Yip I learned a long time ago back when I had 2002 Pro edition of MS Flight sim , I thought I had to everything installed to improve the Sim, boy did I learn fast , that's a NOTTA !!!
I was under the Assumption - that all these after market programs would just magically somehow all work together and communicate with each other to work, after all its a Computer, and these are computer programs right !!
I used to have Mega Scenery Deluxe back when it covered the entire United States, before they decided to piece meal it out and sell it in chunks for different regions, after installing it, because of soooo many files it would take the FS 2002 forever to load, as much as 15 minutes or more.
The scenery for back then (2002), looked really good, till ya got within 500ft or closer to the ground, then I realized, i'm basically flying over nothing more than a Photo / photos / Pictures of the earth, its not going to have too many actual mountains and trees standing tall, and valleys rivers, Canyons that look to real up that close !
But back then NOT too many were as heavy into making designing realistic scenery, like they are now, ORBX etc.
I decided when I got back into Flight Simulator / Simulation, that I was going to keep things SIMPLE / KISS, and eliminate a lotta of the BS, I mainly want planes anyway, and some not a lot, just some nice Airports rather they be Payware or Freeware.
So that's what I've done, I basically have about 25 to 30 nice airports and that's it.
I don't use REX or REX Over drive or any of those other supposed programs that I read so much about in the HELP forums of all these Flight Simulator sites, that this doesn't work or my sim is causing me problems and they've got 5 other programs installed too on top of Rex, or whatever it might be, and their Simulator is all jacked up.
I wrote in the Forums a few months ago, about all these programs out there - Do they really All work well together and in conjunction with each other, do they really
Does Milk and Whiskey go good together in the mornings
?
Sometimes I think people are trying to gain way too much out of their sims by installing all these programs, because they Assume they'll all work together and quite well at that - Wrong !
The only things I have installed in my FSX Gold Sim are:
FSX
FS Scene
Some Freeware ORBX Sceneries
Few Tricks and tips or modifications, nothing drastic.
a lot of memory and not just for flight simulator but my photo and video software as well.
an Amped up Video graphics card and power supply
and a Quadcore processor
that's about it really - Simple very Simple and I have very few problems with my Sim.
I Prefer to Fly - NOT - constantly have to Tinker and FIX something that shouldn't need fixing or tinkering with in the 1st place !
I want to Fly Aircraft and relax, NOT be constantly Pissed off and agitated at some program .
So, that's what I do, FLY !
that and I use a Totally separate computer that's Set Up just for Flight Simulator and nothing else, and I think that helps a bunch , tho, I don't download anything with that particular computer , I use this computer that almost identical to the Flight Sim Computer sitting next to me, which are both Desk tops, I have 5 large Screens, 3 on my Flight Sim computer and 2 on my Everyday / everything computer that I use to download Aircraft and Scenery and other Stuff and do my EBay stuff on.
Keeping it simple I believe helped a lot ,that i'm NOT constantly fixing & tinkering with the sim, no need to.
But, I have had fun Injecting All those Aircraft I downloaded and put into my FSX Sim the last 2 years, to date over 5,000 Aircraft, BUT, I don't keep all of them in my Simulator, I have them sitting in another Hanger / File away from my Simulator, so it doesn't slow down the load process, ya know the beginning screen / Start Up.
I found out that many Aircraft in a Simulator takes a long time to load once past the Start Up Screen, as much as 15 minutes to 1/2 hour sitting and waiting at idle - Boring !!!
So, I created a Fantasy / Phony Fake Hanger to store a lot of my Aircraft in away from the actual Simulator and I took the time to create individual Hangers depending on the type of Aircraft, Props go in the Props Hanger in their own Sub Folders, and Jetliners go in their own Separate Hanger within their own Sub Folder according to the type they are.
When I want them out - I just Copy & Paste them out of their Fantasy Hanger and into the FSX Simulator, and when I'm done with them, back in the hanger they go till next time.
In essence, I don't find myself waiting for long load times at the start up screen anymore.
I keep ALL the Default Aircraft in my Sim, because some are Dependent on each other, effects, gauges, textures etc. so the Default Aircraft always remain in place.
But some of the Addon Aircraft can be parked elsewhere outside away from the simulator in another Folder Hanger.
I keep only about 35 to 40 planes in my Simulator at any 1 time, out of over 5,000 Aircraft, works out well for me anyway.
By the way it took me over 2 years to grab or STEAL that many Aircraft and also to Inject them PROPERLY into the Flight Sim, some I had to FIX so they'd work and edit CFG Files as well.
1 such Aircraft that comes to mind was that AC680 Turbo Commander, that took me 3 nights, at 12 hours each night to fix, just trying to figure it out was a real Muther F$#@*,,, finally I hit on the correct Fix so it'd work in FSX . that being the Overhead Switch panel in the Cockpit -
http://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywords=turbo+commander+&x=0&y=0 .
that took me forever to FIX but I wanted that Aircraft badd and wanted it Fixed so it'd be somewhat right and enjoyable, and I thought maybe others would like to FIX there Commander too, I should offer them the Fix too, so I did.
Anyway, hope you have better luck with your Sim,, and hopefully others will heed the advice - keep your sims somewhat basic and as simple as possible, you'll enjoy it more !
Remember, Milk & Whisky don't really mix well together, Ya Know !!
Jetranger