Flight Simulator

[yester]

What flight simulator is good? MS Flight did not seem to much fun really. More like arcade now.

Are there any other good one out there, maybe with a great community?
I have a intel E8500 cpu about 4GB ram and a Nvidia GT8800. Not sure if my hardware is still good enough for a sim.

 

[Ruahrc]

I think the gold standard is FSX, a lot of people still use FS9 (also known as FS2004).

Guess it depends on what you want. If you are in to complex aircraft, systems simulation, "real world" immersion (like flying airliners), addon scenery, etc. then MSFS is the way to go. If you are more about the accuracy of the flight model, but with a more simplistic representation of the planes, I think X-plane is the best for that.

I think for most sims, CPU speed is the most important factor in performance. I may be out of date with this info, but I think a faster dual-core processor was better than a slower quad-core, since FSX is not highly optimized for more than 2 cores.

 

[yester]

I played MS Flight a little. It is fun but later on i think it is maybe to arcadisch.

I heard about the other game. Quite a price for it. The other thing is, i don't think i want to buy other hardware for it. If i can control it with the keyboard that would be nice.

Realism is what i look for, but it doesn't need to be to complicated either.

Btw. a while ago i seen on steam a simulator for trains and i was suprised how much all those addons can add up to.

Also i only have a dual core right now, so i should be in the right lane then. Have to check if they have a demo maybe so to see how it is before buying the real thing.

 

[Megazell]

Check out my list a few of the simulator on there have large mod communities.

 

[Ruahrc]

[quote name='yester']The other thing is, i don't think i want to buy other hardware for it. If i can control it with the keyboard that would be nice.

Realism is what i look for, but it doesn't need to be to complicated either.[/QUOTE]

Frankly, these two statements directly contradict each other. From someone who has had extensive experience with flight simulators, the absolute number one best thing you can do to increase enjoyment/realism of a flight sim is to buy some dedicated hardware (yoke/flightstick and pedals).

Controlling a flight sim with the keyboard is a non starter. Even something as basic as an entry level joystick (minimum of investment) is way, way, way better than using the keyboard. Only a flight game focused on action and arcade-like physics is playable with a keyboard.

Even the most recent FSX is fairly old now, and should be available for a modest price. As for the cost of addons, yes it can definitely add up- but there is also a MASSIVE library of freely available addons that have been developed for the MSFS line of sims. You can do so much with MSFS addons and never spend a dime. Check the two biggest FS sites: www.avsim.com and www.flightsim.com. These sites both have huge file libraries (including a few contributions from myself even) stuffed full of freely available addons.

If you want the best, most detailed simulations available you are going to have to pay for them, but there are some extremely good quality free ones available too- many projects which were so good the creators went on to be come full-on commercial products (but the basic free versions still available).

 

[yester]

[quote name='Ruahrc']Frankly, these two statements directly contradict each other. From someone who has had extensive experience with flight simulators, the absolute number one best thing you can do to increase enjoyment/realism of a flight sim is to buy some dedicated hardware (yoke/flightstick and pedals).

Controlling a flight sim with the keyboard is a non starter. Even something as basic as an entry level joystick (minimum of investment) is way, way, way better than using the keyboard. Only a flight game focused on action and arcade-like physics is playable with a keyboard.

Even the most recent FSX is fairly old now, and should be available for a modest price. As for the cost of addons, yes it can definitely add up- but there is also a MASSIVE library of freely available addons that have been developed for the MSFS line of sims. You can do so much with MSFS addons and never spend a dime. Check the two biggest FS sites: www.avsim.com and www.flightsim.com. These sites both have huge file libraries (including a few contributions from myself even) stuffed full of freely available addons.

If you want the best, most detailed simulations available you are going to have to pay for them, but there are some extremely good quality free ones available too- many projects which were so good the creators went on to be come full-on commercial products (but the basic free versions still available).[/QUOTE]

Ah i see. Well i have to see into that. Thanks for the links which i will check out.

I really thought i can do it also with a keyboard. But i got to see what i can spend and what will be good enough for right now. A joystick will be in my pricerange, but other equipment like paddle might be out of my range currently.

I spend a little time with the opensource game FlightGear. Sadly either there was a glitch or something went wrong but my airplane seemed to be in the water. (lol)

But let me check first the websites you referred me.