G'Day Roger,Great holiday but no trips to airshows or the like so no interesting aviation shots.Cheers,Ian

G'Day Roger,I don't mean to butt in on this thread but why can't one post from another computer?I do it all the time.I use several computers at work and a couple at home when I'm off.I can post from all of them as far as I know (I haven't posted much lately).CheersColin

G'day Colin,Mate I might have to eat a big slice of humble pie here :-)On my home computer I have it set to remember passwords so that when I go online and select Avsim and then forums I am automatically logged on and I can go ahead and post.When I tried this (long time ago) one night when baby sitting at my daughters house I entered the forums as an unregistered user and I simply assumed that meant no posting. I could read the forums no problems. I was actually reading the forums (just for 5 minutes) at our hotel in Manilla on our last holidays.If I'm wrong I apologise for misleading the forum.I'll be at my daughters again on Wednesday night so I'll give it a burl and see what happens.Cheers,Roger

Roger,I've accessed the forums (reading and posting) from around the world by simply logging in.

G'day Randall,Ok I capitulate: my mistake it is.Mmmm! humble pie never tasted so good. :-)Cheers,Roger

I don't think its is dead. Shouldn't be. Yesterday I've installed the FSX demo and tryed it. As well as in FS9 Microsoft gives attention to visual and at this side they became great.However the pilots environment, painel and other stuff continues the same. Panel over panel, buttons to open panels, instruments stretched to be all seen together. I just felt like playing a new game with very beautifull scenery. I've also tryed the Virtual Panels. While they work pretty well in terms of reality, they are with very low details and not all commands work.So, if people are wainting FSX to see if it is worth to change simulator, they will be back. I hope and pray. Fly II continues to be the masterpiece in terms of aviation simulation.Potential to improve Fly scenery environment already exists and there are stunning sceneries available. This is also true in terms of plaines. Take just a look in some like, Navajo (Kodiak), P51, B767, PA28 (Cherokee), Eurofither, PA19, DC9, Stearman, .... can someone find any like them in other sim ???? I don't think so.JJLobo

Hi there Randall I trust you will have lot's of fun with your new machine. I've been putting together a small render farm for my busness with a Render Qube in addition to a new "personal" PC (Wdual GeForce 7950's)on a ASUS M2N-32 SLI delux MoBo and while the above might be over kill for gamming, Maya allows me to use both cards(quad SLI) plus a Ageia physics card so I can play around with things like fluid dynamics in real time (way cool BTW). Anyway enough boasting about my new hardware I hope you are doing well and aren't working too many hours these days. Dan

Hey Dan! I'm doing fine - thanks for checking in. After 1 year with all of the components sitting in the lower level of our place, I finally have the new system up. I'm sure I was already a generation behind when I finally threw the switch. It runs Fly! better than anything I've had and the VC that I transferred from the old machine is finally being allowed to show its oats.I'm still a little busy with special projects at work so I haven't been able to start rendering new sceneries yet. I did run a quick test on a 1/4 tile - WOW! This would have saved me a lot of time in the past.I can't remember if I told you - I upgraded the XEONs and the RAM in my work video production system a while back. A 30-second broadcast 3D title animation that took my old machine about 4 hours to render - was remade in... 9 minutes! Considering that what you have going is far more powerful, you must be loving it.

>So, if people are wainting FSX to see if it is worth to change>simulator, they will be back. What FS(X) users usually do (at least those who frequent Avsim) - they don't use stock Microsft aircraft. They use very well done 3-rd party aircraft from say Flight1, PMDG, RealAir or Dreamfleet and they get the combination of best worlds - top scenery with top aircraft. I agree that there is nothing to rave about when Microsoft's own aircraft are concerned - but it has been like this for a long time and everyone adjusted accordingly - it also allows other talented developers to flourish.Michael J.

I do and my "real" system is not up and running yet( Render Qube with a Nvida quadro Plex Visual computing system box). I do hope all is well with you BTW. Say are there still people like Chris hanging around here and if so I might like to "do" up some goodies for the fly commumity just like old times! Dan Martin

MichaelI agree with you in many of your points. But even in 3-rd party aircraft, my concern or unhappiness remains. Bothers me see central or overhead consoles mapped over main panel or windshields and even one over another. I hate those buttons to open additional panels. It takes reality of cockpit environment.I really like the idea of flourishing talented developers and in MSFS there are very good tools helping them and very impressive work. I wish or would like to have the same developing facilities in Fly! or the ability to merge Fly! Cockpit environment and simulation with MSFS scenery, aircrafts external views and communication.If things continue the way they are I realize that in the future I'll be back to MSFS whatever version. Still, I'll be missing Fly! Simulator.Best regardsJJLobo

>But even in 3-rd>party aircraft, my concern or unhappiness remains. Bothers me>see central or overhead consoles mapped over main panel or>windshields and even one over another. I hate those buttons to>open additional panels. It takes reality of cockpit>environment.>This is the case only if you limit yourself to 2D panels. But VC technology i really exceptionally good in some of the recent products (like PMDG's 747 or Flight1's ATR). I was once opposed to VC cockpits because of their general blurriness but frankly I tried VC recently and I am now convinced it is the only way to fly. VC is also far superior because for example only in VC you can look outside on the wings and see propellers spinning or stopping. Michael J.

Thanks for the tip Michael. I tried VC in the FSX demo but I think they are not complete. The surrounding thow is pretty real.ThanksJJ

>I tried VC in the FSX demo but I>think they are not complete. Again, don't get hung-up on what Microsft offers in terms of VC - it is often of dubious quality. See what other vendors offer.Michael J.