Well, I've been away from Fly!2 for a while.........

[Guest Lindy]

....... because I've been busy learning "the other sim." And I've been really enjoying that other sim quite a bit. Then just this evening, I loaded up Fly!2, picked a 3rd party airport that I knew I liked (Chillicothe, I think it was..... and BTW the default startup there has your plane parked nose up to a fence! Any way around that?) Sorry I digress.I set myself up at Chillicothe in the Malibu (sorry, Sahara) at dusk and just took off. I flew over some lovely mountainous scenery. Using the Vector Map, I located a nearby airport and headed for it. The plane kept acting as if it was being bounced around by winds -- I did not set any weather parameters -- and possibly, being over the mountains, that's what was happening. But I didn't mind .... it seemed appropriate. I made my approach, albeit a bit sloppily, and landed then shut down. I got to thinking -- what was it about the other sim that I liked over and above what was available with Fly!2? Remember, these observations are strictly from my own personal point of view that I wanted to share with the community. And two major points came to mine. First and foremost, the other sim runs more smoothly on my computer. Fly!2 is running better now that I have more video card memory but still it could be smoother. I have not tweaked my Fly!2 Render.ini file and don't believe it should be necessary.Second -- eye candy. Pure and simple......tons of default airports and airfields that have at least some buildings in the area, most with some kind of taxiways and/or parking areas. Rivers, lakes, bodies of water that are pretty much where they should be and some major roads. Plus relatively good looking default scenery all over. Otherwise, I find both sims to be reasonably comparable..... it's just a matter of personal preference and how comfortable you are with either sim. We all know the "other sim" isn't going away any time soon. It's in no danger of extinction. But it would truly be a shame if Fly! faded into oblivion. I still like it very much......I don't intend to abandon it for another sim. I guess for me it's now a case of having two sims that I like equally, but for different reasons. -Lindy :-wave

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Lindy,Good to see you posting Lindy and glad to see you enjoying your simming ( whatever sim you prefer to use ). After all isn't that what it's all about? Unfortunately the topic of the thread has the potential to develop into yet another sim V sim debate which finally ends up being locked/deleted/banned whatever. I fear they will be into this thread like a rat up a drain pipe. As always keep your wings level and watch your sink rate. Cheers,Roger @YSSY

[Guest ben_]

Lindy"...for me it's now a case of having two sims that I like equally, but for different reasons"You're not alone there Lindy."The plane kept acting as if it was being bounced around by winds -- I did not set any weather parameters -- and possibly, being over the mountains, that's what was happening. But I didn't mind .... it seemed appropriate."According to Rob Young the IgnoreSlopeWinds = 0 should be changed to 1 to make life a bit easier for a hard working flight dynamic guru, because the winds have been modelled a bit too strongly; but, I know what you mean about the bouncing around giving a realistic feel.Still I did change it to get more stable controls."I have not tweaked my Fly!2 Render.ini file..."I know it seems a pain but some tweaking is desirable at times.In the other sim the high speed drift of the DI meant I had to tweak the ini file.Allen Kriesman has a program called FlyStart which once you've set up different render.inis, it lets you start with whichever one you want.Personally I have just rediscovered the Stearman (note always change Control setups from 0 to 100 EVERYTIME you try a new aircraft :-)).Getting up to a safe altitude (8000ft?) setting cruise at approx 100, pull the elevator back then wait for the left wing to drop, then kick in the left rudder , and in NO TIME you are spinning down at a constant 60 knots without increasing speed. Fly!2 is just a SUPERB real flight simulator .Sorry I just had to indulge myself with my recent knowledge :-)Ben

[LAdamson 240]

> Unfortunately the topic of the thread has the potential to >develop into yet another sim V sim debate which finally ends >up being locked/deleted/banned whatever. I fear they will be >into this thread like a rat up a drain pipe. > As always keep your wings level and watch your sink rate. >No problem here.......... I agree with everything Lindy said! :)L.Adamson

[Guest Lindy]

No problem, Ben....good to hear from you about the Stearman. That was a plane I avoided in Fly!2 because with my old TNT video card I got that "lovely" chocolate colored mask on rearward view from the cockpit. But now with my new video card, ALL my views look the way they shoulder.Maybe I'll give it another try. I just wish Fly!2 had some modeled float bases so I could take off in the float Stearman w/o having to slew somewhere. -Lindy :-wave

[Guest Lindy]

I tried to keep my observations as objective and non controversial as possible because I know how some people like to pick nits. :-) There are LOTS of things I like very much about both sims and a few things I dislike about each sim -- nothing I really hate about either, except.... Nope, I won't say it. :-lol Suffice it to say, I'm enjoying my flight simming more than ever now that I have TWO wonderful programs to play with. -Lindy :-wave

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Larry,>No problem here.......... I agree with everything Lindy >said! :) Wow! Now that's style!I've been saying to my wife for years, "I agree with everything you say dear" and boy does that get me in strife: :-lol :-lol :-lolCheers,Roger @YSSY

[Guest ben_]

LindyI have only used the taildagger version and fortunately I have no visual problems. I set off for a long lonely island to practice spins above :-).Ben