FSX Demo: My 1st Impression

[kbr]

Today I had a pleasant surprise. In my mail box I found a disc of the FSX demo. One of my friends from the city had sent it to me.

So today I was able to have my first real hands on impression on FSX. After my first flight, I came away with mixed feelings.

First I was happy to see that I was getting pretty much the same FPS performance I get with FS9. This really surprised me after all the stuff I heard about FSX.

However, my biggest disappointment was that I saw nothing here that I didn't think could have been done on FS9. The scenery looked great if you compare it with the default scenery of FS9, but with good mesh and UT, I'm already flying over better looking scenery in FS9.

I thought that the water was rather ugly and thought perhaps my card doesn't support what ever method is used here. On the other hand, all reflections and transparencies in the planes were working fine.

Also, though the default planes where nicer than the default ones of FS9, I hadn't seen anything here that hasn't already been surpassed in third party planes (freeware and payware) for FS9.

Here are 4 shots of my first flight;








In the end, I went away relieved that a new graphic card is all I probably need to enjoy FSX, but I also had to wonder if it is worth moving over from FS9. Time will till. I guess a lot depends on what the third party developers put out for it.

My system for comparison reasons is;

Pentium 4 3.06mhz
1gig of DDR Ram
ATI Radeon 9500pro with 128megs DDR Ram
Onboard 5.1 channel SoundMax
19" LCD monitor
CH Yoke, Rudders, TQ
Windows XP Home Edition SP2

[bhk]

kbr said:

....but I also had to wonder if it is worth moving over from FS9. Time will till. I guess a lot depends on what the third party developers put out for it.

My sentiments exactly, KBR.
(See other thread mainescenery.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=fsx&action=display&thread=1155241837).

Bruce

[scubakobe]

Don't let your first impression be your last impression.
With more stuff itching to get out in the final release, you will probably see some things that you will like a lot and is impossible for FS9 to achieve. For example, once Windows Vista is released, the updates to make FS-X "Vista" enhanced will increase the look of the sim (And the requirements!) and features, which FS9 will never be able to duplicate.
So, this is just a demo!

Read this from a good post at FS2004.com forum:

Now, as I read through the forums, I see people saying "FSX looks like FS9 with addons!" or "this sucks, the textures are crappy, blah, blah, blah." But compare default FS9 to default FSX and tell me there's not a difference. The fact of the matter is that there is a pretty much undeniable improvement over the old version that we use now. Add some new mesh, textures, aircraft, sceneries, and DX10, and you have a simulator that will undoubtedly kick FS9's .

-> www.fs2004.com/forums/index.php?s=f937169471e8b608a7be1da4d19b0352&showtopic=86231

I am expecting the best from FS-X, and hoping for the best performance from my computer.

[bhk]

Kobbe,
Don't get me wrong, but it's horses for courses.

My deep interest in FSim is the ability to recreate real-life flights set back in the past......whether it be 20 years or seventy years past.
Stunning graphics, whilst certainly enhancing the ability to suspend disbelief, are not the prime attraction.
The areas where I was hoping for great things - navigation and communications in particular - appear to not have been changed and that is disappointing....for me.

As KBR said - and I agree - there are terrain, landscape, weather and add-ons currently available for FS9 which many of us are using that, collectively, provide excellent graphic enhancements to the default FS9 installation.

When you add superb freeware and payware aircraft models to the pot then it leaves very little margin between the two...certainly not enough to make me rush out and grab FSX when it's released.

As one who has used every version of FS, in my opinion the difference between FS9 and FSX looks as if it could be the smallest since the product was released all those years ago.
I think that they've missed the boat in not placing greater emphasis on the ATC, comms and navigational aspects.

Bruce

[jimslost]

Ah, but how does the hype compare to that of earlier releases?

[scubakobe]

Bruce, I agree with you on the navigation and communications also. And for someone who came to FS9 for simulating older times, I wouldn't say to go on to FS-X, it's definitely not geared towards the history of aviation as FS9 was.
I am actually disappointed in the communications too, I was really wanting to be able to say "Mayday Mayday Mayday" to the controller and see how they dealt with it, but it looks like I won't be able to.
The multiplayer aspect has really increased too, which is about 40% of my excitement for FS-X. Now others won't have to go through the tedious task of downloading radar stuff and services to be a controller in FS-X. I hope that brings out the controller in people.

jimslost said:

Ah, but how does the hype compare to that of earlier releases?

They really advertised this version more then the previous. Looks like they want more customers, which is where the missions come in, attracts the "less realistic, more gaming" type of customers I would say.

[lifejogger]

My first impressions of the FSX Demo were not good. To get the best flying experience out of it I had to use the default settings.
When I increased the settings by half the stuttering and jerking were so bad it was impossible to fly. Later on I will experiment with a variations of settings and see what happens. Right now I wouldn't want to fly in FSX at default settings when I can fly in FS9 with settings almost maxed out with better scenery.
Hopefully like KBR said a new graphics card might help.

[Admin]

And there is is folks, all of the pros and cons is a few civil, friendly posts. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and even then we won't know the "truth" until release day. I won't write it off since I can run the demo on my newest computer. Of course I also get 30-60 fps with FS9 on that computer with all the add-ons and all the sliders set to max. I think I'll end up using both. Certainly I will keep FS9 for Golden Wings. Then I will probably fly some modern General Aviation in FSX. I see much to like in both sims. I have 4 seperate installs now that all see some use weekly, so it is not a stretch to imagine adding an install of FSX.

[bhk]

admin said:

......I think I'll end up using both. .....I have 4 seperate installs now that all see some use weekly, so it is not a stretch to imagine adding an install of FSX.

The best of all worlds, Tom.
Maybe I will end up doing something similar in the long run.

I can't run FSX on my desktop simply because I have never patched it to SP2.
The hardware is certainly capable of giving good performance without sacrificing detail and it will continue to provide me with my "fix" of FS9.

So when I eventually get around to buying it (for whatever reason) FSX will go onto my laptop and never the twain shall meet.

Bruce

[cptroyce]

Bruce- >> My deep interest in FSim is the ability to recreate real-life flights set back in the past......whether it be 20 years or seventy years past. <<

Total agreement here; that is my great enjoyment from FS. I haven't flown an mode a/c with the exception of a few bush flights since I started with FS.

I have pre-ordered FSX because like you mentioned several weeks ago, in the end I will probably want to have it. That being said, as bhk points out, if there is no outstanding performance or flight improvement that is far and above FS9, why bother to "fix what isn't broken". My 2 cents :>)

[railrunner130]

I've toyed with FS-X just long enough to realize that this sim isn't perfect either. The land goes blurry at a certain point (usually as I pass the tower at TNCM).

I also got into a top/bottom split screen problem that I've never seen before. The bottom goes black and the VC view scrunches to the top half. Odd.

Pausing and going to another program is something FS-X doesn't like either. I never able to get the program to come back up and had to use the System Manager to close it. Funny, no Error Message or report to MS.

I fully intend to buy FS-X, but these problems must be fixed.

[Roger]

Chris,
If you're using aircraft from previous sims then the size info at the bottom of the panel.cfg affects the screen size in any view...and stays that way even if you choose an FsX default aircraft...until you restart the sim. An answer is to delete the size info or increase the y axis figure to over 6000.

[kbr]

Bruce has pretty much hit the nail on the head as to how I feel too. Outside of the water, in which I was disappointed with, I wasn't talking so much about the graphics, but the overall feel of the sim.

Don't get me wrong, this is just first impressions and I haven't lost interest in FSX, but this is the first time I've looked at a new FS and hadn't been 'wowwed' so to speak.

I do feel that a lot of effort went into making this sim more appealing to the casual user, and even in the end, if that turns out to be all it really does over FS9, that will be a good thing. Because if the audience for FS increases, more of the market will take notice of it and that'll mean even more goodies for us simmers to choose from.

[scubakobe]

kbr said:

Bruce has pretty much hit the nail on the head as to how I feel too. Outside of the water, in which I was disappointed with, I wasn't talking so much about the graphics, but the overall feel of the sim.

Don't get me wrong, this is just first impressions and I haven't lost interest in FSX, but this is the first time I've looked at a new FS and hadn't been 'wowwed' so to speak.

I do feel that a lot of effort went into making this sim more appealing to the casual user, and even in the end, if that turns out to be all it really does over FS9, that will be a good thing. Because if the audience for FS increases, more of the market will take notice of it and that'll mean even more goodies for us simmers to choose from.

The odd thing is, I haven't been wowed either.
2 things struck my mind, "Check out that water!" and "Look at the FPS, I need a new video card".

Both those counter act each other and I am surely staying with FS9, but with more RAM I will move on to FS-X playing it more regulary then FS9, but probably won't desert it anytime soon.

I know how all of you feel, except for the vintage aircraft part....I don't have enough knowledge about that to really want them preserved in FS-X....not that they should be gone in the real world though!

-Kobbe

[railrunner130]

Roger, thanks. I found that answer after I posted.

I couldn't help but wonder what Bill Lyons will hopefully be able to come up with to replace these textures. I don't think they're as good as Silver Wings.

I'm sure the FPS will drop like a rock as soon as we start putting more airplanes and scenery in. They appear to be OK now.