MSFS immersion

[PTI139 143]

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Edited Tuesday at 10:37 AM by PTI139
Double Post

[bvdboomen 268]

To get not too bored, I have only a period of time when I use MSFS. Mostly during the winter. The rest of the year is my active aviation photography period in which I travel all over the world.
I do like what some of the others mentioned above: flying a specific long route with a GA plane and have night stops at little airfields. I only use one plane then. It is mostly the Cessna 152 for that purpose. I really like that plane.

Other MSFS activities are just to check out new WU's and CU's. Those updates get me in the plane even in summertime. 🙂 Also when a new SU is out, I fly for an hour to check if my computer and MSFS are still friends.

[andymandy 32]

4 hours ago, cianpars said:

I still enjoy scenery more than anything and am usually happy flying around low and slow in the 172 most of the time (though 10k ceiling means I have to use something else for mountain flying).  There is plenty of photo scenery now in msfs and tons more on flightsim to along with a host of freeware and payware addon airports, depending on what your budget will allow.  There are also plenty of landmark sceneries to chose from (Samscene is one of my favourite developers).  So many places to see and explore, I rarely get bored with it and if things do start to get stale, I can learn to fly a new plane, buzz arround in a helicopter or try a spot of gliding.  At the moment, I am flying a lot using the most recent Bing images with the map enhancer addon.  Newer images taken at different times of year can offer an entirely new perspective on the landscape.

You should get FSTARTER24 from simmarket.com to find new location to explore in a fast and easy way.

[St Mawgan 1,521]

I only fly once or twice a week so the flights are immersive enough even if I fly the same aircraft from the same places. I've never needed or wanted another app to give me something to do in the sim, I've never been interested in the missions either. I just hop in and am amazed, pretty much every time. 

[Grindathotte 53]

I am sure the Asobo team could find some lovely quotes here to promote MSFS 2024.

[MrBitstFlyer 3,955]

2 hours ago, avhpilot said:

cannot believe how this still is not as big a thing as it ought to be today (well, I have a theory which has to do with youtube not being able to translate VR to the viewer).

I have used VR for same number of years as you, but not for flight sim.  The effect is good of course, but the limiting factor is using real world navigation apps like Foreflight, Garmin Pilot, or my personal favourite SkyDemon on an iPad.

[Christopher Low 5,519]

I enjoy flying short circuits at each of my airport addons in the PMDG 737-600. I have nearly eighty airport addons, and I fly from each one in sequence. Over and over again, at different times of the day. It probably sounds boring for most of you, but I get a kick out of it every time. I just enjoy seeing the plane going where it is supposed to go based on the simple flightplan that I have created, and I never fail to be impressed with the scenery (and that's the default Bing photoscenery; no Map Enhancement stuff required on my PC).

[Christopher Low 5,519]

What on Earth is the matter with AVSIM at the moment? Technical issues here, there and everywhere.

Edited Tuesday at 12:49 PM by Christopher Low

[martinboehme 622]

Lots of good recommendations on this thread. I'll add a couple more:

• Long flights in light aircraft (echoing comments that others have already made). Flying from A to B might be boring if you're in an airliner high above the weather, but it becomes much more challenging if you're in a light aircraft that can't simply outclimb the weather. Some specific recommendations:
  • Take a DA62 across the North Atlantic. I was inspired to do this by a video series showing such a ferry flight by Diamond Aircraft pilots Martin Scherrer and Micke Lang. Micke is an accomplished ferry pilot (and YouTube celebrity), and this flight is where it all started, with Martin showing him the ropes.
    Here is the writeup (with screenshots) of my recreation of this ferry flight. Weather and range were always considerations, and the leg to La Grande Rivière was particularly challenging, with an approach down to minimums. To this day, I would say this was one of the most challenging and satisfying experiences I have had in flight simulation.
  • For even more of a challenge, here's the story of a different sim pilot who crossed the North Atlantic in a Wilga.
  • Here's the recreation of another ferry flight by the Diamond Duo Martin and Micke, from Diamond's base in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, to the Dubai airshow.
  • Finally, here's a flight I'm currently doing from the south of Norway all the way to the north. Northern Norway is a great destination this time of year -- the sun never sets, so you can fly in daylight around the clock.
• If flying from A to B is boring, just leave out "B". Instead, get really sharp on your VFR and IFR skills -- practice crosswind approaches to the demonstrated maximum (and beyond?), raw data approaches flown manually without the autopilot, circling approaches, holding entries without the FMC, emergency procedures, and so on. I recommend FSiPanel for this, specifically the Advanced edition, which has lots of challenging and realistic training scenarios to keep you on your toes.

Edited Tuesday at 01:10 PM by martinboehme

[tpete61 264]

Bored...Do something else for awhile!

[bvdboomen 268]

Another story: I once flew the Cessna 152 from EHEH (Eindhoven) to LFLJ (Courchevel Altiport) following the river Rhine. Many stops were made on those nice little airfields and strips.
When parked at Courchevel, I simply didn't touch that plane for a year and during that period, I thought regularly about that plane to get it back to Eindhoven again. Many flights were made with other aircraft but not with that good ol' Cessna 152 because it was far away. 🙂

Then, the next winter I decided to get it back to Eindhoven again. Not by following the Rhine but with some nice stops again. When I finally arrived at Eindhoven, it felt really like coming home. I could finally close a chapter. I seriously thought about that little fella, standing at Courchevel, far away from home, even when I was in my none flying period. Immersion...

[Noel 4,623]

10 hours ago, Snuffleupagus said:

They are good apps but after a while, they become repetitive and a long grind to progress, plus being locked into schedules without the freedom of doing whatever random leg you want gets old.

Fly for your score as a pilot, this adds unlimited meaning and purpose.  I use both apps you tried for every flight:  APL and SLC.  Are you scoring A+ on most all flights in SLC now?  How about w/ APL, do you score 100 on most all flights?  IMPORTANT:  you don't have to be locked into schedules you can use the TOOLS menu to fly any actual route regardless of airline and can use any plane to do it with in APL.  

It's following detailed work flows and doing it as good as possible that can add meaning to your time flying nowhere in a desktop sim.  Put another way:  you must make a game out of it to help keep you focused, or be like many others who get their kicks by buying new this and that in MSFS.

[cobalt 835]

To answer the OP's question, for me it is exploring the world in MSFS2020, which has by far the closest approximation to the real world in any flight simulator. No other sim has this as a global feature. I continue to be amazed that I can land in a remote spot and find buildings, roads, and landscape that so resembles the RW location that it is uncanny. Same thing in cities, especially those with photogrammetry, where every building, street, and park is exactly where it is in the RW (regardless of whether or not PG is on). And the experience is not limited to planes: I enjoy driving and boating as well. From my perspective, the satellite-streamed scenery is the single most important, and most underrated, feature of MSFS2020.

I also do some high-altitude flying in airliners, which offers an entirely different experience and the enjoyment of completing ATC-guided long-distance flights end-to-end.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:55 PM by cobalt

[JetCat 151]

11 hours ago, Snuffleupagus said:

Hey guys!

I’m curious, what do you all do to keep MSFS interesting and immersive? Do you use apps? What gives the sim purpose for you rather than just the same old load up, fly from point a - b and shut down? I’ve been struggling lately in finding a feeling of purpose to my flights.

An interesting question indeed. I would say the biggest and most important aspect of immersion is in your head, in your mind. No matter how many extra apps and addon-programs and weather enhancements and whatnot you use, if you are simply not in the mood for flying, you will feel no joy... nothing on the software side will change that.

On the other hand if your interest in aviation is re-kindled again, you will feel cozy comfortable and at home by only sitting in your virtual cockpit, find joy for 1-2 hours every day with your expensive payware study level addons. It purely depends on your own personal mood.

I sometimes fly on end for weeks or months, and sometimes I don´t touch my simulators for half a year until suddenly something ignites the spark again ...... this can be a movie showcasing cool airplanes or helicopters, a new season of Air Crash Investigation - I personally am VERY interested in airplane engineering turbines hydraulics electronics and other components and their possible points of failure and how the investigators describe all airplane parts; or maybe a friend somehow starting to show interest about these awesome Apache screenshots you have send a month ago on Discord...

But one specific app bringing you back the joy in simming if you have lost the enthusiasm... hm... a single small enhancement app cannot do this. But a new very sophisticated study level airliner could do this, or trying a new sim for once (I really recommend the HotStart Challenger or the HeatBlur Phantom...). Give it a try, and it won´t take long until you soar through the skies again 🙂

[Grindathotte 53]

If you don't do so already, try flying helicopters.  Just the difficulty makes it more interesting, then there's a whole world of nooks and crannies to explore.  Another thing that keeps it interesting is to always fly with live weather; here in the UK that's different every day.