Flight Sims

Hey everybody! I just bought a Saitek X52 and FSX, just wondering if there is anything else coming out soon. I'd love find a good combat game. I've tried Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3 but I just don't... get it.

Anything else out there? What do you guys play?

 

x-plane 9

FS9 (is way better than fsx)

 

Is X-plane 9 the one that let's you fly in space? If so, I think I saw it at Best Buy so that'd be easy to get.

Out of curiosity, what makes FS9 better than X?

 

1) Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3 is a joke. try Lock on combat series, you will spend few weeks for just learning how to flight.
2) X-plane 9 is 60GB with all maps.
3) jcovelli, how is FS9 better than FSX?

 

The best ww2 combat flight sim out-there is called IL2 (the latest version is called "IL2 1946"). You will find that the sim is far better than MS's cfs3 and all other WW2 combat flight sims , with the latest version probably costing no more than £10 or $15-20USD new. The best combat sim for modern combat, on the Pc at least, is called "Lock on". It’s quite old now (2003), but its graphics are still acceptable and the AI are far superior to those that you see on Ace-Combat PS1/2 games.

On another note, for CFS3, you can get several user crated conversions for free which perfect the game. The two which stand out are called MAW and OFF. Maw, http://www.medairwar.com/, brings CFS3 into the Mediterranean theater with extremely high quality user created additions; which far out strip the product sold by MS. OFF, http://www.overflandersfields.com/, converts CFS3 into a WW1 game with obsessional detail and all manner of enhancements; basically OFF only uses the CFS3 core engine and the OFF team have made everything else from scratch.

Furthermore, there are also several FOSS (freeware) flight/space sims out there which should interest the avid simmer. Flight gear, http://www.flightgear.org, is the best freeware flight sim out-there. It is still being developed and the quality varies massively; but the sim should not be overlooked. On the space front, Obiter, http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/, is the best free space sim there-is; in-fact, the best space sim available to the public. The next release is due out in 2009, with the BETA version currently released; however the 2006 version is still available. Orbiter is made for realism, not graphical prowess, so don't expect amazing graphics from the program.

I hope Ive helped

PS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrxmpihCjqw : who said that penguins cant fly?

 

Or check out some space combat sims like Freespace 2 Open or the mod Beyond the Red Line based on it. Great fun, and works good with a HOTAS setup.

Either way I'd recommend picking up Falcon 4 Allied Force and Lock-On for the fun of it. Should be found for pretty cheap.

IL-2 is awesome, and the same group are working on a Battle of Britain sim.

 

Freelancer.

 

Dude...FSX wins...all you have to do is tweak the settings while factoring in your screen resolution, graphics card and personal preference (i.e do you like shadows or would you rather have cars, do you like nice water effects or fluffy white clouds) you just have to make a couple of trade-offs and itll run smoothly while giving you an excellent flying experience

 

FSX has SOOOO MANY BUGS.. and it's not a next gen flight sim.. it's the exact same as fs9.. only more game like without the sim part anywhere in there. It's not at all what microsoft said it was. it's a piece of s&!t program no matter how smooth it runs. i threw my copy away and never regretted it.

fs9 is a lot more stable and has way better addons

for a next gen SIM... x-plane 9 is far better than fsx.. just try the demo and see

 

at least in FSX the models are shaped properly, and the bugs are not that hard to iron out, just install the service packs and adjust your settings properly, I've had absolutly no problems at all with it, I think its a huge improvement from Fs9, while comparing the two I've realized FSX has A more realistic flight experience, it doesnt instantly, precisly move exactly where you want it it gives feedback and somewhat even rocks a bit like a real aircraft, fs9 has plain movements

 

I would not recommend that you get FSX at this time. MS has always released there flight sims at 2 year intervals: FSX was released in 2006, FS9/2004 2004, FS8/2002 2002... Therefore, the next release of MS's flight sim is due anytime now. I don't know the pricing of FSX in the US, but in the UK, FSX will still set you back the RRP of £40 ($80-85USD)( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-F...2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1217448760&sr=1-2) and hence is a stupid purchase considering the likelihood of fs11 being announced soon.

 

btw to be fair I am downloading the X-plane demo we'll see how it measure up to FSX, I already know fs9 is not even close

 

FSX's system requirement and pretty looking textures are just a big joke.

Sorry, but with all my addons from Flight1, ESDG, LDS, PMDG, Active Sky, FeelThere, FlyTampa, I can put FSx to shame.

 

FS9 was released in 2003. It was out for 3 years which is why so many more people favor it than FSX. Developers had more time to work with an and were able to crank out the addons we all had been dreaming about.

The whole FSX release for Oct. 7 then being delayed for a few weeks just cracked me up. Mainly because alot of stores were already selling it and MS couldn't get them to pull it off the shelves... Hilarious...

 

^^^why'd you quote me?

 

Because your avatar cracks me up... And because I answered number 3.

 

You don't think FSX is better than FS9? FSX is supposed to have higher system requirement since it's newer, No?

 

x-plane wins here if you what a really good flight simulator that why it reauires 60Gb of hdd space.

FSX is just a simple game that is called like that and it is very good polished.
I'm not against but i thing this is the way it is.

 

FSXI won't be out until holiday 2010...

supposedly they are building it on a new engine.. so we'll see.

and yep.. my fs9 puts any fsx to shame also, and with twice the performance.

 

As anyone tried Orbiter? It's a free space sim with a quite extensive library of real and fictional crafts...

Trying to put a Space Shuttle in orbit is hard as hell...

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/

 

I havent heard anything about the new FS, but I hope that they get this one right. FSX was a visual upgrade, but all-in-all, probably the poorest release to-date.

I'll take my addons and FS9 anyday...

 

I'll say FS need to swtich their engine, see how X-plane is much more realistic when flying.

 

They are rebuilding the FS engine, this time around, it's gonna be using hardware rendering, rather than software (like all previous versions, including FSX).

ACES is currently working on TrainSim 2 extensively and it's going to be released around Holiday 2009, after that, ACES is going to work on FSXI. So FSXI is still in its really really early planning stage. Probably gonna be released around 2011.

More info:

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=120&topic_id=36675&mesg_id=36675&page=

http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archi...onal-train-show-demo-animated-characters.aspx

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php...&topic_id=451326&mesg_id=451326&page=1#451441

 

I think TS2 needs the breaks put on it... It's based on the same engine as FSX, which is a mistake.

 

@Ayle: I mentioned it in the first page of this thread, with a short description.
I also mentioned Flight gear, which is currently approaching the level of FS2002 in terms of overall quality; there are some amazingly detailed places and planes available which rival FS9's default scenery and aircraft, along with several sub-par area's and several 'Alpha-stage ' aircraft.

 

Use FS9, it's very fluid and looks as good as FSX if you run it at a playable resolution.

 

ugh, x-plane officially fails, it froze my computer 3 times

 

X-plane on m1330?? hmmmmm

 

I definitely prefer X-Plane as well.

 

X-Plane definitely should run better on lower end hardware.

It also has a better flight model using blade element theory, or real time calculation of forces on an airfoil, as opposed to Flight Simulator's look-up tables which approximates the feel of how an aircraft performs.

But FSX definitely looks a hella lot better than X-plane, but at a performance hit.

So pick your poison.

 

So I'm in my LCS yesterday, holding a copy of MS FS X Deluxe Edition ($59.99) in one hand and X-Plane 9 ($49.99) in the other. I couldn't decide on which one to get so I left the store empty handed.

 

Get FSX. It is a far better simulator. I keep trying to jump back to X-Plane for the space simulator and I just don't like it. It reminds me of linux...

The graphics are far better in FS X, it is far less buggy (especially with service pack 2) its easy to add mods to it, and it looks less opengl.

You'll love FSX. Pilots around the world train with it.

As far as FS9 vs FSX, thats a joke... FSX is superior to FS9. Not buggy at all.

 

Okay. Will do. Thanks! +1 rep for ya.

 

Actually X-Plane is used much more frequently in FAA approved simulators than FSX is. Finding FSX as in an actual FAA approved simulator is rare.

That being said, and being a certified pilot, I like FSX mainly because it is more "fun". Civilian flying can be boring as a simulator. X-plane is just that, a simulator. Flight Simulator X actually has some fun scenarios, and you don't really need to be a RW pilot to fly it if you use less realistic settings.

 

That coast guard rescue pilot mod looks pretty awesome! I don't have the rig to run FSX yet(At least until I get the 7811 coming out mid-August), so I am still running FS2004. Does anyone know any good mods for this one?

 

or just get flight gear and call it a day.

 

O.K here are two good sites for FS9/X mods and additions. You do kneed to register to use Avsim, but both are free and have an unbelievable amount of content.

http://simviation.com/
and
www.AVSIM.com
________________

 

Flight Simulator X is great if you have a powerful system to run it on.

As for modern combat flight simulators there aren't many that are new, however Tom Clancy's HAWX is slated to come out in early 2009 and many are looking forward to that.

P.S. I love how the team at MS keeps everyone updated in detail about their upcoming sim games.

 

+1

Great game!