History repeats itself

[OldAirmail]

On the one hand, some planes do port over ok.

But it seems like the major problems are the same ones as the "last" flight big sim change over.

If you see this, you know that you're in for trouble.


It's really the same problem that other major changes have brought. One day we'll forget all about it.



Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just crashes down to the desktop.

Sometimes, however, you get a partially working plane with missing or inoperative parts.

No wheels, no canopy, no spinning prop. All in a days fun.



Lord knows how many times I tried FS9 planes with similar results.

Another common problem is with switches & instruments not working. I depends on how they were made.

Much of the time, because I do use real switches and knobs, the aircraft does work even if clicking in the on-screen knobs do nothing.


I can see that I'll be keeping V3 for a long time. But, hay! I still have FSX installed even though I almost never use it anymore.

[Hagar]

If some FS9 aircraft do display properly I suspect the problem is with the software used to create the visual model. There are 2 popular 3D modelling utilities, Gmax or FSDS (FS Design Studio) which some people find easier to use.
Gmax models will usually be OK in FSX but I've had display problems with some FS9 models produced with FSDS, depending on the version. At least some Alphasim aircraft were created with an early version of FSDS. If you open the MDL file of the Lysander in Notepad you will see this which confirms that it is one of them.



Some FS9 Alphasim freeware aircraft have been converted to FSX native models by LLS. You might like to try one. (I don't think the Lysander has been done yet.)
https://simviation.com/1/search?submit=1&keywords=lls&x=18&y=11

[Daube]

From what I have read here and there, the FS9 planes are not supported anymore.
Some of them might still be able to display a few parts, but animations, cockpits, gauges etc... are totally out of the game.
As stated above, the most popular FS9 planes are slowly being converted to FSX-native format by a few members of the community, which makes them usable in P3Dv4

[pete]

From what I have read here and there, the FS9 planes are not supported anymore.
Some of them might still be able to display a few parts, but animations, cockpits, gauges etc... are totally out of the game.
As stated above, the most popular FS9 planes are slowly being converted to FSX-native format by a few members of the community, which makes them usable in P3Dv4

I am looking forward to seeing how true that is when I finally get the thing downloaded ....... for me it's a day's download .......




It will be interesting though to see what works and what doesn't.

I also want to see if I can keep v3.# also as I don't want to loose a pile of great freeware!

[pete]

Failed again and resume also failed as corrupt file.

[OldAirmail]

Keep going, Pete, I'll be worth it.



In one way, the lack of add-ons is not all that bad - I really like P3d V4, and it'll only get better.

Once the Scenery situation is settled, I'll be using it a lot more. Right now what I'm doing is "playing with it".

As I said, some people deleted V3 in anticipation of V4. Not so good of an idea.


What does concern me though is the purchase of "new" aircraft. I have five or six aircraft on home made CDs that I haven't tried yet. After that I'll be careful to buy only the ones marked V4 compatible.

Some favorites will be lost. That's life. It's happened with every major change.



A strange thought has been creeping into my mind lately - Cockpit!

With this version of Prepar3d it could be more than light entertainment.

Alternately, with the improved virtual reality built in, I may not need a cockpit at all?


Options, options, options.

[Daube]

My attempt to download that 12 GB file also resulted in miserable failure last week
If I remember correctly, the same happened when I wanted to download the v3. In the end, I switched to the "individual components" download. The biggest ones are about 2 GB, which is less prone to hanging up. I will probably have to do the same for the v4.

[pete]

Well I eventually got it finished today after resuming in Firefox after another 2 or 3 fails.


Have yet to try it .....

[Jetranger]

Well I just got a Comment from a user who thinks everything is soooooooooo simple,,,

YOU TUBE user John Moore thinks everything is as simple as pie ,,,,????????

his comment below my SIM HANGER COMMENT : SIM HANGER P3D v4 or XP-11. Easy.

My Comment I had left on Froogle Sim's YOU TUBE Video :

Boy', this is getting awful "Complicated" and Confusing even for seasoned Flight Simmers ! Do ya' choose FSX or Prepar3D, or Flight Simulator Steam edition, or do ya' choose Prepar 3D V1, V2, V3, or NOW - Prepar3D V.4 or that other new Sim,, and all the constant "UPDATES with all the other Software" for Flight Simulator ~ !!! When do ya' make time to actually enjoy Flying

of course I notice how him and everybody else "conveniently" seem to leave out, while Promoting all these other new Flight Sim's - that NOT all your Currently installed Aircraft and sceneries will work with all these NEW versions of whatever's that's coming out ~ !!!

Heres the YOU TUBE Video of Froogle Sim News, see my comment below the Video, by SIM HANGER feel free to weigh in if you'd like :

YOU TUBE VIDEO :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61O1IhxLq5o[/youtube]

[Daube]

JetRanger, I think you are probably over-estimating the complexity of the situation.
Instead, you should see it exactly as the day FSX appeared on the market.

The thing is, there are not so many sims to choose.
- FS9 is obsolete, but people who still use obsolete computers might want to keep it, I don't know. Anyways, it's not going to create any impact on the modern sims.
- P3Dv1 and P3Dv2 are totally obsolete and can be forgotten for ever. It's like they never existed.
- P3Dv3 is also kind of obsolete, excepted if you want to continue using some old addons (FS9 planes for example, which are rendered superbly in P3Dv3)
- P3Dv4 is the current sim of choice.
- FSX... nobody needs that anymore. All of the important addons have been modified to work with P3D already, so there no reason at all to keep FSX on the disk. Unless you are really enjoying the trouble, the installation problems, the activation problems etc....
- FSX Steam is obsolete but it's ont Steam, so it's easy to install/uninstall anyways. The question is: why would you want to do that ?

So that really leaves three choices only:
- P3Dv4, if you want to benefit from the new technology and the new addons
- P3Dv3, if you want to keep enjoying your current addons
- XP11 if you want to try something totally different.

The "upgrades" that seem to worry you are not really a problem. The addon makers have just released some new version of the installers for some of their products.
If you bought for example some OrbX sceneries, the OrbX tool will handle the conversion for you.
If you bought some planes from Careado, A2A etc.... then you should have received some emails and you simply need to redownload them, as if you just bought them.
If the addon maker charges anything, then you have to buy again.
The same happened when we switched from FS9 to FSX really. Nothing to worry about

[zswobbie1]

Jetranger says....
of course I notice how him and everybody else "conveniently" seem to leave out, while Promoting all these other new Flight Sim's - that NOT all your Currently installed Aircraft and sceneries will work with all these NEW versions of whatever's that's coming out ~ !!!

Well, It IS pretty obvious that some of your older aircraft & sceneries will not work in a 64bit newer sim. We WERE told that, & these 64bit sims MUST be regarded as a totally new sim, & it is a bonus if your older stuff, obviously NOT optimised for 64bit, will work.

All this talk of sims being obsolete!.
It may be strange to believe that there are actually some of us who do NOT want the very latest in sims, & we have stopped chasing the holy grail of sims!!
There are some of us who cannot afford the constant purchasing of new PC's & graphics cards needed to run the sims, as they used to run during the FS204 days.
There are also, strange as it may seem, that also do not want the very latest eye-candy/all singing & dancing tubeliners, & who are actually quite happy just flying around & enjoying ourselves.

AS for FS2004 & others being regarded as being obsolete!! Yes, there is, & has been no support for FS2004 & FSX from their developers since their updates. Yes, FSX went to DTG & was updated,
BUT
There is still an amazing amount of add-ons being put out there for these 'obsolete' sims, both freeware & payware, thanks to guys like Milton & team, & a host of others.

I am quite saddened by the elitist comments that I've seen here & elsewhere...

We are NOT lessor simmers, just because we do not have the very latest in sims & hardware!!

[papituwall]

I am quite saddened by the elitist comments that I've seen here & elsewhere...

We are NOT lessor simmers, just because we do not have the very latest in sims & hardware!!

YES SIR!

[zswobbie1]

We are NOT lessor simmers, just because we do not have the very latest in sims & hardware!!

& enjoy so called 'obsolete' software!

[Daube]

Jetranger says....
of course I notice how him and everybody else "conveniently" seem to leave out, while Promoting all these other new Flight Sim's - that NOT all your Currently installed Aircraft and sceneries will work with all these NEW versions of whatever's that's coming out ~ !!!

Well, It IS pretty obvious that some of your older aircraft & sceneries will not work in a 64bit newer sim. We WERE told that, & these 64bit sims MUST be regarded as a totally new sim, & it is a bonus if your older stuff, obviously NOT optimised for 64bit, will work.

All this talk of sims being obsolete!.
It may be strange to believe that there are actually some of us who do NOT want the very latest in sims, & we have stopped chasing the holy grail of sims!!
There are some of us who cannot afford the constant purchasing of new PC's & graphics cards needed to run the sims, as they used to run during the FS204 days.
There are also, strange as it may seem, that also do not want the very latest eye-candy/all singing & dancing tubeliners, & who are actually quite happy just flying around & enjoying ourselves.

AS for FS2004 & others being regarded as being obsolete!! Yes, there is, & has been no support for FS2004 & FSX from their developers since their updates. Yes, FSX went to DTG & was updated,
BUT
There is still an amazing amount of add-ons being put out there for these 'obsolete' sims, both freeware & payware, thanks to guys like Milton & team, & a host of others.

I am quite saddened by the elitist comments that I've seen here & elsewhere...

We are NOT lessor simmers, just because we do not have the very latest in sims & hardware!!

Sorry to make you sad but your comment does not really change the reality of the situation, no matter how harsh it sounds.
Concerning the "elitist" comments, you might have forgotten "elitism" is the very essence of flight simulators. The purpose of the flight simulators is to focus on the realism to get away from simple "games" which are perhaps more entertaining, and certainly easier to manipulate. Simmers are looking for realism. They want addons that look, work and fly like the real thing as much as possible. Companies like PMDG or A2A (and many other serious addon makers) responded to this demand, some freeware devs also made some beautiful things, or even "best that we can" addons. But the community is constantly looking for the "holy grail" of sims. Have you ever seen anybody seriously asking for an addon that barely looks like the real aircraft, no matter if it has fake sounds, wrong flight characteristics, wrong instruments, incomplete cockpit etc ? And if you would see such a person, would you call that person a "simmer" ? No you would not.

Some people cannot afford to upgrade their hardware constantly ? Yes I know that, I'm one of them. However, you're not going to use your FS9-era computer for ever. Nobody requires you to upgrade every year. We're talking about upgrading every 4 to 5 years with the current technology. And if you think about this, the situation now is much better than it was back in the FS9 days. Do you remember what a 4 years-old computer was back when FS9 got released ? Nowadays, a 4 years old computer can still do the job. But a 10 years old one cannot for sure.

Now if a new simmer appears and wants to know which sim he should choose today, would you recommend him FS9 ? Certainly not, there's nothing for him to enjoy in that sim anymore, is there ?
Would you recommend FSX or any other 32 bits sim ? Probably not either, because you wouldn't want him to struggle with the constant tweaking needed to keep the sim from lagging or crashing when using serious addons.
These sims are the past.
The recommendations today are P3Dv4 and XPlane11. And perhaps that sim made by FlyInside which nobody know anything about.

Of course, this doesn't prevent anybody to keep enjoying the old sims, just for fun.
For example, the CFS2 community is still pretty active today. But what would you recommend to a simmer looking for realism in WWII air combat ? CFS2, or the latest IL-2 ? You know the answer.

[zswobbie1]

Realism?
We built up 2 simulators, an Avro Shackleton & an MB326, known here in South Africa as an "Impala"& was used as a trainer by the South African Air Force.

The Shack is built on a trailer, using actual throttle quadrants, pedals, seats etc, BUT using a LCD screen inside as a panel, & a projector for scenery.
We get actual real pilots flying these sims, & we have noticed that they actually 'brace' themselves anticipating touchdown.
The Impala is a twin seater, built into a real fuselage, with 2x screens for the rear seater, 1 screen in front & a 42' LCD on the nose for scenery.

Same story, real pilots bracr on touchdown anticipation.

So, that's not REALISM at work here, its IMMERSION, & that, actually, is the most important.
Oh, we have also set up an aircraft carrier in out Table Bay for carrier landings.

Now for the crunch!!

We are using obsolete FS2004 for this, in a Celeron PC, (80-90 FPS) integrated graphics, with freeware Aeroworx South African scenery.

We also run The Young Falcons, a volunteer initiative with 60 kids, 30 juniors, 30 seniors, every 2nd Saturday for 2 years, ending with a Wings Parade, & GA pilots fly in & give the kids a flip, hands on!

The kids get lectures, followed by practicals on the PC. These include nav ex's. We are using FS2004 for their training & quite a few have achieved PPL's.
None have asked for anything better than FS2004. The flight models are actually quite ideal, & it's the immersion factor that excites them.


So, not all simmers are looking for realism!

Immersion Rules, & Rocks!!

No, we are most certainly NOT using obsolete software for fun!
But that's another story...

BTW, I have no argument as for your recommendations for simming, only about comparing realism & immersion.

Oh, raindrops? Meh!