Standard vs. Premium

[beroun]

Hi,

With FS2004 for many years and have skipped FSX. Plan to obtain FS2020. Read many views, but thought that someone might explain more thoroughly the difference between Standard and Premium versions? Amy thoughts appreciated.

PS got W10 and plan to obtain more powerful laptop.

Thanks,

Peter

[mallcott]

Hi,

With FS2004 for many years and have skipped FSX. Plan to obtain FS2020. Read many views, but thought that someone might explain more thoroughly the difference between Standard and Premium versions? Amy thoughts appreciated.

PS got W10 and plan to obtain more powerful laptop.

Thanks,

Peter

 

https://press-start.com.au/news/xbox/2020/08/17/microsoft-flight-simulators-standard-deluxe-premium-edition-airports-and-planes-explained/

 

All explained!

[g7rta]

Hi, basically you get more aircraft & handcrafted airports with the deluxe& premium. If you buy the standard but then decide later you want to upgrade to the deluxe or premium, it works out quite expensive.

You’re best bet is to check out one of the many videos online, like this one..

it’s a few months old now (& a bit out of date) but still good.

 

 

Hopefully it’ll help you to decide which one is best for you. I went for the Premium Deluxe myself & I don’t regret it one bit.

 

Regards

Steve

[davidc2]

Hi, basically you get more aircraft & handcrafted airports with the deluxe& premium. If you buy the standard but then decide later you want to upgrade to the deluxe or premium, it works out quite expensive.

You’re best bet is to check out one of the many videos online, like this one..

it’s a few months old now (& a bit out of date) but still good.

 

 

Hopefully it’ll help you to decide which one is best for you. I went for the Premium Deluxe myself & I don’t regret it one bit.

 

Regards

Steve

 

 

Just an FYI, I bought the standard and the wife was going to allow me to get the Premium version as an anniversary present. As Steve pointed out, quite expensive. It was going to cost me $100 for the Premium version (on top of the $60 that I had already spent)

 

If your thinking you may want the Premium version later on, save up and purchase it, dont get the standard and want to upgrade :)

[chicagorandy]

All three versions start with the exact same basic flight sim. The only difference is the number and models of aircraft and custom airports included in each package.

 

I went with the middle "Deluxe" version and have not looked back, have NO buyer's remorse and still have no pressing interest in the Premium planes and airports.

 

As others have posted, "Buy once, cry once" - The current tithing for upgrading packages is IMHO far too costly. Not a great way to treat your customers says I.

[tiger1962]

The main reason for buying FSX Acceleration or FSX Deluxe was to get the compatibility for many of the best add-on aircraft available. It's a feature which could have carried over into MSFS, though I haven't heard of any compatibility differences so far... I don't regret buying the Premium Deluxe version, even though I've no interest in flying the 747 or 787.

[loki]

With FSX you also had to get the deluxe version if you wanted the SDK, whereas with MSFS all versions include access to it.

[tiger1962]

With FSX you also had to get the deluxe version if you wanted the SDK, whereas with MSFS all versions include access to it.

 

That's true, and it was a huge incentive to buy the Deluxe version, more so than the couple of additional default planes! What incentive could there be to buy the Premium Deluxe other than the additional planes and airports? It must be something which hasn't been released or updated to yet... Maybe compatibility with the Xbox version when that's launched? Maybe helicopters will only work in Premium Deluxe? We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

[sfojimbo]

@ Tiger

The 747-800 comes with the basic version.

[loki]

That's true, and it was a huge incentive to buy the Deluxe version, more so than the couple of additional default planes! What incentive could there be to buy the Premium Deluxe other than the additional planes and airports? It must be something which hasn't been released or updated to yet... Maybe compatibility with the Xbox version when that's launched? Maybe helicopters will only work in Premium Deluxe? We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

 

I don't think any other games included in the Xbox Play Anywhere program are segregated by different editions like that, so I don't think they will do it here. Maybe they will do something when adding helicopter or other major features, but I suspect they won't. I think they really are just going with the additional aircraft and airports to separate the different versions. Most games with multiple editions only vary in content, not features, so think the same will happen here.

[tiger1962]

The 747-800 comes with the basic version.

 

Thanks sfojimbo, I've never flown it so I didn't know! There are a few others I haven't flown either, mostly the bush planes and sports/aerobatic planes. I'm more interested in turboprops at the moment and wouldn't mind an MSFS native Q400 or S2000 to rattle about in.

[beroun]

Thanks gents,

any view on FPM, I did not upgrade from FS9 to FSX mainly because of the low Frames Rates. I understand FS2020 is quire demanding on the system capacities. Currently I got FS9 on 17 inch HP Envy (W10 64) 16GBDDR4-2133 SDRAM (2x8GB), Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5-3.1GH), NVIDIA Ge-Force 940MG.

FS9 on this runs great, FSX, I tried did not do so well. How is FS2020 in general? Do you reckon I need a new rig?

Many Thanks for any advise.

Peter

[tiger1962]

Most games with multiple editions only vary in content, not features, so think the same will happen here.

 

Could be, the Deluxe and Premium Deluxe versions are advertised as "Upgrades" to the Basic version. They probably can't label them as "Expansion Packs" when the Basic version already includes the entire world, but the "Upgrade" label covers a multitude of other possibilities at this stage when so many features are still in development.

[mallcott]

That's true, and it was a huge incentive to buy the Deluxe version, more so than the couple of additional default planes! What incentive could there be to buy the Premium Deluxe other than the additional planes and airports? It must be something which hasn't been released or updated to yet... Maybe compatibility with the Xbox version when that's launched? Maybe helicopters will only work in Premium Deluxe? We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

 

This may be true, but why buy the more expesnive version without evidence the developer has got the default aircraft right?

None have helo's and there is NO evidence any is suitable for no-existent or suggested models yet the junior version is caimed as suitable for any and all addon aircraft!

[tiger1962]

Currently I got FS9 on 17 inch HP Envy (W10 64) 16GBDDR4-2133 SDRAM (2x8GB), Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5-3.1GH), NVIDIA Ge-Force 940MG.

 

If you can upgrade your graphics card to at least a GTX 970 you should be OK on Medium graphics settings.

[Lange_666]

Pre-ordered the Premium but cancelled later on and switched to standard.

Why? Because none of the extra's was worth the extra money, nor will i probably ever visit those extra detailed airports anyway. No regrets.

[dogdish]

Pre-ordered the Premium Deluxe BOXED. The shipping deadline came and went. A few weeks later cancelled the order and got my money back.

 

Bought the Premium Deluxe DOWNLOAD from Microsoft and as others mentioned have not flown all the aircraft yet, but glad I got it and will get to them eventually.

 

A few weeks ago the BOXED version that I got my money back for arrived at my doorstep. A person is under no obligation to pay for something that comes in the mail that essentially I didn't order when I cancelled it. So I either got a two for one deal, or if I sell the BOXED version I will have made money on my MSFS purchase. :)

 

Still have not even opened it and not sure what to do with it.

[KiloWatt]

If you can upgrade your graphics card to at least a GTX 970 you should be OK on Medium graphics settings.

 

I believe that's a laptop Tim. So the cpu is a dual core, 15W, unit and the GPU is probably baked into the motherboard.

 

Sorry beroun, I don't mean to discourage you. But I think you're going to need a new system. The good news is, you don't need to spend a lot, if you're willing to be a little creative.

 

I picked up a dell precision workstation and swapped the cpu for a Xeon E5-1620v2, which is a quad core, eight thread unit. Then I added 8 more GB of DDR3 1600 MHz, in quad channel (which I believe many Xeons support) for a total of 16GB. Lastly, I picked up a used GTX970, like Tim suggested. All for about $350 (Canadian). You could probably get most of that from selling your laptop.

 

With this setup, I get about 30 to 35 fps around Toronto on 1080, with settings varying between medium and high.

[plainsman]

Even better, Find a used Z-170 MB, an I5-8600 or 8600K, DDR4-2800MHz memory, and a GTX 980. That would run high settings with plenty of headroom. The program really only works 4 cores and most is done on 2 cores, so the I5 is really just as good as an I7. The faster memory will make it much smoother.

[floundy]

Also something to think about if you arent sure which way to go is to go the XBox game pass route and play the standard version that comes with that, you can upgrade into any of the other packages at your convenience plus its a lot more affordable. Its the route I have chosen with my laptop. I dont have a super duper rig but I am very happy with everything on high graphics with the nvidia 1060x. As the game gets ironed out I will eventually upgrade. But I am in no hurry. The only thing I'm currently missing is the 787. My main go to is the King Air 350 though and I am very happy with that.

[Raven Flight]

I asked this question last week just to see what people would say. The way I look at it is I spent $2,000 on a computer and will end up spending another grand in flight gear which is all out of stock. The extra $50 for Premium is small potatoes especially since it costs more to by Standard then upgrade than it does to buy the whole thing at once.

 

I was concerned about the extra load time. Someone wrote that it automatically downloads Basic then pauses and asks if you want to continue. You can stop there and come back later for the rest. I plan to check that more closely before trying it though.

[plainsman]

I have the premium version, and my download time at 78 MB/s was about 4 hours total.