I hope I am putting this in the right place.  My flight sim computer bit the dust and so I replaced it with a new one that has Windows 11 on it.

No matter what I have tried (and I have tried many ideas from many sources) I cannot get FSX to run reliably in Windows 11, most of the time it black screens on me with music playing and a small spinning circle, it never gets past this.  It has run once (after following advice from installing it on the Steam forums) and now mostly will no longer run after hitting 'Fly Now'.  So at this point unless somebody has found a sure-fire way to get FSX to run in Windows 11, I will have to change software.

I have a huge investment in my flight simulation environment, from the entire U.S. of Mega Scenery Earth to a full Saitek cockpit and I would really hate to see my investment in my environment go down the drain.  So I am looking for some advice on what simulator to change to in order to maintain as much of my investment as possible.  Here are what I see as the options, and issues with each:

1. X-Plane.  I have used this simulator in the past, so I know it works with the Saitek gear, but Mega Scenery Earth does not support X-Plane, so I lose that investment and do not know if there is similar scenery available (and if there is the cost to match what I have from Mega Scenery Earth)

2. P3D. This is so far looking like my best option, since it was FSX based in the first place, Mega Scenery Earth supports it (stated up to V4, not sure if it works in V5).  I am fairly confident that the Saitek equipment will work in P3D as well, but uncertain about version, or if it really does work?  This simulator is a pretty expensive investment to just buy it and try it (I know there is an academic version available for a much lower price, but I really do not want the watermark on my screen while flying)

3. The newest Microsoft Flight Simulator.  Mega Scenery Earth does not state that it works in this, in theory this simulator already uses real world scenery? so maybe I do not need my Mega Scenery anymore (although which gives better quality?) and I have no idea if my Saitek equipment will work with this simulator?

So, any guidance anybody can give me to get me flying again, preserving as much of my flight sim investment as possible, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

You don't need MSE for MSFS like you said.  I was a big fan of it in P3D.  However only for the western half of the country.  Thought it looked weird in the east.  If it were I would look past FSX.  What types of planes/missions do you like to fly?

That is what I gathered about the new Microsoft Flight Simulator, so the bigger question with that is if my Saitek panel will work in it (9 of the instrument panels, 2 radio panels, switch panel, auto-pilot panel, yoke, peddles, and throttle quadrant).  I mostly fly cross country flights, in either a Cessna 182 or a Cirrus SR-22.   My instrument panel is all steam gauges, so kind of weird to fly an SR-22 with it, but I do like the performance of the SR-22 over the C182 if I am flying more than a couple hundred miles.  I fly mostly in the Western U.S. but occasionally will do flights to the east coast (usually over the course of 2 or 3 days)  I enjoy flight planning my flights and then flying them in my simulator.  Often I will virtually fly to the various fly-ins (like Sun n Fun for example) and fly around those areas for a few days before flying back, quite often I will fly on VatSim, especially for really long flights.

That stuff all works with spad next in msfs 

Excellent!  I will go ahead and give it a try!

Wonder if FSX-Steam edition might be an alternative?

 

scott s.

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6 hours ago, scott967 said:

Wonder if FSX-Steam edition might be an alternative?

 

scott s.

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I tried FSX Steam edition as well, and have the same issue.  At this point I am afraid that FSX is just no longer a viable simulator 😞 which sucks, I have soooooooo much invested in FSX addons, which is why I am seriously considering moving to P3D, from my understanding many FSX addons will work in that.  I am also going to give MS Flight Simulator 2020 a try, with SPADNext, my Saitek gear should all work in that, but I would sure miss all the rest of the addons I have used with FSX for years and years.  Most likely P3D is where I will be headed, from what I have been able to find out, that will best preserve my investment in everything I have for FSX.

I got FSX working!!  The secret was turning on 'DX 10 Preview' in the Display options.  This was off by default.  After turning this on, FSX appears to be running reliably now! 🙂