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

[Soya]

Enjoy these mixture of unedited and edited shots of PMDG's 747 with McPhat's HD liveries.

(unedited, apart from resized from 2560x1600 to 1280x960 & JPG'd)

(light edit - blur, sharpening, light spots)

(composite edits - my first attempt at trying these, so don't be too harsh)

(Copyright acknowledgment: some of the composite inserts taken from www.lightningphotography.com)

 

[Soya]

Thanks for the compliments on my screen shot work.

As for the future of hardware & FSX, the beauty is, it can only get better and cheaper (I hope so at least, even with the current economic climate).

IMO, when we get Intel chips that are affordable, have 6 or 8 cores, which can run @7-8Ghz on air, that is when we can fully appreciate FSX with all the bells and whistle with max FPS. But every new generation of hardware can only make the FSX experience better for users who are upgrading their PC. Plus the fact that the 3rd party addon (aircraft, scenery, etc) standards are constantly being raised, which again, is good for the end users.

DISCOUNT NOTICE

There is a excellent review at http://www.avsim.com/pages/1111/EarthSim/VFR.html which, if you read through it, has a 15% discount code on ALL products at Earth Simulations, I would highly recommend their Alderney, Isles of Scilly & Guernsey products but their Shawbury fields and Treescapes is fantastic too providing your have some VFR scenery installed for the UK.

 

[Soya]

Great shots again, Soya.

Loving the 'jet wash' effect from the engine exhausts; how are you getting that? Is it an add-on?

Cheers,

Rich

Alas, not an addon (AFAIK nothing like that is 'YET' available for FSX) it was something I added in photoshop.

Looking good Soya!

I'm hovering over the buy button of the Eaglesoft Citation X at the moment, anyone have it??

If you are into pocket jets, you might want to check out and compare it to this http://www.feelthere.com/424_embraer-phenom-100-by-feelthere-le.html. I will have this model soon (helping with a review on it), so will pass on any info or screen shots if I can.

The thing I always look at when buying new aircraft:
1) Is it build specifically for FSX and was it build natively? (Many aircraft have been modeled in FS9 and ported over to FSX, which, to me, gives it a handicap) Like the PMDG 737NGX for instance, purely a FSX model.
2) How detailed is both the model but more importantly, the external textures (painted liveries)? I would never invest in an aircraft that has normal detailed textures anymore, cause there is simply better out there. One of the reason I haven't gotten the NGX yet, but once McPhat are releasing their UHDT liveries for it, I will get it.
3) Personally, I'm not very interested in a detailed VC or flight model, but many other simmers would be.
4) Pricing, value VS what you are getting. Even though an aircraft may not pass my personal standard of quality when it comes to their full retail price, very often, an bargain or a sale might be on. So if the value exceeds their quality, I may end up getting it. PS ALWAYS shop around, often prices can vary (sometimes a lot) from shop to shop.

My 2cs on getting new aircraft.

EDIT: I just did some checking on the Citation X, it was brought out on February 2008, so nearly 3 years old, not sure how old the Phenom is. There's a nice review on the Citation X at avsim.com (check their alphabetical reviews) it got a gold star rating @1 year ago. I would personally wait till they review the Phenom and compare them both then make your choice. Unless of course you can get the Citation X at a decent discount somewhere.

 

[Soya]

What is the best price you can get the Citation X for?

 

[Soya]

Just a few places I checked:
http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=1474

http://www.flightstore.co.uk/cessna-citationxfor-fsx-fs2004.asp

 

[Soya]

Ah didn't know they both produced the same model, in that case, go for the one that you feel suit your needs best. Pretty price though, $49.95 for a 3 year old made aircraft.

PS Is this the eaglesoft model? http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/890...rce=0&searchstring=citation+x&urlrefer=search

 

[Soya]

Oh man, I just bought Guernsey and Treescapes 2, now theres a discount code? I have to use it to make it worth it... or i'll regret it in future

What would you recommend out of Scilly, Shawbury Fields and others ?

I think I may go Scilly, as it has a lighthouse or two that work? I believe this makes the downloaded free lighthouses work also.. I havea lighthouse obsession going on.

I own pretty much all of ES's produced products, Guernsey (easily their best so far), Alderney, Isle of Scilly, Shawbury Fields and all the Treescapes plus Horizon's VFR UK all volumes apart from Scotland (waiting for the 3 volumes to be in sale). If I had to choose between IoS & Shawbury fields, I would go with IoS, although both are worth having especially if you own Horizon's VFR for the UK.

Probably a silly question, but does anyone think there'll be much difference detail wise between running a 1680x1050 and 1920x1280 monitor.

I've got FSX looking a lot better than it did when I first changed from the 5850 to the 570 - but still have some jaggies (especially in text in the engine management displays/HSI etc...)

And maybe I'm just looking for justification for a nice new screen...

Cheers,

Rich

IMO, if you hardware can handle it (CPU & GFX card) then upping the res in FSX is deffo a must. The higher the res, the more pixels thus the more detail you get. I couldn't believe the difference earlier this year when I moved from 1920x1080 to 2560x1600, the amount of detail is simply amazing, as you can see from most of my screen shots.

So yes, upgrade to the highest res you can get.

 

[Soya]

DISCOUNT NOTICE FOR FSDREAMTEAM AIRPORTS

Just got an email from FSDT:


We are having a BIG SALE: both FsDreamTeam and Cloud9 products can be purchased with a 50% discount, if you insert the following Coupon CODE while ordering:

TURKEY2011

The offer starts today, and last until November 28th so, be quick to take advantage of it. Every product is included, *except* FSDT KLAX.

The offer CAN be cumulated with our regular multi-products discount purchase, so you can still get some discount on KLAX, by purchasing it together with something else (at 50% discount)

Regards,
The FSDreamTeam forum Team.


I highly recommend their airports and at 50% off plus you get an accumulative for each airport you purchase within a single purchase, this is worth looking into for all you simmers out there.

 

[Soya]

Hello fellow simmers,

Enjoy this new series of shots (and a video if you are interested) showing off the lovely twin GA from Carenado, the C337H Skymaster. There is a very good and detailed review of her at avsim.com, check under aircraft reviews.

Please enjoy this selection of shots from the Master of the Sky.
(unedited apart from re-sized down from 2560x1600 & carefully JPG'd):

If you would like to see my latest video featuring the Skymaster then click on the video below, best watched at full screen 1080p, it also features the excellent Grand Canyon scenery from Blue Sky Scenery (freeware). If you are unable to view the video due to restrictions, then please check my video channel as I have uploaded the same video with a different soundtrack which has no country/area restrictions.

Cheers all.

 

[Soya]

Soya, you're pics are stunning. I used FSX for a long time, but then found I didn't have time for it. Now I do and am looking to get back into it.

I am currently running the rig in my sig and the experience is not that great tbh. What sort of performance increase would I see in going from the sig rig to an i5 2500k at 4.8Ghz, 8GB RAM and one of the new GTX560i 448 cards?

Also, does FSX benefit from being installed on an SSD?

Thanks for the compliment. It is hard to say how much of a performance increase you will see but I think, once you have it properly installed & tweaked (which will take time), it should run very well. FSX is especially CPU hungry, so the higher the @GHz per core, the better FSX & addons will run. Also having a decent Nvidia GTX card will help. As for installing FSX on a SSD, that should also make a difference. I would recommend you do some more research though before you spend that kind of money on a upgrade, I think you will see a substantial increase but again, you gotta weight the value vs performance issue here.

I saw your pics in the avsim review soya, will checkout the vid when i get a minute I bought the C337H a while back and it's a great little plane for both VFR and IFR GA flights.

Indeed she is a lovely plane to fly, hope you have enjoyed the video. I put much time and effort into them (they take much longer to make then a simple screen shot) but hopefully they are enjoyed by many others.

 

[Soya]

I would highly recommend the Wilco Harrier, esp at £13, well worth the money.

 

[Soya]

DISCOUNT NOTICE:

Captain sim's classic 707 has now a 30 euro discount! The 707 was 59.99 euros now down to 29.99 euros (@£22.50?), I would personally highly recommend it. It comes in several models, high quality (2048 textures) liveries and full authentic VC.

http://www.captainsim.com/index.html

Edit: Made a boob with the discount calculation, doh. Thanks for correcting me Rich and thanks for the compliment on the Harrier video

 

[Soya]

Here is a selection of festive seasonal nighttime screen shots showing off the superb night time scenery (something I normally never bother with as there usually isn't anything you can see) of the Island of Guernsey made by Earth Simulations.

Enjoy the shots (unedited apart from re-sized and JPG'd):

 

[Soya]

Rex 2 at £12.82. Is that a must buy for that price?

A no-brainer IMO... plus they apparently have a big free update coming to REX as stated in a few posts above.

Not tried AS 2012, I heard it is mainly a weather loader, no texture replacements. But apparently it does a very good job of that, better then the current REX.

Cheers Rich.

 

[Soya]

Pretty sure there is a manual pdf file included which should give plenty of info plus there is also the rex forums. This topic is something you need to be aware of if you are going to run rex HD clouds http://www.realenvironmentxtreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/429-please-read-hd-resolution/

Also ensure on your option page, the texture settings are Maxed when saving themes. Unless of course you are having FPS/stutter problems, then lower them.

PS. Once are happy with certain settings, ie taxi ways, sun etc, and you are not going to change them in the foreseeable future, then remove the ticks from the option page on whichever option you are not going to be changing, this saves a great deal of time when saving & altering your themes.

 

[Soya]

DISCOUNT NOTICE

At http://www.fspilotshop.com/index.php there are many discounts to be had.

The items I would especially take note of are the Iris range and for anyone having trouble getting their FSX to run smoothly FSPS Xtreme FPS Booster at @£7 it very very useful.

Happy Xmas all.

 

[Soya]

Decided to treat myself and took their 3 latest AU airports, Moorabbin, Wollongong and Alice Springs.

Got full Australia v4 & nearly all their other Airports already. Oddly enough, I done very little flying around the area but like all these FS addons, they will last for many years to come.

Happy flying all.

 

[Soya]

As it is my first post of the new year I would like to wish you all a very happy new year, may it be full of great flight sim experiences for you all.

My first screen shot posting of 2012, enjoy:
(some are lightly edited)

Thanks for looking.

 

[Soya]

Amazing as ever Soya.. Does it look that good and fly that smoothly on your PC?

It sure does, I do get stutters occasionally (turning too fast, over a very busy airport etc) but I simply adjust my settings to compensate. With the recent release of Nvidia Inspector, which now has a build in FPS limiter, it has improved my smoothness even more recently (which I didn't think was possible). The three biggest changes to my FSX were 1) getting a better PC (mainly faster CPU) 2) going from 1920x1080 to 2560x1600, it was stunning to see how much more detail I can now see 3) The 3rd party addons, my screen shots would look rubbish if it wasn't for the extreme talents of many of these addon developers, get a good looking aircraft with some great made scenery in the background, coupled with REX for sky & cloud effect and making a good screen shot is a piece of cake, well nearly .

Soya they are amazing 7,8,9 are the best for me
With no 9 being the tops.

Thank, glad you like em.

Does anyone have a rough list of planes that have the FMC? So far I have the PMDG 737NGX and 747, and the ATR. Are there any more worth bothering with?

I really enjoyed (still do when I ever find the time) flying the Super 80 Pro by Coolsky plus McPhat where the first to make UHDT textures for this great aircraft. The FMC is pretty functional in that aircraft iirc.

 

[Soya]

Very nice shots to both series above, well done.

Enjoy this latest video of mine which is the 3rd video in my Busy Airport series, this time using the Leipzig\Halle airport.

Best watched at full 1080p, please feel free to comment on my youtube channel and I would very much appreciate if you could vote on the video, thanks.