MDF86

Thanks all for the great advice. I think my initial plan will be ORBX Southern Alaska and Aerosoft Anchorage (ready for my 777 operations!) plus 3 or 4 of the FSDT and Flightbeam offerings. I'm thinking KLAX, KDEN, KORD and maybe KIAD should give me a nice selection! Oooh but then there's KSFO which looks great also but if I got that I'd have to get ORBX NCA.... This could get me in trouble with the good lady :lol:

Thanks. Have just had a look at their websites and wow there's certainly a lot of choice! Should keep my credit card busy for a while :lol: Any absolute stand outs you can recommend? How are the Imagine Sim and Blueprint products?

Hi Guys I've always been a Europe only simmer mainly, but with the advent of products such as FTX Global I've decided to expand my operation! As such I'm looking to get a handful of good quality payware airports in the USA which will allow me to do plenty of short haul (up to 4 hour) flights in the A320 and 737 So, over to you guys! What do you recommend? I've never done a single flight in the US so I'm not up on who makes the best payware etc! I was thinking about the ORBX regions but there don't seem to be many big airports that fall into their coverage area that have a good payware rendition, though Ted Stevens looks appealing as at some point I will be getting the PMDG 777 and I think FedEx have a big operation there which would lead to some cool trips across the US hauling mail! So guys, what are the must have US payware airports? Thanks!

Hey guys, seems the link went dead. I've just re-uploaded it, see here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/s498n9 Please note that not all routes on this are real/accurate as of right now, there are a handful of fictitious routes and a couple of airlines in there that don't operate any more, but that was purely for my own enjoyment! You can add or remove routes from the "Data" tab as long as it's in the same format, the calculation will pick it up, you will just need to amend the formulae in cell F1 on the "Flight Generator" tab to pick up the new rows. Cheers

It really is quite sad to see (presumably) grown adults get so excited at the thought of someone getting "in trouble" for something like this. Ultimately the guy is just clearly trying to make a little money by offering something of a "unique" service, not some master criminal. Has he actually done anything wrong? I don't pretend to be a legal expert but as far as I can tell he's not trying to "sell" someone elses work or anything, he's just charging for his "services" in making some modifications to someone's sim setup to achieve a particular end result. If what he is doing is technically illegal, I'm sure this will be pointed out by PMDG and the appropriate resolution made to the matter which is ultimately between PMDG and the individual concerned. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill...I love this community but at times it really is quite pathetic in it's sense of self-righteousness.

Are you sure about that? Global possibly, but why would a landclass only product require a particular vector data product to work?

Exactly the same as my situation then. Just need someone to confirm that to be the case for the EU area, that has preferably tried both programs! I like the idea of having my entire "world" from one developer as it rules out conflicts etc, however if I already own a better product, it seems like wasted money for little benefit. The other unknown quantity of course, is whether ORBX OpenLC (which I will definitely get) will interact better with ORBX Vector than it will with UTX Europe, but I don't think anyone would be able to answer that until OpenLC makes an appearance.

Hi Guys Apologise for asking a question that I know has been asked before, however I have been away for a couple of months and wondered whether anything had changed with upgrades to ORBX Vector? Last time I got a consensus, the general opinion was that it offers no improvement over UTX Europe (for VECTOR data only) within the UTX Europe coverage area (where I do 95% of my flying). Can anyone who has used/compared the two let me know if this is this still the case? It seems a pointless investment for me to splash out on ORBX Vector to get the "global" coverage, when in reality I will likely do almost no flights outside of the UTX Europe coverage area, especially if what I have said above is correct - i.e. I already own the best vector data add-on for within the EU region. I definitely plan to get ORBX OpenLC EU when that comes out, as their landclass looks great over UTX Europe from what I've seen of the screenshots (also their coverage extends a bit further I believe in Greece/Turkey than UTX Europe), so this is another consideration as to whether or not I should be considering ditching UTX Europe all together (if only for clarity's sake) and essentially having my entire sim world through ORBX. Starting from the bottom layer (if I understand the layering of scenery correctly!) what I have now is: FSGlobal 2010 (mesh) ORBX Global (global textures) UTX Europe (landclass) UTX Europe (vector data) ORBX "full regions" (i.e. ENG/SCO) which if I understand it contain their own vector data and landclass and thus override UTX Europe? So part of me thinks getting ORBX Vector when I get FTX OpenLC EU is a good move, as then I have one set of products from one developer, which - in theory - would compliment each other better? However I have read comments from people suggesting that it's actually a step backwards in comparison to the quality of the data and therefore the overall "look" in comparison to the job UTX Europe does. I would really appreciate some clarity, if only for the sake of my sanity. Too many products from too many developers! Great for those more knowledgable than me, but it makes my head spin!! :lol:

I can't see any direct comparison threads between these two products, apologies if I've missed it. For an average user like myself, is there much to choose between the two? My needs are quite simple, just to either depict real world weather or custom weather of my choice into the sim in the most realistic manner possible. Weather engines are not something I've had much experience of so would appreciate any insights. Many thanks

Re the mesh - you should check out the ORBX support forum for the full details but my understanding is if you try to use ORBX Vector without a sufficient 3rd party mesh, you will have some very strange looking scenery indeed! Whereas with UTX you don't need mesh to make the product useable. However I strongly advocate the addition of a good mesh product, it does make a big difference.

My recommendation is FTX GLOBAL (textures) coupled with UTX (landclass and vector) Do you fly outside the US/Canada/Europe? If not, then the 'global' benefit of ORBX VECTOR over the UTX equivalent is not any use to you. Personally I think UTX is a better vector offering than ORBX in terms of how things look If you're exclusively a Europe flyer like me then FTX Global with UTX Europe is perfect. When ORBX Open LC EU comes out I will disable the lands class feature of UTX and replace it with the ORBX offering, whilst still leaving the vector functionality of UTX enabled, as I am less than convinced with what I've seen of ORBX Vector. Oh and FS Global mesh is a fantastic enhancement for the whole planet. Makes a big difference. Also worth noting that if you went with ORBX Vector rather than UTX, you have no choice - you will need that mesh. If it's within budget I recommend the ORBX Global, UTX (whichever regions you fly) and FS Global mesh combo.

Thanks guys. I think I was talking myself into the wrong option. I've seen the light, I will go for the 500GB for FSX and the 250 for OS and non-FSX programs.

I have recently purchased a 500GB SSD (for Windows and all NON FSX related applications, games and files) in addition to a 250GB SSD dedicated purely for FSX and all associated programs and files. Now I'm having a crisis and wondering if I've got this the wrong way round. At present my total FSX install is 172GB and this constitutes: - FSX - NGX and Aerosoft A320 with a considerable library of liveries - Ultimate Traffic 2 and 12GB of addon liveries and models - FSGlobal 2010 Mesh - ORBX Global, Australia and EUR regions, in addition to - 60+ payware airports - Ultimate Terrain X Europe And various other bits and pieces. (I also use REX which takes up 16GB but this will be installed to the Windows SSD seeing as it doesn't send to FSX in real time) So, this is why I opted with the 250GB SSD for FSX. Assuming around 10% is taken up with system files, and assuming I don't fill it more than 90%, this means I have around ~30GB of headroom. I really can't see at present how I could use another 30GB of storage space for FSX. Over the next few years, all I can see myself adding to the sim is additional payware airports, and very occasionally a new payware aircraft. I may get ORBX's landclass offering at some point but I would hope that wouldn't take up anywhere near that amount. So, am I ok to proceed like this do you think? Or should I use the 250GB for Windows and other non FSX programs and the 500GB for FSX? I don't want to get 2 years down the road and have to start uninstalling addons where I've ran out of room. On the other hand I can't see what I could use another 30GB on, let alone another 250GB! I've been simming hardcore for many years and have only accumulated 170GB, and a lot of that was done at first install, such as FSX itself, UTX, most of the payware airports, FSGlobal Mesh etc. ORBX Global is by far the biggest single addition I've ever made to the collection and I can't see anything on the horizon that would be any more of a mammoth hog of disk space than this. Thoughts?

Thanks all. I currently run two monitors, one with FSX in windowed mode (but using Linda to hide the title bar to mimic full screen) and have another monitor with flight planning, charts etc. I'm doing a total Windows and FSX Reinstall so wondered whether there would be a performance benefit to sacrifice the two-monitor set up and just run in full screen on one monitor, and use my iPad for charts. I will have to try both and see how the performance varies!

Other than personal preference (or lack of choice for multiple monitor users) are there any performance differences between running FSX in full screen or windowed mode?

I've ordered a 500GB SSD for my OS and everything non FSX and 250GB for all FSX related stuff, and it will be plenty. I have ORBX Global, several ORBX regions, UTX, global mesh, hundreds of liveries for add on aircraft, 70+ payware airports, tens of GBs of UT2 liveries and my entire FSX related footprint is around 170GB. I guess if you use lots of photo scenery ( I don't use any ) you may need to go bigger but I can't add my install surpassing 200GB ever.

Thanks, appreciate your advice and feedback! I run FSX in "pseudo-full screen" via LINDA and a two monitor set up, so I have one monitor with FSX in windowed mode (but looking like full screen) and another monitor to the side with Navigraph Charts, Flight Planning software, etc. I don't have a seperate laptop so I think I'll just put everything that I use at all for FSX purposes on the one SSD and my OS and other non-FSX related programs on the other.

Thanks Jaime Funnily enough it was actually Nick's "bible" that I stumbled across which made me want to "start again" with my FSX and OS and get things bang on from the beginning. So, £300 later, I have a 500GB SSD coming for my OS and all non-FSX programs and a 250GB SSD coming for FSX and all it's addons. A question - I see some people saying it's just FSX itself (and any addons that must be installed in the FSX directory) that you want on one drive, and some people saying that ALL FSX related stuff (even things that don't strictly need to be in the FSX directory, such as flight planning/charts utilities etc) should be on the one drive - what is your thought on that? My initial plan was to have ALL FSX software on one drive (even if it doesn't require installation into the FSX directory), and ALL NON FSX software on another - is that the best approach? Or would I be best off installing everything that I can on the non FSX drive?

Is it safe? My overclock is very stable and has been the same way for around 18 months. I am reinstalling Windows soon onto a brand new SSD and I really don't want to have to "re-do" my overclock (unless it is categorically unsafe to install Windows on an OC'd machine) I will bow down to the superior knowledge available here, as I am not an IT expert by any stretch. Thanks

Thanks, appreciate your help! Am I right in thinking that all I will need to connect the SSD is a SATA cable? I already have spare 2.5" drive bays in my case, so presumably it's a simple case of disconnect existing hard drive, connect new SSD to the motherboard with a SATA cable, and then install the OS on the SSD? I'm not an IT guy so even this simple task is quite daunting for me!

Thanks. I'm actually now considering buying two x SSDs, one for FSX and one for Windows and all other programs.

Yep you sound like me. A much more measured and methodical approach are in order this time around! Did you also replace HDD with an SSD? Was the benefit great?

Thanks. Since this post I've actually talked myself into replacing my single HDD with two SSDs, one for FSX and one for everything else. So a totally clean start with a new OS installation is definitely on the horizon!

That's a shame to hear. I'm hoping to get the PMDG 777 soon and was hoping that it would really feel like you were "sat" in a totally different machine to the NGX, in terms of heightened view, etc.

I'm doing a complete uninstall and resinstall of FSX (complete with a brand new user account on my PC) - i.e. totally starting from scratch. Is there a right and wrong way to uninstall? For example, I have FSX itself, plus countless add on programs. My plan was to leave any addons installed that are OUTSIDE of the main FSX directory (FSGlobal Mesh, FSBuild, REX etc) and just uninstall FSX itself from the add/remove programs menu, then just manually remove any leftover files in my root FSX directory. However, I have about 50 entries in my "Add/Remove programs" for payware airports, to just uninstall that one particular airport. Do I need to go through and manually uninstall every single airport in addition to FSX itself? Or will uninstalling FSX itself do this for me? Thanks