Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Energize · 7 Jul 2008 at 03:01

Just started learning to fly, I'm on lesson 3 but can't complete it because the idiot AI "Rod" flies the aeroplane into the mountains, yet I'm asked to descend to 3000ft and lower the flaps, is this a bug or what?

And am I reading the altimeter wrong or is something seriously screwed up here?

MotherMayI · 7 Jul 2008 at 09:43

I have never played the game, so dont really have a clue - But have you tried climbing to 5k?

Ed · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:42

You're taking too long to complete the instructions if you end up too close to the mountain and by the looks of things you're way off with altitude. If you're struggling, try the basic missions first as it still teaches you control of the plane but puts the fun back into it. You'll get there in the end.

Sleepery · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:48

Sorry - bit off topic, but do the basic missions / flying lessons allow you to get into the sim without studying a manual for hours?

I've always wanted to give it a go, especially after seeing some of the terrain add-ons in the screenshot thread, but reckoned I wouldn't have the staying power to get the most out of it.

FrostedNipple · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:53

your altimeter says you are at 1,600 ft btw

the dot spins indicates 10,000's the little hand indicates 1,000's and the long hand that spins lots indicates 100's

so in that picture, you were a lot lower than you were supposed to be, probably why you hit the mountains.

neoboy · 7 Jul 2008 at 10:56

Well I didn't do a single lesson and had very little flying experience when I just started flying around in 2004 version. That was with smaller planes though, those are awfully easy to fly if you're just there to sight see. When I got bored in the air I just used to just cut the power to the engine and see if I could then land somewhere in a field without dying. Overloading planes to ridiculous weights and then landing on some grass strip in Africa was fun too

EDIT: Directed at Sleepery

Energize · 7 Jul 2008 at 11:10

Ed said:
You're taking too long to complete the instructions if you end up too close to the mountain and by the looks of things you're way off with altitude. If you're struggling, try the basic missions first as it still teaches you control of the plane but puts the fun back into it. You'll get there in the end.

The starting altitude was only around 1500ft, far too low to reach an altitude of 5000ft before the simulation automatically ends with the "your obviously distracted" crap. The fact that it asks me to descend to 5000ft when I'm far below it indicates a bug and when I tried to climb to 5000ft it says "too high descend". :confused:

Also after starting the simulator a few more times the autopilot flew in a straight line, which to me indicates that the extreme heading change of the start of the mission was some sort of error.

FrostedNipple · 7 Jul 2008 at 11:13

theres a patch isn't there? Try installing that

Ed · 7 Jul 2008 at 11:20

Energize said:
The starting altitude was only around 1500ft, far too low to reach an altitude of 5000ft before the simulation automatically ends with the "your obviously distracted" crap. The fact that it asks me to descend to 5000ft when I'm far below it indicates a bug and when I tried to climb to 5000ft it says "too high descend".

Also after starting the simulator a few more times the autopilot flew in a straight line, which to me indicates that the extreme heading change of the start of the mission was some sort of error.

Just so we're clear, this is the student pilot: lesson 3 (climbs and descents) we're talking about?

FrostedNipple said:
theres a patch isn't there? Try installing that

That won't change anything, just performance amongst a few other things.

Energize · 7 Jul 2008 at 12:31

Ed said:
Just so we're clear, this is the student pilot: lesson 3 (climbs and descents) we're talking about?

Yes.

EDIT - I've found the problem, the Altimeter is showing altitude in metres while the instructor was giving me instructions in feet. Great work there microsoft. :rolleyes:

Ed · 7 Jul 2008 at 12:45

Energize said:
Yes.

EDIT - I've found the problem, the Altimeter is showing altitude in metres while the instructor was giving me instructions in feet. Great work there microsoft.

Doh! Glad you found it. Happy flying!!!

AHarvey · 7 Jul 2008 at 12:58

I have been looking at getting this, however there seems to be so many different versions out and about I am not sure what I need!

Any suggestions?

Ed · 7 Jul 2008 at 13:50

AHarvey said:
I have been looking at getting this, however there seems to be so many different versions out and about I am not sure what I need!

Any suggestions?

There's only 2, standard and deluxe. Buy the deluxe version as it has more missions, more aircraft and more detailed airports. Once you get it, immediately update it with service pack 1, then apply service pack 2. If you like it, buy the add-on pack Acceleration and if you really like it then check out the 3rd party add-on scene which makes FSX simply stunning.

Energize · 8 Jul 2008 at 06:12

How do I calibrate my joystick for the game? The throttle on the joystick does not always move the in game throttle all the way up or down.

Also is there any mods to realistically model plane damage? The crash effects are so lame it's as if graphics development has gone back 20 years! Even cheap games like IL2 have excellent damage effects so it's hard to understand why this simulator has none, when it's supposed to be the best (and the most expensive).

Dogoid · 8 Jul 2008 at 06:57

The game is about flight not collision, your wanting the wrong thing out of the game.

lolwtfbbq · 8 Jul 2008 at 07:00

Try pressing B, it recalibrates the altimeter if I'm correct

Energize · 8 Jul 2008 at 08:26

Dogoid said:
The game is about flight not collision, your wanting the wrong thing out of the game.

I'm wanting a simulation, the game is called "flight simulator", so it should simulate real plane damage. It would allow simulation of tons of real world situations if such a basic feature as plane damage was implemented. Plus the user base would probably double.

muttclugg · 8 Jul 2008 at 08:29

Energize said:
I'm wanting a simulation, the game is called "flight simulator", so it should simulate real plane damage. It would allow simulation of tons of real world situations if such a basic feature as plane damage was implemented. Plus the user base would probably double.

As its already been mentioned, it's Flight Simulator to simulate the flying experience. Not Crash Simulator/damage simulator to simulate bits of aircraft falling off.

You can make all the systems fail if thats what your looking for. I can't remember where the option is but its there somewhere. You can put them on a timer so for example parts of the navigation system will fail between 1 and 38 minutes or the altimeter will fail in the next 2 minutes etc.

topgun06 · 8 Jul 2008 at 08:33

Energize said:
I'm wanting a simulation, the game is called "flight simulator", so it should simulate real plane damage. It would allow simulation of tons of real world situations if such a basic feature as plane damage was implemented. Plus the user base would probably double.

True. From my years of playing FS2002 and 2004 id love to see more realistic air traffic. That was one thing that really ticked my nipples... with airports like EGLL and EGCC with minimal aircraft traffic. Planes landing every hour at EGCC when in reality they land and take off every 5 - 10 mins.

Instead you would have to install your own AI aircraft + flight plans which was a pain in the jaxie tbh

Sleepery · 8 Jul 2008 at 08:33

Energize said:
I'm wanting a simulation, the game is called "flight simulator", so it should simulate real plane damage. It would allow simulation of tons of real world situations if such a basic feature as plane damage was implemented. Plus the user base would probably double.

What you want is called 'Crash Simulator'