SkySim's Mirage

[VFR Reviews]

Hey Gents, here is my latest review of the SkySim Mirage for FSX. As usually, I will be childishly happy to hear from you and will happily send a cookie to anyone who replies.

Take a gander here-

http://www.vfrreviews.com/index.php?topic=387.new#new

Kevin:ernae:

[peter12213]

I thought you review was a little hard on it to be honest, I found this Jet to be excellent personally!

[VFR Reviews]

Really?

I can see where you're coming from, and it's very reasonable priced, but I think there are better jets in the sky. Personally, I prefer their excellent Hawk package :ernae:

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

[Tweek]

A nice review, although I would suggest taking your screenshots of the aircraft from a closer viewpoint. You can't really get a good look at the model with a combination of low light and a distant camera.

[peter12213]

I agree with that, the hawk is a much better aircraft but remember it was developed with help from the Red Arrows, so it had to be perfect for those guys to endorse it!

[Lawman]

Ok, I'll bite:icon_lol:. Please note that, just like your review, this is my personal opinion and I'm a bit biased towards the Mirage III (she was the first big plastic scale model I built).

One thing that I missed was any mention of the interchangeable payload. Now that feature is not unique to this developer or aircraft, but e.g. the Aerosoft F-16 (so often tauted as the Holy Grail of FSX-jets) doesn't include such a feature. I also missed any mention of framerates and system and/or settings used, which I think any reader/potential buyer would be interested in. And lastly, I think a lot of the screenshots don't do the aircraft justice.

There's one thing that struck me, but before I go any further, I just have to ask you if you chose to do this review or if you were "ordered to"? The reason I ask because your review does not seem to be very "enthousiastic", almost as if you didn't really care about the subject matter. And by that I don't mean that you have to comment favourably to anything you review, but there's something in the "tone" of your review that almost sounds to me like you weren't enjoying the experience.

Mind you, I realise I'm getting to the "personal opinion" aspect here (like I said at the beginning, I'm biased towards the Mirage). Yes, to the casual onlooker she may not be as "pretty" as the AS F-16 (and believe me, I'm a sucker for eye candy). The AS F-16 may also be more technically advanced simwise, but I find that my opulent French mistress has bags more character than that curvacious but shallow American hussy (I have a real love-hate relationship with the Falcon. Doctor says it's terminal:gameoff:).
But besides being a beautiful aircraft I love, I think what endears me even more to it is the willingness of Mark Harper and the Skysim-team to think outside the box and not do the same aircraft over and over again:ernae:.

Just my two cents.

Edit: I was typing this as the others were already responding.

[VFR Reviews]

Thanks for the comments, gents :ernae:

I have to apologize on two of those points- yes, I need closer screenshots and yes I need to discuss performance, but my rig crashed and I'm afraid I can't get that info right now otherwise I would have put in the sections. I didn't want to delay this review any further. The screenshots you see here are just the ones that I took for fun- note how just about every one is of a sunset and some other scenery that I'm reviewing. Otherwise, I always include the basic closeups of the internal and external aspects.

I have to admit, I wasn't as enthusiastic for this aircraft as some of my other reviews. Recently I have been taught a good lesson about being picky about what I review because otherwise things become somewhat laborious to write about. This is my fault, but I have learned and therefore my future reviews will benefit from this, I hope. In the future I will be much pickier- for the next several weeks I will only have the A2A Cub and the FTX SP3 DVD.

I will add a discussion to performance, but I'm afraid it won't be much :(

[Lawman]

I don't think it is necessary for a reviewer to (always) like the product under review, otherwise it just turns into another "Glory hallelujah, this is so wonderful" kind of review you see on the major flightsim-sites:monkies:. But in general, if a reviewer reviews a product with a certain reluctance or prejudice, he should let his readers know. Just MHO and I hope we (I) haven't put you off reviewing stuff. Keep up the good work:guinness:.

[VFR Reviews]

Thanks mate :)

I appreciate how polite you are with your comments- normally when I receive complaints it's with curses and death threats :monkies:

[yago9]

Thanks mate :)

I appreciate how polite you are with your comments- normally when I receive complaints it's with curses and death threats :monkies:

Why ? You bought it fair and square and your entitled to your opinion.Sry I didn,t read it cause I have the model and my opinion it,s already formed .
One thing i dont get it though..why do you do this reviews ? It,s a hooby, or someone is paying you ? I don,t get the waist of time and energy to put into a fancy review unless you get something out of it..
On top of that,it,s a pretty old release,simmers interested in Mirage aircrafts we kinda have it already,so is the opinion on it..Who are you trying to rich with this reviews ? Future buyers ?

[VFR Reviews]

Yes, you're right, it is an old release. Naturally, some interest has faded, and I always try to avoid this.

Anyway, to answer your main question, reviewers get the product which they are writing about for free. That's why there are so few freeware reviews and that's why I started VFR Reviews' support of freeware- simply because reviewers are often too lazy to write about something they could get free anyways.

For me, though, it's largely a hobby. I enjoy reviewing a lot, normally, but recently I've had less and less time for it- thus, that's why I need to be pickier about what I review.

[yago9]

Thank you for your answer.So hobby it is.I would steer clear away of reviewing a freeware unless your 120% positive on comments.Saying something bad about a freeware it totally uncool in my opinion.

[VFR Reviews]

I know what you mean ;)

Still, some people feel that they should be judged by the same standard as payware- it's all individual opinion. Either way, I'll be reviewing Dino's F-14D and we'll see what happens there :ernae:

[yago9]

I know what you mean ;)

Still, some people feel that they should be judged by the same standard as payware- :ernae:

Those people are a tinny ungrateful minority and will be crucified by the community on doing so, every single time.Such unsolicited judgment may upset the author and have him understandable, stop sharing.Take that risk with Dino and than talk about threats.I would strongly advise you to keep any thoughts about freeware to yourself and let us decide quietly if it,s a keeper or not.

[Kiwikat]

I don't see how the reviewer was hard on the product at all...

Even if he was, as a reviewer, he had the right to do so.

As for freeware or any review for that matter, if you are afraid to write negative comments about it, it would be best to not even bother. Good reviews are objective and point out the positives and negatives of the aircraft. It is the reason I never read flightsim.com's reviews... :mixedsmi:

[Rayack]

Hi;

I'am Gilles french simmer and apologize for my english.

First let me introduce me to you. I am 51 years old. So you can understand that the Mirage III or SMB2 should be my favorit French jet fighters....

For FS communauty duty I have done a few paints. I was a FsFrance member and collaborate to a few HJG projects as painter.

Now I am enjoying with Restauravia team working on a Mystère IV project.

Well... Somewhere very far from the Captsim' F104 or the Draken freeware , I am maybe not objective but I think that it is for the moment the skysim Mirage is the best representation of this marvellous fighter.

Let me tell you that inside the French free FS communauty we are a few to espect to realize a Mirage III as cptsim standart.... Or Draken...

For the moment our designers prefer to work on Mirage 2000 or Rafale projects.... I have in my hangar a terrific beta test of the Mirage 2000 from Rollus....

We are working on a Mystere IV for fsx and Fs9 and I think it would be very good as all the Restauravia product

Mabe one day we will initiate a Mirage III project, but for the moment be cool whit the skysim one's it is really good one for me.

A+
Gilles

[calypsos]

I was involved in this project (as a beta tester) from an early stage, so I will try not to be biased.
I wrote quite a lot of reviews (and tried to include freeware too, but nobody else there could be bothered to join me) when I was a staffer at Avsim.com and it took a great deal of effort to remove any 'personal feelings' when you are reviewing a project. On some reviews, I hated the subject matter, but could still see what brighter points the project had and what others (who will pay hard earned cash to buy it) will be looking for. I guess it took quite a few reviews to be happy finding positive and negative aspects without letting my own feelings take over.

I do not have the final issue Mirage, but from what I see on the screenshots and from posts here, those that bought it are a happy bunch. That said, I think I read somewhere that reviews have very little effect on sales:pop4:

[yago9]

Freeware is a gift.You don,t review a gift unless you are the most ungrateful and ill-mannered pearson wich walked the face of the earth. I,m shocked that even crossed your mind to do so.Who made this nonsense post a sticky one and why ? There is no benefit attached to it , Mirage III it,s old news .

[VFR Reviews]

Freeware is a gift.You don,t review a gift unless you are the most ungrateful and ill-mannered pearson wich walked the face of the earth. I,m shocked that even crossed your mind to do so.Who made this nonsense post a sticky one and why ? There is no benefit attached to it , Mirage III it,s old news .

Yago, I think you're thinking in the wrong mindset. First of all, please keep in mind that the admins were kind enough to pin this for me before the discussion of freeware reviews started (and I regret mentioning it).

Also, who says our reviews of freeware are going to be negative? OZx and Dino, to name just two, have released payware quality aircraft which I feel deserve critical coverage. If we point out flaws then we point out flaws- that's all there is to it, and it will help the creators better their work. It is, in this manner of thinking, no different then beta testing.

I do not wish to argue further on this subject and I hope that you will read this post candidly. I normally keep myself out of any of the FS world's arguments for the sake of my reviewing group, but since this directly involves me I will speak up.

PS- if nothing else, wait for some of my freeware reviews before you set your opinion in stone- please do this.

[calypsos]

My freeware reviews at Avsim (The Treasure Chest) and a longer series by 'The Bear' were to highlight the great work of the freeware community and to let users know just how good they were.

Both Steve and I only picked the 'Cream of the Crop' to write about. I agree that if you dod not like freeware, just delete it, without making a fuss, it did not cost you anything.

[VaporZ]

Welcome RayBack !

Do not hesitate to start a topic at SOH concerning the evolution
of your RestaurAvia Team Fs9/Fsx Mystere IV Project.

If it is as good as RestaurAvia's Fouga ( that I fly on a weekly basis )
it will be superb.

The Mystere IV have served France, Israel and India in the "Fithies",
"Sixties" and even "Seventies" and saw real combat with these three
Air Arms.

An interesting piece of Military Aviation History !

Waiting news about it from you at SOH !.
:mixedsmi:
VaporZ

[VFR Reviews]

My freeware reviews at Avsim (The Treasure Chest) and a longer series by 'The Bear' were to highlight the great work of the freeware community and to let users know just how good they were.

Both Steve and I only picked the 'Cream of the Crop' to write about. I agree that if you dod not like freeware, just delete it, without making a fuss, it did not cost you anything.

I agree- we're only doing the top few notches, as it were ;)

[fsafranek]

Freeware is a gift.You don,t review a gift unless you are the most ungrateful and ill-mannered pearson wich walked the face of the earth. I,m shocked that even crossed your mind to do so.Who made this nonsense post a sticky one and why ? There is no benefit attached to it , Mirage III it,s old news .

Interesting comments so far and I'll use Yago9's post as a stepping off point for some of my own. What comes to my mind when I read some of tangent posts in this thread is yes, be kind to freeware contributors -- critique in private, praise in public. But at the same time most of the people at SOH (I'm a friend you guys, I come here daily if not more often, and do donate whenever asked) are quick to offer up a freeware alternative to most payware releases. Isn't that a sort of unsolicited review of a freeware product? Especially when they have no intent to even purchase the product -- simply using it as a means to promote another. It used to be who could post images first. Often times now it's who can look up a freeware alternative first and make the post. But I digress... :icon_lol:

I'm just glad to see the Skysim Mirage back in the sticky section. I was holding me breathe as I read the review but in the end he didn't really hit on the areas I remain concerned about. He pointed out some bells and whistles (still brilliant stuff IMHO Mark) but didn't really fly it much. The second release was mentioned but no screen shots or mention of what was included so not sure if it was installed.


Some may say the Skysim Mirage III is old news. I don't know about that. I fly it at least once every FSX session. New textures continue to be released half a year later. And that's always cool, gives me something to get excited about. :jump: Plus it's sad when something with thousands of hours in development can be replaced in a few days or the next weekend by the next great thing. Nature of the game I guess. We're getting as spoiled as our kids. But at least the sale was completed.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
:ernae:

[deathfromafar]

Critique in Private, Praise in Public Best words I've read in quite a while! I'm in agreement with Frank here. This model is in my "non"-humble opinion a very underrated one. One thing we have to keep in mind is that each developer or group of developers have is a fairly wide degree of artistic latitude when they turn out these models. Likewise at the high end of this skill envelope which is the current vogue, many of these models feature significant proprietary workings which cannot be crossed over between every developer. In other words, it is not fair to compare every little detail of one model to others in the scope of perceived standards. Each have their unique differences as they should. This model is no different. As to it's overall quality, it is in my opinion the finest Mirage made for FS so far and the best Mirage III I have ever seen in FS. The detail inside and out is on par or better. The flight modeling is classic delta as the come. Effects and sounds are the same. The VC cockpit is well within standard and I would argue that the textures leave the impression of a well worn/sun beaten nest of rustic tone. This model fits well in the line of long awaited Dassault models for FS including the new 2000-5 from Roland and the two Rafale's coming about.

Anyone who hasn't acquired this Mirage is missing out bigtime!

[dhazelgrove]

Anyone who hasn't acquired this Mirage is missing out bigtime!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

Dave

[peter12213]

same here fsfranek, its flown everytime i use fsx, and i agree its obvious he has't got many hours on her!

[yago9]

Some may say the Skysim Mirage III is old news. I don't know about that. I fly it at least once every FSX session. New textures continue to be released half a year later. And that's always cool, gives me something to get excited about. :jump: Plus it's sad when something with thousands of hours in development can be replaced in a few days or the next weekend by the next great thing. Nature of the game I guess. We're getting as spoiled as our kids. But at least the sale was completed.
:ernae:

It is old news because it,s not a new model.It was a long awaited release and i think all Mirage lovers got it long time ago. A review after that long time I find it of little value since we have the opinion formed already.It,s one of the Top Ten best FSX PAYWARE I have to date and no review can make me change my mind.I do fly her quite often.

1.Lotus L-39
2.Aerosoft PBY Catalina
3.Aerosoft F-16 (minor nose modeling blunder keeps it away for the best ever)
4.CS C-130
5.A2A P47 Razorback
6.7.CS F18 Hornet
7.RealAir Duke B60
8.RealAir Spitfire
9.Skysim Mirage III
10.AF F4U-1
---------------
11.Iris Vulcan
12.CS 757

[peter12213]

Yep I agree pretty much all my fave Jets too

[VFR Reviews]

I really do have to apologize for taking so long with this review. After I clear out the current reviews I have, a couple of which are of older aircraft, I'll be taking reviews more selectively so that I can get the written faster. I was thinking I'd have a lot more free time than I actually did :173go1:

[fsafranek]

I was thinking I'd have a lot more free time than I actually did :173go1:
No worries. I think we all suffer from that. Even when semi-retired (unemployed) there isn't as much as we wish.
:ernae:

[VFR Reviews]

No kidding! I'd wish for 48 hour days, but I wouldn't be able to stay awake :icon_lol:

[doublecool]

Now, lets get back to this Wonderful Jet...

I love it...Looks, Repaints, Fight Model

and speaking of the Flight Model,

No I don't know if it's as real as it gets,
but, what was done, well they make you have to fly this jet, take offs and landings it will make you work a little, and she'll bite too.

I like what they did with this:wavey:

[fsafranek]

From http://www.milavia.net/specials/fab-mirage2000/:


...
With all six pilots being experienced ex-Mirage III pilots, the training on the Mirage 2000 proceeded very quickly without major problems. One of the pilots told the author: "The gap between the Mirage 2000 and the Mirage III is enormous. With the Mirage III we had to concentrate on many aircraft flight aspects and be aware to not push the aircraft out of its flight envelope. On the Mirage 2000 we are free to focus mainly on the combat and do not have to worry about the aircraft limitations, as the computer does it for us".

[peter12213]

Look any delta any time and I'll show you all what it means to out turn in a mirage..thats what we call over here an Idiosyncracy of the delta!!!! learn that and you learn the mirage..however the 2000 with its FBW system has other issues for the most part they are great ones though!!!

[ZsoltB]

http://iaro.3dmax.hu/kep/7130.jpg
http://iaro.3dmax.hu/kep/3142.jpg

[VFR Reviews]

Nice mate :)
Cool paints:ernae:

[Lawman]

Is there any repainter willing to do this one?

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww3/f/145/91/1/1

It doesn't necessarily have to have the unit badge on the tail. The Mirage III was my first big (1:32) plastic scale model I built as a kid (although I initially built it as a French aircraft) and that model has endeared me ever since to the Mirage III.

[VFR Reviews]

Hmm... First one I built was a Delta Dart :p

[doublecool]

a Yago9 Paint on this Beauty

[peter12213]

Theres so many nice repaints at flightsim.com for this beauty
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1268/2009729231953421.pnghttp://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5149/200972421945593.png

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/7908/200973119327499.pnghttp://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3426/20097311757662.png

Personally I have just about every repaint available for her but my personal fave's are the swiss ones!!
Infact I think I have every swiss aircraft and repaint available for Fsx Accel lol!!

[HenryW]

This will never be outdated, its a keeper. Sleek, beautifull and classy:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u36/Wyrneh/Mirage/mi.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u36/Wyrneh/Mirage/mii.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u36/Wyrneh/Mirage/miii.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u36/Wyrneh/Mirage/mb.jpg

[deathfromafar]

HenryW, when are you going to release those repaints??? LOL! I remember that one and the others you did for the Mirage and they look SUPER!

[HenryW]

HenryW, when are you going to release those repaints??? LOL! I remember that one and the others you did for the Mirage and they look SUPER!

I'll do some more polishing on the undersurfaces and then release:engel016:

Cheers:icon_lol:

[deathfromafar]

I'll do some more polishing on the undersurfaces and then release:engel016:

Cheers:icon_lol:

Glad to hear!!! Thanks HenryW!
:applause::icon29:
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[VFR Reviews]

Beautiful shots mate. I still can't get over their afterburner :ernae:

[peter12213]

Gorgeous Henry, you wouldn't want to tangle with an Israeli in one of these, that guys = death!!:ernae:

[dhazelgrove]

Of course, it would be great if Frank could be persuaded to release his gunsight for this.....

Dave

[peter12213]

I agree I'd love to get that!!

[doublecool]

Of course, it would be great if Frank could be persuaded to release his gunsight for this.....

Dave


Alllll righty then :jump::applause::running::ernae:

[VaporZ]

Super Cool HenryW !!!

These are the colors worned by the Israeli Mirage IIIC during
the 1967 Six Day War.

Do you intend to Upload It at SOH Library ?
:applause::ernae::applause:
VaporZ