Just Musing

[Guest Bud]

Don't you just wonder sometimes why you continue to bother with FSX. Hours spent tweaking the tweaks you did previously; getting involved in the arcane world of overclocking to squeeze out that last bit of extra power and wasting time and eyesight pouring over all the web sites you can find looking for that golden idea which will make you flight sim life perfect. Is it all worth it?Then you get a day like today - you file a flight plan - I use PFE - flight prep goes well and you take off in your favourite plane, in my case the F1 ATR. The flight is from Milan to Vienna and takes in some beautiful Alpine views. The wind is strong and gusty, but you manage to retain height and course on ascent. Somehow you lose yourself in the views of the Alps as they appear through a cloudy skyscape on your three monitors with TH2G and you're still battling to keep the plane on course and at altitude whilst in cruise. The approach to LOWW is very well managed by PFE; it is one I've never done before and the scenery is wonderful, courtesy of Austria Pro. On final I manage to get a gusty cross wind and am pleased to be able to land just off centre but the landing is classed as very good by FSFK.Taxi to terminal and reflect that all has gone superbly well, butter smooth, clear textures and even the ATC responding to my voice calls worked 100%. Is it all worth it - #### yes!!!Bud

[Guest JIMJAM]

PC games in general. He** NO!I got a box with over $500 in pc games I threw in the trash.Went and bought a PS3 and have not looked back.The ONLY game I have left on the PC is FSX.Is it worth all the money,time,effort and headaches?Depends on when you ask me.But yes, with a few thousand in computer upgrades,$300 or so in addons and a week or 2 of trying to nail down settings that FSX can tolerate, Yes FSX/sp1/sp2/addons/killer computer/time, is tolerable.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Totally agree !!"On days like this".... Magic...:-)ps. I still have FS9 on the D: drive somewhere, but I have not powered it up for some time...

[yellowjack 28]

Yup, on flights like that you just want to get out of the aircraft, saunter over to the nearest bar, order an icy cold beverage and have a great internal gloat. Its a pity FSX won't let you do it. :-)

[flightluuvr 0]

I just spent several hours tweaking my FSX to get it running optimally on my rather slow 2.0ghz computer and am happy to report that I have FINALLY acheived what I wanted: average 20-35 FPS with scenery on very dense, and AI airliner traffic at 60%. Getting flyable frame rates even in the 747 virtual cockpit mode. I am ecstatic! The distant mesh scenery is basically flat and looks like a giant fingerpainting but all the buildings, jetways and traffic are there and it is nice and smoooth. Well worth the many hours of random tweaking!AMD Sempron 2.0ghzGE Force 7600 GS (256MB)1.5gb RAM

[Guest Shalomar]

When I upgraded my computer I contracted with www.fs-gs.com . Mike held my hand and told me just what components to buy, then worked with me on Messenger for hours to optimise it. Frankly, I have no urge to tweak anymore. All my flights are immensely enjoyable. FSX has been thoroughly tamed... just wish Gamespy was. Though almost all my flights are on Multiplayer, and except for having to log on three or four times I even rarely have problems staying connected.Best money I ever spent on simming!Donald T.

[StamPilot 4]

>When I upgraded my computer I contracted with www.fs-gs.com .>Mike held my hand and told me just what components to buy,>then worked with me on Messenger for hours to optimise it.>Frankly, I have no urge to tweak anymore. All my flights are>immensely enjoyable. FSX has been thoroughly tamed... just>wish Gamespy was. Though almost all my flights are on>Multiplayer, and except for having to log on three or four>times I even rarely have problems staying connected.>>Best money I ever spent on simming!>>Donald T.Interesting... Didn't know about such service, thanks for HU

[Guest Bud]

Hello DonaldI've hummed and haa'ed about this service for a while. Maybe I will give it a go.Wish I'd kept my big mouth shut - today's flight ended at pushback with a BSOD !!! That'll teach me.Bud

[Gdavis0101 0]

I sometimes feel the same way and that is one of the reasons I bought an XBOX 360 a couple years back, but just the other night I found myself staring at the three rings of death while playing COD4! Luckily it is under warranty, but man! So, now I will get to spend more time with FSX. I even reinstalled Wings Over Vietnam for something a little different and to be honest I am kind of looking forward to it. I just learned to take FSX as it comes, rather than spending hours and hours tweaking it.

[Guest Rockcliffe]

>Yup, on flights like that you just want to get out of the>aircraft, saunter over to the nearest bar, order an icy cold>beverage and have a great internal gloat. Its a pity FSX won't>let you do it. :-)That is so true! I get the same feeling when I land on some north country lake. I wish I could hop off the float and start a campfire and get out my fishing rod.BlairCYOWedit: On the other hand, we don't have to stand in line for a taxi or wait for our baggage after we land in Boston. Or pay for the fuel, lol.