Naturalpoint.com, you can find out more!Jeff ShylukAvsim Product Reviewer

[G7USL 117]

Jeff, great praise for a great product but, to correct you.The problem comes from reflections of light from other scources detected by the camera.It dosen't matter if your using the 'vector clip' or, the 'track clip'. If those interferences are there? performance by TrackIR IS affected!

[Guest]

Let me tell some more about HOW I am having fun with FS X right now: I'm flying from the airfield situated nearby my home (IRL), which is in the Netherlands, to the South of Spain, the Mediterranean Sea. I flew there some time ago (in FS X that is) and liked it, so I thought: let's make a realtime journey there starting right at home!So what I do is this: as soon as I have arrived at an airfield and when I've parked my Cessna 172 somewhere (cold and dark of course) I save the flight as DEFAULT! The next time I have time to fly on, I startup FS X, plan the flight using the FS X planner, starting (of course) from the airport my plane is on. Important thing is to NOT let FS X move the aircraft to any other place! Because in that case you would end up at the runway or at some other gate or parking spot. But by saying NO I start the flight in the EXACT same spot as I left the plane the day before. I do however always set the time to something like mid day (I usually fly at the beginning of the evening): I like to fly at that time, with a blue sky, just some scattered clouds. I like it that way and since it is MY world I can do whatever I want to. ;)So right from the spot I left my airplane, I start everything up (the cockpit was all cold and dark) and start the flight. Sometimes IFR, sometimes VFR, whatever I feel like. Nice thing is the radio's are still tuned right to start the flight: everything is the way I left it. I usually do very short flights: just went from Geneva to Grenoble, which is a typical distance I do daily. (I didn't fly straight south to Spain because the midlands of France aren't that exciting, so I went to the Elzas and from there to Switzerland.)All in all this makes it feel like I am REALLY flying all across Europe. :) Specially starting where I left it the other day, at EXACTLY the same spot, is VERY nice! :)Another nice thing about saving the flight as default everytime, and which also makes it quite realistic, is that at a certain moment you run out of fuel! The amount of fuel is of course saved too! So you really have to keep an eye on it and go to the fuelstation every now and then. Very nice. :)Yes, I'm quite happy with FS X. :)O yes, one more thing: not only Track IR made FS X a lot more interesting: so did my new Samsung 226 BW 22" widescreen. It looks absolutely smashing! Specially when you are used to a 19" CRT! Widescreen is the way to go!

[slashed2 53]

To add to the sunlit room problem, I have opaque curtains directly behind me and the only way around it on days when the sun is out between 9am and about 7pm is too put the tracker on top of the computer hutch and tilt it down toward the floor until the sensor tool detects the tracking leds and no other light.I tried blocking the light from the window with a piece of cardboard but my wife had a 'slight' problem with a piece of cardboard in the front window. Needless to say, I had to use the alternate method.Ian.

[Guest NaturalPoint_Vince]

>To add to the sunlit room problem, I have opaque curtains>directly behind me and the only way around it on days when the>sun is out between 9am and about 7pm is too put the tracker on>top of the computer hutch and tilt it down toward the floor>until the sensor tool detects the tracking leds and no other>light.>>I tried blocking the light from the window with a piece of>cardboard but my wife had a 'slight' problem with a piece of>cardboard in the front window. Needless to say, I had to use>the alternate method.>>Ian.Tell her, it could be worse. I've been remodeling one of our bathrooms, so I have other things on the front lawn.... ;)

[slashed2 53]

Ha! That just wouldn't happen, I'd end up carrying it from the backyard.Ian.

[Guest Stoopy]

WOW. Can really identify with this thread - not only am I enjoying FSX as well (after upgrading to a second Gig of RAM and a ATI 1650 Pro 512MB vid card on my 3.2 Ghz P-4 HT) but I got it for Xmas along with.....yes......a Track IR 4!!! They do indeed make a great combination.Also doing the fly-save-fly more-save-continue thing also, have always done this with previous versions of FS and it's a gas because rarely do I end up taking the same route twice. Doing it in a plane made for FS9 but also exceedingly beautiful in FSX, the freeware Super Decathlon by Airhead....perfect for that low and fairly slow flying that FSX seems made for. Also added the X-Class USA landclass from Cloud 9, I don't do much payware but it was well worth it, and the opinions here had everything to do with getting that very affordable and excellent addon.The only bummer is that the group I've been flying with for years is still a ways off from adopting FSX as a whole so I'm enjoying it more or less "solo" without my ol' buddies, but otherwise it's Gooood Stuufff Maynard!!!