JG27_Arklight

It'll never happen. Good luck finding an insurer. LOL

With some of the add-ons available, FS9 already looks quite a bit better then LO right now, especially with regards to weather/clouds and day/dawn/afternoon/dusk/night colors. The terrain is also pretty darn nice with some of the add-ons out there. LO really isn't "all that" with regards to terrain/environment, which are some of the things I hope ED can rectify. LO has it's obvious benefits as well though. I like to think I can never have too many sims on my computer. :)

It is free now, the closed beta came out for paying customers about 3 weeks or so ago. It had an update released for it and then was released to the public. It's sort of a limited demo though, I wish they had included more SP instead of just the tutorial missions.

:D It is good you guys have a sense of humour. Some game sites out there would flame me to death for messing around, no matter how much in good fun. :)

Here, I fixed your poster for you: :)

Agreed. That's one of the reasons I like some of the add-ons out there (heck, that's one of the reasons so many 3rd party add-on developers exist). The RealAir products have amazing flight dynamics/flight modeling. Quite a few of the other payware add-on aircraft also do. I don't really fly that many military aircraft in FS, but I know of some civilian aircraft that have fantastic flight dynamics. If you are interested, I can give you some names of aircraft with their respective groups for the add-ons I use and like.

ANother GREAT sim with regards to immersion, and one of my personal favorites: Steel Beasts Pro PE Peek A' Boo! :)

For ground scenery: Ground Environment Pro For ground Elevations and whatnot: FS Genesis For Airports: FlyTampa (just my opnion, there are others people like alot as well). I haven't purchased that many add-on airports so I know there are other greats ones out there as well. For Weather: ActiveSky 6 For Skies and Water: Flight Environment

doh, double post.

Without add-ons, maybe. With some of the good payware add-ons, I would have to disagree. There are some aircraft, scenery, weather, utility, etc.. add-ons for FS that are amazing with regards to realism and functionality. The downside is that they come at a cost, and sometimes that cost isn't cheap. lol My issue with LOMAC is the crappy skies (colors) and some of the terrain. For me, it sort of ruins the immersion factor to an extent.

Been reading more abou that game "Defcon", and the more I read the more I like it. Can't say the same about their forum though. Sort of seems like there is quite a bit of "let's bash the U.S. and France!" types of posts. Seems like asshatery abounds over there (welcome to the internet I guess, lol). Some of the folks over there seem pretty cool though like that Xandar and NeoThermic guy.

Luckily, Armed Assault is FAR from vaporware. I seriously doubt Fighter Ops will be vaporware either. :) Defcon looks really interesting. Never heard of it until now, so I'm glad I read through this thread. :)

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War is good. It's been out for a little while but there is already an expansion for it with another on the way. You can get the "Game of the Year Edition" for about $29.99 here in the U.S., and that includes the game and the expansion.

Hehe..yeah, there's quite a difference between SB1 and SB2. :) SB 1 is a damn good sim though, despite the dated graphics. It too is quite immersive and has/had quite a following for a LONG time.

I heard that those will be updated in due time along with other graphical features (I could be wrong, but I think I read that somewhere). I believe they are getting any of the tiny kinks worked out first before moving on to any of the more pretty graphical updates/features. Although the explosions and infantry are mrerely sprites, I must say the terrain and vehical models are simply outstanding. I think the foliage is the best I have ever seen in a game or simulator, ever. It really is a remarkable simulation. Mr. Wolf, do you guys play SB Pro PE or the standard SB?

It sure is a great sim! VERY immersive. Quite the learning curve, but a lot of fun the whole way. :) I'm still learning the sim myself and loving every minute of it. Also, you can't beat the customer service of Esim Games, top-knotch support indeed.

Name another flightsim that offers as much in aircraft variation, terrain graphics, open-endedness, playability, capability, etc...... all in one package. Not everybody uses uses full Garmin suites in their aircraft, or Efis displays, of WX Radar, etc.. so it really isn't valid to expect things such as those. You can't really define "as real as it gets" from an everything or nothing point of view. Comparing FS9 to flightsims from 1998 is somewhat invalid since there are practically no similarities except the presence of aircraft. Can I really compare Strike Eagle 3 to LockOn? Or M1 Tank Platoon to SB Pro PE? or even FS98 to FS9? In some regards yes, but in most, no. Sure it would be nice to have all the avionics possible integrated into FS, but it obviously will never happen. However, with FS at least you have the option of adding in your own add-ons that do have these features. If there were other sims that can do this, or sims in the past that could do this, there would be no money in developing the FS Series and development would cease to exist. FS alone is a great product, maybe not for everybody, but that doens't change its popularity with such a wide array of users. For a sim that is "not as real as that flightsim from, oh say, 1998" it sure does have a HUGE community, a community of both non-pilots as well as airline pilots. The FS Series is quite good, the FS Series + a PMDG or Level D or other good development group's add-on can be a remarkable simulation. I can nitpick FS to death, just like I could nitpick any product to death, but we don't have many options these days for flightsims. If it weren't for the FS Series and ED I would have probably stopped playing flightsims LONG ago. Every product has design limitations, and nobody denies that. Expecting a Level-D flightsim you can buy at CompUSA for $49.99 is unreasonable. Taking into account these design limitations, development time, and magnitude of the product, the FS Series is "as real as it gets" on a home computer. The only question that remains is how you define "as real as it gets"....which of course could go either way (and can ultimately never be answered and agreed upon unequivocally). ;) True, it would be nice to have an "out of the box" wonder-sim but that doesn't seem to be possible right now, as you can't please all of the people all of the time. FS can't do it, and niether could LockOn........I'm just happy both exist and development continues. :)

Agreed. Especially if you consider the fact that flight sims take place at altitude. SH3 water looks fantastic, but doesn't look very good at all if you pan the camera up and notice the panel look to the water. I wouldn't mind seeing dynamic weather, different types of clouds, better night lighting, and better lighting at dawn and dusk. With the implementation of the clickable cockpit on the BS, ED is definately heading in the right direction. Hopefully in their next add-on or sim release they take it even further and start working on some real nice environmental effects. :)

That looks great! I love the sunlight in the second shot, very nice. :)

Graphics are important for quite a few people, junky graphics often equals lower immersion in many people's eyes. AF is great, but not nearly as immersive as if it had better explosions, better effects, etc.. You can have all the realism in the world, but if it doesn't really look like you re flying, what's the point? I'm talking only about the graphics since this is a discussion about DX10. But the other aspects of FS are aslo quite good, or maybe they aren't....we don't exactly have any other options available to us. Lomac is good, but it lacks in many areas as well just as FS does. FS delivers exactly what it says. You aren't buying in-depth avionics and whatnot, therefore, you should not expect them. You being let down isn't really MS's fault. They never promised accurate 430's, 530's, FMC's, etc.. Their products do what they say they do. What is "expected" is a moot issue when something is never promised in the first place. ;) :)

FSX uses bloom effect and a few other features that Lockon can't do at all, not yet anyways. A sunray in Lockon or some other DX8 game will probably not look quite as good as a sunray in a DX10 product. If the developers are building FSX with DX10 in mind, it will utilize it (or the various development groups out there will create add-ons that will). That is one thing the FS series has going for it, it has always been extremely moddable.

Terrain, weather, and ultimately immersion, are important to me. All of which is being built/improved upon in FSX. In-depth avionics and other more intricate aspects are handeled by the various freeware and payware developers. I'm suprised you don't consider things like terrain and weather improvements as things that matter in a flightsim. lol There have been some very nice add-ons designed for FS2K4 that have really changed the "feel" and look of the product (GE Pro, AS6, UT, etc..). With regards to "what really matter", that depends on each individual. You really shouldn't comment on "what really matters" for a flightsim when everybody has a different opinion. Some of the features in FSX have been added in to increase immersion, and from the looks of it, they probably will accomplish that for a lot of people. Some people may think the animals in FSX are a waste of time, but others may not since they spend a lot of time flying low VFR. To each his own.

Here's an update: It's coming out in March.... No, April........... No, June.......... No, May.......... No, July........... ????????????? Just kidding! I'm sure it'll be great when it does come out. Good news about another video coming out soon. Thx, GA. Can't wait! :) :)

I disagree. The FS series uses the mouse, and so would any other home "Simulator" that has a clickable cockpit. You may not use the mouse to fly, but you sure as heck use the mouse for other Sim essential functions. You'll always need at least a keyboard, and preferably a mouse (if the cockpit is clickable). Programming 350 keys into a HOTAS is not always the best for somebody. :)

It is impossible for an aircraft to remain dynamically stable forever (due to oscillations, as you stated), that's the issue. The phugoid principle/mode (whatever, lol) analyzes potential vs kinetic energy (IIRC). I could be wrong though. I think it also states that an aircraft cannot remain stable forever, only for a certain period of time depending on various factors. :) *EDIT* I did a quick internet search, but couldn't really find much info on "how long" an aircraft could remain stable (in general). Does anybody know of any good sources for information on this subject?