Starting from Scratch again - what is the best package?

Hi Guys

I've been flying with various sims for ages but for the past 5 years or so I've been on a break. I got rid of all the sims I had and went on to other things. I'm getting the bug to start again but this time I thought I'd take advice from the experts.

I'd like to know which flight sim is the best for the PC (64bit Intel i7 with loads of RAM etc). Also, I'd like to know what extras I should get to give the best real-life experience possible. I live in Southern Scotland but like to "fly" all over Scotland. Are there special extra packs of realistic scenery ? What about cities and airports, are there extras for them?

From the reading I've done it looks like FS2004 might be the best choice but I'd love to hear what you all think.

With regards to aircraft, I'm more than happy with the basics right now. I prefer to fly an aircraft I might actually fly in real-life (with a bit of imagination).

I look forward to your ideas

Jim

Hi, FSX is the most popular flight sim around, followed by X-Plane10 and FS2004, so take your pick..:)

I've tried them all and prefer FSX myself.

The latest version is FSX:SE (the SE stands for Steam Edition), available by download from Steam here-

http://store.steampowered.com/app/314160/

But check if there's Scottish scenery available for it.

I haven't got FSX:SE, I've got FSX Gold on 8-year-old disks.

I know Scotland scenery is available for FSX Gold, but whether it'd work with FSX:SE I don't know, so maybe other people can tell you if FSX Gold downloads will work with FSX:SE.

PS- for the record FSX was originally released in 3 editions in 2006 and 2007 in this order-

Standard

Deluxe (has a few more extras)

Gold (same as Deluxe but also includes the Acceleration Pack)

Then in 2014 Steam Edition (FSX:SE) was released, it's got a few tweaks that are supposed to improve things for some users, and is more multiplayer-friendly.

I have FSX:SE, got it the day it came out. Why? It was $5.00, and I'm a cheap SOB. Errr...frugal, sorry, very VERY frugal :D

Anyway, I like it. It works very nicely for me. I don't have any add-ons for Scotland, I'm afraid, though.

With the right tweaks to the FSX.CFG file, and maybe a few to the aircraft, depending on which one it is, you can have a heck of a good sim. How real is the scenery? Not a clue. I DO know that if you want to see your house as you fly by, you may need to find a phtotreal scenery, if one exists, but other than that...

How WELL does FSX:SE simulate how aircraft fly? In my opinion, its a little better than FS9 was on that, but the differences are pretty minor. Which is to say, they are both pretty good. Not with helicopters, but overall, pretty good for how a plane does what a plane does.

SE frequently goes on sale for $5.00-$8.00, which is a good deal cheaper than what FSX in the box goes for these days, if you can even find it.

Does that help any?

Pat

Yes like the Tweak says, if you want to see your house, the pub,chip shop and every road, street, back alley, river, stream, rail line, field and hedgerow in their exact proper places you'll need Photoreal scenery which is simply a photo of the ground, so everything is guaranteed to be on it, BUT the disadvantage is that most of the buildings and all the trees are flat 2D and you have to fly higher than around 1000 feet to maintain the illusion of 3D.

If it sounds like your cup of tea, better check around first to see if Scotland is fully covered.

If you're willing to settle for something less accurate but prettier than Photoreal, a semi-realistic prog like OrbX is your best bet because it's chock full of 3D buildings and 3D trees, BUT they're often not positioned accurately, and also your house won't look exactly like your house.

And again, check around to see if it covers Scotland..:)

Yes like the Tweak says, if you want to see your house, the pub,chip shop and every road, street, back alley, river, stream, rail line, field and hedgerow in their exact proper places you'll need Photoreal scenery which is simply a photo of the ground, so everything is guaranteed to be on it, BUT the disadvantage is that most of the buildings and all the trees are flat 2D and you have to fly higher than around 1000 feet to maintain the illusion of 3D.

If it sounds like your cup of tea, better check around first to see if Scotland is fully covered.

 

If you're willing to settle for something less accurate but prettier than Photoreal, a semi-realistic prog like OrbX is your best bet because it's chock full of 3D buildings and 3D trees, BUT they're often not positioned accurately, and also your house won't look exactly like your house.

And again, check around to see if it covers Scotland..:)

Good advice Scatterbrain. I will add, if the OP is into photoreal scenery, his/her house may look correct from 20,000' but don't try to use the loo in it. Gulliver smashed it down so it's now only 2'-3' tall! :p

On a more serious note. If you're interested in software for Scotland, IMHO you can do no better than ORBX FTX Scotland. In fact I also have ORBX for all of the rest of UK that is available to date.

And if you want to add yet another step of detail, load SCOTFLIGHT FOR FSX on top of that. You'll get a lot of scenery & castles, canals, etc. you never expected that way. Plus some really nice airfields as well. And the houses appear tall enough to stand up and use the loo!;)

Here's three ORBX shots in Scotland. Two over Edinburgh and one over Glasgow

To recap, if you want to see your own house, Photoreal scenery is the only way to go.

Also you'll be able to see whatever else you have up there in Scotland all in their proper places like Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, whisky distilleries, haggis breeding farms, bagpipe wildlife sanctuaries etc.

When good bagpipes go bad:- one runs amok and turns on its trainer-

Scatter,

There have been times when I'm tempted to shoot a piper too!!:p In fact at times when I go someplace in my kilt someone will say "hey you must play the bagpipes!" Actually, no I don't. I play lots of horns but have never actually mastered the chanter, so I don't play the pipes at all well.

I wear the kilt because my father, who came over on a boat just before WWII wore the kilt. He died in 1954 when I was 8, but I still think the kilt is the most attractive outfit a man can wear. And they are certainly not common here, but not that unusual either.

Ironically after being born and raised here in Kentucky, I met and married a woman here who is also 1st generation US with relatives in from Scotland. We still have living relatives there and have visited them more than once. Though Molly's a lot happier in Kent, Devon, or Dorset than the Highlands, I feel just the opposite.

The Highlands and the Northern Irish mountains have a lot in common with the Appalachian Mountains here. Which is of course why our families emigrated here and most folk in the Appalachians seem to be of Scot or/and Irish heritage.

so I don't play the pipes at all well.

Easy to do. SImply place a medium/large cat under your arm, upside down (Pappa Uniform :D ), place it's tail in your mouth, and bite down while squeezing the cat with your arm.

The resulting sounds are what comes out of the pipes :D :D :p

Sorry, no offense against your heritage, Rupert, just a funny I heard a while back. Thought it was fitting :)

Pat☺

Pat,

In most cases I agree with you! Maybe that's why I'm not happy playing a chanter. I can't make it sound good!:p

Well, I am about as musically inclined as a deaf yak, but I did used to play the flute. I could do a heck of a rendition of Greensleeves on that thing...

I have actually heard so really good pipers. Even AC/DC used the pipes in a song, and it came out great.

I really truly respect the pipers they use in their military. Those guys march right into the thick of things, playing their hearts out (good OR bad), no weapon, standing tall while the bullets fly...THAT is testicular fortitude!!

As far as I know, the only way to get good at the pipes is the same way you get to Broadway :D

Pat☺

Incidentally Donald Trump's mother was Scottish (Mary MacLeod).

Also 4 Scots were among the 26 Brits who died at the Alamo (12 English/ 10 Irish/ 4 Scots)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alamo_defenders

From the reading I've done it looks like FS2004 might be the best choice but I'd love to hear what you all think..

I had FS2004 and loved it to bits, but FSX is just that little bit more polished so I switched to FSX 8 years ago and have stuck with it ever since..:)

The only slight downside of FSX is that it's a bit more temperamental than FS2004 and might throw a tantrum if you haven't got it set up to it's liking, or if you overload it with too many scenery/weather packages etc, but this forum is a great place to get advice about fixing anything, or provide stress counselling.

I've been lucky, FSX has always run fine for me on several different PC's and a laptop over the years under WinXP, Win 7 and Win 8.1.

FSX is so beautiful straight out of the box that the only things I've added over the years have been a strip of southern england photoreal scenery and a bunch of addon planes, I simply never wanted to add any big fancy scenery and weather packages etc.

PS- I've got no intention of getting Win10 for at least another couple of years, don't need it, don't want it..:)