Bought FSX - Now What?

The_KiD

The_KiD

The_KiD

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Ok so on impulse I have bought a copy of FSX which should arrive tomorrow.

Now I did a little reading and relaise there are some updates and fixes and tweaks that can be done to improve performance.

I am thinking however I will be running it at low spec as I dont think it will go so well on my machine.

6800GT
2Gb RAM
3.25Ghx (Hyperthreading)

So what updates/tweaks/patches should I be getting?
 
The premier web resource is:

www.avsim.com

You should be able to get 95% of everything you need there. Largest freeware library. Largest community. Stacks of reviews etc.

You will get patch and tweak information in the MS FSX forums. This thread is a good start:

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=177&topic_id=1201&mode=full

note: I like Avsim - I don't like the owner - Tom Allensworth, who rules the forums with a rod of iron. Consequently I stopped participating on the forums a long time ago.

Your card is a bit low spec. You would have run FS9 quite nicely with that spec, but FSX will be challenged. Your biggest bang per buck in terms of FPS improvements will be big reductions on cloud densities and autogen scenery and traffic (ie other automated aircraft / vehicles). Cut those down to low levels and you should hit the magic 20FPS+
 
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Well it arrived last night and to be honest I had started thinking this wasnt the game for me as the more I read on it themore complicated and dull it seemed to be.

Installed it, loaded up and did the free flight thing and what a chug-a-thon that was ...... then I remembered SP1 for it, installed that and tweaked the graphics a little and WOW what a completely different experience, then I sat up until stupid o'clock just cruising round the skies, it rocks!!!

Eventually I got on to doing the training missions and so far they all seem straight forward and the help is great.

I do however have a couple of questions that hopefully some of your flight simmer's can answer.

In the Glider's how do you captialise on the thermals, I get dropped off by the tow plane then slowly but surely just start descending until I have to "land out" (oooh get my terminology), I understand the constant tone means I am going down in a downward's thermal and the beeping means I going up, however I hit the up thermal and then how to I make the most of it and stay in the thermal get some height?

Also when the the tow plane lets you go, the instructor says "Trim your flaps to 80 knots" although he hasnt actually told me wtf that means lol
 
I too have just ordered this after playing the demo for the max allowed time last night. I ended up flying the mirco light all around St. Kitts at dusk last night landed 2 or 3 times in fields stoped the engine and restarted and away I went. Fantastic experience, I want a joystick but after splashing out 35 quid on the deluxe version i'll wait for a few weeks. Actually the mouse joke is great once you get the hang of it. The demo also has an intermediate mission which is way above my head the woman keeps chatting to me until I crash the place. It would be more realistic if she starts screaming as I fly upside down into the sea..... :p
 
It's certainly a liberating experience! My usual games are FPS or various forms of shoot em up's. but FSX makes a nice change.

I actually use an Xbox 360 pad rather then a joystick. Obviously not ideal, but I use it for some driving games too, so a decent compromise. (cost about 15 quid too)

I could never control the helicopters using the mouse/keyboard, but the pad makes it possible.

The fact that there's a lot of add ons, free and paid for, means there's always something to do too. I don't think i'll be spending huge amounts on mods though, it seems you can spend a fortune on some of the scenery packs, although they do look great.
 
Have to agree it is completely not what I expected, but it's better :)

The missions I think are making it very playable for me, I think if it was a case of just doing your own thing all the time it may get dull, but I love the fact that you have tasks to complete and goals to reach.

Now I just have to learn how to keep the glider in the bloody air :/
 
KiD - what FPS are you getting on your rig - what display settings did you end up with.

Never flown a glider so can't help there.

"Trim the flaps" is a strange term for me - maybe glider specific.

The trim is a fundamental in flying. It makes life much easier. It is a movable tab/flap on the wing or elevator which is manually moved which restablises the plane's at the angle you are flying. Say you are descending for landing. You have to push on the control stick to force the plane to descend. It requires effort and over a long time can be uncomfortable. So you use the trim to rebalance the aerodynamics slightly so that the pressure used to push the stick forward is negated. Once you level out you need to retrim. So in the context of "Trim the flaps for 80 knots", I am not sure what they mean.

All you FS newbies - get a joystick now!!! They are cheap (no need for force feedback) and essential IMHO. Then, when your'e hooked, a control stick and rudder pedals. Then, when you are really hooked - TrackIR 4.0 (so you can pan by moving your head).!!!!
 
lol those joysticks are 35 quid.... not so cheap or can you just buy any old joystick?
 
Already had the MS Sidewinder2 with ForceFeedback thankfully.

I am running the game with all settings on medium-high and it all looks good, but dont know how I find out what FPS I am getting?
 
Press shift z twice while in the sim.

A note on hardware while I have some nooby attention. Remember FS is 20 odd years old, and the original programming is still at it's core. This presents a big plus in that it is very mature and feature rich. It also represents a big minus because it is not optimised for todays typical gaming hardware.

The key points are:

1. FS is CPU intensive not graphics intensive. So moving from a 8800 GTS to an Ultra won't make as big an impression as you hope. Moving from 2.2 Ghz to 3 Ghz would prove more beneficial.

2. At FS9 stage, there was practically no support for multi core CPUs or SLI/Crossfire. With FSX SP1, I believe there is now some limited support for multi-core.
 
Kirth Gersen said:
Press shift z twice while in the sim.

A note on hardware while I have some nooby attention. Remember FS is 20 odd years old, and the original programming is still at it's core. This presents a big plus in that it is very mature and feature rich. It also represents a big minus because it is not optimised for todays typical gaming hardware.

The key points are:

1. FS is CPU intensive not graphics intensive. So moving from a 8800 GTS to an Ultra won't make as big an impression as you hope. Moving from 2.2 Ghz to 3 Ghz would prove more beneficial.

2. At FS9 stage, there was practically no support for multi core CPUs or SLI/Crossfire. With FSX SP1, I believe there is now some limited support for multi-core.
Click to expand...

Will check the FPS tonight if I get home from work in time to have a bash and will let you know.
 
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