Is Microsoft Flight Simulator X good and realistic enough fo

[johnwalker1]

I've always wanted to try a flight sim, but have only played a tiny little bit of some MS Flight Sim (2004 or 2002) back in the day and just wanted to come back to the long-abandoned aspiration of mine. I've already bought a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick and stuff, and have the Steam edition of MS Flight Simulator X.

I've seen a lot of people online, saying that it's pretty shitty now (the MS Flight X) and I should better get P3D, but it's 200 bucks, not really suitable for my student pocket, lol.

So am I good with the FSX:SE? Is it a good all-rounder, realistic enough to learn how to pilot a small plane in the simplest terms possible?

[Tleilaxian]

You can get away with the Academic version of P3d for, I think, $50. The only "issue" with it is, in a very tiny font, it has the words "Academic Version" in the upper right-hand corner. (If you look for it on Youtube videos, you can see it ... but you really have to look for it)

About a year ago I got back into FS and found FSX-SE enjoyable. However, most of the (freeware) aircraft available on this site are optimized for P3d v.4.5, which prompted me to go for P3d. P3d just "feels" nicer with slightly better graphics, though nothing jaw-droppingly different.

My recommendation would be to go for P3d, but it's not that far off from FSX. FSX-SE is still a decent sim capable of providing lots of entertainment/enjoyment. If it's working for you then stick with it and ignore what "everybody" says. At the end of the day, your enjoyment is the only thing that matters. I found FSX-SE perfectly enjoyable ... it just had trouble with a batch of T7s that I really wanted but would only work on P3d.

[papituwall]

Keep FSX-SE, you have a decent sim and thousands of free and pay addons.

When next MSFS will be on the market you can decide if improve to this sim, but as per today you are OK with FSX-SE, enjoy playing many hours with it.

[Flacke]

Hi, FSX-SE is unbelievably good, runs very well compared to FSX and has been trouble free for me. The default graphics are very basic but can be dramatically improved by adding ORBX Global basic, and Orbx Global vector.
But! unless they are on sale they can cost some money, not something students like to do.

If I were you this is what I would do, practice everything you can think of on FSX-SE. Adjust all of the settings in various ways to see what is possible and not possible. Adjust everything untill you are comfortable with setting it up the way you like it.
Then fly various aircraft until you get a really good idea of what you really like to do with the Sim.
While you are doing the above your skills will grow and it will become more enjoyable over time.
In the meantime Microsoft 2020 will be improved and constantly tested and developed until it is finally made available to us.
At that point you can see the final product and pricing and decide of you really want it at the starting price.

Keep flying and honing your skills and if Microsoft 2020 is as good as they say, AND if its affordable, AND if your computer can run it, then you will be a happy camper. If not, you will be a whiz-bang FSX-SE or perhaps X-Plane 11 Pilot. Enjoy.