Hello to all

[freaknout]

Hello all

Just got into FSX and wanted to say and how damn impressed I am with VLC (and FSX), just had to have it!

I'm a kiwi living in London for 7 or so years, so it's beginning to feel like home. Just been made redundant (or in the process of), so I have a bit of gardening leave to fill in whilst we pontificate on what life might now bring us. What better way to fill the time than checking out NZ from the air! So I've downloaded VLC tonight and performed a quick flight from Wellington to Queenstown in a trusty 737. Quite amazing and I did have a little chuckle at the gent from the US interested in the colour of Lake Tekapo

Running FSX on a mid 2011 27" iMac booting into Win7 and it all looks very good. Not sure anyone elseds does that, i suppose this is almost exclusively PC territory? This must've been an absolute beast when it was launched.

A few questions if i may......

Are all cockpits are designed for 4:3?

REX, what the hell is it and is it a big overhead?

NZ airports. I gather I can just install any bought or free over VLC?

Any other scenery or aircraft recs very welcome!

Thanks in advance.
Jay

[Ian Warren]

Hi ya Jay

Welcome to virtual New Zealand , well you almost landed in the right spot for an introduction but dout if we will hold that against you , above in the 'Important Topics' Pinned SimAddicts Anonymous .
I think for starters check this site out for links to download FSX scenery design generally here , all freeware
http://www.freewarescenery.com/fsx/newzealand.html
That will get you started .
List off many paywares, many very very cheap .
http://www.windowlight.co.nz/
http://www.fs-creations.org/
http://www.vectorlandclass.co.nz/

[freaknout]

Hi Ian

Sorry posted in the wrong place. It was quite late this hemisphere, that's my excuse!

Many thanks for the information and links and I will copy my intro into the SimAddicts Anonoyous thread for prosperity!

Where can I ask dumb questions?

Jay

[creator2003]

Under here now its a active topic or the corresponding topic headers ,by the way welcome home in a virtual way of course and i hope we help you get past the boredom from being home alot ..
mike

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 3 2011,8:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where can I ask dumb questions?

Anywhere , If answers come from me you don't understand , just ask the guys ... they'd just say that my norm .

[Chairman]

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 3 2011,1:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are all cockpits are designed for 4:3?

Most are because that was the norm when most stuff that's around now started being developed. Some designers (e.g. PMDG) now give you the option of widescreen or 4:3 in the plane configuration.

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 3 2011,1:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

REX, what the hell is it and is it a big overhead?

Real Environment Extreme. It's a combination of replacement textures for clouds and water (which are amazing) and a weather engine (which is average). If you use it purely to replace the default textures there's essentially no overhead. Active Sky is a much better weather engine. I think the current mantra goes something like using AS to make the weather happen and REX to make it pretty.

On the subject of weather, FSX does strange things with wind e.g. instant 180 degree changes, instant 100kt windspeed changes etc. Get FSUIPC and register it. Many of us say that is the single best addon we ever paid for. Don't try to understand it, just go into the config and tick / untick / set everything that looks like it smooths out weather and eliminates turbulence.

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 3 2011,1:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any other scenery or aircraft recs very welcome!

Depends what you want to fly - big / little / high / low / fast / slow ... there are fans of everything here. Even Airtruc- no, I can't bring myself to say it ...

Enjoy !
Gary

[freaknout]

QUOTE (creator2003 @ Nov 3 2011,7:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Under here now its a active topic or the corresponding topic headers ,by the way welcome home in a virtual way of course and i hope we help you get past the boredom from being home alot ..
mike

Thanks Mike, we haven't been home for a visit in over 3 years. VLC has been ideal to get an NZ "fix".

Jay

[freaknout]

Cheers Gary

It's been nice acquiring a free Computer Pilot magazine in which I spied a Xmas 50% off deal for REX but it appears that it's not live until 1 Dec. So it looks like I will be waiting for a few weeks, although it's not THAT costly. Will be interesting to see how long I can last out . Many thanks for the tips on using REX.

So I've VLC and there's a quite a few NZ airports to start collecting and visiting of course! There was a deal on the CLS 747 200/300 so that's been INTERESTING! I quite like the idea of a quick little runabout and getting to know a larger jet well, like the perhaps the 737 or 747.

Is there an after market pilots log book or something?

Jay

[freaknout]

I'm thinking of buying the PMDG 737NG......good idea or bad idea for a newbie? I have read that you can pretty much jump in a go, but I would be keen on getting more involved as time permits.

All the best
Jay

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 6 2011,10:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm thinking of buying the PMDG 737NG......good idea or bad idea for a newbie? I have read that you can pretty much jump in a go, but I would be keen on getting more involved as time permits.

Its how you set it up , but it is highly recommend by myself , detail and systems , anything PMDG is top notch .

[freaknout]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Nov 6 2011,9:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its how you set it up , but it is highly recommend by myself , detail and systems , anything PMDG is top notch .

Sounds good Ian, I think I'll give it a go, although it's not cheap. This has to be an "investment".

Thanks
Jay

[Ian Warren]

Jay , you won't disappointed , that,s the 800/900 series ?

[freaknout]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Nov 6 2011,10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jay , you won't disappointed , that,s the 800/900 series ?

Yup.

Performance wise I seem to be doing quite well. I can run my iMac screen at it's native res of 2560x1440 with almost all details on fairly high bar the ground and air traffic. Should I expect a bit of a performance hit with the PMDG pack?

Thanks for your help and sorry for the dumb questions!

Jay

[freaknout]

Sorry. I thought someone had said but I can't seem to find it. Did someone not rate Traffic X?

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (freaknout @ Nov 13 2011,9:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry. I thought someone had said but I can't seem to find it. Did someone not rate Traffic X?

Traffic X forget it or least for New Zealand , i simply run FTX-AI ..... world wide if i was to transport myself i might use it , payed for it so has to fill a gap somewhere but internal it is horrid.

[freaknout]

Thanks Ian. I will take a look at that....