This is just intended as a light-hearted topic and I hope won't become hostile or turn into a sim war.  (It's a post about history so it shouldn't).

The question is asking (mostly those who have been in the hobby for 10 to 20+ years), when considering even some of the very high quality features and advancements we have in MSFS now (like ground scenery), are you happier now, simming in MSFS, than you were in a previous generation?   Clearly this is very open to interpretation but I'd suggest perhaps eras such as where FS2004 dominated (2003-2006), FSX (2006-2011) or P3D (2011-present).   Clearly, if you are still a P3D user at this point, then the comparison with MSFS will not apply, but this is the MSFS sub-forum 🙂

I was thinking about this today, and for me, the happiest and most satisfied I was in this hobby was around 2005; when FS2004 was mature and I was using utilities like the Ground Environment, OZx and early Orbx, Radar Control, etc and flying aircraft like;-

Airliners

• The Level D 767
• The PMDG 737NG
• The Majestic Q300 (my joint fave addon ever)
• Dreamfleet 727 (joint fave addon ever)
• PSS A320 & A330/A340
• I even loved the Feelthere ERJ and their A32Xs!

GA

• All Dreamfleet GA aircraft (remember the PA28-235 Dakota and the Archer; the first to feature RXP avionics?) ... divine!
• All RealAir FS2004 gen aircraft
• A time when even Carenado GA aircraft were seen as comprehensive and high quality! ... seriously if you were in this hobby between 2003-2005 you'll recall that Carenado had a reputation as the cream of the crop. Real high quality.

This 2005 era, in FS2004, was my own golden age.  Following this, I recall things being 'difficult' in the early FSX years. Followed by that platform's own maturity and some amazing aircraft (like the FSL A320 and Majestic Q400) being released for it.

I never did P3D as I switched to XP10 and then XP11 after FSX (and before MSFS), so can't comment but perhaps some people see that as their golden age?

It's not about going back to those times (or platforms) today. There are a host of reasons why that's often not practical (or in some cases possible) today.   It's just about your own level of satisfaction.   I do love the hobby now and I do enjoy MSFS, but my own level of satisfaction and enjoyment really isn't a patch on what it was in my own golden era. 😎

Now of course. MSFS has ushered us into the golden era of flight simulation.  Has there even been default GA avionics as realistic and detailed as the default GA avionics in MSFS?  It seems the default GA avionics of MSFS are at a level we have never seen before in a  home market flight simulator.  I was asking around if there was a decent G3X add-on out there and the response was no.  Working Title will come out with the first decent G3X add-on for a home market flight simulator. I was also asking around if there is a decent G3000 and G5000 add-on out there, besides for MSFS. And I think the answers I got was that there is no decent G3000 or G5000 add-on out there. So if you want a decent G3000, G5000, or G3X add-on, MSFS is your only choice now.  As for the G1000 NXi, it's the best G1000 out there too!  And the default GNS 430 and GNS 530 for MSFS is also very, very good.  From my understanding, perhaps the Reality XP GNS 430 and GNS 530 is better, but that is payware.

Also, the 20 KM CFD that MSFS uses is ground breaking. Air movement through buildings, through mountain valleys, through hills, up to 20 KM away, is simulated in MSFS.

And having photogrammetry and satellite data for the entire world streamed to your computer so we don't have to buy TBs and TBs of hard drive space is also a huge improvement from what we did before.  And of course, satellite and terrain have been treated by Blackshark AI.  The Blackshark AI treatment is key, because Blackshark AI is analyzing the houses, buildings, and trees of the entire world, to determine what is a good 3D model substitution for the world in MSFS.  Just streaming satellite data is not enough - you need the Blackshark AI treatment as well.

Finally, the graphics and performance. Have we had graphics of this level, and performance of this level, with all our add-ons loaded in, in a flight simulator before? People using frame generation are getting over 100 FPS in MSFS, albeit, with better hardware. I remember back with FSX, on a mid-range computer back when FSX was released, I was lucky to get 30 FPS. But 100 FPS was unheard of when FSX was released.  But the best part is, we are getting this stellar FPS with the level of graphics for MSFS too. That's what's so amazing about MSFS.

Edited February 6, 20242 yr by abrams_tank

While the options of what to fly where broader there are 2 things that make me immensly more happy:

Performance and visuals. MSFS looks and performs better than any of the previous sims I have flown. That supercedes all other considerations.

We are at the point of what I was dreaming of when I was playing flight sims with wire frame graphics at single digit frame rates.   This is the "golden age" of flight sims. 

I stopped flight simming around 2008-2010 as it was clear that i couldnt get a fix for the OOM error.

Back since 2020 and enjoyed MSFS 2020 from day one.

This was too easy .. I guess you can call me one of the visual people but the moment i could take off from KFXE and see the unique white roofs of my neighborhood right down to the buildings i knew this was going to be the best era to date. This was the version that actually made me want to learn the specifics of navigation, the intermediate and advanced procedures ..how to properly use the Garmin's.. everything. 

I also loved a century of flight. The freeware groups were very strong at the time Project Opensky Project airbus and the like. That was a great time as well. I was very happy then as well but i was content with simple point to point navigation  with no consideration for wx , or flightplans or other factors that affect the overall experience, It was great for its time and in my view it was one of the foundation years. I do give it some advantages though. The built in replay was magic and the multiplayer was decent as well. I fondly remember reserving Sundays for a multiplayer meetup with a few people and we met up on Roger Wilco every Sunday without fail for a few years

Edited February 6, 20242 yr by Maxis

FS2004 gave me the most satisfaction. I was learning, belonged to a couple of va's, one airliners and one GA, learned the Feelthere (?) B737-400, photo scenery appeared, I enjoyed vatsim. Been simming for 20 years but it all seems a mental drain these days.

 MSFS is the sim we were dreaming of when flying a B&W grid in FS1. This is my standard answer since Fs2 😇 !

Thinking back, way back, to the days of FS 4 and then FS 5, I used to do mostly IFR flights. I had the whole set of Jeppesen European High/Low Altitude enroute charts, a trip kit for the Caribbean, Jeppesen charts for most of the european airports, sector charts for the continental U.S. and terminal charts for New York, Washington D.C, Miami, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Scenery then was kind of simple and dull, so looking out of the cockpit was not really joyful or entertaining.  Instead, planning a flight was the best part of it, followed by shooting the instrument approach. I spent hours and hours simming with my imagination filling what FS then could not visually provide.

Nowadays, with MSFS and its photorealistic worldwide scenery, I mostly do low VFR flights or some short hops with business jets, but most of the time I just enjoy the amazing  scenery. So was I happier then? I don´t know. Maybe, but in any case I was much more engrossed in "real" simming then.

Edited February 6, 20242 yr by duesenwerni
tipo

Loved FS9. Rock-solid performance and was the start of the (whispers) 'study level' era.

But let's not get too misty eyed for flight sims of yore.

Yes, the visuals in MSFS are a key reason why it's successful. Yet it brings new levels of default aircraft and handcrafted scenery that easily betters payware of yesteryear.

Garmin avionics are a fully fledged part of the base sim.

MSFS has been built to incorporate propeller and soft body simulation, plus CFD. Gusts and turbulence are now a component to consider when you fly.

Home flight simulation in MSFS is at a level not seen before. A2A, Fenix and others are aiming to push the boundaries for greater realism. Yet, there's still plenty of space (and a multitude of products) for less complex aircraft.

Freeware content has never been so prolific nor so high in quality (vbazillio, mkvy, superspud, corsten, mamu82 among thousands of others).

MSFS is definitely not perfect, but which sim is?

 

tl;dr FS9 was great, but in my mind, it's a no-brainer. The golden age of flight simming is now.

This is a tough one... I started my virtual flying on a C64, the program was called "Solo flight". After many simulators and "simulators" that followed in the following years, first on my beloved and still not forgotten Amiga 1200, FS2004 came around and that has been the ultimate sim for me for many years. I never wanted FSX or Flight, been looking at P3D and X-plane, but eventually I stopped simming for almost a decade. My FS2004 computer was geting old, Windows moved on and some of the essential FS apps did not work anymore. 

It's now a year since I have finally built a decent computer and after I was eyeing MSFS with a lot of suspicion for quite a while, I decided to, well, take a look. And I never looked back. While I have nothing but the fondest memories for FS2004, MSFS 2020 takes the crown. Maybe I am getting too visual, but flying in MSFS is just spectacular. I have never flown so many different types of aicraft - and enjoyed them all! I even got me a proper collective to fly the choppers! And as others have pointed out, never before did we have such in-depth aircraft with the default simulator. 

So, in the end, yes, MSFS is the sim and right now, this is the golden age for me. 

10 minutes ago, Jure said:

 

So, in the end, yes, MSFS is the sim and right now, this is the golden age for me. 

For me aswell, I can't imagine simming in FSX ever again or still knowing how much better MSFS is in all aspects !

cheers 😉

I was happier and more engaged when I played FS2004, but that probably mostly has to do with age.

No disrespect to this being the MFSF forum but to me the golden age is now. My P3DV5.4 checks all my boxes for flying an assortment of airliners current and retro as well as VFR bush flying and runs excellent on my system. Perhaps this makes me an oddball but that’s just my personal preference.

@JYW, Interesting survey. But it might be better in neutral territory like Hangar Chat. Thoughts?

Why no option for P3D from 2017 onwards? As a P3D user I’m happier now than ever.