The Dark Side

[hinch]

I just bought FSX (£5.60 new from an actual shop not online) which makes me feel kind of dirty... but excited!

I have purchased the basic FSX as deluxe offered me nothing I fancied (and saved £5) so what add-ons should I get downloading?

I have several pay add-ons for FS2004 that came with FSX versions so I'm good for pay aircraft, but what scenery enhancement, free planes and modules etc do you consider mandatory?

[Navy Chief]

Install FSX, then get Acceleration and install it. Take your time too. It can be a real pain in the watoosee.

Enjoy FSX, but be prepared for problems.

NC

[hinch]

What is so good about Acceleration? I quite fancy P-51 but it's 4 x the price of my copy of FSX!

[MCDesigns]

Even if you don't get acceleration, make sure to install SP1 and SP2, they will help with performance in most cases. Acceleration comes with both and some neat goodies.

As for addons, man, where do I start, LOL. Really depends on what kind of flying you do and where you like to fly.

[Prowler1111]

Rule of thumb..get SP2, it´s free (you don´t need Acceleration to get it) but it fixes most if not all FSX bugs, BUT, it does effectively kills most of your FS9 port overs(either planes or sceneries) but will enhance your FSX performerance.

Prowler

[chinookmark]

Acceleration is good if you want native FSX aircraft carrier operations and a pretty decent F-18. That's the main reason I got it. Plus it's working winches and rescue hoists for helicopters, and pylon racing if you're into that sort of thing.

If none of the above interest you, follow MCD's and Prowler's advice.

[Daube]

I just bought FSX (£5.60 new from an actual shop not online) which makes me feel kind of dirty... but excited!

I have purchased the basic FSX as deluxe offered me nothing I fancied (and saved £5) so what add-ons should I get downloading?

I have several pay add-ons for FS2004 that came with FSX versions so I'm good for pay aircraft, but what scenery enhancement, free planes and modules etc do you consider mandatory?

Your choice of saving £5 was not very wise. You will soon regreat the Goose and the Maule, and I don't even mention the additionnal missions.

Acceleration has a very nice racing Mustang (no, it's not the historic one), which has truly a beautifull model, textures and virtual cockpit !! Additionnaly, you get the F-18 Hornet (same qualities as the Mustang) which will enable you to perform cool naval carrier operations, and the Merlin helicopter, which has a beautifull model and texture and a nice VC (less clickable stuff than in the other planes, but still stunning I have to say), with all the missions suiting such aircrafts: Reno-style racing, carrier/military operations (non-combat), rescue/delivery missions for the helicopter towing system.

But yes, however you can already have some fun with the free SP1 and SP2, and the various freewares/paywares already available.

[hinch]

Hmm carrier operations and pylon racing do sound pretty good. I will look into acceleration but I just bought Dirt too for my racing side =D

I have downloaded SP1 and SP2 ready. If I install them now will it affect my installation of Acceleration?

I don't mind not having a Maule or Missions one bit and I own the Mindstar G1000 for any glass 'pit flying in FS2004.

[Lionheart]

Hinch,

Check out the car traffic if you get a chance. You will probably have to turn it off to keep frame rates up, but all the AI traffic it has is pretty wild.

Also, Effects and airport traffic can be wild as well. Trucks driving around. But again, eats up frame rates.

Did you find that if you hold down the Space Bar, you can use Mouse to look around with? Best feature I think...

Have fun!

[MudMarine]

Rgr that Bill. One of the best things about FSX for me is moving traffic.

[hinch]

I'm confident FSX will run like a dream, the new PC I'm having built has a quad core, 4GB RAM etc etc =D

It will be interesting to see how all these extra bits of eye candy affect performance and I will more than likely be tinkering for hours.

Bill, did your Epic come with a combined FS9/FSX installer? I was thinking about flying it in FS2004 but the thought just occurred...

[N332DW]

the Acceleration install calls for SP2 NOT to be installed as it is an either or kinda situation. Acceleration wants to upgrade from service pack 1A to SP2+Acceleration and will ask you to uninstall SP2 which could cause a "dirty" install of sort

[Panther_99FS]

I'd say enjoy it in the SP2 default configuration for a few weeks first so you can get a good handle on it....

[Daube]

I'd say enjoy it in the SP2 default configuration for a few weeks first so you can get a good handle on it....

Absolutely. In any case, uninstalling the SP2 (for installing the Acceleration pack afterwhile) will not have any impact on your FSX addons.

[harleyman]

I'm confident FSX will run like a dream, the new PC I'm having built has a quad core, 4GB RAM etc etc =D

It will be interesting to see how all these extra bits of eye candy affect performance and I will more than likely be tinkering for hours.

Bill, did your Epic come with a combined FS9/FSX installer? I was thinking about flying it in FS2004 but the thought just occurred...



Yes...The Epic is for both.....

[hinch]

Thanks for your comments, I'll keep the SP2 stuff in mind. I'll try the sim just with SP1 and see.

[Navy Chief]

Aircraft carrier ops are a kick. You'll like it, believe me.

Navy Chief

[GT182]

FSX Gold is out now.

Hinch, you'll be best off with SP2 installed and the Acceleration material. FSX runs smoother with it all I'd say.... but that's only my http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/GT182/2cents.gif

[Lionheart]

Yep, HarleyMan's on it. The Epic has a FSX installer built in (full FSX model and DDS textures). Just start the installer again and on window 3, select FSX as your install point.



Bill

[Brett_Henderson]

One thing to worry about with the standard edition, is that many add-ons (like my 177RG and C310) use gauges from those airplanes.. Does the standard edition come with those gauges ?

[FLighT01]

Rgr that Bill. One of the best things about FSX for me is moving traffic.

Absolutely, for me personally, that was the clincher over FS9. Air and boat traffic are pretty neat but seeing moving traffic on the roads never gets old and adds tremendously to the enjoyment. Now, if we can just get a moving train every now and then...

[MudMarine]

Traffic just adds that extra.....oommmph.....of reality for me! Now we need some critters wandering around, in the air and on the ground!

[SkippyBing]

Now we need some critters wandering around, in the air and on the ground!

Mud you not seen the flocks of birds at low level?

[icarus]

I have purchased the basic FSX as deluxe offered me nothing I fancied

missed also the sdk the object placement tools and more....i will never back at normal versione deluxe it is really deluxe.