FSX is amazing! Noob needs help with scenery upgrades.

[derp_a_derp 0]

Hey guys!The first time I used Microsoft Flight Simulator was on my old Commodore 64. I remember wishing that my parents could afford to buy me all of the expansion packs that came on those HUGE 5 1/4" floppy discs. God I loved that game! I spent hours upon hours flying that thing.It's blasphemy I know, but yesterday is the first time that I've used a flight simulator in 20+ years! Upon loading FSX my jaw literally dropped. Just freaking amazing! Feels like I'm really flying, especially when combined with a flight stick. I've been grinning like a fool for the last 24 hours. After doing some searching I've discovered that the experience can become even better. I'm just having a hard time deciding which path to choose.Basically I want to be able to fly from SoCal to Vegas while experiencing the most realistic graphics possible (going off visual landmarks alone). Socal scenery is my primary interest. Also, don't know if it matters or not but my wife and I plan to pursue getting pilots licenses within the next year or two.For the most realistic flying experience possible, do I go with:1. Simsavy high resolution2. Rex, Utx, Gex, + genesis mesh3. Orbx (hesitant to go this route due to the limited areas)4. Other?Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Humpty 752]

Hey guys!The first time I used Microsoft Flight Simulator was on my old Commodore 64. I remember wishing that my parents could afford to buy me all of the expansion packs that came on those HUGE 5 1/4" floppy discs. God I loved that game! I spent hours upon hours flying that thing.It's blasphemy I know, but yesterday is the first time that I've used a flight simulator in 20+ years! Upon loading FSX my jaw literally dropped. Just freaking amazing! Feels like I'm really flying, especially when combined with a flight stick. I've been grinning like a fool for the last 24 hours. After doing some searching I've discovered that the experience can become even better. I'm just having a hard time deciding which path to choose.Basically I want to be able to fly from SoCal to Vegas while experiencing the most realistic graphics possible (going off visual landmarks alone). Socal scenery is my primary interest. Also, don't know if it matters or not but my wife and I plan to pursue getting pilots licenses within the next year or two.For the most realistic flying experience possible, do I go with:1. Simsavy high resolution2. Rex, Utx, Gex, + genesis mesh3. Orbx (hesitant to go this route due to the limited areas)4. Other?Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

I remember the dos based version of the original FS sublogic. It's come a long long long long way.Yep Rex , UTX US (If your flying in the US) , GEX US , orbx ( I suppose has Pacific North West). Megascenery / FS Global 2010. There is a free Netherlands scenery called as NL2000 - 32 GB full install but you can download areas and install them.Happy flying :) I just wish FSX had a pub with lotsa women

[woodhick 504]

Limited coverage in Orbix scenery? Think the entire Australian Island Continent with things to examine every inch of the way. Think USA scenery that is so jaw dropping gorgeous that you'll want to fly every square inch in an ultralight so that you can examine it up close and personal. But get the other sceneries first. They're top drawer and will give you so much to look at you'll go cross eyed. Don't fly heavy jets when examining scenery, use something low and slow. And don't overlook Tongass Fjords while you're at it.Welcome back!!

[GlobalGentleman 1]

It's blasphemy I know, but yesterday is the first time that I've used a flight simulator in 20+ years! Upon loading FSX my jaw literally dropped. Just freaking amazing! Feels like I'm really flying, especially when combined with a flight stick. I've been grinning like a fool for the last 24 hours. 2. Rex, Utx, Gex, + genesis mesh

Welcome back to the passion of flight sim!!I think these three would be a great start if you're focused on increasing the scenery experience. Just make sure to consider how robust your hardware setup is before going overboard with the add-ons. My personal experience is that it's addictive to pile on as much software as you can in the journey towards realism, but have discovered I prefer smooth flight characteristics (ie. increased FPS) as my highest priority, over scenery or AI traffic whenever possible. And since you're looking to train for a future license, you may reach a similar conclusion.Also, try looking around in the avsim library also for freeware airports in the area(s) your looking to fly, which can help add to the immersion. Whatever you decide on....enjoy the ride

[Ramirin 0]

Welcome back!For SoCal scenery discussion take a look at this post:Click here!

[CFIJose 5,485]

Hey guys!The first time I used Microsoft Flight Simulator was on my old Commodore 64. I remember wishing that my parents could afford to buy me all of the expansion packs that came on those HUGE 5 1/4" floppy discs. God I loved that game! I spent hours upon hours flying that thing.It's blasphemy I know, but yesterday is the first time that I've used a flight simulator in 20+ years! Upon loading FSX my jaw literally dropped. Just freaking amazing! Feels like I'm really flying, especially when combined with a flight stick. I've been grinning like a fool for the last 24 hours. After doing some searching I've discovered that the experience can become even better. I'm just having a hard time deciding which path to choose.Basically I want to be able to fly from SoCal to Vegas while experiencing the most realistic graphics possible (going off visual landmarks alone). Socal scenery is my primary interest. Also, don't know if it matters or not but my wife and I plan to pursue getting pilots licenses within the next year or two.For the most realistic flying experience possible, do I go with:1. Simsavy high resolution2. Rex, Utx, Gex, + genesis mesh3. Orbx (hesitant to go this route due to the limited areas)4. Other?Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

FSX SP2 will run well on most up to date systems, however be advised that the best add-ons will decrease performance but also increase realism. You need a powerful processor, gpu, and ram combination to run most add-ons acceptably. You will blown away by FTX and planes like the Flight1 Mustang, but they do decrease performance.You might also run into issues, like BSODs, d3d crashes, etc. FSX is an amazing sim if you have the computer. some great add-ons, with no side effects.Luck at my sig for some great ideas.

[PIC007 82]

For SoCal and Vegas, if you want accuracy, look at Megascenery. It is 'photoreal' and 2 of the best they made. For improvement globally, FEX, GEX, UTS, SceneryTech landclass, and FSGenesis mesh will transform FSX into something spectular. THose are the basics, afte that there are hundreds of other options. If you also want weather, default is ok but using either Active Sky (payware) or FSrealWXlite (free) will definatly improve it.Welcome back to FS!

[Bert Pieke 7,627]

And if you ever want to fly north of Eugene Oregon, get the PNW scenery from Orbx - it is very good :(..and does not require any other addons to function.

[JimmiG 244]

1. Simsavy high resolution2. Rex, Utx, Gex, + genesis mesh3. Orbx (hesitant to go this route due to the limited areas)4. Other?

1: This will give you the most accurate scenery possible. Since it's based on actual photographs, every single rooftop and tree will appear exactly as in real life. The drawback is that you're flying over a 2D photograph, draped over a 3D elevation mesh. You won't see actual houses and trees when flying low, just a flat 2D imprint of them on the scenery. Some people think this is a huge problem while others don't mind. The quality of the photographs can also vary - expect to occasionally see sudden shifts of the color balance, blurry photos, or areas covered by clouds. You can try a free photographic scenery like one of those available here, to decide whether you like this approach to scenery or not: http://www.blueskyscenery.com2. This is a great option if you want to be able to fly anywhere within the US with good, fairly accurate scenery. While not perfect, it's generally a huge improvement over default scenery. You retain all the features of default FSX scenery like autogen, and get many improvements as well.3. At first glance, OrbX scenery might look a lot like Ultimate Terrain with a bunch of custom textures thrown in. It is when you begin to really explore these scenery areas that you notice how accurate they are. With UTX, they have basically imported road, river and land coverage data from various sources using an automated procedure, then done some corrections by hand. In contrast, OrbX scenery is essentially hand-crafted. You can actually follow a river at 500ft in an Ultralight and never get bored because there's something new to discover at every bend. Also, while they have not done SoCal yet, I wouldn't call the coverage they provide "limited". Their four North America sceneries give you 760,000 square miles of hand-crafted scenery to explore. That's enough scenery to last for many years if you explore it properly and don't just zoom past it at MACH 0.85 at 40,000 feet.4. Off the top of my head, there's Megascenery X Southern California, which gives you 18,000 sq miles of the SoCal region, and Megascenery Las Vegas, for 2100 sq. miles of that region. You can combine these with option #2 above, but the border between Megascenery and UTX will be quite noticeable and jarring.

[derp_a_derp 0]

Wow, thank you so much for the wealth of information provided here! Everything is much clearer for me now. How incredibly kind. THANK YOU!Well I'm convinced, definitely going to try some of the Orbx products as they sound amazing. I think what I'll do is get Megascenery for Socal & Vegas, rex/gex/utx/+mesh for everything else, and try out some of the Orbx products (the central rockies looks amazing). I build my own machines so I don't think graphics power will be an issue.I think I just felt my wallet lighten significantly and my free time disappear.Again, thank you so much for the guidance, you guys are awesome!

[CFIJose 5,485]

When it comes to scenery for FSX, nothing tops ORBX. Try their demos and see if you agree.I love their Australia scenery and payware airports, but I also recommend their PNW scenery.

[duckbilled 311]

I like flying in to Vegas on a regular basis. I typically fly commercial passenger aircraft which means I fly in to larger airports. Airport scenery is a big part of the equation for me.FSDT Las Vegas is a must for me: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/products_klas.html. They are one of the top 5 developers for FS and their other products are also wonderful. They should be releasing an insanely impressive version of LAX soon: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=4461.0Here is a good thread that talks about Vegas strip scenery. There are some freeware options: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/332504-las-vegas-is-there-any-new-strip-scenery/page__p__1972657__hl__vegas__fromsearch__1#entry1972657ORBX/FTX stuff is top notch but they do not cover the area in question. If you want to fly GA aircraft in their coverage areas, it doesn't get any better.Depending on the amount of horsepower you have with you system, you may want to consider adding some AI aircraft in to the mix. Yes, FSX does come with built in AI but the default traffic is not realistic and the aircraft models eat up FPS. There are good commercial products (UT2 is my utility of choice:http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=ut2), but you can get a lot of traffic for free. The easiest free option is World of AI: http://www.world-of-ai.com/. They also have some GA packages if that is more your style.

[derp_a_derp 0]

FSDT Las Vegas is a must for me: http://www.fsdreamte...ucts_klas.html. They are one of the top 5 developers for FS and their other products are also wonderful.

And my wallet grows lighter still. I'd been looking at traffic add-ons. Looks like I'll definitely have to add UT2 into the mix now.Thank you sir, really appreciate the info!

[duckbilled 311]

And my wallet grows lighter still. I'd been looking at traffic add-ons. Looks like I'll definitely have to add UT2 into the mix now.Thank you sir, really appreciate the info!

BTW, the thread about the strip scenery - I listed it because it had a few links to freeware options. I don't really recommend the Aerosoft Vegas product. It looks nice but it is really hard on frame rates. I can't use their custom autogen - it makes night flying almost impossible for me. I had to dial down their settings to make it workable.