Classic British Flight Sim

As some may remember, I used to be on the forum a great deal and was very much into FSX and the versions that came before. In fact most of my time was spent buzzing around in FS9.

As time went on, I did however get tired of the inaccuracies and poor graphics engine that Microsoft had created and unfortunately, continued to use and therefore began to lose interest.

I had a day to myself the other day and fancied flying so reinstalled FSX Steam Edition plus many of the add-ons I had purchased over the past few years. I think I flew for no more than an hour before giving up and heading to the X-Plane website.
£45 later and the small issue of a 58gb download (delivered at a terrible speed from the X-Plane server), I was flying again and wow, I actually enjoyed it!

I appreciate there just aren't the available add-ons that FSX or the polished turd that is P3D has, but the visuals alone have kept me glued to my laptop in the same way that FS9 did all those years ago.

Give it a look chaps, it's worth it.

Hi CB,
I did have an earlier version of this some years ago, but never got into it; don't really remember why.
Took a peek at their site, but didn't d/l the demo. If it's 48Gb, but with locks on the bells & whistles, I will give it a miss.
You refer to FSX inaccuracies, but I see that there are add-on sceneries, so this hints at default inaccuracy or blandness in the defaults.
The You tube demos seem to have been made by very twitchy users; the outside views made me feel like I was on a fairground ride.
I've never viewed myself as prudish, but the language in the "is it worth buying" video grated on me; maybe I'm getting too old?

In short, would you please give us some more detail on how the inaccuracies are fewer in X-Plane. I noted that the sea was blue right up to the land, no breaking waves.

Look forward to your comments.

I had XP v 6 ....... long time ago I know. I hated it. Tried the demo of XP11 still dislike it.
To call P3D a polished turd is a bit strong.

I tried the XP11 demo just a few days ago. Some things I liked, some I didn't. Both XP and FSX/P3d have their own strengths and weaknesses. Personally I've got P3d how I like it, and I'm happy with that, but if I was coming at flight sims from a clean start I'd certainly consider XP11.

I did some searching around, and AFS2 took me right back to the old FS2004 UKVFR days. A different sim engine, but lots of room for user input. Only trouble was, it was only available via Steam, and I have grave reservations about that, mainly with regard to basic security, and unauthorised bandwidth consumption.
Then it became available in a box of six DVDs, so I bought it. Favourably impressed with what has been done so far, and looking ahead to a great future.
ATB
MikeW

Nice to see you about again Chris

I also checked out some comparisons made by other simmers, and see that P3D V4 and X-Plane11 both rated highly.

Whilst watching those, I also came across extracts from IL2. Ground and water impacts leave something to be desired, but the aircraft damage is graphic, and the action is very immersive. Yet somehow I thought that I should not be watching it; perhaps the conflict between RW and sim?

I'll take a closer look at X-Plane once ATC and AI are up to FSX'/P3D's standards.

Hi chaps,

Apologies for the late reply... Night shifts, beer and man flu have all played their part over the last few days

Inaccuracies wise, things like ATC asking you to report traffic in your 6 o'Clock, AI traffic not avoiding you in any way etc, but my main gripe these days is the graphics and how dated they look.
I called P3D a polished turd because despite the recent workings to enhance the sim, especially in V4, it still resembles FSX. FSX was released in 2006 and even then, wasn't what I'd call mind blowing and even with £100+ of scenery and sky enhancements it still doesn't cut it.

I had checked out X-Plane before but it didn't quite reach a level where I wanted to part with my money. Once V11 came out, I tried the demo and was impressed. Having had a look around various websites, there are also a reasonable level of add-ons available which seems to be increasing.
I also spent some time looking at YouTube reviews of FSW and Aerofly FS2 but I don't think they are the way to go at present.

The XP demo is around 5gb by the way. I do wish I'd have gone for the DVD edition having experienced their painful server speeds.

XP ATC wise, I see there are a couple of add-ons available for that. 124th ATC which is free and Pilot2ATC which is $60... ouch! It can't be much worse than the default FSX ATC anyway.

Charlie Bravo wrote: ↑

21 Jan 2018, 21:37

man flu

There used to be some free post cards available at pharmacies that had things on them like:

"Women, on average, live seven years longer than men. Because they don't get the highly dangerous man flu."
"As long as it's unclear why the dinosaurs died out, the man flu must not be underestimated."
"Women are the true bictims of the man flu."
"Caring for your husband: Tell him thrice daily how courageous he is. Try not to laugh."
" A typical man flu day: 10% sleeping, 15% shouting "Hoooooooooon?!", 75% trying to look extremely ill."
"My husband has the flu. The whole family convened in the bedroom. We're waiting for the priest."
"Man flu. The "c" is for "courage"."
"The pain a woman experiences during childbirth is just a fraction of the pain a man experiences during a flu."
"Man fever. 37°C is rounded up."
"If your husband has the flu, treat him with cold, moist soil, so he'll get used to it."

XP ATC wise, I see there are a couple of add-ons available for that. 124th ATC which is free and Pilot2ATC which is $60... ouch! It can't be much worse than the default FSX ATC anyway.

Default ATC is underrated. My payware ATC tool for FSX is gathering dust because once you have an idea of what you can and can't do with it, it's actually pretty cool to use. It interacts with AI traffic and basically has an infinite supply of call signs if you spend a few minutes in EditVoicePack.

Sure wish it got an update for P3D though. Visuals just can't be everything.