FSX to MSFS 2020 Yes But!

[BendyFlyer]

Now a few observations. I have carefully been reviewing everything I could find on the new sim and contemplating the shift. I am convinced that it is MAYBE a paradigm shift and I am very impressed with the visuals. I think this is going to be a bit of a long haul for it to be comparable to FSX on a number of functional levels anyway I took the plunge and have ordered a new PC that is properly capable of running this new sim properly and yes I will purchase and install it (once I can find the internet bandwith and speed capable of doing it - that is another issue).

It is clear that this sim pushes even the most current advanced hardware to the limits and is CPU limited.
It is clear that the current product as is has some significant issues in terms of the functionality for simming (not the graphic wow factor) like cockpit functionality (dials mouse controls etc), AI, water and boats and basic scenery in some places.
It is clear that the base version does not automatically generate detail and features of man made objects such as at airports and landmarks.
The SDK is incomplete.
The updates like MS10 are automatic and can create serious issues for the various different hardward configurations.

Now some of this I can live with BUT the lack of flyable functional cockpits and the variety I like I cannot live with AND it will be some time maybe 6 months to a year before some addon folk reissue current high level models in FSX for the new sim. My biggest issue is that I like the WW2 stuff and the piston engine or early jet era and while PMDG say they are dropping P3D and XPlane development to concentrate on the new sim it will be some time due to the SDK issues before this comes about. Captain Sim have formed a wait and see view but at the moment think it is just another version of MSFlight (there is some truth in this if you are a major addon builder contemplating the SDK and coding issues). Similarly for other developers re getting their stuff into MSFS working condition.

So yes I am going to go down that route but it will be a have to wait and see in the meantime, bonus, I will have the latest generation CPU, Graphics and SSD and memory to really make FSX sing! When I can flfy the DC3 the DC4 the DC6 the B707, B727, HS748, Vickers Viscount not to mention the PBY Catalina, Lancaster, Spitfire MK9, Mosquito or a Shorts Flying Boat to name a few then I will ditch FSX until then home is where the heart is. Anyway withi ORBX, Steves DX10 Fixer and REX SkyForce FSX looks pretty damn good anyway!

[downwind]

I'm not sure this is the forum to speculate about MFS2020, but I would suggest that you read reviews and comments from those who have hands-on experience with the new sim. There are a lot of pissed-off people. It appears you have made the financial investment in hardware you believe will get you to the place you want to be. From that point on it is really a matter of your faith in Microsoft's commitment and your capacity to devote what will be a considerable additional amount of time and patience to reach your quest. Personally, I am forever grateful that I can turn on my my modest desktop computer and in minutes be airborne in any FSX aircraft I am interested in. anywhere in the world. I have a beautiful sky above me and somewhere down below the earth that lies between point A and point B. I am happy. Wishing you good luck on your journey.

[Catboat]

Now a few observations. I have carefully been reviewing everything I could find on the new sim and contemplating the shift. I am convinced that it is MAYBE a paradigm shift and I am very impressed with the visuals. I think this is going to be a bit of a long haul for it to be comparable to FSX on a number of functional levels anyway I took the plunge and have ordered a new PC that is properly capable of running this new sim properly and yes I will purchase and install it (once I can find the internet bandwith and speed capable of doing it - that is another issue).

It is clear that this sim pushes even the most current advanced hardware to the limits and is CPU limited.
It is clear that the current product as is has some significant issues in terms of the functionality for simming (not the graphic wow factor) like cockpit functionality (dials mouse controls etc), AI, water and boats and basic scenery in some places.
It is clear that the base version does not automatically generate detail and features of man made objects such as at airports and landmarks.
The SDK is incomplete.
The updates like MS10 are automatic and can create serious issues for the various different hardward configurations.

Now some of this I can live with BUT the lack of flyable functional cockpits and the variety I like I cannot live with AND it will be some time maybe 6 months to a year before some addon folk reissue current high level models in FSX for the new sim. My biggest issue is that I like the WW2 stuff and the piston engine or early jet era and while PMDG say they are dropping P3D and XPlane development to concentrate on the new sim it will be some time due to the SDK issues before this comes about. Captain Sim have formed a wait and see view but at the moment think it is just another version of MSFlight (there is some truth in this if you are a major addon builder contemplating the SDK and coding issues). Similarly for other developers re getting their stuff into MSFS working condition.

So yes I am going to go down that route but it will be a have to wait and see in the meantime, bonus, I will have the latest generation CPU, Graphics and SSD and memory to really make FSX sing! When I can flfy the DC3 the DC4 the DC6 the B707, B727, HS748, Vickers Viscount not to mention the PBY Catalina, Lancaster, Spitfire MK9, Mosquito or a Shorts Flying Boat to name a few then I will ditch FSX until then home is where the heart is. Anyway withi ORBX, Steves DX10 Fixer and REX SkyForce FSX looks pretty damn good anyway!

I’m very much with you, Bendy, and Downwind. Though I believe MSFS Is definitely the future, like you I am very happy generally with FSX Accel. Etc. I have only recently converted to Windows 10, and purchased a new computer, that I believe can handle MSFS, I look at all the literally hundreds of aircraft I have purchased or down loaded as freeware over the last 15 plus years, and I am seriously concerned about losing them in transferring to the new platform. I am convinced it will take some time for the many developers to catch up with MSFS, and like you Bendy, my interest is mainly in the older transport type aircraft, DC4, 6, 3, Cats, Connies, and the like. (Must be something to do with living South of the Equator). As mentioned in a number of my previous posts, I am not computer literate, and a dread trying a new platform, unless I have serious professional help. Though I am at present having serious scenery problems with FSX, I’ll somehow sort them out, and as I have some Orbx products I can add, I’ll go that route for the time being-
perhaps in a couple of years, who knows!

[zswobbie1]

Interesting comments.
However..
Yes, we were all thrilled by what we saw, before launch, warts & all.
We were all in a hurry to get in first, downloading the sim, we could not wait for any reviews.
Now we are moaning, getting refunds & so on..
Nobody forced anyone to be the first, without any reviews. We had to be in first, & trumpeted that all over the internet.
So, please, do we really need to know how unhappy you are that you jumped in first?
Nope, there is no Holy Grail, yet!!

[centuryseries]

It is also self perpetuating - if no-one was an early adopter of the new software, if no developers developed for it, it would surely falter and potentially fail to be long lived. But I get what you're saying and that's fine, at this current moment, my newest SR-71 will be for FSX and P3D until such time that I can get to grips with all that's new and the full SDK is released.

[BendyFlyer]

I guess I was musing out aloud and thought I would share my thoughts after weeks of reading PC tech specs, rig tests, videos on MSFS 2020 and countless forum posts across the globe and that was point out the very good reasons for somebody (such as my old self) who has been simming now for probably 30 years and has gone through all the dramas and tribulations of FSX is sitting out MSFS2020, I think it has enormous potential and what is under the hood is pretty revolutionary, it is not just an FSX reworked into 64 bit coding. My uneducated view is they went to market early and the primary market was 'Gamers, Xboxers etc) and to them given they are all streaming games anyway this is pretty cool and they will not be too fussed about missing functionality. I find the fact they have not completed the SDK the most concerning, so you have a new piece of software and no manual? Anyway I really like it and find it exciting in a way that FSX did when it came out after MS9 and MS2004.

Like Catboat I have a small fortune (not really but probably - I don't want to think about it) in addons, scenery, tools and aircraft. The last two years saw some absolutely amazing models released for FSX by A2A, PMDG, AH, Carenado , Captain Sim and Flight Replicas, Milton Schupe, Manfred Jahn etc (too many to name) the good thing about that and FSX was this, that over time various developers, payware and privateers filled in the niches that effectively covers the history of aviation, civilian and military and it was not to hard for lots of stuff to be reworked from MS2004 for FSX as well (George Diemers amazing Sikorsky Flying Boats is but one example).

I am sure MS also understands the real world flying dilemna as well after all they have stumped up some serious money to get this show on the road and that is this that all the new stuff is EFIS and heavily computer controlled (Read an Airbus manual or the Boeing 787 to get my drift) and it is all shiny and sleeky. Old buggers like me grew up with big round motors, piston heavies and noisy smokey turbines, fabric and tube not carbon fibre but we also grew up without FMS and GPS, so the arcane niceties of the ADF or VOR, reading a map nav would be a major turn off for any gamer. So I understand perfectly the start release empahsises easy flight, phenomenal graphics and real time streaming - that is where the market is. Case in point I have a 6 week wait at a minimum for a new PC all the builders and suppliers are sold out, literally run out of stock as the big gaming machines flew out the doors with everybody locked up or restricted due to Covid and they werent being bought to fly the sim thats for sure! Us FSX and earlier folk are still a big and powerful market that MS will bring into the fold but later on I guess, so I am happy to wait besides I could not do another two years or so of fixes and tweaks and updates!!

Take care

[UnknownGuest12]

Quite happy with MSFS 2020. Could it be better? YES. Hope it will
Meanwhile keeping P3D 5 with all the planes I got. But for me a very basic "flyer", is not easy to go P3D after seeing MSFS...
Stay safe

[K5083]

Hi Bendy, I think your comments are some of the most intelligent I have yet seen posted on this subject, and there is no shortage of such comments.

My rig should be able to handle FS20 but I am waiting till the holidays to get it. I figure that way I can skip over a few patches and maybe there will be a warbird or a propliner available by then from somebody.

Both P3D4 and FSX are still installed and will be for some time. Based on what I'm seeing of FS20, it would only take the availability of maybe half a dozen planes - say (1) any WWII fighter, (2) DC-3, (3) "real airplane" like Stearman/Waco/Travel Air, (4) Connie or other propliner, (5) subsonic jet fighter like Sabre/Hunter/Mig-15, (6) turbo trainer like a Tucano or PC-9, to get me to shift the MAJORITY of my sim time to the new program. Until then, it will just be a sometimes thing, when I feel like I want the visuals and don't much care what I'm flying.

August

[wombat666]

Case in point I have a 6 week wait at a minimum for a new PC all the builders and suppliers are sold out, literally run out of stock as the big gaming machines flew out the doors with everybody locked up or restricted due to Covid and they weren't being bought to fly the sim that's for sure! Us FSX and earlier folk are still a big and powerful market that MS will bring into the fold but later on I guess, so I am happy to wait besides I could not do another two years or so of fixes and tweaks and updates!!
Take care

So right!
Being stuck in a 6 week hard lockdown makes it almost impossible to get hold of anything, let alone the newer hardware.
Both my sources sold out immediately when the NVIDIA 3 Series arrived, not that I was even considering them.
Even basic stuff is hard to get hold of and then it's all online ordering and courier delivery.
I can run MSFS as my newest build can handle it but it makes sense to me to wait for a few months until some of the basics are sorted.
Stay safe.

[MZee1960]

MSFS has become a sim unlike any other. Everything, as predicted by many YT people, has now been realized, except the sim's growth potential which is only limited to hardware devs keeping up. Currently, IMHO, there exists no hardware which can run this sim at all settings full right with 60+ fps at all times. I have speculated re all the upgrades currently possible but sadly put the build of a new system on hold - waiting to see how the CPU/GPU scenario shapes up down the road. Upgrading my bandwidth dl speeds from 50mb/s to over 300mb/s was the first step for me and my needs. The RTX 3000 series show very promising fit for this sim, but the biggest factor, for me, is deciding on which CPU. The AMD multicore (threadrippers) show promise down the road, but currently it is the Intel chips (like i9 9900k) that have a slight edge due to slightly faster single core speeds. Some hint at this sim being thoroughly multicore capable in the near future, in which case the AMD CPU would be a no brainer.

'Good things come to those who wait', I presume. So until the new year at least, I am quite content to fly my FSX with all of it's addons, in all of it's glory, that is, until I hear more from the dev team regarding the sim's future CPU related capabilities, or more CPU test results become available. The CPU is the last piece of the hardware puzzle, for me.

[BendyFlyer]

Quote MZee1960 - 'Good things come to those who wait', I presume. So until the new year at least, I am quite content to fly my FSX with all of it's addons, in all of it's glory, that is, until I hear more from the dev team regarding the sim's future CPU related capabilities, or more CPU test results become available. The CPU is the last piece of the hardware puzzle, for me."

Yes that is the part I have a problem with as well, I've seen test reports on 4,6,8 cores with multithreading all the way to 16 threads and speeds from 2.8GHZ to 5.1 GHZ (where the core temps went off the scale in terms of cooling demands) , it seemed to run as well on 6 cores as on 8 and ditto for the threading - that is hardly any faster or no improvement beyonds about 60 fps. The faster and bigger an SSD RAM set up is the better and as for high end Video cards no significant issues. The only other point I have picked up was that it seems happier on an INtel chip than a AMD chip and the mother board capacity or design is also important. Given all that my conclusion it is a software coding issue with the new sim but then again it is not a game and there would be a significant number of subprocesses that have to run in a sim v a game, you can fudge the dynamics and repeat in a game but not in a sim - too many calculations. My gut instinct is that this is the crux of it and explains why the SDK is incomplete - they are still working on it but given the enormous uptake they sure will have a very high level of feedback to work with. So I am calling it a Beta version until the full SDK is released. FWIW. I look forward to the completed release at some stage. I will have a rig ready by then I guess.

[mal998]

A few of us who have helped develop aircraft for older sims up to and including FSX and P3D have been looking at the new sim with an eye towards migrating some of the classic FSX aircraft into MSFS. At this moment I can tell you there are more than a few problems that need to be ironed out before any of the old favorites can be brought into the new sim. There are lots of issues, not the least of which are sounds, panels, gauges and flight dynamics. Based on what we've seen so far it could be quite a while before we are up to speed. As usual, MS has done a lousy job of supporting third-party developers, at least that's been my experience so far.

[Moses03]

To echo what some of you have said so far. Once the new sim has matured beyond several updates (6 months or so) and I have upgraded my hardware, I will look forward to jumping in for the long haul.

Kevin

[K5083]

A few of us who have helped develop aircraft for older sims up to and including FSX and P3D have been looking at the new sim with an eye towards migrating some of the classic FSX aircraft into MSFS. At this moment I can tell you there are more than a few problems that need to be ironed out before any of the old favorites can be brought into the new sim. There are lots of issues, not the least of which are sounds, panels, gauges and flight dynamics. Based on what we've seen so far it could be quite a while before we are up to speed. As usual, MS has done a lousy job of supporting third-party developers, at least that's been my experience so far.

That's consistent with what I am hearing from other developers. I have no doubt the issues will be overcome eventually, and look forward to the results. Part of me doesn't want too many old models that trace their roots back to FS2004 or earlier to be migrated; they'll look and feel too crude relative to the sim. However, many payware and freeware aircraft for the last generations of P3D and FSX were "ahead" of those sims in the sense of being better looking, more detailed, etc. than anything else in the simulator. A straight port of some of those high quality planes would not degrade the FS20 experience. Just to take a random example, last night I was flying the Roland D.VIa from the french-vfr site in P3Dv4 and it is so beautiful, I'm sure it would not stink up FS20 at all. And unlike, say, the DC-3, it isn't as if a payware Roland D.VI is going to come out if I just wait long enough.

August

[gojozoom]

This thread is becoming an interesting read indeed. However, when it comes to threads like "MSFS or FSX?", "P3D or Xplane?" I never really understood the "OR" part. Why couldn't it be an "AND". Keep FSX and install MSFS on a separate drive/partition. You don't have to say goodbye to thousands of $ worth of 3rd party stuff at all.

[BendyFlyer]

This thread is becoming an interesting read indeed. However, when it comes to threads like "MSFS or FSX?", "P3D or Xplane?" I never really understood the "OR" part. Why couldn't it be an "AND". Keep FSX and install MSFS on a separate drive/partition. You don't have to say goodbye to thousands of $ worth of 3rd party stuff at all.

Gojozoom - yep thats the plan. Tidying up all my backups to transfer to the new PC.

My only other thoughts on the issue of addon developers and the new sim is after this Covid business - how many will be around? Especially given most have been doing FSX and P3D and some XPlane as well. I think the main brains at Captain Sim who are no slouches to top end models and have taken the time and effort to rebuild from MS2004 to FSX and P3D (but even then some models were obviously not worth redoing - like the 707 and 727) his observation - it is just a new version of Microsoft Flight - so they are not proposing to do anything at the moment and will merely keep their current range and P3D development. PMDG have dropped any further development for P3D and XPlane completely and stated they will go MSFS2020 (maybe dependent on the SDK). I guess if you are running a business your talking time and dollars in development and testing providing you have the tools. Interestingly though the addon scenery marketplace has really jumped with stuff for the new sim which is fascinating that it is easier to do this than deal with the complexity of aircraft models.

Anyhow I will be ready when MSFS202 V2.0 comes out.