TheGrunt

OpenVFR and GEX have nothing in common. OpenVFR is highly detailed landclass and GEX are textures. You can also get improved objects and mesh from openVFR.

I have opnVFR terrain and objects for Germany (latest release) and I really like the product. Landclass is just suberb and it especially seems to render roads very well.

There are many screenshots where ENB looks terrific, but somehow it fails to impress me in reality. I haven't experienced crashes while testing it, but it is the way it creates HDR effect that bothers me. I've tried numerous presets, but it always seems that either my sky burns through (= is way overexposed) or cockpits get too dark. I've calibrated my monitor, so problem isn't there.

Good thinking. I just opened my first one :Whistle:

I really have no clue what the OP is talking about. Maybe that is the whole point.

Lionheart's Quest Kodiak is nice bushplane too. Package includes versions with wheels and floats.

I have been using MTX 5.3 and 5.4 for a year now and I'm extremely happy with it. Models are quite good enough IMO (and improved with every release 5.4 being really nice) and it has some advantages over UT2 too that I know. First and most important is that MTX has military and cargo traffic, which is important factor if you are especially flying in remote destinations where these operators are major players. Two, MTX uses SDK traffic tools, so it is pretty much guaranteed, that there won't be any problems with any other addons, which have something to do with traffic. And yes, MTX UI looks pretty awful but you really don't need to use that but when setting up the program. In fact, I probably haven't used UI since I purchased 5.4. Because MTX is based on SDK tools, you mainly just use FSX sliders to adjust the traffic and that's it. Otherwise, setting up the MTX is a breeze. Third, UT2 spawns aircraft to the airport just 20 mins before the flight starts. This means that even the biggest hubs are completely empty during the night hours when planes aren't departing. MTX has aircraft on the gound around the clock, although fewer than during the busy daytime hours. This is one factor that can possibly kill or create an illusion of living world. I don't have UT2 so of course I can't say that MTX is definitely worse or better. I'm just extremely happy with MTX and I have no reason to search an alternative. Yes, loading times are bit longer, because it is based on bgls (which has also advantages, as I mentioned), but it is no brainer for me: half a minute here or there don't mean squat if I spend an hour flying. Also, some people have reported that the way UT2 is injecting traffic causes short pauses here and there during the flight, which I don't experience at all with MTX. Beats me, but I think both are good and can be also used together. So, IMO there are many positive things in MTX that at least for me are important. I was once doing the same thinking, decided to go with MTX and have no regrets what so ever.

OC reduces life time for sure, but thinking that way is still a bit silly. If your CPU cilicon lasts, let's say 15 years on stock until it gradually degrades so that it isn't stable on stock anymore and after your OC it lasts let's say half of that i.e. 8 years, so who really cares? That processor is as effective as abacus (no pun intended) by that time in any case. MB power supplying components, such as mosfets and capacitors are more sensitive to higher voltage levels, but we are still on the same ball park here. Your MB is outdated by the time it breaks and you won't get new processor for that socket anymore when that time comes. It is much more likely that your MB dies naturally sooner because of one defective component, than it is because of your overclocking. Practical life span of computer hardware is so short, only few years, that shorter life expectancy won't be a problem even when overclocking. Usually, when you keep voltages under maximum safe values rated by processor manufacturer, you are in safe waters. Of course you can kill your rig using overkill voltages and not taking care of the temperatures in your system while overclocking. That's why you need to know what you are doing and stay away from all these automatic overclocking utilities, they are just rubbish and tend to overshoot all voltage related values. They may not use dangerous values, but are still nonethless inefficient. I've overclocked every computer I've had since Pentium in -95 (Couldn't overcklock my 450MHz P2 because of locked multiplier :( ) and never ever have I broken (knock on wood) one single component prematurely because of that. I've had one broken up MB socket and failed bios flash, though :Whistle:

For fighter there is VRS F-18 Superbug, which is of course perfect for carrier operations: http://www.vrsimulat...om/FA18EFSX.htm Other high quality fighter jet is Iris F-15 Mudhen Driver: http://www.irissimul...t-plat-f15e.php These are pretty much only high quality payware jets that I own and there is probably a bunch of other good birds out there, like Milviz F-15 for example. For the carriers, there are of course few good freeware ones, but Team SDB just released their payware Big E, which looks absolutely goregous by the screen shots.

Yes, best is to have both. Accu-feel creates movement too, but that is for airframe. With Ezdok, you create head wobble for your pilot eye view camera (or shakes to some other camera). So, they work beautifully together and complement each other. I have both and couldn't run FSX without them anymore, but if I'd have to choose just one of them, I'd take ezdok hands down. But as said, both are terrific.

This. You OP can of course try to rise base clock a few MHz and thus get perhaps 100-200MHz more clock speed, but you run very soon into troubles, as all other buses go out of spec while rising the base clock. There is no way you can push that processor near or over the 4GHz line.

If you are experiencing lower than normal fps with other aircraft also, check your settings. If you have for example road traffic set to 100%, you are surely killing your frames. Also, if you are using some air traffic addons it is common to get bad fps hit near large hubs when using high traffic volumes. You can also try setting your sim along the lines in this guide: http://forum.avsim.n...-guide-for-fsx/ Setting your sim and driver settings along the Word Not Allowed's guidelines, should offer pretty nice FPS boost on high end machine compared to vanilla settings. NickN guides and posts on simforums offer little bit different perspective on the subject.

No need to do that. I have modified ezca.exe, which recognizes Prepar3D starting with no troubles. Marniftarr published that a while ago, you probably find it by searching EZCA support forums. It's great to hear that V2 goes forward! V1 is one of those "must have" programs for FSX.

I experienced same problem a couple of days ago as my FSX was missing smoke textures, though I don't know the reason that caused it. Tool Clem Wu linked did the job and fix'd the problem.

I noticed the same thing with Mudhen Driver when I bought it. Manual has its good points, but it lacks tutorial type stuff and because of that it is pretty hard to learn some aspects of the plane. There may be tutorials in the forums, but Iris is restructuring them and they are down at the moment. It is little bit annoing as the Iris model seems to be terrific model...

I was just coming here to post exactly the same thing :Whistle:

Outerra is OpenGL terrain, or more like planetary rendering engine and tech demo, not a simulator. It has some aircraft and vehicle physics too, but it has no other simulator qualities to make it a deep simulation and it is not intended to be one as it is right now.

This. FS addon business is very different compared to normal larger game studio, where publisher is giving strict requirements for deadline and product itself and studio employs dozens of full and part time graphic artists, coders, musicians, marketing people etc. Addon making is definitely a side job for most and probably only handful of developer groups is making addon work fulltime and thus big bucks out of it. PC indie game developers work mostly the same way, mostly for the love of the game. We are still a very niche market, a really small bunch but at the same time we are very picky and usually require extremely high quality from our addons and it is IMO remarkable what these small dev teams can achieve. I mean, look at all the best aircraft, utility and scenery addons and what they have brought to the good ol' FSX.

Same here. Thud and F-111 interest me the most. Somehow, Virtavia (Alphasim) seems to be a bit controversial in FS world. Some say they make great models and some blame them recycling old models or their planes lack good systems modeling or have buggy physics and finally just being overpriced for what they are.

And of course, if you are interested in vintage aviation, all the A2A Accusim stuff is absolutely terrific. If you search modern military jets then, at least from my experience, F-15E Mudhen Driver from Iris (which is by the way in huge discount in PC Aviator right now) and VRS F-18 Superbug are pretty much a must buy. For modern jetliners I'd also recommend Feelthere's Embraer E-Jets and ERJ V2s. They have pretty thorough systems modeling and detailed FMC which is upgradable from Navigraph. If you like, McPhat's livery and cockpit upgrade gives a lot nicer look to the product, not that they are something awful to look at as vanilla.

Iris F-15E Mudhen Driver is now on deal of the day at PC Aviator (now $19.95): http://www.pcaviator.com/store/product.php?productid=19461 You get also extra -10% off by buying it on tuesday.

This. Problem is definitely related to surround sound settings.

This thread really needs more attention! I just bought this remarkable model of the late K-series Me 109 and after quick testing, I really must give high praise for the makers. This bird not just look absolutely wonderful, but also flies as it should and it has very realistic systems modeling. It is extremely powerful (2000hp with water-ethanol!) and brutal machine, something very different than P-51 or FW190 are for that matters. Flight Replicas model perhaps hasn't all the extra bells and whistles as Accusim addon has, but it still easily goes to the very top of the FSX warbird hierarchy with A2A and Classics-Hangar, at least in my books. And at $29.95 it is a bargain. Here is makers info page: http://www.flight-re...Bf-109K_FSX.htm Nice forum chat about this bird in Sim-Outhouse. Dev is hanging around too: http://www.sim-outho...eased-(Payware) I believe there aren't many other FSX native detailed BF-109s out there, which is pretty remarkable considering all the P-51 and Spitfire models we have. So, this is a must and pretty much at the same time the only choice to get this classic to your hangar. By the way, Flight Replicas sells the bird with swastika textures, but some resellers have opted the bird without them, like Simmarket for example (they don't want to get jailed :Whistle:), but others too. In the end it doesn't matter where you buy the bird as you can easily download swastika textures from manufacturers site, if you want to. Tomorrow I'm going to take this one out for a longer testing. I haven't been this excited of any addon aircraft for a long time, not even with the A2A Accusim P-51. Perhaps partly because this came little bit out of nowhere (at least for me) and this isn't yet another so familiar P-51 in my hangar, but also because it is just that damn good and fun plane to fly. Definitely worth checking this out if you are in anyway interested of these WW2 machines! Couple of screenies from manufacturer. Sim-Outhouse thread has many more...

These are ones I've bought so far. Many of them is not in active use anymore, but nonethless here they are: 1. A2A Accusim Spitfire 2. A2A Accusim P-40 3. A2A Accusim P-51 4. Carenado C337 5. Captain Sim C130 Full Experience 6. Feelthere Erj V2 7. Feelthere E175/195 V2 8. Aeorosoft Catalina X 9. Area51 C-17 10. Classics Hangar FW190 Collection 11. Classics Hangar Me108 12. Lionheart Kodiak 13. SkyUnlimited P-38 14. Warbirdsim P-51 Little Friends 15. Warbirdsim P-51 Little Friends II 16. Warbirdsim P-51 Mustang Part I 17. Warbirdsim P-51 Mustang Part II 18. Extreme Prototypes Avro Arrow 19. Aerosoft OV-10 Bronco 20. Justflight DC-6 21. Lionheart Epic Dynasty 22. Justflight Mosquito 23. RealAir Lancair Legacy 24. VRS F-18 Superbug 25. Xtreme Prototypes Bell X-1 SG 26. Justflight DC-3 27. Justflight Connie 28. Justflight A318 29. Justflight A320 30. Justflight BOB Hurricane I think that's about it!

Now that I remember UT2 has this "problem" with empty airports at night, because it spawns planes to the airport just 20 mins before take off or so. MTX has parked planes on the airport around the clock so it hogs resources also during the night hours when flying near the large hubs. Still, your vid doesn't give correct estimate about where the FPS ballpark is when using traffic addon with large amount of aircraft on the scene as it has no traffic at that time of day. Also I can fly around the NY quite smoothly at any given time, but AI gives really big hit, probably nearly halves my FPS there. AI addons are known to be huge resource hogs and that is the reason why it is important to know if someone is using one while complaining about poor FPS. With traffic amount ramped to the maximum you surely get your top-of-the-line rig on its knees around the worlds busiest airports.