I miss the good old days

[BigTruck]

Remember back in the day when a random screenshot would get nominated, and maybe even win a month of recognition? Remember when members helped other members improve screenshots? Remember when we had members who would paint an aircraft per request? Remember when folks would share their air show pictures, it was like the photo forum couldn't keep up with all the pics being uploaded.

SimV has changed over the last 3 years, and I understand that, people move on, people "get a life" and forget about us here at the V.

We can change that. We can go back to the glory years with the NEW SimV. We can go back to posting screenshots with hopes of maybe someone will like it enough to nominate it for an award that doesn't pay money, but makes you feel good knowing someone appreciated your effort and enjoyed your flight,

We can go back sharing photos and letting everyone know what you prepared on your stove or grill, and how awesome it looked when you you took it off the heat source.

We can go back to helping members improve their screenshots with constructive criticism, and encourage more screenshots out of them.

The forums have been dead lately, compared to what it used to be. I would post a set of pictures and they would be at the bottom of the page by the next day because everyone was posting pics. Lets bring that back folks. Turn it back up. Make the Mods work. Get your friends signed up. Show us what you're doing in life. Start a competition, talk some smack! WAKE UP SIMV!! We used to be huge!!

WHO'S WITH ME?!?

[Fozzer]

I still post the results of my Cookery antics, which some folks seem to enjoy.... ....!

I don't post many screen shots, 'cos most of the time I am just enjoying my daily flights around the countryside in my little piston props.

Since the MS Flight Sims have been out for many years now, I suspect that most folks have sorted out any problems they had, long ago!

The one thing that I really miss from the "Olden Days", are the various "Multiplayer Flights" and on-line Chats with my young Sim V Chums, in FS 2002 and FS 2004, using the FS Host Servers.
Tours, Flight Training, and Air-Shows, etc, was always a popular activity!

The introduction of the complication of "Gamespy" Multiplayer in the "new" version of FSX at the time, put a stop to all that activity!
(It can still be done using FS Host, but few Pilots seem to bother now!).

All the enthusiastic young Flight Sim Pilots from the distant past have all grown up now, and moved on to other things, and no-one is replacing them nowadays!

I pop in many times every day day, and its refreshing to see lots of Members popping in and posting various interesting "Stuff", whatever it is.

Once everyone has "woken up", all around the World, Sim V is still a very active Forum compared with many others!

Maybe, Computer "Flight Simming" has now mostly given way to Playstation and X-Box Gaming now?... ....!

Paul.... ....!

[BigTruck]

I have a Playstation 4, and I am still posting on here I fly more than I play. Fozzer you need to rally your following!!

[Fozzer]

I have a Playstation 4, and I am still posting on here I fly more than I play. Fozzer you need to rally your following!!

Multiplayer: I've given it a try a few times in FSX, Truck, but there is no doubt that it has lost the popularity and enthusiasm it had from the early days of MS Flight Simming!

This will illustrate just how few Pilots still use "Multiplayer" for their flights...>>> http://www.chocolatesoftware.com/fshostspy/

Today's flights are very insular (solo) nowadays, and "get-togethers" and Chats during flights are a time in the distant past now!

I used to have lots of fun taking folks on tours of their local areas, and also detailed flight training and radio communication and navigation instruction during Multiplayer flights!

After daily touring the delights of California, and the surrounding States, for the past 17+ years, and being very familiar with them, my various Tours used to be quite popular, and received many thanks at the time!

Like some of my Sim V Chums here I've been settled here since the early days of; "The Strip", and the old "Ultraboard" Forum, long, long ago!
...seen lots of changes over that time, and its good to see the Forum still going strong!

Paul....and getting older every day!.... ...!

[ozzy72]

Maybe it is time to call Ken and the boys and setup a Sunday afternoon (GMT) MP session. I can remember when you'd have 9 or more of us scattered around the Globe flying together on a Sunday, pottering around some new scenery in a new kite and generally ripping the mickey out of one another and being silly.
Best finish putting my big rig back together....

[Fozzer]

When I think back now, we had covered most of the known and unknown world, in regular, organised Multiplayer Sunday sessions....

North and South America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia, and a few other places, following the coastal routes where possible!

In those days it was done with FS 2002 and FS 2004, with their own, quick and simple, built-in "Multiplayer" option!

FSX, nowadays, is a little bit more complicated, but it can be done.

Whether its possible to drum up the same Multiplayer enthusiasm now, I don't know, as very little interest is shown, down below, in the Multiplayer Forum here.

It seems that times, and Flight Sim preferences, have changed.... ...!

Paul.... ....!

[BlueSkies]

Without wishing to put a dent in this forum post, I agree, the Good old Days sadly aren't really with us anymore.
I do still fly online with some of my sim buddies from a decade ago when we were all part of a large VA, but even we don't fly anywhere near like we used to, and there isn't as many of us now either.
We used to fly 2-3 times a week online together regularly and we were about 10-12 strong.
Sadly we've dwindled to around 6 pilots now, and it's maybe 1 flight a week, sometimes not even that.
We all use Multiplayer on FSX-SE and luckily one of our group has created his own private server for us all to fly online with so we don't get any interruptions.
When I'm not doing that I just do the odd flight for my VA when I have the time.
Just like the weather, people's lives change and some simply move on to different things and find another interest in life.
I'm now 60 years of age and have been doing this for some 16 years, which I consider a fair old time in a hobby of any kind, and maybe another reason why the Forums are getting quieter could well be that the younger generation just aren't taking up this kind of hobby these days ??
Just putting it out there guys, no offence meant to anyone whatsoever.

[pete]

Please remember that the forums are not supposed to be all about screenshots - in some ways the dominance of screenshots are what took away from them. Sure it's nice to see shots of what people are flying and have achieved in terms of realism, etc ... (not to mention the odd sunday dinner ) but the thing I read and enjoyed by far was/ is problem solving.


& ironically - the main site gets as many downloads in numbers and uses more bandwidth now (due to large file size) than ever -- so work that one out! People are still sim flying !! .............

[ozzy72]

They've all migrated to Facebook to gossip! Traitors Oh wait, we've got a Facebook page... err

[Jetranger]

Some people have moved on', others aren't with us anymore and checked out !

and now the Younger generation, doesn't wanna take the time to learn all this stuff - because its too hard and time consuming to figure out - they just wanna turn it on', push a button and go !!!!!!!

Their idea of downloading, is to push a button "once" and everything is Automatically done for them, and "Presto' " , it supposed to be ready, to use and go ~ !!

All this, do that, do this - copy this, Paste that, this goes there, that goes over there , and this goes clear over here - - - - - BUT wait, that's only for that "Version", of your whatever , not this version, and before you do all that,,,,,,,, fancy hoppin' & jumpin' around movin this & movin that, ,,,,,,,

Ya gotta have the latest up dates, and not just any updates either, but ----- SP2 maybe even SP7 if ya' already got SP2, if NOT, you'll need SP3 and SP4 beforte ya get to SP7

Then when your done with all that,,,, you'll need to make sure ya' got the latest updates for - "SNAFU" , without "SNAFU" nothing is goin to work like you think its supposed to !!

NO,, you can't put that file there, it can only go over here, but 1st - - - - ya have to take it out of that thingy with a Zipper and put it in another location, and "remember" where ya put it

didn't ya read the "Read Me" file in that one folder, with all those other folders & files

Nooooo, ya just don't Download it, to where - ever and your good to go, No ~ that's NOT the End of it , that's just the beginning , YOU haven't even Started yet ~ Gesshhhhh

Ahhhh Fer bout' it, Go back to your I-Phone, Playstation or X-Box - Twitter or Facebook !

This is Flight Simming, ain't nothin' Quick , Easy or fast with this Venue !

Ohhhhhh and 1 more little "tiny incy wincy" thing too,,,,,, your gonna need a really good computer to actually be able to handle all the graphics with this Venue, we call Flight Simulator FSX / Gold Acceleration ,,,,,,, NOT some 1/2 assed Off the Shelf Store bought computer from 3 years ago, you'll be able to "KINDA" use FSX, but NOT to its fullest MAXED OUT with out stutters, freezes and Aircraft Textures not properly displaying

Remember, young un',, we've only just begin

So you want to do Multi-player Flights Huh ???

Welllllll ~ that's a whole nother arena, are ya ready to go thru the steps above again ? only more intense and little more involved, to set up so you can Fly with others

WAIT ~ say you don't even have an internet Connection, and your wantin to do multi-player Flights ~

You Live where ?

Tractor, Oklahoma ??

Go grab Yo' Playstion or X-Box,,,,

No, ya CAN NOT use FSX on yo' Cell Phone,,, I think I hear yo' mama' callin ya' for Dinner

[Hawkeye07]

I think part of the problem with the younger folks is that they are accustomed to better detailed graphics than what is offered by the stock FS9 or FSX. These don't grab their interest like the newer X Box and PS games. Hech, Rise of Flight has much, much better graphics than FS. I still fly FSX 99% of the time because I like to tinker with my aircraft (CFG, Panels and textures) but I have the Rise Of Flight ICE edition and even with my mediocre computer I have beautiful graphics and smooth frame rate.
And as far as multiplayer flights I'd like to join in but I don't know if the Beast (my computer) can hack it. I'll have to do some research on it.

[Fozzer]

This thread has developed into a very interesting read!

Not only amongst some of the regulars, but also in the hope that some of the new-comers can pop in, and maybe enlighten us with their thoughts as well!

The one thing I notice here, as well as a couple of other Sites of which I am a Member, is that the majority of posts now are taken up with very carefully designed "Screen-shots".

Presently, that seems to be the preferred use of the Flight Simulator.

In the past, when the Microsoft Flight Sims first appeared, it was mostly Computer "Hardware" issues that Folks had, but I suppose that over the years since the early days of the Flight Sims, most users now have upgraded with modern hardware that can now adequately cope with the hardware and software demands of the old (FSX, etc!) Flight Sims!

Its quite amazing just how many new Members join the Site almost every day, and than we never hear from them again!

I suspect that they are just satisfied with what they have got in the way of programs and add-ons, and how to apply them without our help....

...or they quickly become disinterested in the whole subject of Aircraft and Flight Simulation!

Paul....(Must post more Dinner Photographs and Recipes!).... ...!

I am hoping that when the weather gets warmer next year, and we get out and about more often, that the "Motorcyclists Corner" thread will pick up again with more news and delightful photographs!
In the meantime, over the Winter months, most of my time is spent pretending to "Fly" along the various Interstate Highways and byways in the USA, and explore the surrounding scenery!.....
...its also cheaper!... ...!

[Hawkeye07]

I wonder about the younger crowd (which seems to be getting older in my perspective of things - ha ha!) and it's need for instant gratification and results. Something Trucker said started me on this thought. The youngsters today expect the results of a web search or the response to a reaction in a video game instantaneously. They are programmed through the exposure to faster and faster electronics to expect everything NOW. I've seen it in my daughter and her friends and school mates. Absolutely no patience except perhaps for Ebay or Amazon deliveries. So the idea of starting an aircraft, taxiing to the active, flying somewhere at <200 Knts, entering the pattern and landing might just be too long of an attention span for some of them unless they are being attacked by Zombies or alien Predators.

Anybody know how the train sims are doing? That might be an interesting comparison?

[ftldave]

I knew this would somehow devolve into a "them young whipper snappers ain't no good" thread. And it did. Doesn't every generation say that about the next? My 13-year-old son has access to my FSX and, when I used it, X-Plane. This summer I even took him to Aviation Camp in Louisville, Kentucky, where he got to take-off, fly, and land a Cessna. But the interest isn't there, and he's smart enough to know airline corporations pay peanuts and treat pilots with little respect.

As for the trainsim world, there's 3, really 4 big camps:

1. The original, halcyon, Microsoft Train Simulator, is dominated by Indians for the most part at Trainsim.com. MSTS has gone out of print and either a cargo ship of remainder copies went to India or else it's being pirated by every Indian kid who loves trains. It's old, limited in its graphics, but being an open system like FS9/FSX, still has a huge inventory of payware and free content, and many say it still has the best, most realistic physics.

2. Open Rails, a free open-source almost-but-never-quite-there compatible sim that uses MSTS content, supports wide-screen monitors and other new features that the original never had. But, unfortunately, scenery, activities, smoke effects, and locomotives don't always display or run right on it. Too often the response to constructive criticism for OR is met with a "That's not an Open Rails problem" reply.

3. Train Simulator 2016 (nee Rail Simulator) - Focusing mostly on European locomotives and little else. Probably the best graphics of all, but reviled for its emphasis on payware and its lack of good content creation tools.

4. N3V Trainz - it's latest version being Trains: The New Era, i.e. "TANE" - Certainly the most international of all the train sims, with an extremely active forum, and lots of interest in old versions, i.e. TS2010 and TS2012. But the Trainz world is on fire as a holy jihad arose after TANE began as a Kickstarter donation project and was released with many bugs and defects. Its first Service Pack is in its third phase of beta testing. Forums are filled with vicious attacks on N3V's CEO, while a smaller, more civilized group plugs away with the new version (like me).

As for yours truly, I read/cherry pick posts here and at the other major flightsim site, post now and then, but focus mainly on flying for 2 VAs: the USAF Virtual Group and the MAXfreight airline, usually flying the same aircraft for long stints of time in an attempt to master it and get good technique. So many posts are cyclical and repetitive ("Where is my FSX.CFG file?") or just silly sometimes. Humor is great, but subjective. And politics is, happily, verboten and to be avoided, despite the occasional wacko's post. I guess I'm using the forum lately more as a reference than a social group, sorry to say.

[ftldave]

To clarify my previous post: 1. Trainsim.com is dominated by Indian content in the download library. Good forum activity still exists, but many MSTS/OR simmers are also active on the Elvas Towers forum.