norfolkmike

Thanks for the input guys. Right, as far as budget is concerned, the £3449.00 would be an upper limit. Well, round it up to £3500:00. That is the figure I had in mind before I started online shopping anyway. As far as the controllers, monitor etc, I have got some bits, and have allowed a separate budget for others, so that isn't really a consideration at this point in time. Eventually, I'll want VR. That is the short term goal, so huge monitors and 4k aren't really things I need anyway. Running everything on 'Ultra' isn't a deal breaker for me either, as I'd rather be running smooth with a decent overhead than pushing limits and ending up with bad stutters in certain areas. What I'm understanding is that 32GB or RAM is a desirable bottom limit, so I will take that on board. The 3080, rather than the 3090 sounds like the better bang for the buck. The fact that SierraHotel's 3060 is performing well is good news, as it pretty much confirms the 3090 might be too much of a good thing in my situation, and the ££££s saved would be better spent elsewhere? I'm going to look at 'PC Specialist' as an option, bearing your advise in mind. Cheers, Mike.

Hi guys. I know this is yet another hardware question that has probably been thrown at you a million times, but...I really struggle with this tech stuff. I want a new PC. I understand that buying 'off the shelf' isn't a bad option at the moment, due to the scarcity of 'bits'. So. I don't want to spend TOO much if I don't have to, naturally. But I don't want the frustration of stutters. We've all had that experience I'm sure, and for me, its the single most immersion quashing aspect of simming. So: i7-11700 KF. 16GB RAM. GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB £1749.00 i7-11700 K. 16GB RAM. GeForce RTX 3070 8GB £2200.00 i9-11900 K 32GB RAM. GeForce RTX 3090 24GB £3449.00 Is it simply a question of the more expensive one being a no brainer, diminishing returns over the £2200 option, or....well, you tell me (please). I would like to use it for VR at some point, but I'm not obsessive about running everything on ultra with a 4k monitor in the meantime. Thanks in advance, Mike.

LEPA (Palma Majorca). A destination airport for most European airlines, from most major airports. Flight time from the UK in a 737 (for example), 2 hrs.

Interesting, thanks. Needless to say, I've never experienced a commercial simulator (737 for example), but most of what I've seen on YouTube seemed to suggest the terrain was of low importance . Admittedly, I had to Google the word Collimated, and yes, I can imagine such a feature brings a cockpit to life. I'm pretty obsessed with the 737 now myself. No SO obsessed that I can justify even considering a cockpit, but hopefully VR might go some way (if implemented) to making the experience more...erm...complete?

Interesting, thanks. Needless to say, I've never experienced a commercial simulator (737 for example), but most of what I've seen on YouTube seemed to suggest the terrain was of low importance . Admittedly, I had to Google the word Collimated, and yes, I can imagine such a feature brings a cockpit to life. I'm pretty obsessed with the 737 now myself. No SO obsessed that I can justify even considering a cockpit, but hopefully VR might go some way (if implemented) to making the experience more...erm...complete?

Certainly most contributors to this thread would consider seasons a "must", but that could be a bit misleading. I think those who consider seasons a "must" are simply more likely to air their opinion on a thread such as this than those who don't have the same strength of feeling. Personally, as someone who only flies over non seasonal, non autogen photoscenery, and has done for years, I don't consider seasonal change important..at all. Granted, some of the Alpine scenery I have depicts snow on the peaks, but that's still a long way from 'Hard Winter'. Given that MSFS 2020 upon release will be Summer only, I've got what I want, and therefore have no real need to comment (yes, I accept the irony of that statement) lol. Having said that, I want it because YOU lot want it, and therefore if it IS implemented at some future point, we'll be a more harmonious user base! Actually, if they do it well, it could be REALLY special. The weather aspect is interesting. I've not flown in 'live weather' (other than real life), but I can appreciate the visual contradiction now its been raised! Out of interest (and it is genuinely a point of interest), do commercial airline simulators have seasonal depictions as part of their training environment? I think I've seen a training captain bring up a snowstorm, but I don't know if that impacted on the underlying terrain?

Thanks for that mate. I thought i'd replied earlier, but that was via my phone. It looks like the reply didn't send. Anyway, I've spent much of the day reading the various posts on the forums and looking at the videos, so I'm more clued up now! My graphics card is definitely too under powered to even think about downloading the sim at this time, but in a few weeks, i'll be onboard with DCS. Thanks for the info you posted. It definitely helped! Cheers, Mike.

Hi guys. Look, hands up, this is entirely new to me! I've been a 'simmer' for a few years, but because my computer is fairly outdated, I haven't really been exploring the various options out there. Basically, I use FSX with non autogen photoscenery, and with A2A and PMDG addons, it has served me well. As such, although i'm well aware of the existence of P3D, FS2 and X-Plane, my interest in them had never been sufficiently piqued to upgrade my system. Now that MSFS 2020 has been announced and showcased over the previous months, the term DCS seems to be cropping up more and more, usually in the context of simmers proclaiming that their future will comprise only of MSFS 2020 and DCS. So, as I have myself been sufficiently motivated to replace my PC in anticipation of Microsoft's latest incarnation, I thought i'd look into this DCS thing, and....bloody hell! Look, i'm a WW2 aviation nut! I live in the county of Norfolk, not far from Bodney airfield (home of the 'Blue Nosed word not alloweds'), and here, we are surrounded by aviation history, and artifacts. So, understandably, DCS has my attention, mainly for that aspect. There are however, many things I don't yet quite grasp. A few more days research would go a long way, but I thought i'd come and have a chat with you guys first. So..am I correct in the following statements? The basic platform is free, to which you can add 'campaign maps'? For WW2 Europe, there is a Normandy map, which extends to the South of England. Then, (for my specific area of interest) there is the option to purchase a P:51, Spitfire and at some point in the near future, a P:47? Okay, where I get a little bit lost is the 'campaigns', but like I said, a weekend of ground work should put me right. You can get a 'Blue Nosed word not alloweds of Bodney' campaign, which, being just down the road from me, is literally right up my street! But, no representation of Bodney airfield as such? You have to stage at the South coast of England I assume? Obviously the P:47s were at Bodney too, as predecessors of the P:51s, but the proposed addon 47 isn't really related to the Blue Nosed word not alloweds campaign? Its a separate stand alone entity, right? Okay, so I know DCS world is great for VR, which is another thing I want to get into. I'm not sure about the online flying thing just yet, but I know I'm as excited for this as I am FSX 2020, because to be fair, this combat meets history thing is what I'm all about. I am a qualified light aircraft pilot (since 1982), so that civilian sim thing has an appeal, nostalgia, and fantasizing about what might have been (737-800 for example) but.... Oh, I'll get into the A10 and stuff like that for sure, but once I've got my upgrade/replacement PC with a 1080 TI, I'll be buying into DSC, make no mistake. This is just a casual chat, and I'll do my research of course, but if anyone would like to run this naive newbie through the necessary steps to get dogfighting over Europe, then I'm listening. Cheers, Mike.

Whilst trawling through some Asobo related stuff on the net, I found this; "The game is the first full-size version of the series since the 2006 Microsoft Flight Simulator X released . In contrast to the simplified Microsoft Flight , we get a powerful simulator that offers aircraft shake and covers a large part of the Earth. The authors emphasized realism. Developers obtained licenses from real producers , thanks to which all machines were meticulously reproduced, both in terms of the appearance and operation of on-board instruments as well as their behavior in the air. Production requires a lot from us. The player must learn to operate each machine separately, be able to create flight plans and implement them, as well as master ways to deal with changing weather conditions. Microsoft Flight Simulator offers rich content. There are many machines to choose from - from light aircraft to wide-bodied jets. An extensive set of missions is also available, although there is also no free flight option". I'm assuming the "no free flight option" is a typo! The advert goes on to say, "The game has an impressive graphic design. The machines have been reconstructed to the smallest detail, and the locations are dripping with details thanks to the use of satellite images during their creation. Such solutions have their limitations, which is usually suffered by the detail of the map. The developers of the Microsoft Flight Simulator , however, managed to avoid this thanks to the help of Azure artificial intelligence, providing much better object recognition and a higher level of detail." I don't know if anything quoted above contains anything Avsim members didn't already know (I haven't read every post), but I thought I'd put it out there, just in case! Oh, and it does seem to confirm that Asobo Studio is the producer. https://www.gry-online.pl/gry/microsoft-flight-simulator/z957f7#pc

As someone who has been using the PlaySim's version of England and Scotland (as well as most of Europe in Freeware) for quite some time now, the prospect of an OrbX PhotoReal UK, Ireland,Netherlands and Germany is quite exciting! The 'new tech' showcased in the NL screen shots, where buildings have a proper scale and shape looks really promising, so good times ahead! My biggest issue is what platform I'd choose to run it on? Some say P3D V4 doesn't render photoscenery particularly well? Aerofly FS2 has the frames, but not the planes? I currently run FSX at a LOD of 8.5 which keeps the dreaded 'blurries' at bay, even with the PMDG NGX, but the introduction of all that autogen on a 32 bit platform might soon propel me into OOM land, and neither X-Plane or Aerofly play host to the A2A stable of addon aircraft, unless their forthcoming announcement suggests otherwise? I want to make the jump to VR next year too, so lots to think about .

Wow, all files downloaded and the whole of France to explore! Thanks again for sharing this magnificent scenery! Its certainly one I'll be using a lot, both for low and slow, and high altitude flights from the UK to LEPA. Brilliant!

I'm having a few difficulties downloading these files, mainly due to technical stuff I don't fully understand (Such as HTTP 403:Forbidden errors), BUT, I'm getting there! Just wanted to say 'thanks', and my word, this scenery offering is AMAZING!! I'm SOOOO looking forwards to the Northern half, as I've only got three files left to download from the 1st instalment.

3 questions, if I may. Mine will be a dual install...I currently have and use the DVD version. 1. Will the FSX steam desktop icon differ from the old retail version, or will it have to be launched from the root folder if I have FSX x 2? 2. Will Nvidea inspector recognise FSX Steam, in order to apply the VSych half refresh rate setting separately? 3. Will the FTX Global lights work okay if using FSX Steam in DX9 mode? Maybe another quick question...I'm guessing that once FSX Steam is installed, any subsequent uninstalls of the DVD version will necessitate uninstalling FSX Steam also, as IT has to be installed AFTER the DVD version, correct? Cheers, Mike.

I'm still tempted to buy it, just to keep all my photo scenery 'in house' so to speak. I like the fact that MSE bunches everything into one simple folder, such as 'Belgium', which I guess you could do with the Horizon England/Wales if you knew what you was doing (I probably don't). Any chance of a screenshot to show just how bad these MSE England/Wales coastal areas actually are?

My main gripe with the Horizon/Playsims product is this: That awful colouration that seems to tarnish great swathes of my East Anglian homeland. If the M.S.E version doesn't suffer from those garish hues, then for me, it'll be worth the purchase just for that! I'm guessing that I can still use the Horizon mesh and Vectors with the M.S.E England and Wales package, which will go a long way in eliminating the coastal issues noted by many users?