First Time FSX Flyer Looking for Advice

[Coolbreeze78]

I just purchased FSX Standard Edition and X-Plane 9. But after hearing the bad reviews of X-Plane I think I may take it back before opening it. After seeing some of the beautiful scenery from ORBX I think I will stick with FSX.

So here is the issue. I have flown in a plane a couple times in real life, but other than that I know nothing about them. So I guess I am a complete newbie to all of this. I have seen some elaborate setups for the game with sticks, rudders, panels and such. Although I am considering getting the Saitek X52 Controller as it seems it would do better in other combat style flight games than the realistic stick, I am just not sure yet. I am currently using an old Microsoft Force Feedback 2 stick. Any advice on setups?

More importantly, since I don't know when Flight comes out. Can you all offer me some advice on making this game look as best as it can? Or at least a small part of it. I am not sure I want to invest a ton of money into the game but a few add-ons could be reasonable. I don't know anything about them, I just saw someone mention ORBX once and I looked at some of their stuff but there is too much there for me to know what I need or what is good. I guess to start with I am going to be using the tutorial/learning system. And probably will be limited to learning small one man planes to start with I guess until I can learn to actually fly. So with that in mind what is the best route to go or add-ons to get?

[Coolbreeze78]

To be a little bit more specific, I am looking to fly mostly in the USA (East Coast mainly), Canada, Alaska area.

[JSkorna]

Hi,

Take things slow, Flight is a long way off. No need for add-ons or hardware right now. First just learn FSX and then move on. Your FF2 is fine for learning. Depending on your computer XP 9 can be good also. Version 9.70 can do well on lesser systems compared to FSX. I would not take it back quite yet.

If you really mean FSX Standard edition, I would take that back and get FSX Deluxe and Acceleration.

[Coolbreeze78]

Yeah I just have the standard version. There isn't anywhere around here that sells this game at all besides Best Buy. And that was the only copy they had. The only differences I see in standard vs deluxe and gold is that they added some extra planes, airports and cities. I don't guess I need all that do I? If so, can you upgrade the standard version online or buy some expansion to get the gold version?

As far as my computer goes, I just upgraded to run the new Elder Scrolls Skyrim game that is coming out soon. I am running Windows 7 64-bit, I have a AMD Phenom 2 X4 3.4Ghz processor, 12 GB of RAM, a Terrabye hard drive, and running Dual SLI Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti's at a combined speed of 16x with total 2GB of video RAM.

If you really think XP 9 is worth trying I guess I could hang on to both of them.

[Coolbreeze78]

If you think I should get the Gold Edition let me know. I can have it 2 day mailed through Amazon and can take back the one I got from Best Buy.

[JSkorna]

Hi,

Yes, you should do that, return Standard and get the Gold Edition.

[Coolbreeze78]

Alright I am going to send back the FSX and get the Gold version instead. Wanted to play some tonight with the tutorials but I figure since there are no upgrades I can find I better get the right one before I open it. I guess I will keep XP9 and try installing it. Hopefully it will have a tutorial cause I don't have a clue what I am doing besides giving it gas and pulling up lol.

[jomni]

To be a little bit more specific, I am looking to fly mostly in the USA (East Coast mainly), Canada, Alaska area.

Go check out www.Sim-Savvy.com.
Most economical scenery enhancement so far for North America. But only if you like photoscenery more than "autogen" (the type that Orbx puts out).

[Coolbreeze78]

I'll check it out, thanks. I have been doing some research on XP9 cause I don't want to open it just yet. So far I don't like what I hear about it. I have read that there isn't a tutorial, which is a deal buster for me since I find it rather frustrating alt+tabbing back and forth to read on the net how to play. Also even with the upgraded graphics, the cock pit views look really flat for some of the stuff I have seen. They don't look like they were physically modeled. It's like they just took a photo of the cockpit and overlayed a programmable flip of the photo to change the switches. It could just be the videos I have seen but not sure. Also I have read that not all the planes have 3d cockpits.

As far as the scenery goes it looks to be nice but some people have said that there are features that are not present, ie. Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, and the Statue of Liberty are all missing. I hear it's better for pilots that are learning to get their license. I however have no intention of pursuing that route. I drove a transfer truck across the country for 4+ years and I would like to learn to fly as a hobby and be able to take scenic "accurate" flights over the landscapes to see the places that I have traveled on the ground.

[Sloopman]

This is what I would recommend. Stick with FSX for now since
The scnery's much better than X-Plane 9. But when X-Plane 10
comes out in the near future (they've missed multiple release dates)
Buy it. The scenery will actually be realistic (click on my signature
for more details). The graphics are much better and it uses and engine
where it calculates flight dynamics, not preprogrammed. For your joystick,
I have the same thing and love it. Sent on an iPod. Sorry
For spelling errors.