Question for Jomni, PanzersEast or other Flight Simmers

[JudgeDredd]

I would say avoid FSX if you want to spare yourself heartache.

I spent NUMEROUS hours in it flying only to have the damn thing crash - almost every single time. My system is totally more than capable and I actually get a decent frame rate - but it crashes...constantly.

Apparently not everyone suffers from this issue - but beware.

[PanzersEast]

I would say avoid FSX if you want to spare yourself heartache.

I spent NUMEROUS hours in it flying only to have the damn thing crash - almost every single time. My system is totally more than capable and I actually get a decent frame rate - but it crashes...constantly.

Apparently not everyone suffers from this issue - but beware.

I do not have this issue, however I have tweaked my setup and more than likely you will as well.  There are several guides that should get you going, however like JD has stated it is not guaranteed.  It always takes tweaking to get it setup and going... but if you purchased Prepar3d there is less than FSX.

PE

[JudgeDredd]

Absolutely. YMMV.

I have sunk so many hours into it and so much money into it...and I get so frustrated at the message "FSX has stopped responding".

Even given all the money I've spent on it, and it must be a few hundred pounds - I shelved it from frustration. I haven't uninstalled it as yet - but when I get round to finding a solution that doesn't work, that'll likely be the next step.

[PanzersEast]

Absolutely. YMMV.

I have sunk so many hours into it and so much money into it...and I get so frustrated at the message "FSX has stopped responding".

Even given all the money I've spent on it, and it must be a few hundred pounds - I shelved it from frustration. I haven't uninstalled it as yet - but when I get round to finding a solution that doesn't work, that'll likely be the next step.

I have been there as well...... I loaded one add-on etc... then poof, it stops working or I get some odd effect.  Then you get it working again and I treat it like a rare vase teetering on the edge of a table!  all the while holding my breath while I fly.  I have currently and not during every flight, experienced input lag once I get close to landing, no stutters, just input lag when I try to line up for landing..... nothing more frustrating after a long flight then to curse your screen all the while your wife looks at you like you are a 5 year old kid!   :-X  Such is the life of a virtual flight simmer.....

PE

[Skoop]

Man.... Now I'm thinking xplane might be the safer bet... I definately don't want to be tweaking more then flying.  I'm a sucker for good graphics, does fsx have considerable better graphics or are they about the same ?

[Nefaro]

After so much time with dcs I would have to say clickable cockpits are a must, especially since I have a touch screen monitor to use. Sounds like fsx is the only one that supports clickable cockpits. I'm thinking a Cessna to start, then a commercial AC like a 727.

On a different note I saw a thread at simhq about the NorCal orbix scenery and saw some screenies of fire fighting AC.  With how big air drop firefighting is here in California I'm surprised there's not a dedicated sim for this, or is there?

If you have a touchscreen monitor, and the sim supports it, then of course they are a must.

I just find it a bit more tedious to be handling the mouse to push virtual cockpit buttons at the same time as the HOTAS.  It's easier & faster to just physically press keys on the keyboard in this case.  I'd say the coolness factor and cockpit familiarization is the main reason people enjoy them, not so much the switching between hardware whilst flying to use it.  :D

[Tuna]

There is two crashes that I ran into.. unacom.dll (or something like that) fixed one.. and installing fsuicp (not sure on the spelling) (the free version) fixed the other cxrash..

Now I never crash..

[Tuna]

FSX with Orbx and Rex 4 is very beautiful.. again.. this is an expensive hobby.. and I'm a 'cheapskate'. I generally don't hop on 'premium' games.. and yet I've spent a ton of FSX in just 8 months and I bought most of it on sale!

[jomni]

My experience with X-Plane is great and I'm not flying FSX anymore. But it is "rough around the edges" with poor quality scenery and less choice for add-ons (you can save money this way. He he). I spend a lot of time just building airports.

Fsx's biggest limitation is that it is 32bit. With all the highly detailed airports and aircraft that you can stuff into it, 4GB RAM is not enough and it will crash. With X-Plane at 64 bit, you can stuff a lot of add-ons (but there's not a lot of quality one's in the market) without worrying about running out of memory.

[JudgeDredd]

I think it may have been you Jomni who mentioned a memory problem to me and suggested that's what I might be suffering.

[jomni]

I think it may have been you Jomni who mentioned a memory problem to me and suggested that's what I might be suffering.

I belive so. At this juncture, FSX is finally showing its age. We are loading up add-ons it was not meant to take (in bulk). Then users end up tweaking and lowering their settings to conserve RAM. Also, being an old platform, it does not take advantage of more modern GPU, so a lot is being done by the  CPU.

[Tuna]

Fire it up till you get the error Judge.. and let us know what it is..

[republic]

Spurred on by my delving deeper into FSX I decided to contact a local pilot instructor to see if I could finally get started on my pilots license. 

It was at that point, 4:32pm April 22, 2014 that I realized I had made a grave error in choosing a career as an educator.  If I start saving today, I might be able to start my lessons in...5 years.

[Tuna]

Yeah.. I want to get a license now too.. I thought I saw somewhere it is around 7000 bucks.. hmmm maybe my son will change his mind about going to college!

[PanzersEast]

Trust me, in the end it is not worth it.  Renting a plane is very expensive and unless you are looking to further your career in aviation, not sure that is pays for it once completed.  I do not fly anymore mainly because of the expense, however I did enjoy it and getting your PPL can be a lot of fun but a major expense.


PE