Rodger Pettichord Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Hi all. I'm again trying MSFS 2020. Love the scenery, but the rest resists my efforts. I'm being patient, trying only to learn one little thing one day at a time. Someday, it may feel like home. I hope. The experience has got me thinking of previous iterations of flight sim. I remember feeling that MS 2004 could not be beat--great program that was simple for flying and easy for freeware developers to add a multitude of planes. And when Orbx got into the game with FSX, wow. And that leads to this week's topic. THIS WEEK'S MEANINGLESS TOPIC: As you think back, which version of flight simulation has given you the most enjoyment? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I've tried most versions of MSFS as they came out starting with 5.0. It is easier to say which ones I liked least. Those would be '95 and (I think it was) '97. Just did not like the way the aircraft handled! So after trying them I stayed with 5.1. I.liked 5.1 a lot. Flew the C182RG, the King Air, and I had a nice L188 Electra A flew for years with virtual airline Noble Air. Then, after buying a house and a change in my employment situation, I stepped away from it for a few years. About 2010 I got back into it with FSX. This was a great improvement. By now there was such great scenery addons, especially Orbx. But another great thing was the hardware now available; no longer had to use the mouse and keyboard. So FSX was a great foundation on which to build a really great simulator! Now I've moved on to P3D. The improved capabilities of this software is great, especially since it can handle the True Earth scenery, and perform well with all of the software and hardware add-ons. But the improvement is incremental, not revolutionary. But, all in all, the a answer to Rodger's question, I'd say that though I enjoy the enhanced performance of P3D, I'd vote for FSX. And for those who wonder if you can learn from a well built and set up simulator, I had the opportunity this past week to find out that you largely can. A friend won a "plane ride" in a church auction, and invited me to go along. The plane featured was the PA 24 Comanche, which excited me because it is in the same performance class, and quite similar to the Mooney Bravo I fly in the sim. I expected a nice little local tour, but boy was I surprised! The pilot, who is ATP and CFII, starts by offering a choice of aircraft, the Comanche or a C172. I chimed in with the Comanche. Bill, the pilot suggests that we fly to Poughkeepsie and back. Great! I went to college there, and flown into the airport in the SIM (Orbx freeware enhanced). Then he tells me to get into the plane, left seat. He starts the plane, and asks if I have rudder pedals in my sim. I do, so he tells me to taxi around the hangar to the runway, points out the PTT button, tells me to call tower, and on clearance, take off. The rest of the flight progressed the same way. Bill gave me a lot of pointers, largely about the particular aircraft, but largely I was on my own. When it was his turn my friend bowed out, so I flew both legs, getting 1 take off 1 landing, and an hour of flight time in daytime, and another at night. So what was the most significant lesson, the greatest takeaway? The Piper Comanche is a very difficult airplane for a severely arthritic 74 year old to get into and get out of. Wouldn't want to have to get out in a hurry! Ken 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Fsx was great as far as the number of freeware add on aircraft you could have, but P3d along with Orbx gave us more well detailed airports and scenery. MSFS is still on the back burner for me due to the lack of aircraft available and much of Australia's airports. However fs2002 was my first introduction to simming. But for now it's p3dv5. cheers Gumby 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 I've gotten into P3D4 and all the accompanying Orbx goodies. Its controls and settings are simple evolutions of the FSX set, and its ability to accept the older freeware planes makes its library almost inexhaustible. Love it! Rumor is that Lockheed/Martin will do an upgrade in or around 2025 that will have even better scenery than MSFS 2020 but retain the familiar control/settings structure. If so, I'm in. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Pretty much the same as you Rodger. I like my airplanes and the Orbx sceneries in my p3d 4.5. I do experiment with MSFS and the graphics are good, but the planes are still not quite to my liking. So for now I fly p3d 4.5 (Manfred Jahn's C47 can not be beat) pretty steadily. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 First of all, I can't believe it's Friday already. Where did that week go?! For me it's definitely MSFS 2020. I'm a scenery guy and my Savage Cub is all I need to make the most of it. Cheers Graeme 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 as one approaches 90 times around the sun - memories fade a 'little' - and although my best memory was the Commodore version and the most recent is the enjoyment of P3D with TE etc. and a goodly choice of hardware - great examples of aircraft I flew in my PPL days. The only other one was whatever version of the sim was in the early part of the 2000s was Just flight's VFR scenery of the Uk However, it doesn't task the memory very much to appreciate the latest choice of MSFS and the huge choice of scenery and aircraft with the icing on the cake being the coming A2A Commanche my favourite single to fly back in the PPL days 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 P3Dv4 for me as well. With the solution of the VAS problems of FSX plus the compatibility to all of the free- and payware that was filling our FSX before. And, not to forget: The enthusiasm of those times, when we all met here to post new releases of exciting sceneries, be it free or paid. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 oh this is very difficult, I remember my resistance to moving on to FSX, had it installed for ages before I really went to it, best and most fun, stable and lack of crashes etc was p3dv4, most fun at the moment is XP12 for me.....I bounce from one sim to other though if I am honest depending on what I am flying or testing, I'm honestly just always amazed at how far we have come and how good everything looks, not sure if we'll get another version of p3d though unless it's backward compatible with our addons as most are not doing things for that sim now....I do enjoy seeing what and where everyone else is up to though.... 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 They have all been a PITA, but MSFS has been the most enjoyable for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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