I am contemplating buying FSDS Pro so I can make my own planes. I was wondering what the best price everyone has seen for it is. The lowest I've seen it is $39 for a download, but I was wondering if anyone has seen it for a lower price. Thanks.Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

Mike,In my opinion if you have FS2002 Pro, use GMax, it does have steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, its far better than FSDS. There will be those that will argue the fact, but thats why its my opinion :)

I can't get gmax to work, no matter what I do.Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

Do you have FS2K2 Professional Edition?

Yes.Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

Mike, could you describe the problem in more detail? I'm sure the good people here will be more than happy to help you fix the problem. I would agree with Dave. Although there are plenty of arguments on the matter, I regard Gmax as being far superior to FSDS, although the learning curve for Gmax is a bit steeper - but it's worth it. Also, assuming you want to animate the aircraft, you'll need to pay extra for Aircraft Animator. In Gmax the animation tools are fully integrated with the main program - and also far easier to use. Best regards, Chris

I agree with most of what the others have said here with one exception. The first consideration is which sim you will be designing for. I assume if you are thinking gWax, you are mainly just interested in designing for FS2002. If you want to design for FS2000, FS2002 and CFS2, then the choice would be clear, FSDS. True, you can export for CFS2 from gWax but I actually think FSDS is the better program for this sim as DPedit, at this time, doesn't seem to read the file format that makemdl creates making the creation of the damage profile difficult if not impossible. Makemdl lighting also will not function properly in CFS2. Perhaps waiting for FSDSv2 would be wise as I should think that Louis Sinclair will be taking these kinds of things in to consideration.

I would only be using it for FS2002. I might wait for FSDS2 should I not be able to use gmax.The problem with gmax is this: I register it, then it says "Incorrect version registration. Please update gmax." It says this even when I install v1.1. If you can help, please let me know.Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

>The problem with gmax is this: I register it, then it says >"Incorrect version registration. Please update gmax." It >says this even when I install v1.1. If you can help, please >let me know. Mike, if it had been a problem with using Gmax I might have been able to help, but I don't know much about this, particularly as I had no problem. As you have V1.1 installed I have no idea why the installation fails. However, I would suggest that you go to http://www.gmaxsupport.com/ This is run by, or closely associated with, Discreet, the company that makes Gmax. There are a number of forums, one of which is for Gmax/FS2002. Another is for Gmax itself. And there is a forum specifically for Gmax installation/configuration problems! I think others have had the same problem, so almost certainly you will get some essential help there. I just had a quick look at the installation forum - lots of people can't install! There are lots of answers also, so hopefully you'll find what you need. There's also a gmax installation and troubleshooting guide.... Anyway, good luck! Gmax is a great program - providing you can get it installed and running.... Best regards, Chris

OK after hitting a series of links, I found some registration files that a downloaded and opened. Now it gives me a different window. It says that mtlgen.dlt is missing, even though I have it in the gmax folder. I put it in every subfolder in the gmax folder, and it still says it's missing. What do I do now?Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

Mike,Here is a link to a txt file showing the directory structure and file locations of my gWax intall. Maybe this will help you figure out what files go where.ftp://oregon-coast.net/gmaxtree.zip

My suggestion is save your monety and wait for FSDS II to come out. Abacus wants to sell it stuff, so it must be better than Gmax(which isn't a FS object design program to start with). Good luck

If you're thinking about buying FSDS I'd probably wait until FSDS II comes out, whilst I haven't heard of a release date yet I can't imagine that it will be that long in coming now.Overall though, I would recommend persevering with gMax. When you're using gMax you are using pretty much the same tools that the MS designers use to create the stock aircraft - not just the current sims but also future ones too. These are also the tools which are by far the most widely used in the gaming industry. There's no way that any version of FSDS will have the complete range of tools that gMax has. It's true that you may not need them all, and it's also true that FSDS has the potential to have flight-sim specific tools that gMax lacks - but on the other hand unless FSDS has some better interoperability with gMax (which is now the 'official' modelling solution for FS2002/CFS3) then you may find yourself outside the mainstream way of doing things. gMax certainly does have a steeper initial learning curve compared to FSDS, but it's not the ascent of Everest that some people make it out to be. Also once you have the core stuff pinned down a lot of the more fiddly stuff becomes much easier and quicker to accomplish than it is in FSDS.It's certainly true that the internet installation stuff has caused a lot of problems for some people - but dig around long enough and you should find some sort of answer eventually. Good places to begin asking around are here (obviously), gMax support (http://www.gmaxsupport.com - where I'm one of the moderators by the way) and FFD (http://www.freeflightdesign.com - as well as being good for gMax, this is probably THE FSDS forum).Have funFinn

I've already posted a message in gmaxsupport.com, but people aren't really fast there :-lol. I just posted a message in the FFD forum, so maybe that'll get me somewhere. Thanks for the link.Mike, aka "Tripod" (8-| http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/dcforum/Us...4f22bf27e6f.jpg

Finn, I was intrigued by a statement from Tucker Hatfield. He said that Gmax shipped with CFS3 will have features to make it easier for aircraft design, though he didn't elaborate. (He also said that Gmax would be able to import FS aircraft - now there's a thought!) Although Microsoft is a big company, I would doubt that Discreet would design in FS-specific features. Maybe Microsoft are designing a set of plugins, for example a wing-design wizard - would that be possible? If so FSDS really does face an uphill climb! I'm very happy with Gmax but I can understand the difficulties faced by many on their way up the learning curve. If Microsoft can significantly improve the ease of use while at the same time adding aircraft design-specific features, then I can't really see a commercial future for FSDS2. Maybe a better approach for Abacus would be to market a set of Gmax plugins that are much better than the Microsoft ones! Best regards, Chris