Is Simming starting to lose its attraction?

[britfrog 180]

Yesterday I sat down for a quick flight between chores however after sitting down I the had a few things to ponder 

 

before firing up fsx  I have to consider where i want to fly, from and to, will it be IFR or VFR? as this dictates which hard drive I use, will i use a highly detailed a/c with highly detailed scenery in which case before starting i have to modify fsx.cfg then what weather ? REX , FSGRW or default? then where do i want to fly , with what a/c? what scenery , oh c-ap did i put the ftx mode in default or is it still in PNW? fire up ftx central to find out , double c-ap that wont work because fsx is already fired up, close down fsx fire up ftx central to find that it was already in the right mode ,

now where was I?

oh yes , i remember, I will use the airbus, do I want the copilot to speak? do i want the 2 pilots to do all the checklists or none?  shall it be a daytime flight or night? do I want AI traffic if so how much?

decisions decisions!!

ok lets do a flight plan shall I use fs commander or Aivla ? where am i flying to? I forgot!  WEATHER dont forget to put the weather into the flight plan  now I know which runway to use at the destination, but which runway will FSX be using? as it sods law it will be the opposite to me when i get there,  IF I get there!

 

my head is starting to spin now i am flying or am i going around in circles?????

 

There are times I find that setting up the sim and getting it all ready take away the pleasure derived it is getting so complicated

 

so I will just go back to my chores.

[Andrew Godden 943]

I guess it's all a matter of how you approach it - make it difficult and difficult is what it will be - make it simple and...well, you get the picture.  So, for me it gets down to what I'm in the mood and / or have time for, but I always thought the KISS principle was far more than a 70's rock band.   

[Christopher Low 63]

I think the problem is that we have too many options! I have recently been pissing about doing circuits at all of the major airports in the UK......in the Flight1 Cessna Citation Mustang, PMDG Jetstream and 737NGX, Quality Wings Avro RJ70 and 85, and the Captain Sim 707. I have been doing this for ages, and nothing else! I guess I just enjoy flying all of these planes, and don't want to feel that I am leaving one on the shelf to go rusty

 

This has recently made me feel a bit "whatever" with respect to flying, so I decided to fire up the RealAir Turbine Duke for a change. Now, this plane is not easy to fly using my "low and slow, amble around with full flaps extended" style. Part of the problem is due to the immense power to weight ratio of this plane. Another reason is that slight adjustments in power are much more difficult with the twin turboprops than they are with the piston engined version. Nevertheless, after fiddling around with the control levers in the Turbine Duke cockpit, I have managed to gain some degree of control over this lovely little plane.....and it has made me realise that I need to concentrate on one plane for a while, and forget about the others. I will also be able to visit all of those grass strips that I have ignored for so long!

 

I am looking forward to some more relaxed flights to quieter places over the coming weeks

[Mistwalker 3]

Where I lose patience is with all the 'under the hood' stuff it takes to keep the sim performing happily. A few years back I was using the 'Flightgear' open source sim but got really tired of all the code tweaking and general arsing around it took to get the thing to work. I went through a similar situation with FSX when I threw in the towel last year and then again recently when it took almost two weeks, with huge amounts of help from my friends here, to get things to a useable level. From memory, back in my Army days when I was attached to a Flight of 30+ year old Westland Scouts, it took approximately 3 hours of maintenance for every one hour of flying time to keep those birds in the air. Sometimes I feel it's a similar ratio keeping a flightsim going.

 

Still, all this just shows how much we love our hobby or we wouldn't put up with it.

[jaydor 345]

I have to say I am not at all going through what you all seem to be saying and you ask why?

 

I have learnt to stay with just the right amount of aircraft 2 or 3.  Use very little tweaking of the CFg, use simple weather not real.  Fly in a set area (Western States of the USA)

 

I try to be as realistic as possible in my checks and balances.  I use the sim to keep my mind occupied and learning, so that helps to make it enjoyable.

 

When you find you are not enjoying your time in the sim, then it must be time to get back into boring sex with the other half. (If you have one)

 

Cheer up you lot.  Flight sim is now a world away from what it was 10 years ago, so as you head to the sim room start sing in your head "Those magnificent men in their flying machines"

 

and all will be restored back to enjoyable normal................  "Eck! what's wrong with this bl**dy throttle now"? 

[ddavid 149]

Nigel - if you've got PNW, why not (re-)fly the Whiteout mission? It's good for a half hour's entertainment and your (gorgeous) co-pilot is very polite to you...

@ Andrew - 70's rock band?

Cheers - Dai.

[Andrew Godden 943]

James,

 

I'm with you.  If people really knew about the 10+ hours a day I spend (and nearly each day) on FSX, they would think I was mad.  I never get bored, I have a swag of aircraft of all types and if I'm not flying some sort of airline route, contemporary or historical, I create other adventures or challenges for myself.  Sometimes I set myself goals, other times I recreate historical flights from the early 20th century.  The only thing I don't ever do is take it too seriously and get wrapped around the ankles about one thing or the other.  It is an endless environment to explore that is only limited by ones imagination. 

 

Cheers

Andrew

[Andrew Godden 943]

Nigel - if you've got PNW, why not (re-)fly the Whiteout mission? It's good for a half hour's entertainment and your (gorgeous) co-pilot is very polite to you...

@ Andrew - 70's rock band?

Cheers - Dai.

 

Dai,

 

Good to hear from you.  Yeh, Kiss, a 70's rock band.  Don't you remember the 1970's?  It was the same era as Devo - so when a problem comes along you must whip It.

 

Cheers

Andrew

[britfrog 180]

I must admit, the keep it simple stupid approach is what I have been doing slowly, hence a vfr HD and an ifr HD to reduce setup times. And I have to agree with jaydor there is a good reason why as an Atpl you are only allowed to have 2 type ratings for public transport , hence I only have 2 large jets , The NGX and the Airbus remembering how to fly those dramatically different a/c is enough . Will buying the new T7 increase my enjoyment, doubtful.

One of the real drawbacks of FSX comes to mind when you fly the many smaller a/c because fsx doesnt/cannot reproduce the nuances/small differences that makes each small a/c different in fsx they all fly the same which is a bit of a shame, however i have to admit I have many more a/c in the back up than I actually have installed

 

Dai I will give that a try thanks for the H.U. Now how do I get PNW to work? ah yes back to the beginning of this thread

[Andrew Godden 943]

...there is a good reason why as an Atpl you are only allowed to have 2 type ratings for public transport , hence I only have 2 large jets...

Oh, damn it, I hadn't counted on that.

I've got every type rating possible, framed and hanging side by side all around my study. I had best hope CASA don't find out about it.

In the meantime, I'm going to stick my head back into my computer's flight sim cockpit and fly whatever I like, whenever I like, wherever I like, and without a care in the world. Hell, I might even crash and live to tell the tale.

[jaydor 345]

I must admit, the keep it simple stupid approach is what I have been doing slowly, hence a vfr HD and an ifr HD to reduce setup times. And I have to agree with jaydor there is a good reason why as an Atpl you are only allowed to have 2 type ratings for public transport , hence I only have 2 large jets , The NGX and the Airbus remembering how to fly those dramatically different a/c is enough . Will buying the new T7 increase my enjoyment, doubtful.

One of the real drawbacks of FSX comes to mind when you fly the many smaller a/c because fsx doesnt/cannot reproduce the nuances/small differences that makes each small a/c different in fsx they all fly the same which is a bit of a shame, however i have to admit I have many more a/c in the back up than I actually have installed

 

Dai I will give that a try thanks for the H.U. Now how do I get PNW to work? ah yes back to the beginning of this thread

 

 

Brit, like you I am flying the heavy metal the most, but one GA aircraft that caught me is the RealAir Lancair Legacy. The reason being is that it is just about the best GA you can fly for realism.  It was after I read Andrew's review that I bought it and have spent the last 6 months flying and painting it.. 

 

But a few months ago I decided I was only going to use the best of the bunch as far as my hangar is concerned so I have ditched quite a lot and now I am flying only what I consider the best; being, PMDG, QW, RealAir, Majestic and Aerosoft Extended series.

The rest have now all be retired.

[Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142]

I entirely agree that confining the contents of the hangar to only the "best of breed" is (for me) the way to go.    

 

I always had in mind the old saying "Every pilot only has three type ratings in him". and hence I only ever have three aircraft installed as well as the default ones (OK, these three are all complex aircraft, it's true, and I explore them in depth). So when the 777 comes out I will, reluctantly, uninstall my old PMDG 747 to make room. Having been flying the NGX 95% of the time since its release, I am now about to switch my attention to the 777 and spend as long as it takes getting to know every intricacy of her.

 

I also document every aspect of my installation so that I can subsequently rediscover what assignments I have made, and why. I document my normal flying procedure, too. And, of course, there's always the background support tasks that constantly need to be done — backups, config file tweaks, installations, updates, and so on. Yes, all of this inevitably takes time away from flying, but I and a good friend of mine have long ago rationalised these background activities, and even dignified them with a name — ßimming, or secondary simming. In other words, all the background activities which go towards making simming so great. This is so positive a thing to do that such activities even become enjoyable in their own right.

 

So in my case there's no problem making decisions about how to sim, since those decisions have already been made and refined long ago and my installation optimised accordingly. I also don't get at all concerned about spending time now and then on what one might call "sim support" — after all, I've spent a good chunk of my life keeping computer systems tuned and running on top form for other people, so why should I fret about doing it for my own benefit?

 

I think all of us occasionally have times when for whatever reason we don't feel like taking a flight. For such times, well, there's always ßimming: and next time our simming becomes even better.      

 

But each to their own.....

 

Cheers,

 

Brian

 

[britfrog 180]

James I also have the lancair and agree with your thoughts on it, I simply don't fly it enough , I have flown in an earlier version with a 300hp engine and the way the whole plot rocks when you are starting it is just so real, sadly my friend who I had flown with was later killed only about 20 minutes after I bumped into him at Biggin Hill, i was off parachuting and he had dropped off a friend and was having trouble getting the engine re-started, Lycomings are famous for being a bitch to start when hot, however in this particular case there was a fuelling fault , he managed to get it going but it quit 10 miles down the road and he didnt pull off a successful emergency landing.

 

I mostly fly the careado c210 and 337 when flying the smaller stuff

[brett 2,315]

When I get bored I buy a new scenery and aircraft and fly around learning about this new area. Once learned, flying can get boring unless you add the fun of exploring new regions and aircraft procedures. Flight planning usually includes researching the airports and surrounding areas unless time constraints force a VFR quicky. This is not necessarily a bad thing because I have saved flights that are in choice locations for sightseeing and valley flying. I also search other forums for favorite flights that others suggest.

 

Sometimes it is as easy as stepping away from the sim for a short time so that it becomes new again. 

[allardjd 1,853]

AirHauler is always a great way to blow away the FS cobwebs.

 

John

[UKJim 502]

I have to say I hit that wall a few months back - as many of you know I was very active months back almost flying every day and posting pics in the screenshot forum. But real life hit me with a few things and did not feel the need to jump back into the pilot seat. So after a few months I have come back on to the scene and I must admit I am so glad to be back flying again. 

 

As John has mentioned above - Air Hauler is very addictive and it gives purpose to any flight. You also have to get it right on landing because Air Hauler will punish you for those rocky landings. If you fly the heavies the cost of the damage is crazy so you know you need to be on the ball.

 

The other issue mentioned above is the tweaking and setting up for different areas and settings. My solution takes time to setup but once setup it makes it a lot easier to switch between settings...

 

I installed all my scenery and this updates the scenery file - I make a backup of this file.

Then I copy the file and rename it to say 'Scenery-UK' then I open it up in notepad and remove any scenery entries that are not in the UK area. 

I do the same for all of my regions.

I created a script that basically deletes the old scenery file and copies and renames the 'Scenery-UK' file to be the new scenery file.

So then I load FSX and the databases are generated and I load a flight - I close this flight.

I make a copy of the autogen files and some other files then repeat the process above for those files too - adding the copy/rename part into my script.

I then tweak the FSX config file for each region - so I have one FSX.cfg for each region and do a copy/rename as above for that too in my script.

 

So to summarise - I have a scenery file, autogen files and fsx config file for each of my regions. All slimmed down to each region.

When I run my script it asks me to choose a number to select a region - select a number and press enter and it automatically replaces the current files with specific region files.

 

The only down side to this is when you get new scenery you have to go make the file copies again but once you know how to do this it literally takes about 5mins. Another down side is if you have activated a region, flying to a different region that has not been activated obviously your scenery will not be there. 

 

It sounds complex but it's not that bad - especially when it has been setup.

 

As for planes - I just install the planes I will use (favourites) - I know people remove planes into another folder but I have never tried this. 

 

 

All else fails - buy a new set of scenery and a detailed plane - learn it all over again

 

Good Luck

[Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142]

Many thanks for your post, it's certainly food for thought. I currently have over a hundred airports installed, but only in Europe: I had previously removed my non-European stuff for performance reasons (and since I rarely flew there). With the imminent (well, relatively imminent) arrival of the PMDG 777, though, I have decided to reinstall my worldwide collection, and can't help wondering whether this will increase my fsx load times (which, thanks to a couple of SSDs, are reasonable at present), so your scheme could be the solution.

 

By "script" I'm guessing you mean a batch file? (Good ol' DOS, it never went out of fashion: I still use batch files a lot).   

 

Cheers and thanks,

 

Brian

 

[UKJim 502]

Indeed batch files all the way! If it ain't broken don't fix it!

It is fiddly but I don't buy scenery all the time so never need to update the files too often!

Good luck!

Jim

[Andrew Godden 943]

And so, for a different approach to keeping the flight simming flame alive.

 

Some years back, I started doing a regular trawl through the files on flightsim.com.  Other than this leading me down the path of downloading a sh*tload of files on the "I might use them one day" basis,  and needing to buy large external HDDs to store it and then backup it up on, it got me into exploring the freeware Adventures and Missions created for FS9 and FSX respectively.

 

There is a swag of this stuff covering all sorts of aspects of flying adventures, some short, some long, some global, historical, you name it.  Gera Godoy Canova is a prolific and imaginative creator of some of these as is Manfred Schnabl who has created a great global series called "Weltspirale" or "World Spiral" for the non German speaking.

 

So, the next time you have a brain f*rt moment  and can't make a decision on what, where and how to fly,  try out some of these.

 

As an aside, the personal library I now have is irreplaceable and the download usage and manhours in what I have collected over the years is the reason I keep regular backups. 

 

Cheers

Andrew

[flybytes 34]

Britfrog,

 

Horses for courses, we 'flight simmers' are all involved in this hobby for our own individual reasons - some of us are young, unable to afford to jump into a real aircraft, but aspiring to be pilots, some of us are retired flight engineers or pilots wishing to to keep our hand in the world of aviation. The wonderfull thing about this hobby is that we can put in as much or little we can afford regardless of age or health and for a few hours a week be a 'top gun' or 747 heavy pilot.

 

At the end of the day this is a hobby, not here to pay the rent or mortgage, but to amuse or stretch our grey cells.

 

Cheers,

Ray.

[David TRIGGS 0]

I find flying (and exploring) with a co-pilot is rewarding ... ie having a 2-place home cockpit!

David

[PCAviator 30]

Try AirHauler, CargoPilot or FSEconomy if your interest is waning... These will stimulate it again in short order.

[David TRIGGS 0]

Having a 2 seat cockpit, flying sessions become quite social (I even fly occasionally with my significant opposite number!!) ... also it's interesting to split cockpit tasks (as in the real world) between "Pilot-flying" and "pilot-nonflying", where one can concentrate on "flying correctly", and the other on navigation and radios ......

...... plus a little red wine can liven-up any flight ............ !!!

David