The 'Official' Screenshot & Tips thread 4 FSX enthusiasts & flight simmers.

ghutchison14078 · 13 Apr 2013 at 20:28

Just done some circuits at Edinburgh in the NGX testing out my new Shade and FXAA settings....think I'm finally happy with these settings

Just ordered myself a treat....

...Dell U3014 on its way

Dappo · 13 Apr 2013 at 22:09

Some excellent pictures here!

Here are a few of my own:

Vuvuzela · 13 Apr 2013 at 22:20

wow some great photos from both!

Mr G are you still using that graphics addon?

Soya · 13 Apr 2013 at 23:22

Thanks guys and some great looking views/shots above too.

ghutchison14078 said:
Just ordered myself a treat....

...Dell U3014 on its way

You are in for a real treat! Running FSX at 2560x1600 is just flight simming on a whole new level of detail and visual beauty. Looking at your sig, your hardware should be able to run it pretty well at that res, you will of course lose some FPS due to the higher res but a worthwhile trade off.

ghutchison14078 · 14 Apr 2013 at 13:24

Soya said:
Thanks guys and some great looking views/shots above too.

You are in for a real treat! Running FSX at 2560x1600 is just flight simming on a whole new level of detail and visual beauty. Looking at your sig, your hardware should be able to run it pretty well at that res, you will of course lose some FPS due to the higher res but a worthwhile trade off.

Yeah, cant wait to see FSX in 1600p glory

Hoping it doesn't drop my FPS by too much

shadow_boxer · 14 Apr 2013 at 15:08

Some great shots guys.

+1 for 1600p. I went from 1080 to 1440 recently and the colours are just fantastic and didn't hit fps too much at all.

Vuvuzela · 14 Apr 2013 at 17:39

wow very nice!!

ghutchison14078 · 14 Apr 2013 at 19:06

Just got the RealAir Turbine Duke today...what a great little aircraft.

Full credit to RealAir, probably the best GA plane I've flown in FSX so far

!bluetonic! · 15 Apr 2013 at 08:15

Seriously great pictures coming through at the moment. I'm glad you're all getting your the FSX setups you deserve.

I've been doing a few more VFR flights with FSEconomy.

I'm here all week for those wanting to jump onto Vatsim.

I'll also be a virtual pilot at the Weston Event on Saturday and Sunday in May. The South-West arm of Vatsim UK will be demoing.

And recently I watched a great documentary on the F22. 'Battle Stations - FA-22 Raptor'. Awesome stuff.

ringo747 · 15 Apr 2013 at 09:04

Some great looking screens, I'm going to have to get myself some addon scenery. I'm more interested in the functionality/systems of the a/c but these shots really make me want to get the thing looking better again. Maybe an excuse to get myself a new system too!

Iraklis F.C. · 15 Apr 2013 at 22:20

i started a flight some 10 mins ago and for the first time ever i have seen fireworks in fsx! never witnessed before

woot, my home city in aerosoft future release http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/67114-thessaloniki-x-preview/

stevie_vee · 16 Apr 2013 at 17:43

Hi all...been a while. I've been doing some upgrading on the pc and have just re-installed FSX. It's a raw install at the mo so need to get the game running before installing any addons. I'm using a GTX 580 until i decide weather to go sli or a new current card all together. What driver are you guys using for a simular g/card?

Thanks and looking forward to spreading these wings again.

Steve.

ghutchison14078 · 16 Apr 2013 at 18:30

I'm running GTX580 with 314.22 drivers with no problems in FSX

!bluetonic! · 16 Apr 2013 at 20:58

Iraklis F.C. was looking at upgrading his Nvidia card.

I run FSX with 2 x ATI 5770s over 2 monitors.

You don't get FPS gain with SLI / Crossfire, but you will get improved rendered visuals.

Iraklis F.C. · 16 Apr 2013 at 23:58

yes i was looking into an upgrade but decided to keep the 280, i tweaked the settings and its alright, only when it snows the vga has a hard time but i guess i can live with that.

As per SLI i have heard it doesnt make a difference at all, for the cost.

neodude · 18 Apr 2013 at 11:32

Hey folks, I've been out of the flight simming game for a good few years, since the days of FS2002. I'm looking to get back into it and would like some recommendations on what I need to be buying.

I'm assuming that FSX is the main sim I should be looking at yes? On top of that I would need....

Some good UK scenery, ideally to VFR levels around central Scotland.

Some decent airport scenery. Scottish airports mostly, perhaps some London ones too.

A decent airliner. I used to use PSS Dash 8, PSS A320 & an old 737-400 which was cracking (dreamfleet?), so something along those lines. An A320 and a Dash would be good.

A decent light single. Piper arrow, Cessna or something similar.

What's the deal with addon traffic these days? I'd like the local traffic to be as accurate as possible. I used to use something I think was called Project AI.

Whats the weather like these days? Would I need a 3rd party addon?

Anything else that I shouldn't be without?

ghutchison14078 · 18 Apr 2013 at 12:14

neodude said:
Hey folks, I've been out of the flight simming game for a good few years, since the days of FS2002. I'm looking to get back into it and would like some recommendations on what I need to be buying.

I'm assuming that FSX is the main sim I should be looking at yes? On top of that I would need....

Some good UK scenery, ideally to VFR levels around central Scotland.

Some decent airport scenery. Scottish airports mostly, perhaps some London ones too.

A decent airliner. I used to use PSS Dash 8, PSS A320 & an old 737-400 which was cracking (dreamfleet?), so something along those lines. An A320 and a Dash would be good.

A decent light single. Piper arrow, Cessna or something similar.

What's the deal with addon traffic these days? I'd like the local traffic to be as accurate as possible. I used to use something I think was called Project AI.

Whats the weather like these days? Would I need a 3rd party addon?

Anything else that I shouldn't be without?

UK Photoreal scenery:

Horizons Generation X VFR
http://www.playsimspublishing.com/titles.html

UK Airports:

UK2000 are the best
http://www.uk2000scenery.com/newsite/My_Homepage_Files/Page1.html

Airliners:

PMDG 737 NGX
http://www.precisionmanuals.com/pages/product/ngx.html

Aerosoft Airbus Extended
http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=article_detail&s_supplier_aid=12065&s_design=DEFAULT&shopfilter_category=Flight%20Simulation&s_language=english

General Aviation:

My favorites are anything by Carenado or RealAir

http://www.carenado.com/CarSite/Portal/index.php

http://www.realairsimulations.com/home.php?page=home

Addon Traffic:

World of AI is generally regarded as the best freeware traffic package.

I use this one and its really good

http://secure.simmarket.com/mytraffic-x-professional-5.4-b.phtml

There are a couple of good weather engines:

http://www.opussoftware.co.uk/opusfsi.htm

http://www.hifitechinc.com/products/active-sky-2012

The first and most definitive addon you want to get is REX (Real Environment Extreme) its a sky, cloud, water and ground texture addon that HUGELY improves the default FSX.
It also has a built in weather engine but its not quite as refined as the two i mention above.

Personally I use REX to provide the high def textures and run OpusFX as the weather engine...they combine wonderfully

http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/essential.html

FSX is quite a system hog, it benefits from as much CPU power as possible, so overclock your CPU as far as is stable if you can.

Also read this guide for tweaking the FSX.cfg file to get the best from your hardware
http://kostasfsworld.wordpress.com/fsx-software-and-hardware-guide/

FSX in its default state is a complete dog (in my opinion) it can take a lot of time and money to get it looking great and running smoothly, but when you do it's really something.

!bluetonic! · 18 Apr 2013 at 13:15

▲ What he said..

And don't forget to look at Orbx England & Wales. It's a cheaper way to get good scenery without impacting FPS.

Also look to Vatsim for real-world ATC and flight procedures.

The current iFly and PMDG 737s are light years away from anything that's been done in FSX. But don't forget the humble default Cessnas which are cracking light aircraft.

Have a good read of this thread and keep asking questions.

thingemajib · 18 Apr 2013 at 13:21

neodude said:
Some decent airport scenery. Scottish airports mostly, perhaps some London ones too.

uk2000 are the best for british atm, but i would hold fire on heathrow. Whilst its current iteration is stunning, its now a few of years out of date and missing a few of the later additions to the RL heathrow (namely the new T2). Both Aerosoft and Uk2000 are now working on a refresh of their heathrow products. Aerosoft have recently posted some early screenies which make it look like a serious rival to the uk2000 one, particularly in the extra areas around the airport that have been moddelled. However, i would imagine Gary at uk2000 will also be diong something similar, as the extra detail past the airport boundaries has been a speciality of his as of late.

I would expect to see both of these product in the next few months or so.

neodude · 18 Apr 2013 at 16:31

Thanks folks, plenty to be thinking about there. It will need to be a bit at a time so that I can get wife approval on purchases

I've just recently managed to get PC upgrades approved by her and I'm working on a Saitek HOTAS and Track IR next

!bluetonic! said:
Also look to Vatsim for real-world ATC and flight procedures.

I get enough of real-world ATC at work, lol.