Simviation Forums

I bought Flight Sim X for a Christmas present for my dad.  Should I go out and get another version ?  All I read about is that the program doesn't work well at all.  He is going to buy a new pc in January with Vista and I will make sure he gets 2 gig RAM  and a good video card etc.  What is the difference between FS9 and FS2004 ?  Can you still buy FS9 ?  Where ?  Please let me know if I should buy another package before Christmas.

I wouldn't say FSX is worthless ....... it's just that the current technology hasn't quite caught up with the Sim yet. Those that are having big problems are the ones shouting loudest, for every complainant there are probably fifty people having a great time.

FS2004 and FS9 are one and the same it's just that it is the 9th in the series so sometimes called FS9. You can still buy it  and on current high end technology it will run brilliantly. A bit of patience and FSX will catch up.

I bought FSX the day it came out: October 6th where I live; after flying it for over six-weeks I've gone back to FS2004 (FS9).
I recommend giving FS2004 to friends and family.
I read a fella's signature online which stated:"FSX is virus. Friends don't let friends fly FSX"
Here's another FSX assessment : "The only thing awesome in FSX are the hardware requirements." -- Anonymous

P.S. Today's advert has FS2004 on sale for $19.95. Buy.

No, buy it, try it, I've never had a problem with it.

If your dad is going to upgrade his PC with serious hardware specs, then FSX is definitely a good choice.

You can read here a lot of negative comments simply because people here focus only on graphics, and don't care about improvements.
And because FSX requires too much hardware power, people cannot get good graphics.
So people don't like FSX, and prefer staying with the eye candy of FS9.

My personnal experience: I could FINALLY try the demo of FSX.
After having tested:
- the new flight dynamics (improved copters, ground effects etc...)
- the new cristal clear virtual cockpits
- the moving head in the VC
- the new autogen
- the animated vehicules on airports
- the new meteo

And, after having read about:
- the new glider experience (towing, automatically generated thermals)
- the new default aircrafts
- the incredible details of the default scenery (see the world tour topic on FS2004.com screenshots forum)
- the new multiplayer engine
- and more

I cannot play FS9 anymore, too boring. Beautifull and fluid on my medium-end PC, of course, but boring. I'll buy FSX as soon as I can upgrade my PC. FS9 has nothing for me anymore.

See ? It all depends on the point of view. If you prefer having good graphics than cool features, go for FS9. Else make your effort for FSX.

I am enjoying myself. If he is getting a new rig, stick with FSX.

My tip, to be on the safe side, would be to get Dad BOTH games, FS9 AND FSX... ...!

He won't be disappointed then... ...!

I have both Sims, but I am still enjoying FS 9 because my present system is capable of running it smoothly with everything wound up to the maximum... ...!

FS X, on the other hand, for me, is extremely sluggish, and with the scenery, Autogen and effects, etc,  turned down, results in a much poorer visual game... ...!

Paul...(Owner of all most of the MS Flight Simulators... 8-)...!

The main problem with FGSX is that it is still very CPU dependent just like FS9 but, more so.
CPUs will not get much faster in the forseeable future....they will be multi core instead and FSX has very limited multi core support.

How ACES will get around this problem is one of the keys to the future survival of FSX.....IMO.

As it stands now, no one is quite shure to what degree VISTA and DX10 will help FSX.

Has your dad been flying another version of flightsim before? If not, getting him started on FS2004 might be a good idea to get him used to all the features. etc. Once he starts tiring of it (and I am not yet tired of FS2004!) he could could look into moving to FSX, and if needed, upgrade whatever components of his rig that may be in order. Presuming he gets even a good 6-month run out of FS2004, then any required upgrades for FSX will not only be cheaper and more available, but also better tested and documented.  I found FSX very "busy" with regard to getting all the settings where you want them, and am still having issues trying to figure out things like setting views (I cannot get the hat switch to smoothly pan around like FS2004). It also depends on his expectations with the flightsim, e.g., does he plan to fly around mostly detailed areas/cities, or with highly detailed planes, all of which will require a super rig with FSX - flying mostly default aircraft over sparse areas obviously won't draw as much of a demand on his system. The flightsim experience should be rewarding, not frustrating, hence my bringing this points up for consideration.

.............The flightsim experience should be rewarding, not frustrating,................

I agree completely!

..And everyone has their own definition of "rewarding"

Some prefer eye candy and could care less about flight dynamics, others prefer realism and are willing to sacrifice eye candy (for now) to learn a new sim.

There is something to be said for learning FS9 and migrating to FSX and have to learn new controls, which can also be frustrating, especially when other factors are mixed in, such as seeing what hardware can do with FS9 and trying to compare to FSX on the same hardware.

The bottom line on the hardware issue is that it will not be until March-May before hardware catches up to FSX for basic

Is Flight Sim X worthless?

YES

A bit of patience and FSX will catch up.

more like technology will catch up with FSX

Now I don't have fsx myself so you might take this post for granted and render it useless...


But I'm gonna go with yes.

Fs9 doesn't run smoothly on my pc at all... So FSX is way outta line for a while..

If your dad really is getting a high-end machine next month inclueding a DX-10 card then he should be able to run it fairly well.
Now one of the must fun things In Fs is that I built my fs up from the out of the box version to where it's at now. I haven't got a clue what's in there now but it's ok... FSX is a base package and so is FS9 the latter just has more addons currently... But I think FSX has all the potential. If I had a pc strong enough for it I wouldn't hesitate to buy FSX though I'd be like Dave in enjoying FS9 till FSX runs the way I want it to.

FSX aint perfect but neither is FS9


Cheers

Soui

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