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Thread: FSX Steam

  1. #1
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    FSX Steam

    Okay, FS9 Luddite here and since I've finally got a 'puter that should run FSX okay, I'm looking at FSX Steam. Up to now about all I've done FSX is look at screenshots.

    So, what's the deal with Steam? And where does it install in Win 8.1?

    How much of my FS9 stuff will transfer over? And how is the freeware situation with X?

    Thanks in advance

    W
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  2. #2
    Retired SOH Administrator Ferry_vO's Avatar
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    FsX Steam is basically an online edition of the full FsX pack (So FsX with acceleration and all service packs2) with some new updates. The original disc version is getting rare, so FsX:SE seems the way to go right now.
    Most (But not all!) of the stuff made for the disc version of FsX will work in FsX:SE.
    Fs9 add-ons made with Gmax (So not older Fs2002 type models) will work in FsX with some limitations, like prop textures disappearing behind clouds, and sometimes black windows. There are fixes and updates for a lot of models though, and if not, there's always someone here willing to help. The 'prop behind clouds' issue can't be fixed, but with some editing it can be made to appear less.

    Steam is an online game hub, where you can buy and launch games from.
    When you install Steam you can choose where you want to install it to, and every game you install you can again select where you want to install it.

    As for freeware FsX aircraft :http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...aft-Start-here!
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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Ferry_vO View Post
    FsX Steam is basically an online edition of the full FsX pack (So FsX with acceleration and all service packs2) with some new updates. The original disc version is getting rare, so FsX:SE seems the way to go right now.
    Let's also add that FSX Steam is much easier to install/uninstall than the original FSX, which could become a real mess in case you missed any step...

    Most (But not all!) of the stuff made for the disc version of FsX will work in FsX:SE.
    Indeed. There are only a few exceptions, and a few other addons will work but are not officially supported by the addon maker.
    But this is just for the payware stuff, with auto-installers and complex gauges/dlls.
    For freeware and less complex addons, there really are no problems at all for 99% of the available stuff, as far as I could read.

  4. #4
    To add to Daube's post, If Steam install is your only FSX install then 99% of add-ons will work. And those that don't tend to be advertised that they don't given that FSX Steam is the current FSX version.

  5. #5
    Interesting that the last post (Lewis A2A) qualifies "your only FSX install ...." - I'm having difficulties, scratch that impossibilities (!) adding scenery from a common set of files that I want to use for both boxed FSX and Steam FSX. I've added the files in the usual way in the Steam Edition scenery library, but when i fire up the sim, I get error messages and no addon scenery - something to do with conflicting scenery config files perhaps ? Any thoughts ?

  6. #6
    Member IanHenry's Avatar
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    The performance of the Steam edition is light years ahead of the boxed version, problems can arise if you have previously had the boxed version installed, presumably due to some remaining registry entry's.


    Ian

  7. #7
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    I've never had FSX before (not even the demo), so leftovers from previous installs won't be an issue. The more I read and hear about FSX Steam, I'm thinking it's the way to go. I did peruse the FSX files at Flight Sim looking to see what I really liked in FS9 to see if there's an FSX version and that's looking pretty good with several favorites there for download. I went ahead and downloaded the FSX Warwick Carter Gee Bee Z, just hope it flies better in X than it does in 9.

    Wonder if there's an SBD Dauntless out there for it?


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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Willy View Post
    I've never had FSX before (not even the demo), so leftovers from previous installs won't be an issue. The more I read and hear about FSX Steam, I'm thinking it's the way to go. I did peruse the FSX files at Flight Sim looking to see what I really liked in FS9 to see if there's an FSX version and that's looking pretty good with several favorites there for download. I went ahead and downloaded the FSX Warwick Carter Gee Bee Z, just hope it flies better in X than it does in 9.

    Wonder if there's an SBD Dauntless out there for it?
    Willy,

    For the Gee Bee there are a couple payware version. The Virtavia Gee Bee Super Sportster, and the Alabeo Gee Bee Model Z.
    Both can be had for under the $20 dollar mark, but of course the Wozza model is even better priced.
    The only SDB for FSX is the Vertigo Studios SBD Dauntless (native) and very much worth the price. The only thing that would
    make it even better is if VS would TacPac it.

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    Senior Administrator PRB's Avatar
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    Dang, after reading this thread, I think I might go to Steam too!

    Willy, the Vertigo Studios SBD is really nice...
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  10. #10
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    I've got the Virtavia Gee Bees in FS9 and to be honest, I've yet to land one without crashing the thing. I can land the Wozza Z (most of the time) and it's a sweet flyer.

    I've been digging in my backups and found FSX installers for the Virtavia Gee Bees and the Virtavia F4D Skyray. I'll have to do more digging and see what else I can find.
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  11. #11
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PRB View Post
    Dang, after reading this thread, I think I might go to Steam too!

    Willy, the Vertigo Studios SBD is really nice...
    That will probably be my first payware purchase for FSX. Got to have the Dauntless in case we decide to fly bombers online again.

    Which brings the question of trying to land on a moving carrier. They stay at anchor in FS9. I'm hoping there's some straight deck carriers available for X.
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  12. #12
    Senior Administrator PRB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Willy View Post
    That will probably be my first payware purchase for FSX. Got to have the Dauntless in case we decide to fly bombers online again.

    Which brings the question of trying to land on a moving carrier. They stay at anchor in FS9. I'm hoping there's some straight deck carriers available for X.
    Many good choices for "proper" carriers, all free. You got your US and IJN ships from Yanco, Coral Sea and Midway ships, and a couple nice Essex class ships, plus somebody made a CVE someplace. And there's a couple Royal Navy carriers out there as well.
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  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Willy View Post
    That will probably be my first payware purchase for FSX. Got to have the Dauntless in case we decide to fly bombers online again.

    Which brings the question of trying to land on a moving carrier. They stay at anchor in FS9. I'm hoping there's some straight deck carriers available for X.

    Lots of Straight deck carriers to be had Willy. Both the US and IJN Midway and Coral Sea packages (from fs9 fame) were converted to native FSX and can be found at SimV. When you get ready to install them let me know and I'll send you the sim.cfg's and aicarrier's config's for them.
    You will need AICarriers2 program. (check this thread for links to the .net version)

    http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...-related-files

    Lots of good stuff for naval aviation in that thread. Also if you want some awesome WW2 scenery you'll need to get Mark's
    (roger-wilco-66) Solomon 1943 package.

    Solomon 1943 V2 Open beta download: http://pendercrafts.com/solomon194v2.zip
    Solomon 1943 V2 update 2013-02-05 download: http://www.sim-outhouse.net/download...2013-02-05.zip

    And Tom Stovall did the Mariana's 1945, Truk atoll 1945, Chichi Jima 1945 and Iwo Jima 1945.

    marianas_1945_scenery.zip at Avsim
    truk_atoll_1945.zip at Flightsim
    chichi_jima_1945.zip at Flightsim
    iwojima1945sceneryupdt.zip at Flightsim

    All are must have's. That should keep you busy for a while.

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  14. #14
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    Has anyone did a FSX native conversion of the AH Seafire? That's another must have for me.

    I'm going to get a jump on things and do some searches for FSX add ons. Milton's stuff is another must have.
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  15. #15
    Senior Administrator Roger's Avatar
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    Hi Willy, as Ferry said the prop issue is the biggie but just really darkening the prop alpha will render it acceptable. Same with glass; if it appears very dark or opaque, darkening the alpha will help.
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  16. #16
    Hey people,

    If you still have boxed FSX installed OR still have it in the registry of your system, when you install the steam edition some changes with regards directories are made that can confuse things in particular in the area of scenery. You can get around this as Pete the FSUIPC chap has posted how to do it over at AVSIM. However it does require a lot of edited and messing around with files. Best bet is to just make sure when you uninstall box edition to also get rid of all directories afterwards and run a registry cleaner before and after a restart to make sure all the installation paths are gone.

    A cheap trick to switch for the scenery is to rename the FSX-SE folder FSX in your program data folder (windows 7). If this is renamed whilst installing scenery and then named back to FSX-SE just before you start the sim you can often trick installers into installing correctly.

    cheers,
    Lewis

  17. #17
    On my new (a year old now) system I have the boxed version of FSX installed in a C:\FSX folder right off the root instead of under \Program Files (x86). This was an attempt to defeat a security measure that was making a couple of aircraft unusable in Win8. Didn't work but I still have my RTM copy on the older WIN XP system I can fly them on. For the Steam version, it was automatically installed where all Steam programs reside, under C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FSX. The two co-exist on my system with no overlap and no conflicts. The Steam version is much more stable than the boxed version and Dovetail Games has already made a couple of update releases of improvements -- something that is never going to happen to the boxed version.

  18. #18
    An additional important information about the Steam version of FSX would be the price.
    I would not recommend you to buy FSX-Steam right now, because its current price is around 25 dollars/euros...
    Instead, I would recommend you to put that game in your "wish list" and wait for the next sales. Most of us bought FSX-Steam during one of these, where the price was only 5 dollars !

  19. #19
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    I don't mind the $25 dollars so much. I've spent much more on single addon purchases for FS. $5 would be a steal, but I've got the urge to go to the "Dark Side" now that I have a comp that should run it and have no idea when the next sale would be. Besides, we're getting close to the end of our latest online flight, and I'm hoping to be in X for the start of the next one (Low & Slow over Western Europe) I had been updating the old JE Narcizco Super Cub for 9, but now I've been working on it with an eye to FSX. New personalized paint, panel and the 200hp FDE in case I have to do some sudden rock climbing in the hills somewhere. Ever since CFS 1, I've been a "tinkerer" in flight sim mods so naturally I'm going to want to continue with that in FSX.

    I don't buy much payware, but what I do buy I try to get the most bang for the buck. Usually, it's some airplane that I "have to have" and I try to catch those on sale. But will go full retail if the urge is strong. Like I said, I consider $25 for FSX Steam to be a heck of a deal. Especially considering the prices asked for boxed versions on Amazon. I had been looking at P3d Student edition for about $60. Steam is cheaper and I don't have to lie to get it.

    W
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  20. #20
    This is a very valid point of view.
    I just wanted to ensure you were aware of the "sales" price of the sim, just in case. But yes, 25 dollars is also quite a good price, way smaller than the price of the boxed version when I bought it, back in 2007.

  21. #21
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    For goodness sake, it's not a flipping lie if you are buying it to learn, as we all want to do. There is no contract that is signed when you buy the flipping thing.
    So the lines have been drawn yet again... For entertainment, or to play a game, buy what suits you from the largest gaming distributor around. If you want to learn or be educated, buy from the big boys! No-one cares anyway. Hell & damnation if you do go for P3D .. It's gonna be pretty crowded in the hot basement, but you'll be able to get a good multiplayer session going!

  22. #22
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    Zswobbie, No lines have been drawn. I've got nothing against P3d and I was looking hard at it's features, requirements and pricing. But Steam just struck me as the better deal for my purposes. And I'd been told that to get the Student Edition of P3d, you had to tell 'em you're a student. I'm not trying to learn to be a real life pilot, just having fun is more my speed. And to be honest, I'd been fairly bored with FS9 for a while. It's a great sim and has been reliable as heck for me (not so much with Win 8.1). But's time to move on. I'm still keeping my 1950s and Golden Wings installs though. (At least until I can backdate FSX with scenery and AI traffic)

    I'd never knock anyone's choices for a Flight Sim. I've been running FS9 since it came out and it's way past time for a change. But up to now, I'd not had enough computer horsepower to run FSX. My last one was built by a forum member here for FSX several years ago and it just couldn't cut it with X. So I got it for FS9 where it worked great until an unfortunate power surge nailed it a couple of months ago.

    As for multiplayer, Steam says they've done a major rework of that part of FSX SE. I guess I'll find out.
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  23. #23
    Willy, just to be completely accurate, you don't have to tell 'em anything except your credit card number and email address.
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  24. #24
    Senior Administrator Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by n4gix View Post
    Willy, just to be completely accurate, you don't have to tell 'em anything except your credit card number and email address.
    Thanks, another rumor put to rest!
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