I guess I shouldn't underestimate FS9.
No you shouldn't ... I don't have a killer machine and in FSX I get 15 FPS max. So I'll stick with FS9 for a while until I assemble a new machine maybe next year.
FS9 is still very nice! I think there are so many people here posting beautiful shots coming from FS9 than I see coming from FSX. Exceptions confirm the rule though ...
It's just that I don't have the environmental add ons that alot of other people do, so my sim (other than the planes and water) is pretty much stock.
If you want some nice freeware addons, look for
Real Environment Pro,
FS Sky Worldand
Waterzone. I think these are amongst the best freeware Flight Simulator enhancements available.
And get a nice mesh, SimV has a really good freeware mesh available
here. For some nice freeware traffic there are several to choose from but I would suggest
World of AI. If you're willing to spend some cash get
Ground Environment Pro,
Flight Environment and
ActiveSky. Consider the
Ultimate Terrain series and maybe even
Ultimate Traffic. Get
FSGenesis or
FSGlobal for a nice mesh.
Maybe I should play with the lighing a bit. These shots were taken in the dead of night, so maybe I should try taking some before the sun completely disappears.
That really works well! Look at that second screenshot. It just before the sun completely disappears. Add some big clouds or a thick cloud layer and you have a very impressive and dark sky, while maintaining very nice lighting. And you don't have to worry about catching all the nice details of the aircraft. It's dark anyway.
Here another example. It was my contest entry last April ...