What would you rather do?

[Akula.]

I have only ever bought one payware product - Warbirds by Abacus. that was when CFS2 had just come out and i didnt even know what downloading aircraft was. Then i got into downloading aircraft from Simviation and other sites (I have 6gigs!), and i have recently bought FSDS V2. Now i do a mixture of making my planes and downloading them. anyway, enough of me, what about you? are you a paying payware guy, a downloading download guy, or a building builder guy? or do you just stick to plain old Stock? Akula.

[SaVas]

I have spent a few hundred in the last year on payware addons. If I knew anything about creating them on my own, I would, but as it stands now, I am a payware addon kind of guy. Granted there are a few freeware that are top notch, its just payware has a tendancy to have an elevated amount of detail and realism that isnt often found in freeware products..

[Akula.]

I see your point. The payware i bought, Warbirds by Abacus, was a brilliant addon. the planes were accurate, detailed, they were just excellent. then i came to the payloads. the most an A-10 could carry was four WW2 2000lb bombs. i mean, the planes were great, but they could have included a tad more detailed payloads.
Akula

[Falcon_Six_Two]

I download and buy my planes.

[Ambassador]

I download most of my planes.

[Mike Thurman]

I download 20% of my aircraft, the rest i make - BTW, you don't buy gmax, it's free

[Akula.]

cool. where do you get it from?
Akula

[Mike Thurman]

www.discreet.com

It's easier to use than FSDS and can do more as well. I think if you download it, i will take you no time at all to get the hang of it, even doing some of the most compex things is done with incredible ease

I reccomend it

[Hagar]

Gmax is bundled with FS2002 Pro & included on FS9 CD-1. This would save you the trouble of downloading it. If you don't have the FS2002 Pro Gamepack you would need to download the FS9 SDK from the M$ Insider site to export your project in the M$ MDL or BGL format.

Whether Gmax is easier to use than FSDS is debatable & purely a matter of opinion. Being used to the traditional MSFS-specific 3rd party software like FSDS for many years I don't find this the case. Gmax is a general 3D modelling program with many uses, like its big brother 3D Max. It requires extra software (the Gamepacks) to convert a project for a particular application. If this was the only option & I had to use it I would never have become involved in this fascinating hobby.

[Akula.]

Ok, Hagar, i've got Gmax. now how the hell do i do stuff on it?!?!?! i have asolutely no idea how it works! could you please give me a few tips, just point me in the right direction?
Akula_dude

[Felix/FFDS]

Ok, Hagar, i've got Gmax. now how the hell do i do stuff on it?!?!?! i have asolutely no idea how it works! could you please give me a few tips, just point me in the right direction?
Akula_dude

#1 - install it.

#2 - Go through ALL the gmax tutorials to learn the feel of the program.

#3 - play with the program.

#4 - Check out the tutorials in Simviation and FFDS

[Akula.]

Ok. i think i have made a plane. it's a very cruddy plane, but it's a plane. um, one thing, Felix. Where's the button to convert it to CFS or FS or whatever?
Akula_dude