flybius

In theory either should work. I do run Virtual Machines from an external SSD drive via the USB 3.0 port. Since I have never actually ran scenery from an external drive I cannot validate that there would be no issues... I would not recommend using a thumb drive or SDXC drive as these do not have great I/O performance specs as compared to SATA SSD drives.

I mean FTX the global texture replacement package from ORBX. I find that with these textures installed, it takes extra time to refresh / repaint the ground scenery and creates a lot more pop up autogen. I'm sure there are many avsim members that would be able to provide a forensic explanation as to why : ) As far as the disk space goes... since I do not use 3rd party scenery with my MacBook Air install of FSX:SE (other than KFHR) i do not have the disk space challenge that would require me to use an external drive. One of the issues that exists with the current version MacBook Air is that there are no 3rd party internal storage options, so I would buy as much SSD now as you think you will need and can afford. A great way to purchase Mac Computers is to go to the Apple site and search the refurbished section for the config of your choosing. http://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/product/G0RJ2LL/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-air-22ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i7 has the i7 8Gb 512Gb config for $1489 (which is a savings of almost $300 off of the new price. I usually purchase any Mac's for home or my business from the refurb site and I have never had a problem, Jlindbe, I can still get 30fps (locked at 30fps internally) with FTX installed. The issue I have with FTX installed is that the textures take longer to refresh and that the autogen begins to load in blocks (which destroys the feeling of immersion) I fly with both scenery sliders to the right and use real weather. I also have traffic set to 20% aircraft 10% auto and 40% boats. In order for this to work for me I turn down the shadows and cloud density. If I am in a performance challenging region, I will turn fps lock to 20. My tinkering with Flightsim days are behind me and would much rather spend my time flying... So I have been happy with the default FSX install. I have found that the default textures are actually quite good as long as they are sharp and the autogen is still. And since I have my Ivy Bridge MacBook Pro for the 3rd party Flightsimming, I enjoy the purity of a default scenery config... less is more! I would be curious to learn how FSX would do on a retina screen. I have held off on getting a retina mac because i fear the resolution would be to great in Windows for the Intel GPU to keep up with. Can anyone else offer any guidance?

Yes, I have two mac's that I run FSX:SE on... (2012 MacBook Pro i7 2.3 GHz & a baseline 2015 11" i5 1.6GHz) While I use my MacBook Pro for the heavily laden 3rd party configs, the MacBook Air provides a great portable install of Flightsim that is perfectly flyable. Now, there are a few things to consider... Using FSX:SE with my MBA, I can get a fluid experience with 30fps and decent enough texture redraw if I go easy on the add ons. I do have the Friday Harbor scenery installed and it is buttery smooth, but as soon as I add FTX and/or UTX the experience begins to diminish... For this reason I would get the i7 version and I would also get the 8GB Ram upgrade (The Intel 6000 GPU uses shared memory...) I would also go for the 13" MBA (my 11" screen can be too cramped for some panels) Contrary to what might be believed, the Intel 6000 GPU in the MacBook Air does fine with FSX:SE as this version of flight sim is really more CPU bound than GPU (P3D is a different story and requires more HP from the GPU) I will be happy to share more info in greater detail if you wish.

These were way ahead of their time! Can you imagine what FUIII might have evolved into had EA / Looking Glass stayed the course?

If it does, you can go back to DX9. I think if you can confirm that the dialog box issue is tied to DX9 then it at least points to a cause and someone in the community who is savvy in this area may be able to address this problem.

Regardless of the status of DX9 in Win10, Enabling DX10 works for me. Why not give it a try and let us know if it works for you. (that is of course as long as you have no other reason not to use DX10)

I ran into this same issue. I was able to fix by enabling DX10 Preview. Maybe DX9 is not installed on Win10... Just a guess... :smile:

I have been using MacBook Pro's with Flight Sims for years... I have been quite happy with the performance, frame rate, and stability of FSX Steam and P3D 2.5. I can always achieve a smooth 30 FPS with occasional drops in high density airports. I run at my native 1680x1050 with an nVidia GT 650M with only 512MB VRAM. I cannot run with maxed sliders but I also never have any weird crashes, blue screens etc... I use both ORBX and UTX and have the PMDG 737. IMHO, Apple hardware runs Windows via bootcamp just fine (sans good power management) I have a Mid 2012 15" MBP which is the last non retina MBP with Discreet GPU and upgradable HD. I would stay away from Retina MacBook Pro's

Clearly, there is some force dragging on the development and release of the ORBX products. Any speculation?

Steam is not new to the concept/model of selling sophisticated DLC add-ons to a simulator product... Look no further than the Train Simulator franchise, of which there are many DLC offerings of accurately modeled engines, etc... Don't worry, they will come!

Perhaps a coincidence, today is the anniversary for TWA Flight 800!

Anyone know how Austin is making out with his patent troll battle? Not to digress, but I am guessing this has loaded him down somewhat, causing a delay in XP devel...

Yes, Big cheer for the copy protection methodology! I think this model is completely reasonable and I wish other software vendors that license lock software would adopt it.

Thanks Kevin, Nice review! I will continue to peruse around in search of more info...

Does anyone know if RevX performs its magic with MSE titles?

I just read in the Boston Globe that max ground speed exceeded 160+ Knots at rotate call. I'm not familiar with the G-IV, but this seems fast to me. I am wondering if a take-off config (flaps, etc,) was to blame. Perhaps someone more familiar with the G-IV can advise...

I would like to see MSE Night Scenery (as promised) for the existing titles.

Great shots of the MSE scenery. Looks very sharp and bright. Did you edit the pics?

Can you share with us your hardware config? I'm sure many of us would be interested to learn what is necessary to create such an environment. :Applause:

Hopefully, there will be some new scenery breakthroughs by then. Or at least MSE finally adds night scenery to their v2 titles : )

It is in the Northeast Region (New England) I believe the scenery was to include the costal states of CT, MA, NH, ME and some of New Brunswick & PEI

Has anyone heard anymore about the development/release of this scenery title? I remember reading about it on an ORBX release roadmap for 2013, but I have not seen any further mention.

I am concerned that this has taken a back seat to the development of the Ultra-Res titles that are being released at a steady rate. I have sent many emails in request of some release information, my last response was last fall disclosing a possible November 2013 release.