Thanks signmanbob for the email address you posted. I've fired an email off to them and hopefully they will get on the case. Just cleared the decks of the review I had in progress for Avsim, so I'm ready to give the FSx 737 a good look, and in the fortunate position of only having to work one day this week, so with a bit of luck if they get on the case, then so can I.Al

I'm looking forward to seeing your review, Al.I've also been waiting on an activation from them. I went ahead and got the only FS9 plane that I didn't have which was the 737-800 and it is the one that they have most of the McPhat liveries available for in FS9. It has been also taking longer than I thought it would so they may be either behind or off for a few days.They have never not activated a product, so they will get to it.Bob

They have never not activated a product, so they will get to it.

Bob,This is the kind of assertions that can be sowing seeds of doubt about your relationship with Ariane.If you want to keep some credibility IMO you should avoid being so peremptory.I dislike in this thread personnal attacks against you as much as I dislike all kind of brainwashing that might hide blatant advertizing.Same story here:

Also be sure that your email program is not kicking their activation email into your "Spam" folder. This happens a lot and is probably one reason for customer problems. I know why they use AOL, but I wish they could find another way too.

As you know, commercial members must be clearly identified in our forums.Thanks

Is there any chance someone could post some high res shots of the VC? I'm talking native 1680 x 1050 (or better) screenshots. From what I've seen, the VC looks to have a blur to it. I can't tell if that is because of what computer people are running it on or if the VC is indeed low resolution and blurry.This is probably the main reason I've not bought the plane yet. Most of the screenshots out there make it look like a big blurry mess.Any takers?

HiI have problem with the FMC, it is shutting down for no reason at all. The technician information is as bellow:Problemsignatur:Problemh

Hi David Roch, moderator,Some thoughts......Signmanbob currently is one of the few real pro Ariane individuals and he is simply trying to be helpful.I am another.....and I personally have been many times when I have voiced my support been accused of being on the payroll. Seems SOP here. Some negative comments/questions on Ariane are constructive and I will always welcome this kind of interaction. However, I have no time for malicious, misleading untruths or personal attacks on supporters of any product.One of the reasons I read these forums (and occasionally participate) is to learn about a particular product. But when I see BS being spread about a product I personally think is pretty good I have to wonder how valid the comments about other products are and this questions the whole integrity of the forum. In fact, as I type this there are two products from a certain producer who in the past I have been less than totally impressed with I am now giving consideration to purchasing but to be honest I would think twice about posting as I am tired of the personal comments directed. Probably I would pm someone like Signmanbob or others like him for reliable information.I have purchased more than a couple of add on aircraft over the years I think are not worth the money paid (since the late 1980's)but I do not go online and accuse their supporters of being on the payroll. Why waste the energy or bandwidth in non productive garbage.Singmanbob.....keep posting your thoughts and support for those products you believe in.dbw

Is there any chance someone could post some high res shots of the VC?

Here you go, I didn't want to post too many pics, because it would stuff up the load times on this thread. These are not the resolution you requested because that distorts the image on my monitor (they are 32 bit 1280x1024). Obviously with the thing not activated, none of the dislays are lighting up, but you can at least see the textures pretty well, and they don't appear blurry to me except on the circuit breaker panel, which is the case with most VCs of course, so that's no different to what you mostly find in other FS aircraft. You'll notice that the 'idiot board' on the yoke is a bit clearer than it is in most FS 737s (including the PMDG and the Wilco 737s), so it looks pretty good in this respect. Now if only I could get it activated and fly the damn thing...Incidentally, I reopened my ticket to SimMarket to ask them if they knew anything more, and they clearly were not really paying attention to my enquiry, instead replying by once again giving me the incorrect initial information they gave me when I originally opened the ticket (i.e look in the Ariane folder for the activation guide PDF, which is of course not there). They also included a link to download the PDF, so I did that, but again it's not the right one; it relates to activating the product if you buy it via World Pay direct from Ariane and asks you to put information in the activatation fields from the email you got from World Pay, which of course you don't have, having bought it from SimMarket. And so it goes on. Yawn, this is not very impressive, because it's not as if I'm unused to activating products and finding serial numbers (you should see some of the hoops you have to jump through for that when you get review versions of software LOL).I don't mind Ariane protecting their product, and I know that this may all be SimMarket's fault and not Ariane's, but this is turning into a farce. So I've edged a tiny bit closer to reviewing it in its unactivated state, which of course I'd prefer not to do, and I presume they'd be similarly disposed where that is concerned, because it would hardly be a great recommendation for the thing. Nevertheless, until I know this is sorted, I really would have to advise people not to buy it, but of course that will hopefully change. I'll keep you all posted.Still no activation for the Ariane Design forums either by the way.Al

Thanks for posting those pictures, its great to get an insight into the aircraft. I'm intrigued by the 'no 2d cockpit' decision on the Ariane 737. I understand it is strictly a virtual cockpit only. One thing I have seen on many user videos of the product on youtube is the somewhat delay or 'lagging' of the instruments in the VC. I wasn't sure if this was due to the user's recording software or wheather it is due to a programming flaw. I'm hoping for a virtual cockpit that runs as smooth as the level-d vc. Thanks, Anthony H.

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt- they only work week days and today is a holiday (I think) in the UK. Bruce.

Today is not a holiday in the UK......Toni.

Just as a reminder, I purchased my 737-800 X2 via Ariane utilizing World Pay.It has now been a week since I purchased the aircraft and liveries, sumbmitted my activation request, and registered on Ariane's user forum.I have not yet received my activation code nor has my account on the user forum been activated (actually I have not received any communication from Ariane since the original purchase).At this point in time, I will second what Alan has already stated and advise anyone not to purchase this aircraft especially when they claim on their website that you will receive activation in 2 minutes to 48 hours and that their e-mail address for activation requests is manned from 0800-1600 GMT daily excluding weekends and holidays.

I must say, those screenshots do nothing for me. I have the Wilco 737-3/4/5 series, and I think the VC looks better in that!

Thanks for showing the screenshots, but they reaffirm what I thought before. The text is a decent resolution- too bad the rest of it isn't. These days with 512-1024 mb+ graphics cards, developers have absolutely no excuse not to make high resolution VC's. On machines with smaller capacity graphics cards, high res textures don't affect performance, they just increase loading times.I'm afraid I'll be waiting this one out for the PMDG NGX 2.0. Spending that kind of money on blurries isn't realistic to me.

Thanks for showing the screenshots, but they reaffirm what I thought before. The text is a decent resolution- too bad the rest of it isn't. These days with 512-1024 mb+ graphics cards, developers have absolutely no excuse not to make high resolution VC's. On machines with smaller capacity graphics cards, high res textures don't affect performance, they just increase loading times.I'm afraid I'll be waiting this one out for the PMDG NGX 2.0. Spending that kind of money on blurries isn't realistic to me.

Looks too "cartoonish and flat" in comparison to what we're used to seeing from the likes of LDS and PMDG... glad I didn't waste the money a second time with Ariane. :( I'd rather wait for a properly done 737NG from PMDG.

Thanks for posting those pictures, its great to get an insight into the aircraft. I'm intrigued by the 'no 2d cockpit' decision on the Ariane 737. I understand it is strictly a virtual cockpit only. One thing I have seen on many user videos of the product on youtube is the somewhat delay or 'lagging' of the instruments in the VC. I wasn't sure if this was due to the user's recording software or wheather it is due to a programming flaw. I'm hoping for a virtual cockpit that runs as smooth as the level-d vc. Thanks, Anthony H.

There is a slow refresh rate with the instruments in FS9 versions, but the FSX X2 instruments have an excellent and silky smooth refresh rate, actually even smoother than the real instruments from what I have seen on my "Just Planes" videos.But definately this is a problem with FS9 versions. They said it was a limitation of FS9, but I have seen some sims with smooth gauges, so it just depends on the different "work arounds" that different developers are aware of.

Looks too "cartoonish and flat" in comparison to what we're used to seeing from the likes of LDS and PMDG... glad I didn't waste the money a second time with Ariane. :( I'd rather wait for a properly done 737NG from PMDG.

When your in the VC it is certainly not "cartoonish and flat". All the switches are very 3D and it is much more realistic than many. The switches and knobs have very realistic sounds also. I think the sounds and lighting are outstanding and the best available with the Ariane X2. I realize all you have to base your opinion on are these pics, but believe me, the cockpit is not flat looking at all.

the FSX X2 instruments have an excellent and silky smooth refresh rate,

Or at least they would if they actually showed up. :( Al