Gmax or FSDS?

[Graywolf]

Sorry to jump in here but I have to comment on this. G-Max is based on 3d studio Max which is one of the several programs used for MAJOR animation and 3d work. It will blow the socks off of FSDS if the person using it really knows what to do with it. (No disrespect to any of the designers using it, I was referring to the many people who have degrees in 3d and work for pixar studios and such.) G-Max is almost unlimited in it's abilities and it takes years to learn all that it can do. I've been using 3dmax for several years and can do reasonably good 3d animation with it. If someone had the time and ability there is very little that can't be done with the program.

Dave

[Graywolf]

Your right on the money with that one Bill. The poor textures that we have seen in G-Max planes are do to people learning other parts of the program. The base program for G-Max, 3d studio max, can make VERY realistic textures. It's just VERY complicated. I've been working on learning for several years.

Dave

[MALTBYD]

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Your both right, in the right hands gmax can certainly do the business.
But I don't understand gmax & I never will. I gave up learning it because it was driving me mad.

I knew everything FSDS had to offer in a couple of months & mastered it, Aircraft Animator & SDLEdit in under a year.
All the power that gmax has is no substitute for useability.

David Maltby

[rickmalmsten]

I think Dave’s comment above brings up an interesting point. If the program is so complicated that casual users won’t use it, then it will keep a lot of really creative people from contributing to our hobby. As a result, our aircraft, panels and scenery will be made by an elite group of simmers, but we will loose some of the diversity of other designer’s interests and we will all be worse off for it.

I haven’t been as impressed with the quality or accuracy of most of the GMAX designs compared to FSDS. I’m sure this is mostly due to the learning curve, but I’ve passed on several GMAX aircraft because they just didn’t look right to me.

When Abacus comes out with FSDS v2, will it be supported by the next generation of FS? I heard it will be strictly GMAX based.

Lastly, I hear FS2004 will not have 2D panels, only virtual cockpits. There are very few designers with the skill, patients, or talent to design virtual cockpits. Seems to me this will keep the pool of designers even smaller because you can’t just design the plane, you have to make the cockpit along with it.

Check Six!!!!!
Rick.

[rickmalmsten]

One more observation I forgot to mention above: I have hundreds of FSDS aircraft that I use both to fly and as AI that are not available (either the plane or the liveries) in GMAX. The advances in FS2004 would have to be light years ahead of the current version before I would be willing to give up all these aircraft for the limited selection available in GMAX. As of right now, I think I would keep using FS2K2 for this reason alone!

Check Six!!!!!
Rick

[ve3ega]

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