NZFF

Now that I'm in the happy position of being able to make a full time income on a part time basis time has freed up to allow me to get into flight sims again in the near future. My primary passions are modern combat simulations (ie Lockon series multi player particularly A-10 ground attack) and low level FVR in photo realistic scenery using Sport Aviation aircraft.

Being well out to the loop for about 7 years now, I have some question, and a need for recommendations.

Questions:

1) Is it true that FZX is the last iteration of MSFSims and is no longer being supported or developed?

2) Do people still have to struggle constantly and tweak FSX on fairly high power rigs, or are there off the shelf solutions that do away with all that rubbish. I want to fly, not fight to get high FPS and smooth graphics all the time.

3) What is the best addon photo realistic scenery for low level VFR and that covers ALL of New Zealand? Does such scenery include accurate and high resolution airports - if not, what would I need?

4) What's the most popular modern combat sim in NZ? Is it capable of multiplayer and is there an active community?

5) Am I right in assuming there is still an active community for MSFS multiplier? Does it focus on International (and NZ) IFR or NZ VFR primarily?

6) Is MSFS the only civilian sim being flown in NZ?


Recommendations please:

Given my interests above, what off the shelf rig do I need in way of a:

1) Desktop?

2) Laptop?

Thanks

Even before addressing the list .. i'll go to the very bottom .. Desktop !.. and hey ya really in trouble with some fantastic builds here

I can't answer all your questions as they're outside my field of interest, however we're discussing new PC builds here. Although we're primarily discussing self-building desktop systems there's no reason why you can't buy an off the shelf system with similar specs. I guess for most of us the budget ultimately decides the end product - my recommendation is to simply buy the best you can afford!

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1) Is it true that FZX is the last iteration of MSFSims and is no longer being supported or developed?

Complicated question - but I'll try to keep it short!

The latest version is MS Flight which was released in Feb 2012. Microsoft has announced that they will not continue development of the simulator but will continue to support it. Basically MS Flight is a free download and is based solely around the islands of Hawaii. There are only a few aircraft and airports available with more available for purchase via the integrated Games for Windows online store. Its said that MS Flight is focused more on the mass appeal of flight and aimed to engage a much wider audience - as opposed to previous FS versions which were aimed more towards enthusiasts.

FSX is still alive and well (As is FS9/FS2004 for that matter!). Content continues to be produced by the community and developers alike. Despite having been released in 2006 FSX still has the ability to place strain on modern computer systems, so it is likely to remain relevant for the foreseeable future!

Prepar3D (Pronounced 'Prepared') may also be of interest. Straight from Wiki - "In 2009, Lockheed Martin announced that they had negotiated with Microsoft to purchase the intellectual property for the Microsoft ESP product. Microsoft ESP is the commercial-use version of "Flight Simulator X SP2". Lockheed has hired members of the original ACES Studios team to continue development of the product. Most Flight Simulator X addons work in Prepar3D without any adjustment since Prepar3D is kept backward compatible". A number of our NZFF members are experimenting with Prepar3D.

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

2) Do people still have to struggle constantly and tweak FSX on fairly high power rigs, or are there off the shelf solutions that do away with all that rubbish. I want to fly, not fight to get high FPS and smooth graphics all the time.

That's another tricky one! I'm yet to build my new PC and can't comment on its ability to run FSX and all my addons. However looking at YouTube clips it certainly seems that you can probably just install and play FSX now with great results! Tweaking would be entirely at your discretion!

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

3) What is the best addon photo realistic scenery for low level VFR and that covers ALL of New Zealand? Does such scenery include accurate and high resolution airports - if not, what would I need?

There is none. Your options are Vectorlandclass (VLC) which gives super accurate roads, rivers and topographical scenery using the FSX default texture sets. Or ORBX NI and SI which are high resolution textures placed in a more generic manner. See here for a comparison! For me its a case of accuracy vs eye candy......

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

4) What's the most popular modern combat sim in NZ? Is it capable of multiplayer and is there an active community?

Outside my area of interest sorry - Google returned DCS A10C Warthog as a result....... I love the A10 too I might even get that for my new PC - it sure looks cool!

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

5) Am I right in assuming there is still an active community for MSFS multiplier? Does it focus on International (and NZ) IFR or NZ VFR primarily?

We have a small but active Vatsim community based here in NZ, with more available internationally. A few NZFF members are regular multiplayers and use teamspeak - just watch for the invite post on the forum!

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

6) Is MSFS the only civilian sim being flown in NZ?

My guess is that FSX is probably the most widely flown sim here - with a few diehards remaining with FS9/FS2004 for their own reasons, and I know there are a few early adopters using Prepar3D!

AllanJames wrote:

QUOTE (AllanJames @ Sep 8 2012,4:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Given my interests above, what off the shelf rig do I need..........

Desktop or laptop doesn't really matter - but a desktop always leaves you with a broader range of upgrade options. If you need portability then buy a laptop. As for components and specs see my first post above.

I hope this helped!
Kind regards,
Mat!

Hey, thanks everyone for the followup on this!

I was particularly interested to read in the rebuild thread that 'FSX is CPU bound more than it is GPU' - I was still in 'what's the best graphics card' mode of thinking.

Seeing my intention is to travel a lot, like more or less continuously, for a couple of years I tend towards a laptop if I can get one to do the job and saw this one ...

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/lapto...special-edition

What's your thoughts on it's suitability for FSX?

Hey Allan. Yeah as far as laptops go that machine would be great. Its a super grunty CPU and top end GPU for this sort of setup. 1080p/full-HD on the screen which is cool. As long as you dont mind lugging around the larger 17" form factor then it looks real good value for the price. Not sure what battery life would be like but once again if you carry the power pack and are near a hot-point who cares? the dell.co.nz site lists the machine as having 8GB RAM (PC world review says 6GB), either way thats enough and RAM can always be upped later. No SSD which I think would be nice in a laptop for gaming, pretty pricey though, but once again you can add later.

I'm actually looking at the 15" SPS model from Dell at the moment for use as a work lapptop.

deeknow wrote:

QUOTE (deeknow @ Sep 12 2012,12:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Allan. Yeah as far as laptops go that machine would be great. Its a super grunty CPU and top end GPU for this sort of setup. 1080p/full-HD on the screen which is cool. As long as you dont mind lugging around the larger 17" form factor then it looks real good value for the price. Not sure what battery life would be like but once again if you carry the power pack and are near a hot-point who cares? the dell.co.nz site lists the machine as having 8GB RAM (PC world review says 6GB), either way thats enough and RAM can always be upped later. No SSD which I think would be nice in a laptop for gaming, pretty pricey though, but once again you can add later.

I'm actually looking at the 15" SPS model from Dell at the moment for use as a work lapptop.

Thanks for that opinion - size is not problem for what I plan to do so I think this will suit well.

I recently bought a higher speced laptop for FSX and get solid a 36fps until A airport like NZAA where it'll drop to about 30. I run ORBX Scenery with their AI pack and REX Essential.

My Comp Spec are: Ivy Bridge i7 3810 2.7mhz with boost to 3.7ghz
Nvidia gt 670m with 3GB DDR 5 dedicated ram.
two HD's one is a 256gb SSD which makes a big difference.
I've got 16GB of ram.

The Comp is an ASUS ROG G75vw.

Shame about the HD in the one you are looking at even a step up to the 7500rpm would make a difference.

Forgot to say thats with almost all sliders maxed out.

4) What's the most popular modern combat sim in NZ? Is it capable of multiplayer and is there an active community?




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