New FU3 simmer looking for advice

[Guest]

Hi Flight Unlimited gang. OK, you guys are so loyal... there must be something very special about FU3! I couldn't resist ordering it to find out what can be so great!I have been simming about a year and a half. I started with FS2000... then XPlane 5, then was FLYII beta tester... then MS Trainsim. Found FLY2K for $10 and added it to my colection. I guess I'm hooked... I love them all! I come home from work dead tired but get right on computer, click on AVSIM library, then forums FS2002, FLY, now Flight Unlimited to catch up on the sim world happenings and new files for the day! Pitiful isn't it?!! We need help!Thanks for the links showing where to buy. I just ordered it Friday 14th. Should be here in a couple of days. Can't wait..Ok.. I have PIII 800, 256 SDRAM 133, 40 GHD, WIN98SE, GeForce256 with 64M VRAM, PCI512 sound card.I have already downloaded the patch for windows. What else do I need? I notice a post regarding FU2 and San Fran. Do I need to buy FU2 just for San Fran? Will it work with my video card? Do I need FU1?I tried searching the old forum but didn't find anything except regarding the patch.Thanks for any help. Looking forward to discovering what you guys and gals already know... just how great FU3 is!!Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

[Guest jonpoint]

Earl,Welcome to FU3 :-) .Loyal? I guess we are. FU3 sits somewhere between 'commercial' (not shoot 'em up) sims and the real thing... Less in complexity than MSFS2002, yet the sim reacts in a more realistic manner. Most of us discovered FU3 some years ago when our PCs weren't up to scratch - your PC should be just fine BTW. At the time, it offered a level of realism not available in other sims and, like it or not, has a certain 'personality' to it which you either hate or find endearing!Ever since EA 'dropped' LGA, this sim has turned into a 'freeware frenzy' as more people have become involved. We all have different interests in the sim so you get some people doing AI, some doing scenery packages, some doing repaints, but best of all, some really talented people (you'll meeet them here) who have created programs and scripts to allow the less technically inclined of us to gain benefit from all the material now available. Either way, if you hang around here long enough, you'll learn lots of useful info.Back to your questions:1. If you want to fly the Sanfran area, you'll need FU2. There are other areas being developed (UK, Switzerland) as well if you are interested. Please consult the forums for advice as you require the 'full' version (i.e. original, 2 disk set). AND you must actually install it as part of your FU3 installation (which means uninstalling FU3 first - but it's worth it!). The reason for the limited scenery is that FU3 uses REAL photographic terrain, which takes a lot of time (and space) to create. 2. You cannot use FU1 as part of the set but it's still probably the best acrobatic sim of all time. 'Lotsafun' - again, see the forum for info.3. I use a Geforce 2MX card - you must run the patch (again, see the forums) 'coz it's an Nvidia card - but it works fine.Again, welcome aboard :-beerchug"Flight Unlimited - when you want to look out the window and see the world, not a checkerboard..." Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest twsimfan]

Earl,Welcome aboard! You will find FU3 to be limited in its scope... and simple in its design... but if you look hard enough you will find it has a log of depth. While the scenery areas are tiny compared to other sims... you can spend a lifetime exploring it.By all means try to get a full copy of FU2... I have yet to explore but probably 50% of that "tiny" patch. The simplicity is really the beauty of FU3... it doesn't begin to model every knob & switch... but you can control what you have and the visuals allow you to have an awareness of your location and status not possible in other sims. Such is my humble opinion. I also use FS02... PP99... XP 5 dot something or other... Fly2k... and a number of military sims... I keep coming back to FU3.

[Guest]

Jon and Tom,Thanks for the welcome! Seems like a friendly place. Tom, what do you mean by "Full copy of FU2"? I ordered FU2 from Sold Out this morning. Is there another one?You guys want to hear irony? I actually bought FU3 before FS2000 (which was my first sim) I took it back unopened because I thought Microsft would have the most resources, etc to survive and grow with technology.... true enough, I suppose, but I often have wondered what the major differences were.... how it might have performed on my machine.... oh well I'll soon find out!Thanks again for the welcome... I'm sure I'll be seeing you guys around the forums!Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

[Christopher Low 5,332]

Earl,We're glad to get new recruits here at the FU3 Forum. Your SOLD OUT version of FU2 will be just fine, but remember to install this at the same time as the main FU3 package. In my opinion, the San Francisco Bay area scenery is actually better than the FU3 Seattle scenery. This is of course a subjective opinion, and it really depends what aspect of FU3 you like best. Glidernut for instance probably likes the Seattle scenery better because of his love of gliding (ridge lift is rather prevalent in the mountains near Seattle), but I prefer the variety (and quality) of the SanFran scenery.Chris Low,ENGLAND.PS. If I'm wrong with the above assumption Glidernut, please feel free to blast me for my ignorance !

[Guest Staggerwing]

I'll add my welcome also Earl :-)BTW which one did you order FU3 from ?Staggerwing

[Guest]

Hi Chris and Staggerwing! Thanks for your welcome also.Stagerwing, I bought FU3 from Interact! It just came this afternoon. I am waiting on FU2 so I can install the San Fran scenery as my new good friends, Jon and Chris, advise (above).Thanks so much for keeping your post up to date. I would have never bought either of these without your links.I've already been downloading some addons. The US patch, also some aircraft interior views corrections ??, and other various interesting looking things. Oh well... it will be a lot of fun catching up. If anyone has any other advice, please don't hesitate to contact me... I'll be lurking!Thanks to all you guys for your replies and friendship. ...not to mention your great contributions to the greatest hobby on earth... flight sims.Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

[Guest jonpoint]

Hi Earl,A couple of things! 1. If you are using the 'sold-out' FU2 version, be careful about the 'autorun' feature of your CD drive. I've found it best to turn it off because, when FU3 asks you to insert the FU2 disk, the FU2 install program fires up straight away. This confuses Windows which then locks and asks you re-insert the previous CD (FU3). When you do this, the installation just stops - the worst part is, by this stage, you've probably been feeding CDs into the PC for over 30 minutes :-( . The same thing happens when you insert the second disk. The workaround is to wait for the installation 'splash' screen to come up then close it before proceding but you must remember to do this with the second disk also. If you get to the end of the installation and one of the 'splash' screens is still active, you'll experience the problems I did! 3 tries it took before I turned the autorun off...2. As Chris has pointed out, there are lots of scenery/airport packages available (many of the better ones are his - hope you like dodging trees :-) ). PLEASE, PLEASE install package sets one-at-a-time and check them out before proceding. I know this sounds obvious but, with so many people doing packages, the left hand doesn't always know what the right hand is doing. I have not released any packages (yet) because every single one has a problem with something in someone else's! If you are only interested in the scenery aspect and don't actually create or edit airports, you can't really go wrong.3. Although you can add anything you want using FLED, you have to include the I_work_here line in your flt3.cfg file before you can edit any pre-existing stuff. Just remember that if you do this, the changes won't appear on anyone else's FU3, just yours.4. Find as many FU3 docs as you can and read them. Both readmes (game and patch), scenery editing, outer terrain editing and aircraft painting, Markus Brunner's excellent FLED pages and Gideon Pertzov's pages as well. You'll find everything you need through Avsim, just browse the file library and the forums - it's all here somewhere! If you can't find something, just post a request in the forums - someone will know :-)Happy flying...Flight Unlimited - When you want to look out the window and see the world, not a checkerboard...Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,332]

Jon,I just want to make it clear here that your statement regarding the "IWorkHere" command needs clarification. The only modifications that you can't export are changes to the existing MODELS. Any modifications of airports (taxiways, lighting, AI pathways etc.) can be transferred to other PC's, since replacement of the existing airport folder with the new one is all that is required.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest]

Chris and Jon,Thanks again for all your help. Jon, I will turn off autorun as you kindly suggest. Regarding designing, etc., I am just a user and admirer of others art work. I don't have photoshop or any of those programs to create addons. But, I will read everything I can find and scan the forums. Again thanks for all your help. BTW, I can't wait to try your DC3... one of my favorite planes! It looks great in the screen shots. Chris has several things I am anxious to try.Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

[Guest juvat2]

Hi-ya Earl and Welcome to FU3,A way to disable the CD Auto Start feature "on the Fly"(heh-heh), is to hold down the shift key, put in the CD, the cd drive will spin a little then stop. Then it's safe to release the shift key.Again, Welcome Earl,Jim B.

[Guest jonpoint]

Chris (and Earl),Yes, my apologies! What I meant to say was:If you don't use the 'Iworkhere' command (ever), then any package you create would be fully compatible with any 'standard' FU3. If you DO want to move or delete existing MODELS, then you MUST use the line in your flt3.cfg file BUT your changes may not be compatible with everyone's FU3. Sorry Earl, none of this probably means anything to you (yet). I just had to get that off my chest :-)BTW, you don't need photoshop or anything like that to create your own packages, FLED does most of what you could want. You can add models (get the extra ones from the Avsim file library), even place moving vehicles and animals(!), aircraft taxiing and flying, add some lighting to your favourite bush strip etc. I think nearly every FU3 user has 'their' own place somewhere, with a nice house, maybe a jetty by the lake with a speedboat, private airstrip, a Merc (and a Z3 for good luck)... Check out 'Protection Island' for example.Have a great weekend,Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest]

Hi Jim,Thanks for the welcome and the tip. I had never heard that one. I will try it. Where would we all be without the forums and the creators? You guys are the life of flight simin'. Thanks to all of you!Jon,Thanks for the tips. You're right, i don't have a clue (yet) what a FLED is froma SLED! Kidding :-) I'm sure I'll find out and then I'll refer back to your great advice!Thanks again!I'll be seeing you guys around the forums.Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13

[Guest]

Welcome to Flight Unlimited!I'm more of a casual visitor to the AVSIM forums, and you won't see me post much. However, I have always had a place for Flight Unlimited on my hard drive (since FUII), and FU's forum is actually what draws me to the AVSIM forums.I've had all the versions of MSFS since 5.1, as well as the original (buggy) Fly!, X-Plane, and each ProPilot. Even with FS2002's advances, I think MS is still playing catch-up to what LG created in the late '90s. I have over 90 real-life hours, mostly in C-172s, a few in a Cherokee 140, and most will now be in a Cessna 140 (BTW, FUII taught me the basics of radio communication, I had no difficulty deciding what to say on the radio in real life when I began taking flying lessons). In my humble opinion, I think FU (both II and III) give a 'feel' or 'realism' to simulated flight that no other sim offers.After flying FS2002, I often go back to FUIII to have some fun in what I think is a more realistic environment.Ray - N89864

[Guest]

Hi Ray,Thanks for the welcome. I am not a pilot, though it was a boyhood dream. I've always loved airplanes. When I was in my twenties, I seriously considered becoming a pilot. I realized to be safe meant spending a lot of time and money to practice. I was raising children on a shoestring budget so it never happened. I flew with friend of mine a few times and he would let me fly after reaching a few thousand feet. It was great but I am satisfied with simin'.I don't post much either. I sure read them. I read MS, FLY, FU and then go over to several library sites to check out the latest addons every day.Thanks again for the welcome!Earl.... "and the greatest of these is Love." I Cor. 13:13