Flight sim n00b

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
2,707
Location
UK
So I just got myself a copy of FSX, I have no experience what so ever of flying or flight sims so as you can imagine results so far have been, err... interesting. I did the first 'mission' which is to take off and land in a straight line, which was easy enough. But the second mission is driving me mad. Basically all I have to do is fly through some gates in a straight decent then land. I must have attempted this about 100 times and so far my best result has been getting as far as the 4th gate then stacking it vertically nose first into a hill :o On most of my attempts I have completely missed the first gate and given up, often ending up spinning around in a circle. I think my problem is that I just can't get used to the huge lag between doing something and it taking effect. Like with the first gate there is a tiny bit of wind that blows me of course and I always end up overcompensating and either going off in totally the wrong direction or spinning around. Alternatively I try using the controls minimally and end up getting blown of course anyway... ARRHH, I swear this game is driving me insane.

So I got bored of that mission and though I would have a go in a jet, which resulted in this...
fsx.jpg

:D
I was kind if hoping it would be engulfed in a huge fireball, but no such luck :(

Anyway can any flight sim experts give me some tips before I lose my sanity to this game.
 
Thats a fair point... but I don't like the idea of being beaten by a game and I think giving up after less than a day is a bit feeble. I can always ease my frustration by shooting the crap out of stuff in CSS or something :D
 
How about learning to fly using MS FSX flying instructor - also found in the game. And yes you do need a joystick if you dont already have one.
 
PhilthyPhil said:
I was kind if hoping it would be engulfed in a huge fireball, but no such luck :(

Unfortunatley microsoft don't seem to know what simulation means, so they have completley unrealistic crashes, looks like they haven't bothered to change it since fs2003.
 
Type_R said:
How about learning to fly using MS FSX flying instructor - also found in the game. And yes you do need a joystick if you dont already have one.
I think this is what I've been doing... the 'tutorial' missions yeah?
 
Sleepless said:
Depends what youre looking for - online / single player, world war 2 / vietnam / civilian etc etc etc.

Not sure, tell me which is best for each of those category's :p

Most proberly single player as i don't have loads of time for multiplayer games recently.
 
PhilthyPhil said:
Anyway can any flight sim experts give me some tips before I lose my sanity to this game.

Having played every FS flight Sim since the beginning of time up until FSX. I'll agree that the learning process can be difficult to master, but most friends who've come round to try flying have been able to master it in about 30 mins, for the basic, taking off, flying around, landing.

I'm wondering if your problem is more related to your system setting, when you say the plane takes a long time to react, is that because you have the graphics settings set so high on the game that the frame rate is very low and hence any input you make takes a long time to react as the PC is taking a long time to react to the input.

FSX is notorious for eating graphics card and processor power, so in the first instance I'd try reducing the quality/detail/resolution settings for FSX and see if the game response time gets better.

Also if you haven't got a joystick with throttle then that will make your life very difficult, don't try playing it with a mouse or keyboard as it doesn't work very well.

Another tip, if those above don't help is to first of all go 2d with the cockpit by pressing F11, then press the W key to get the basic plane information on the screen, ie. altitude and speed. Then trying flying it, it is much easier then as you have more visibility to see the surroundings.

Hope that helps.

Taff
 
andr3w said:
Not sure, tell me which is best for each of those category's :p

Most proberly single player as i don't have loads of time for multiplayer games recently.

personal preference - offline i prefer IL2 being a wwii buff, theres a battle of britain game being developed by the same company which *is* going to be awesome. If you prefer flying something a bit more modern old games like wings over vietnam have a bunch of player made scenarios letting you fly actual missions which were fun. Check out the SimHQ forums. For civilian flying theres Microsoft FS2004 and the new one, X.

Online, theres lots of predominantly air games with a monthly subscription such as Aces High. Theyre developing a campaign mode which sounds fun but theyve been developing it for ages and god knows when its due.

The one I play most is wwiiol. I almost solely fly in it but theres a lot more depth to it because youre flying over terrain that has infantry and armour fighting over towns. This means half your mission will be CAP and half will be ground support (CAS). I should warn you, theres a huge learning curve and it is very easy to feel noobish for weeks as you get shot down over and over again. Theres quite a few long-term players who are good at what they do and it takes a long time to get used to the strengths and weaknesses of the aircraft. If you do try, play Axis first, they have the best aircraft until the last round of R&D when the Spit IX comes out.

Graphics for wwiiol are the weakness, theres also a permanent fog in the game which was meant to help with framerates but just looks awful and manages to annoy all the fliers. But they have a new render engine coming in a couple of months that should improve things.
 
Get IL2 1946, then go into hyperlobby and join the online fun. A flightsim with no guns gets a little boring after 10 seconds.
 
andr3w said:
what is the best flight sim?

For WW2 it would probably be Il2 as stated above and il2 1946 comes with some great additions at a good price (basically all of the expansions).

Lock On is pretty good for modern and the expansion pack called Black Shark is being released soon irrc.

Nothing really beats FS for commercial flights though imo.
 
Type_R said:
How about learning to fly using MS FSX flying instructor - also found in the game. And yes you do need a joystick if you dont already have one.


Whats the best joystick out of these 4

Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 USB
Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital gameport
Logitech Wingman Attack 2 USB
H+H Fire Fighter JS09 gameport
 
I don't think it is an issue with the settings, I think its more to do with my incompetence. I have been trying to play with keyboard/mouse up until now but hopefully my joystick should arrive today so I shall try that tonight and see how it goes.
 
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