MarioDonick

It looks very good. I wonder if the reason for the improved look and performance is that it's beta, so the server load is better (fewer users downloading streaming data). I hope that it will be as good when the update is officially released for everybody.

I am not really surprised about this. Of course it's a business relationship, based on a defined feature-set and a defined time frame. So many desirable features are left out from the beginning or may even be cut during development. It's not like some aviation nerds gather in a garage and tinker until they are done. It's a multibillion dollar mega corp outsourcing part of a product to another small company, and the other company must adher to the definitions of their contract.

Yes, that one. Under Activities. Thanks! And it's somehow good to read you.

Thanks for your impressions! Would be interested in your opinion about the thermals tutorial in which you are told to circle. I think it worked good for me. But in free flight I find it a bit difficult to set weather conditions with such good thermals as in the tutorial.

Delete the files in Output/Preferences.

In X-Plane, anything below 20 FPS is unflyable, because time slows down and even aircraft systems may react weird. You absolutely need to keep your FPS above 19, even in bad weather with lots of clouds.

Then you'll be probably more than happy when Aerobask release their new Panthera version -- this will have these Dynons plus a pretty good GTN (including terrain view!): http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/33177-kmic-minnesota-usa/ You don't need to feel bad (except you regret the money). There's always progress made, products get old and replaced by new ones, and products show the capabilities of a developer at a given time. That's okay. To be honest, I think even the real G1000 feels old by now and clumsy to use (well, it always was...) -- the G2000 is much nicer, because it incorporates a lot of the GTN technology and UI.

Because months ago I downloaded this nice freeware for KMIC and finally wanted to use it at least one time.

I'm doing a flight from KMIC to KBIS at the moment, and I must say that the combination NOAA + VenturaSky + SMP + RWC gives a really smooth experience. I'm positively surprised.

There is no beta 4 yet.

I mentioned in my post that VS is made by you... Oh, and you're right about the shadows... they felt strange, but I could not say why.

VenturaSky is a Lua script by frontendrob that tweaks certain aspects of X-Plane's atmosphere and weather, see the VS thread here. It depends on the NOAA Python script, SkyMaxx Pro and Real Weather Connector. Besides the script, matching sky colors and a preset for MaxxFX post-processing are included. I took the following screenshots at different places with all VS settings at default and sky colors and MaxxFX preset active. Alps: New York: Telluride: Boston: Australia (near Sydney)

One would think that, yes. But far too many games are called "simulators" nowadays -- in the gaming industry it has become a general term for "here you can pretend to do job xyz", regardless if it's really a simulation in the technical or scientific sense. On the other hand, a lot of customers speak of FSX/XP as games (such as in "I bought X-Plane, but the game does not run. What to do?" support requests) Finally, regardless of simulation or gaming, in an anthropological sense we are all playing.

It's like those people who (sometimes illegally download and) use Photoshop for cropping one image once in a year.

You are probably right... Great that you mention Mike Wilson. The review I'm currently writing for my blog is his DC-8. It's for sure in the "beginners" category, except maybe if you add the CIVA (then it might be of interest for some advanced users, but these in turn maybe would go directly to FJS' products). I've made a lot of enjoyable flights with the DC-8 (but after that had to go to something more deep again). It's like McDonalds vs. a good restaurant. I like both.