cobalt

Just to thank the administrators for stepping in, when, necessary, to put an end to threads that have outlived their usefulness, gone way off topic, or become needlessly offensive. Much appreciated!

Smiling with you!

I said I would not be responding to you. And that still holds. Since this is not supposed to be a kiddie forum, I am responding only to mature adults. Yes, you are often the center of the discussion, but isn't that what you want?

Of course, you have an unfair advantage in this argument: you actually own and use the sim!

OK, thanks. Much appreciated!

I have loaded MSFS several times today and have not seen this update -- it stays at 1-15-7-0. Otherwise everything appears normal. Strange.

I fully agree. I think we are all well aware of problems with MSFS, but haven't seen anybody trying to cover them up (there may be such folks, but I haven't encountered them). Personally, I have both encountered problems and sought help in the forums, and also have tried to help others when I think I can. It's all about being constructive and positive, rather than destructive and negative (as some unfortunately are, but that's life).

Well said. Thanks!

Interesting that you know what planes I and "every other MSFS user" are flying. What nonsense. By all means, if you like FS9 use it, but as other have asked, in that case why hang around MSFS forums? Just to bug people? This appears to be your main purpose, but I for one find it tiresome hearing the same juvenile prattle over and over, and will not be responding further. Flying in MSFS is much more interesting.

Well, I've flown the A320-NX this week. One of my favorite planes in MSFS2020. And your point is?

Now this is your best idea yet. No anger here, just amusement at your oft-repeated notion that FS9 is the gold standard of flight simming. I think a lot of us get a kick out of that. As you might say, haha!

Yes, it does. Minimize what you put in Community by using an addon manager (which actually puts only links to files, not the actual files, in Community). Many posts in this forum have discussed this.

Ah, yes. The wonders of FS9, vintage 2004! Here we go again ...

I just flew this course in a C172, and did have one noticeable hiccup(1-2 sec) near El Monte. Otherwise smooth, locked at 30 FPS. This is with the latest update 1.15.7.0 installed.

Setting up the drone camera is actually not difficult. You can place it in a fixed location to observe your plane in flight, or you can toggle a "follow the plane" mode that gives you an instrument-free view from the cockpit while you fly. I also use the drone to roam around and explore locations of interest up close while the plane itself is paused. It is really a tremendous tool! But since you said not to tell you how to do any of this, I will respect your wishes.

I just did a test flight out of LAX in the SR22, making a loop about 50-60 miles around the area, and had only an occasional stutter, no different from what I experience in other places in the U.S. and U.K. Mostly smooth. Settings are mostly ultra. Sorry about those who are having problems; I have no explanation, just reporting.

I am familiar with Google Earth and have used for years -- it is a great tool for finding places. But there is no comparison with MSFS, which is fully 3-dimensional (yes, even in rural areas) and offers an immersive flight experience complete with weather, ATC, ground services, AI planes and ships, and many other features. For those who prefer "flying" in GE to flying in MSFS, be my guest. I suspect that this will be a very small group.

For me, this singular feature of MSFS --- accurate real-world topography, shorelines, and placement of buildings and roads -- overrides other concerns and issues in this sim, however important they are (which are gradually being fixed in any case). As is pointed out in this thread, the ability to view the world in 3D in minute detail for the first time, opens the way to uses that go well beyond flight simulation, while of course tremendously enhancing the realism of flight simulation per se. To wave this off as mere "eye candy" is to completely miss the point. We have a revolutionary advance here, whose larger implications are only beginning to be recognized. Stay tuned!

"Follow and lock" simply means that the drone camera locks onto the plane: as the plane moves, the drone moves with it, allowing you to have an unobstructed view as you fly; you can return to the cockpit any time by hitting print screen. Try it and see for yourself. For me, this is a great feature. The manual, as it does on many topics, points the reader to the right place in MSFS to get into showcase mode, and it is up to him/her to take it from there and learn by doing --the best way to learn anything. I have found the manual very useful as an introductory tool; sorry that you haven't. But this discussion has run its course. Time to move on to other things (such as flying).

One page? The manual has 232 pages. Are we talking about the same thing?

I have tried several versions of Meigs, including this one, but have the same problem with all of them: the runway does not show up. Everything else does (buildings, planes) but not the runway. Any ideas would be appreciated.

This update has given me the smoothest flying I have yet seen in MSFS, everywhere I have tried it including KDCA with heavy traffic. Much improved, very impressive. I don't know what they did exactly, but please don't undo it in the next patch!

Nvidia control panel -> Display -> Adjust desktop color settings -> Use Nvidia settings. In my rig, the Nvidia control panel is accessed via "show hidden icons" at the bottom right of the screen. Note that your selections affect Windows 10 in general, not just MSFS. The tutorial you watched evidently was limited in its coverage of the camera capabilities. If you go to the drop-down menu in MSFS and select "cameras" you will find a bunch of options. May I suggest the excellent SoFly manual on MSFS, which costs only 16 bucks and is worth every cent IMO. In there you will find a trove of info on MS covering cameras and just about everything else. https://www.simshack.net/products/guide-to-flight-simulator-msfs-tutorials-1771

OK, let me clarify my earlier post. In drone mode, you have the option to have the drone "attached" to the plane (what I called follow mode) which allows you to view scenery over the entire screen (no cockpit or external plane) as you fly along. You can toggle back and forth between the normal cockpit view and the full-scenery view by hitting the print-screen key. Another very useful trick is that when you are using the drone, after you have been exploring around in various locations, you can set the drone back to its default position (viewing from just above and behind the plane) by hitting the numpad "5" key. Once you get the hang of the camera system, it is an extraordinary tool. You can adjust color, brightness, and contrast via the Nvidia settings to suit your taste, with the option "use Nvidia settings" selected, rather than "other applications control settings". But as I said before, the vibrancy, brightness, etc. of the scenery is very much a function of sun angle, and also on whether you are flying in cloud shadow, etc. Many times I have noticed that the ground looks a bit dull and washed-out, only to find that when I change the angle of view it brightens considerably. (Same with views inside the cockpit, incidentally). This mimics the real-life effects of sun glare. MSFS is a very sophisticated sim program with many features not found in earlier sims, and it certainly takes a while and a good deal of patience to learn how to use it. As someone who enjoyed FS9 and FSX for a couple of decades, I can attest that MSFS takes a lot of getting used to. But well worth the effort, in my opinion. Great though those earlier sims were for their time, in retrospect they are toys compared to MSFS -- which may be precisely why some simmers prefer them. This I fully understand -- "different strokes for different folks". But over time, I think most people will gravitate to MSFS, especially after the bugs and annoyances get ironed out.

Thanks for your comments, which I agree with in part. While some of your criticisms are on target, others simply reflect a lack of familiarity with the features and capabilities of this sim. For example, you can make screenshots free of extraneous text, etc., by using the camera system; it just takes some time to learn. You can also exclude cockpit or external views of the plane even during flight, by using the drone in "follow plane" mode. Other things you mention such as color brightness in the palette, etc. are adjustable. The "washed-out" scenery you describe is mostly a function of sun angle, which is also true in real-life flying. This sim takes far more time to learn, and far more attention to detail, than FSX and FS9 which I used for years, but it delivers incomparably more, in my opinion. Patience will reap many rewards.