To get or not to get...

[Stubbedtoe18]

I've been on the line about purchasing FSX.  I downloaded the demo from this site or from a link from here and it had extremely poor framerates...  I do however, have a very fast computer and am able to run FS9 almost maxed out pretty well (it does get kind of choppy with lots of clouds, but rarely so) except for extended terrain textures and stuff of the sort...  My question is are the graphics, flight models, realism, functionality (specifically being able to takeoff and land from carriers out of the box), all improved over FS2004 and will the performance be the same?  I would really like to know if it's so much better and funner thatI should get it.  thanks.

[Ashton Lawson]

if ur expecting to run FSX close to maxed out, then your doomed.

but, just in case, what are your system specs?

also, FSX only includes an aircraft carrier, but you can't launch off one and trap on one without using 3rd party software like 3Wire or that abacus thingy...

the flight models, the graphics, and everything is pretty much better than FS9, and it has missions!

but, to get it to be playable, you need the SP1 patch, and a whole lot of tweaking...

[Stubbedtoe18]

I don't need it to be maxed out, as long as the graphics are great and better than FS2004.  Are the missions any fun?  And is the download a hassle, and what do you mean by tweaking?  The carrier part isn't really a major decider here.

[Ashton Lawson]

When I mean tweaking, I mean editing the default FSX.cfg file, which goes more in-depth into game settings, but isn't that user friendly.

The graphics are WAY better than FS9, but it will take a really good computer to run like FS9.

The missions, from what I here are fun, and challenging, plus, there are tutorials in the form of missions, which teach you to fly certain aircraft.

I don't know how much of a hassle the Service Pack 1 download is, but it is well worth whatever wait, because without out it, FSX is almost unplayable.

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

OK, I'll try to keep this short.....

FSX has its pros and cons

Right off the bat you'll notice a con, It is extremely tuff on pcs. Its very hard to run and unless you have a $7000 gaming pc you won't get the best settings out of it. The reason for this is because MS (microsoft) designed to be beutiful! With everything maxed out it is amazing and quite breathtaking. BUT, you won't be able to max it out just quite yet. They purposely made it soo heavy on pcs so that FSX can be competitive for the next 3-5 years. I have a crappy pc and with about an hour or two of tweaking and fine tuning FSX I am able to run it around Medium-high.

Now for the pros, The missions included in FSX are awesome! They are fun, and give you a big breather from just free flight. The missions have exciting plot lines and are just plain fun to do.

Also, as I metioned early, It is amazingly good on the eyes. With the proper tuning, it can look very verry nice and takes a GIANT leap from FS2004 (FS9). The low to medium-low settings of FSX can be compared to the max settings of FS9.

In the end, I say FSX is a buy. But, expect to tweak and tune for a couple of hours to get the best out of it. Don't expect to max it out just quite yet, but the fun factor of the missions out weighs the cons of FSX. Atleast IMHO  ;D

[Stubbedtoe18]

So even on low settings, the graphics will still be better than FS2004 with the same performance.  Nice.  It just won't be up to the full potential of FSX, which is O.K for me.

Is the file tweaking absolutely neccesary to run FSX, is it hard to do, and what exactly are you doing?  Is it just the settings from the options menu on the graphics etc.?  And does the patch cost money?  thanks for answering my annoying questions...

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

Whoa whoa who slow down skippy!

No I never said that FSX will run faster than FS9 on similar settings..... It just depends on your machine. I own both FSX and FS9, have both installed and play both regularly. As for the tweaking, If you give us your system specs we can help you determine how much tweaking needs to be done. I have very few tweaks and TRUST ME I only do the EASIEST of them. (I am somewhat tweak challenged) Most of the tweaks are realitively straight foward and one hour or so is all thats nesscary. Check the "FSX FAQs" sticky at the top of the forum. It will give you links to the most often used tweaks. But as I said, the amount of tweaking depends on your pc....


Let me rephrase my statement...... Some of the low to medium-low settings of FSX may be somewhat comparable to FS9.
The level of detail of FSX is so many times greater than FS9 that they are barely comparable. They are different games and the settings do not perfectly match up but they are close. I hope that makes sense...

[Stubbedtoe18]

Yah what I meant was that I have FS2004 on higher settings.  What I was asking was if FSX will look better than it even if FSX is own medium-low or low settings, but still perform well with decent FPS (more than 20)?

As for my system, stock it had a 250 GB hard drive, the dual CD drives (don't know that that has to do with this but), 2 GB of memory (came with one but we updated to two), 4200+ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor.  I have an updated graphics card as well, which we put in after we purchased it.  My mom got the best one you could get when we got it,  The computer's only a year old or something too.

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

Wow!

[Stubbedtoe18]

I know.  That really is great to know.  I also have FiOs, so really fast internet as well.  Does multiplayer work very well in FSX?  I have not the slightest cleu on how to start it in FS2004.  And I still am not sure when you say tweaking, is it in-game or actually messing with program files?

[macca22au]

A poll is six month's too late.
 I have it, I like it, I am getting used to it.
 It can be frustrating, irritating and bad for the blood pressure:  BUT it is better than 9, has fantastic potential, and the graphics just plain rock.
 Tweaking has become a game in itself, and I've learned more about my computer than I ever knew before.

I could never go back.

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

Tweaking involves modification of the "FSX.cfg" file (among others) to change certain aspects of FSX. The tweaks can range from how many trees you see to how accurate the landscape is....Basically you open the FSX.cfg in Notepad, and follow the instructions which you can find on various threads on this site (most notably the "FSX FAQs" sticky). If you can read and type, you can tweak! And as I said earlier, I'm not the best at doing these kinds of things, but I was able to navigate my way through most of the tweaks with ease. Its not that bad. Also, it is very rewarding when all your tweaking pays off in the form of 10-20 extra fps

[Keep It Simple]

Let's not loose sight of the fact that there wiil be a DX10/content patch due this fall.
Until then, FSX is stiil definately a "work in progres" and what the "final" product will evolve to is stiil an unknown.

We all will most likely get FSX sonner of later but, why wait?

[Stubbedtoe18]

Huh...  So that patch that will definetely come out in the future, will that prevent tweaking?  And I guess they won't be coming out with another FS next year like they've done since '98 due to how advanced it is, so I guess I should buy it.  The only thing is, though, how do I know what to tweak?  Man, 10-20 extra fps?  That's nice.  Only, on top of how many?

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

LOL LOL LOL, i was just joking about the 10-20 fps...... no promises, you may or may not get 10-20 fps! and MS releases a new FS around every 2 years (FS98, FS00, FS02, FS04, FSX(2006))

And no promises with that patch either, right now its kind of a wait and see game!

Bottom line, I could specualte all day about how FSX will run on your pc but the only way to tell is to go out and buy it!

As for the tweaking, the tweaks are explained in the FSX FAQs sticky. Most are given with step by step instructions!