Railworks America

The only difference I see is the online connection stuff. Does it run better, I don't think so. However the last time I run it I had a quad core with an ATI low end board, now I have a 6 core and a GTX 760, everything runs better. But if I start cranking up meshes I installed and MyTraffic, I can make it crawl in heavy areas.

None of my PMDG planes will install because the original installer knows it was installed to regular FSX and gives me options to uninstall or repair.

If your addons have an installer that lets you choose where FSX is, these ones have been working for me.

I bought it cause it was $5 and I wanted to see what it looked like again virgin of addons.

If you don't fly online, don't bother.

artimrj wrote:The only difference I see is the online connection stuff. [...] If you don't fly online, don't bother.

I should quickly note that there is one disadvantage if you are part of a community hosted through FSX's "Direct Connect" system.

When Gamespy went down in 2013, many multiplayer servers folded with it. Since then, prominent communities have found ways to still attract attention without Gamespy. The community I'm an active member in (Boston Virtual ATC) was originally hosted through Gamespy, then went solely to "Direct Connect" when Gamespy folded. FSX:SE is not compatible with those original FSX communities, as their multiplayer servers are strictly hosted by Steam.

The advantages at this time are few : Although I have no personal experience with it, I believe there is a working multiuser network (via steam tho) and perhaps a future development potential. Also a few minor bugs have been fixed already.

I have recently installed REX 4 Direct and REX Softcloud and various Orbx airports and FTS texture pack and the OrbxVicta Air Tourier plane without issues in FSX-SE as well as into Prepar3d. Also installed OpusFSI Real-Time weather into FSX-SE and Prepar3d without issues which I had some difficulty getting to work in ms FSX.

I have removed MS FSX from my computer as the add-on installs tended to get confused with two FSX on board. Many payware add-ons already directly install into FSX-SE with a special option to find the files in steam without issue, a positive sign developers will be coming on board provided Dovetail can handle the different policies needed to encourage these developers who are a somewhat more independent group as they have not had to deal with Microsoft for some time, and enjoy a freedom not available beforehand.

I do put value on the potential for future development of FSX by Dovetail, I have already seen some minor tweaks done.

If the above does not interest you then stay with the status quo, your choice. At this time not much in it as far as new features are concerned.

I also have Prepar3d from Macdonnell (as mentioned above) and have yet to see any issues with add-ons that are stated as supporting that. It's graphics are far ahead of FSX and FSX-SE and performance is also better with DX11 standard on everything except water which is still DX10. A superb product, amazing graphics and up to 60+FPS on my system ( I lock at 30fps which is smooth and absolutely no stutter) but without some consumer niceties like missions already included in FSX. But I have outgrown them. It costs $60.00 US which is steep compared to FSX-SE !

Hope that helps.

I'm sticking with the boxed version unless we all start flying together online. FSHost is just as good for a server. When I ran a server I always posted Hop Lists, I love doing those. Anyone can hop in at any point and continue on their way and you run into each other. Does anyone know if you can do Hop Lists on the dedicated servers on Steam?

I have the boxed version and accelerator pack, but purchased the Steam edition at the FSX sale. Have it installed on my computer but haven't run it. Have quite a few addons My Traffic X, Active Sky, Scenery like US North West various aircraft from the likes of Captain Sim, Wilco Publishing etc.

Well one thing is for sure.... I have little desire to use it until I get scenery packs in the future. The autogen scenery (especially cities) is fugly as hell. I got so sick of it that I stopped playing for the time being. It was certainly a golden opprotunity for 3rd party content makers. Can't wait to see how DTG upgrades the franchise.

Just another grumpy post with no purpose. Sigh.

There was an update yesterday, they fixed several online things and better FPS tweaks.

Not sure what people expect with modeling the whole world. Be a lot of detailing eh? Do a route in TS that is 50 miles long is a different story on details not to mention you are at ground level in a train. FSX has details is small places, around major airports and cities. And it all looks great at 13K feet. Where you usually are.

buzz456 wrote:Just another grumpy post with no purpose. Sigh.

So much irony in that post. At least I'm talking about FSX.

I'm new to the modern flight sim since my last copy I purchased was back in the late 80s. I was merely commenting on my problem with the sim as new user to FSX. That was my ONLY complaint. I'm satisfied with everything else about the sim so far. Considering all the 3rd party DLC for FSX and the people like Bob that spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on such content.... I didn't see anything remotely controversial about my comments. Obviously I'm not alone in my opinion or there wouldn't be a market for all this DLC and people willing to pay some of their high prices.

To Bob...

I know the world is a big place to model. I understand that some airports and city skylines get better attention than the autogen stuff. I just came in thinking the sim would look better in general than it does. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I'm still going to give my opinion.

I love airplanes, but I love train locomotives way more. I'm satisfied with the aircraft models in FSX since I'm not a rivet counter with airplanes like I am with locomotives. But I do want pretty and accurate scenery to fly through. That is why I intend to get scenery and weather DLC at some point in the future.

Don't forget it is like 9 years old.

First addon on Steam for FSX Around the World in 80 Flights I think it is called. About $16 to buy.

That's an old Addon for FSX and not worth the money, imo.

As for the default scenery, yeah, it's not very good. It made me stop flying FSx years ago until I discovere the original Orbx Australia Blue scenery. I've since bought most of what they've made. Get their free Pacific Northwest Demo and free Bowerman airport for that region. It will install fine and you will have a good bit of territory to fly over (most of the Olympic peninsula). If you like it, one or two regions will provide lots of hours of pleasant aerial sightseeing.

Well before I try any free demo DLC or buy any, I have a question for you guys. Is the stuff easy to uninstall with no problems to the sim or leaving a bunch of stray files?

Yes, quite easy to uninstall, even if you prefer to do so manually. They include uninstallers. But Orbx products create new folder structures for its files to keep them separate. Orbx also installs a manager that lets you switch between default and their scenery as you choose. Using their uninstallers cleans the associated registry entries as well.