codetrucker

I would like to parrot the wisdom in the #24 post by Rob Young. While I won't compare myself to Mr. Young's phenomenal manipulation of MSFS, I can admit to having experience since MSFS v.1.0 on the IBM AT back in '84 and X-plane v.3 a little later. I spent decades chasing the Holy Grail of mid double-digit FPS until I defined what I actually wanted to accomplish. Surprisingly, there is remarkably few simmers that really understand what he/she is trying to accomplish. Let ask you a couple of questions... Q1: Do you spend your sim time flying an enjoyable, well or not so well planned (ad hoc) flight? Q2: Do you spend your sim time constantly tweaking, configuring, adding the newest aircraft/scenery addon, etc.? The answers to the above questions will tell you whether you really want to fly or if your enjoyment is derived from the constant pursuit of the mythical, "Super-Tastic Flight Simulator." Either one is your choice and perfectly acceptable. There are different compensations depending on which choice you make. Just make sure you know which choice you are making; otherwise, you are doomed to constant, unfulfilling frustration. So, do you want to fly or do you want to fiddle and twiddle? Once you identify what you really want to do with your sim time, life will get sweeter. I really wonder why this concept is not better understood since it applies to everything in life... People spend their time doing what they really want to do. Getting back to Mr. Young's wisdom and my ONE recipe for happy simming... (1) Start clean with the basic and most accepted tweaks. (2a) Start with all sliders to the left for ONE hour making the baseline, initial entries in a paper(?) log. The vast majority of flight simmers never keep a log of their changes. Your log should include blurriest, FPS, stutters and the "feel" of the flying experience plus whatever other comments will serve you best. It is possible to enjoy a superb flight experience with very low FPS if you stay in the cockpit. (2b) Make ONE change. (2c) After 4 hours of flying, make your entries in your log. Since this process is not a quick fix, but an orderly and methodical project it is liable to take days or weeks. Keeping an orderly and complete log will be an invaluable asset, especially if you have some days between flights. (3) Enjoy flying ONE aircraft of your choice for ONE week. You will be better able to appreciate the model and enjoy flying more because your gained familiarity with the airplane will allow more freedom to just fly! (4) While enjoying #2, keep your wits about you and record on paper what happens. (5) Repeat steps 2b through 4 until your log tells you that you have reached the apex of the capability of your computer hardware. (6a) Now that your base flight simulator performance has been identified you can now begin to include your favorite payware/freeware aircraft, scenery, mesh and utilities. (6b) Continue making notes in your log as you add ONE addon and fly for no less than 4 hours. (6c) If you notice any degradation, be sure to double-check you have configured your flightsim per the developer's instructions. If you have and are still seeing poor performance and post on the developer's forum and/or the AVSIM boards. Others may have experienced the same thing and the turn-around will normally be much quicker. (6d) DO NOT PROCEED TO ADDING ANOTHER ADDON UNTIL THE ISSUES IN 6c ARE COMPLETELY RESOLVED. Not yelling, using CAPS for emphasis. The reality is something is amiss and any additional variables will only create frustration. Be prepared to accept any particular addon may not be compatible with your particular computer. It may be necessary to scrap it and move on. (6e) Repeat steps 6a through 6d as necessary. The astute simmer will recognize this "ONE" recipe keeps the actual act of flying as the primary activity and it is my hope that in following my recipe the flightsimmer will rediscover the joy of what we all wanted to enjoy... The simulated experience of flying an aircraft. Otherwise, what are we all doing here? Anyway, that's my $0.02.